Bill Gentile’s

Essential
Video Journalism
Field Manual
By Backpack Journalist Bill Gentile
Second Edition

© Copyright Bill Gentile 2016

BillGentile.com
 Bill Gentile’s Essential Video Journalism Field Manual

The ABCs of the Visual Language

Not just “Chain Gang” but every visual story you see or tell uses the same visual
alphabet, or the ABCs of the visual language. Our written alphabet contains 26
letters. The visual alphabet contains about half that. We’ll get to how we use the
ABCs of the visual language during the production phase, but it’s useful here to get
a sense of what the alphabet looks like.

Please keep in mind that these definitions may differ somewhat from shop to shop,
from outlet to outlet. Just like slang words can mean one thing in one part of the
country and something different in another. But these are the fundamentals that are
fairly standard across outlets. And we’ll be using them throughout our relationship,
so you should learn them and make them part of your new vocabulary.

Extra Close-Up (XCU)

)NTHECONTEXTOFAFACESHOTTHE8#5
would be just the eyes, or the glasses
and the eyes.

Close-Up (CU)
The next shot is the CU, which is pretty
much from the top of the head to the
%XTRA#LOSE 5P8#5 BASEOFTHECHIN9OUCANTAKEOFFTHE
top of the head, or the top of the hair,
but you can never take off the chin,
for two reasons. The first is that the
audience wants to read the subject’s
mouth and expression, which are critical
in deciphering whether a person is
telling the truth or not. The second
reason is that editors and producers
#LOSE 5P#5 might want to put the person’s name
under his/her face and you need the
space at the bottom of the frame so
as not to have lettering appear over
the subject’s mouth. We refer to this
lettering as title or lower third.

Medium Shot (MS)

The MS runs from the top of the head
to the waist or just below your belt. We
-EDIUM3HOT-3
need to see the belt.
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 Bill Gentile’s Essential Video Journalism Field Manual

Wide Shot (WS)

The WS includes everything from your
head to your toes.

Extra Wide Shot (XWS)

!N873ISEVENWIDERTHANA73AND
might include visual information that’s
in front of and behind the subject. The
7IDE3HOT73 873ALSOAREREFERREDTOASh-ASTERvOR
“Establishing” shots because they show
where all the elements in a scene are in
RELATIONTOEACHOTHER9OULLUNDERSTAND
THISBETTERWHENWEGETTOTHE3IX 3HOT
System, which we’ll go over shortly.

Over the Shoulder (OTS)

Shooting an OTS connects the subject
%XTRA7IDE3HOT873 with what he/she is doing. Especially in
CONJUNCTIONWITHOTHERSHOTSINTHE3IX
Shot System, this shot is a particularly
effective one in your toolbox of shots to
make dynamic visual stories.

Point of View (POV)

The POV shows the viewer what the
subject sees. For example, it’s a shot of
the keyboard that the typist is seeing.
/VERTHE3HOULDER/43 Or it’s a shot of the road that the driver
is seeing. Think of your subject coming
through a door and walking through
THEROOM9OUTRACKTHESUBJECTASHE
she comes through the door and heads
for the couch. Then, at a convenient
time, you go back and come through
the same door and walk the same path
to the couch – with camera rolling as
you do. That way the audience see’s the
0OINTOF6IEW0/6 subject’s POV. The audience gets to see
what the subject sees. This makes for a
very dynamic view of what the subject
sees when you can cut between these
different kinds of shots.

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1 2

3 4

5 6
The camera follows the subject across the scene.

Tracking Shot (Track)

In a Track, the camera follows the subject as the subject moves back and forth, or
AROUNDATRACKHENCETHENAME 4HINKOFACAMERAFOLLOWINGARACECARAROUNDTHE
track. The camera might also follow the subject coming into a room and moving
over to the desk. That also would be a tracking shot. The cameraman stands still.
The subject moves and the camera follows the subject.
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 Bill Gentile’s Essential Video Journalism Field Manual

In a pan, the subject doesn’t move but the camera moves across the scene.

Pan Shot (Pan)

In a pan, the camera moves across the scene. Panning shots are really good if you
want to illustrate an area such as a horizon, the front of the building or maybe a big
crowd of people. Panning shots that move vertically or diagonally are often called
“tilts.”

When doing a pan or a tilt, it’s important to do the reverse movement as well.
Stated differently, if you pan left to right, make sure to pan back the other way.
In the editing suite you’ll be happy that you did, because this will give you the full
range of material to work with. If you do a pan without a tripod, make sure that
you are well braced on something like a table or a wall. Instead of just moving your
arms, you want to make sure you use your whole body. This will give you stability.
Also, make a decision about exactly where you want the pan to begin and where
you want it to end. In other words, decide what you want to say with it. Another
way to think of pans and tilts is that they act as “stitches” that connect pieces of
visual material. They connect hands to a face, for example.

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 Bill Gentile’s Essential Video Journalism Field Manual

1
Zoom (ZM)
There are two kinds of zoom shots, one Camera starts with a extra wide shot, zooms into
is executed with the camera and the a wide shot, zooms back out to an extra wide
other is done with your legs. shot.

Here’s a quick list of the visual alphabet:

s %XTRA#LOSE 5P8#5 s 4RACKING3HOT4RACK

s #LOSE 5P#5 s 0AN3HOT0AN
s -EDIUM3HOT-3 s :OOM:-
s 7IDE3HOT73 s 0OINTOF6IEW0/6
s %XTRA7IDE3HOT873 s /VERTHE3HOULDER/43

OK. Now we’re all on the same page.

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