Notes on camera craft, reporting and live television from our tutors and classroom, published about once a day.
Short, practical pieces on framing a shot, writing for the ear, handling a live link and cutting a fair package. Read them between sessions or before you decide which course to take.
Ethics and Law
A step-by-step routine for getting consent, judging privacy and checking the legal limits before a camera rolls on a news shoot, written from the operator's side.
Daniel Okoye
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Editing
Before a news package leaves the edit suite, a short set of checks on fairness, audio, pictures and timing can save a correction later. Here is the list I give my students.
Tom Whitaker
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Field Camera
Shaky handheld shots, blown skies and thin audio cost reporters usable footage. Here are five common field camera mistakes we see in training and the habits that prevent them.
Tom Whitaker
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Course costs
A plain look at how the price of our interview and story craft training is built, what it covers, and which choices make it cost more or less for a reporter.
Priya Nair
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Live Coverage
A short account of Amara, a trainee reporter who came to us nervous about live television, and how planning, cueing and a few rehearsed fallback lines changed her first outdoor broadcast.
Tom Whitaker
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Reporting Craft
Shorter days, wet pavements and cold hands change how a piece to camera is written and delivered. Priya Nair sets out how to prepare for the weeks ahead.
Priya Nair
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Ethics and Law
A plain-words guide to consent in television reporting: what counts as agreement, when it can be withdrawn, and how a camera operator should handle the moment on location.
Daniel Okoye
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Editing
Daniel Okoye weighs editing news packages on a laptop against a supervised edit suite, and says which he would choose for a reporter or camera operator learning to cut for broadcast.
Daniel Okoye
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Behind the scenes
A look behind the scenes at a Field Camera Operation session: how we set up the morning, what students shoot, how mistakes are handled and what each person takes home to practise.
Helen Marsh
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Story Craft
The question we hear most from new reporters: how much interview is enough, and how do you turn it into a story? Practical answers from the reporting coach's desk.
Priya Nair
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Course news
A look at how the Live Coverage Strategy sessions run in the classroom and on location, and what students practise between the first planning note and the final line to camera.
Daniel Okoye
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Methods
A look at the scripts, prompts, monitors and recorded playback we rely on in On-Camera Reporting sessions, and why each one earns its place in the room.
Helen Marsh
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Ethics and Law
Before you commit to classroom sessions on accuracy, consent, privacy and broadcast law, work through these questions. They help you see whether a course will actually serve a working reporter.
Daniel Okoye
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Editing
Tom Whitaker walks through five common mistakes new editors make when cutting field footage into a news package, and the simple habits that keep a story clear and fair.
Tom Whitaker
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Prices
A plain look at what shapes the price of field camera training: group size, kit hours, supervised shoots and tutor time, so you can judge a quotation with confidence.
Tom Whitaker
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Student Story
A short story about Callum, a student who came to us with good questions and thin material, and what changed when he began planning his shots around the answers.
Tom Whitaker
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Live Coverage
Short days, wet pavements and early dark change how a live report is planned. Helen Marsh sets out what to prepare, cue and ad-lib before the clocks go back and the weather turns.
Helen Marsh
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Reporting Terms
A plain-words guide to three phrases heard on every news shoot: the piece to camera, the stand-up and the sign-off, and what each asks of a reporter in front of the lens.
Daniel Okoye
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Ethics and Law
A comparison of learning broadcast ethics and law through guided classroom sessions against reading cases alone, with a clear recommendation for reporters and camera operators starting out.
Daniel Okoye
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Editing
A walk through the real order of work when field footage becomes a short broadcast package: logging, selecting, building the track, and the checks that keep it fair.
Tom Whitaker
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Field Camera
The question we hear most about field camera training is whether you need your own kit to start. Tom Whitaker explains what we supply, what to bring and when buying makes sense.
Tom Whitaker
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