Just got an email from radio producer Thomas Pierce, responding to my post on shooting shaky video with a cheap digital camera.
While the ability to record video on still cameras hardly makes them decent video cameras, Pierce has demonstrated that you can use an inexpensive camera to do more than record videos of your cat prancing around the room.
While working on a radio story about drought in Arizona, Pierce took his Olympus digital camera with him, and essentially shot some B-roll. Once the radio story was produced, he edited it together with the video to create a new piece. The video’s a bit grainy/pixelated, the camera work is obviously handheld. But video definitely adds something to the story.
It’s interesting to see a story produced for radio turned into a video feature. While audio is key to any video production, the visuals often take precedence. Pierce’s story was written and produced as a standalone radio piece. I wouldn’t call the video an afterthought, but rather a bonus — sort of like the ability of our cheap cameras to shoot video at all.
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