Citizen Journalism Blog

All of us who took the citizen journalism course only had two days of video filming lessons. I did learn a lot from the class by sifu Mr. Teoh. As I had some basic knowledge about handling a DSLR camera, it wasn’t so hard to grasp the terms used in videography which is almost similar to photography.

However, knowing the techniques like getting the proper framing, adjusting white balance, checking the audio quality and etc are not enough when we are on location.

I am lucky in the sense that I speak Bahasa very fluently and hence, the other Malay videographers who are mostly males are very nice to me as I usually go by their rules. I would forego good location and remain in the background. After sometime, they had seen my video production and know that I am not such a noob after all.

So, learning the ropes are much easier because they do not mind pointing out my mistakes when I asked for guidance. They also give me tips me on where to stand for better shots.

However, the hard part comes when there are no other videographers around. That’s when I cannot copycat them and did feel a bit lost when I am the lone videographer. For example, in the above Hari Malaysia celebration, not many of them are interested in the event after the initial arrival of the VIP. So, I was feeling so out of place being the poor, lonely videographer who had to stand alone.

Therefore, to become better videographer, which essentially makes a better citizen journalist is to be humble, be willing to learn and never be afraid to ask questions.