The fundamentals of video journalism
Video journalism requires a set of visual grammar skills that print journalists rarely need: composition, camera movement, exposure control, and the structured collection of B-roll footage to cover narration. These skills are teachable and learnable — the BBC Academy, the Royal Television Society (RTS), and many UK journalism schools publish free training materials covering all of them.
The most important principle for journalists new to video is: tell the story with pictures, not just words. A text journalist describes a scene in words; a video journalist shows it. This requires thinking visually before, during, and after the shoot — planning what sequences illustrate the story, shooting sufficient B-roll to cover the edit, and structuring the narrative around visual moments rather than fitting visuals to a pre-written script.
Working with a dedicated camera operator? See our Working with Camera Operators guide in the Broadcast hub.
Core composition rules
Rule of thirds
Divide the frame into a 3x3 grid. Place subjects' eyes on the upper horizontal line; faces on a vertical third. Creates visual balance and direction.
Headroom
Leave a small but visible space between the top of the subject's head and the frame edge. One eye's width above the crown is the broadcast standard.
Eyeline
The direction in which a subject looks within the frame. In interviews, eyeline should aim towards the centre two-thirds, not out of frame at the lens edge.
Look room / nose room
Space in the direction a subject is looking or moving. A subject looking right needs more space to the right than the left to avoid feeling 'boxed in'.
Shot sizes
Wide (establishing), medium (waist up), medium close-up (chest up), close-up (chin to crown), extreme close-up (eyes to chin). Vary shot sizes in B-roll for editorial interest.
180-degree rule
When two subjects face each other, the camera stays on one side of an imaginary line between them. Crossing the line causes a disorienting screen direction reversal.
When these skills matter most
- 1Self-shooting on assignment without a dedicated camera operator.
- 2Planning a shoot that requires structured B-roll to cover a three-minute edit.
- 3Interviewing in challenging lighting conditions — indoor mixed light, strong backlight, overcast exterior.
- 4Shooting a piece-to-camera in an outdoor location with variable light and background.
- 5Producing social video content where composition quality is especially visible at small screen sizes.
- 6Editing your own footage and discovering mid-edit that essential cutaways were not captured.
Red flags
- Subject is centred in frame with large empty space below chin — too much headroom and subject looks floating.
- Subject's eyeline is directed out of frame towards the camera edge — creates uncomfortable tension in the frame.
- Interview shot with a bright window behind the subject — the camera exposes for the background, silhouetting the subject.
- All B-roll footage is the same shot size — a sequence of only wide shots or only close-ups has no visual rhythm.
- Camera zooms in during a static interview — zoom changes are distracting in journalism; move the camera or cut to a different shot.
- White balance shifts mid-interview because AWB re-adjusts — fix WB manually for interview setups.
- No B-roll for a section of narration — the editor will be forced to hold on the interview talking-head, which looks poor.
Pre-shoot video checklist
- I have written a B-roll list covering every scene, action, and location mentioned in the planned script or anticipated interview.
- White balance is set manually and matches the dominant light source on location.
- Exposure is set so that the subject's face is correctly exposed (not the background).
- Frame rate is 25fps (UK broadcast standard) unless slow-motion is specifically required.
- Shutter speed is approximately double the frame rate (1/50 at 25fps) per the 180-degree rule.
- ISO is as low as possible while achieving correct exposure — higher ISO introduces grain/noise.
- I have verified composition: rule of thirds, correct headroom, eyeline direction.
- I have a plan for establishing shot, action sequences, and cutaway details for B-roll.
Next step: editing your footage
Once you have your footage, see our Video Editing Workflow guide for UK newsroom post-production, or the MOJO guide for smartphone-specific workflow.
Common mistakes
- Not shooting enough B-roll — the industry rule of thumb is to shoot 10 seconds of B-roll for every 1 second you expect to use in the edit.
- Ignoring audio during the video shoot — a badly exposed image can sometimes be corrected in post; unusable audio cannot.
- Shooting at the wrong frame rate — delivering 30fps footage to a UK broadcast outlet that requires 25fps will cause a sync and playback issue.
- Leaving auto-exposure on during an interview — the camera will change exposure if someone walks past a window, ruining the shot.
- Not slating takes — a simple handclap or verbal slate at the start of each clip makes editing far faster and is standard practice.