Reaction shooting mode of reaction shooting

With the increasingly fierce competition in the TV market, the forms of TV news are becoming more and more abundant, and news camera has become the key link to collect TV news materials and reflect news events. In a sense, the cameraman is also a gatekeeper in news reports, and how to capture the lens that best reflects the essence of the facts has become the key skill of camera work. As a news cameraman, the first duty is to record the whole event and the people and things related to the event with a camera on the basis of the basic requirements of truly recording and truly spreading the facts and following the development and changes of the facts.

However, in actual work, photographers often find that when the interviewee faces the camera, they often make a certain degree of "abnormal" reaction in behavior and expression. Some "abnormal" reactions will even affect photographers and journalists to objectively reflect news events. Based on the practical work experience, this paper summarizes the different reactions of interviewees in front of the camera, tries to analyze them with the principles of sociology and psychology, and puts forward coping strategies to communicate with peers.

First, observe various reactions to the camera lens.

The reporter interviewed people from all walks of life. Because of the differences in life experience, professional needs, environment, knowledge level, moral cultivation and personality habits, they will have different psychology and performance. Especially when the unexpected situation of "reporter interview" stimulates the interviewee, the interviewee will have a sudden psychological reaction, which will make him make different behaviors and expressions. At this time, if the cameraman wants to successfully complete the interview and shooting task, he must look at the essence through the phenomenon, understand the psychology of the interviewee, and study it, so as to master and adjust it.

From the reporter's point of view, respondents generally have three attitudes: 1. Actively cooperate; That is, the interviewee takes the initiative to provide information to reporters, answer questions and take the initiative to attack; 2. General matching type; That is, the interviewee is business-oriented, neither too cold nor too hot, neither too humble nor too supercilious, treat each other with courtesy, and the conversation is calm and without climax; 3. passive confrontation; That is, the interviewee is unwilling to be interviewed by reporters, with a blunt and cold attitude, as short as possible, and even refuses to answer. These three attitudes determine that interviewees often react differently when facing the camera, including expression, action, language and so on. We usually refer to this reaction as lens reaction, which mainly includes the following types:

1. Natural reaction

This is common among respondents who actively cooperate and generally cooperate. Because they don't mind the existence of the camera lens, their performance is basically the same as when the camera lens is not there, and they will not deliberately cater to it, nor will they avoid and resist it. This is the reaction that TV reporters are most willing to see.

2. Stage fright reaction

Facing the camera, not only the general audience will show nervousness, but even some experienced leaders, celebrities and experts are prone to stage fright. Due to lack of photographic experience or personality reasons, the subject will have nervous psychology and make unnatural actions and expressions when facing the reporter and the camera, such as always looking at the camera with his eyes, stuttering and repeating; Especially live broadcast, afraid of saying stupid things or embarrassment, will also make some people reluctant to be on camera. This kind of reaction often destroys the picture, but it should be said that it has little effect on the real progress of recorded events.

3. Acting reaction

This is common among respondents who actively cooperate. Some subjects who have been photographed, or some subjects will make some performances when facing the camera for some reason. This reaction can be divided into two categories. First, it obviously provides a convenient action for the reporters present to shoot. For example, some * * * will shake hands with the condolences for a long time in front of the camera, or will consciously pause when distributing solatium, waiting for the reporter to take photos or video. Although these reactions seem unnatural, they have no substantial impact on the real record of the progress of the event.

The other is that the subject regards news interview as an opportunity to promote himself, so he often makes performances to beautify his image when facing the camera. For example, in some performance reports, the interviewees will deliberately exaggerate their contributions, or some leading cadres often deliberately appear more close to the people when they are photographed. This kind of lens reaction has a slight influence on journalists' real record of the progress of events and news figures.

4. Mutation reaction

This is very common among respondents who are generally cooperative and passive. In news interview, the subject suddenly changed the course of news events because of the appearance of cameras and reporters. According to the daily work experience, the subjects will make this kind of reaction, mainly because they realize that their words and deeds may get negative social evaluation and don't want to expose their mistakes to the public, so they will temporarily change their decisions when facing the media. This reaction often appears in some critical news reports. Such a sudden reaction is very unfavorable for journalists to report news events truthfully and completely.

5. Avoidance reaction

This is common among passive and confrontational respondents. For some reason, the subject didn't want to expose some of his words and deeds to the public, so he refused to be interviewed by avoiding the camera. This situation not only appears in critical social news interviews, but also appears in some celebrities or people who do good deeds and do not want to be named, as well as some insiders who are afraid of retaliation. Such evasive reaction will also have a very negative impact on journalists' true and complete coverage of news events.

Step 6 resist the reaction

This is also common in passive and confrontational respondents. In some media reports, the criticized party overreacted to reporters, photographers and cameras. The most common examples are blocking the camera with hands, shoving the camera, grabbing photographic equipment, and even swearing and besieging journalists. This reaction often leads to the interruption of the reporter's interview.

Second, pay attention to the relationship between different news types and camera response.

Facing the camera, what kind of camera reaction the subject will make is closely related to the type of news report. All kinds of news are roughly divided into five categories according to the content of the report. The first category is sudden major news events, such as wars and unexpected accidents. The second category is the planned major news events, such as the Olympic Games and tourism festivals. The third category is daily news reports, such as meetings and some new policies promulgated by the state; The fourth category is special report, or commonly known as "achievement report"; The fifth category is critical reports and social news.

The influence of various lens reactions on the quality of news gathering is most prominent in the third, fourth and fifth types of reports. Because in the face of the first kind of emergency, people often have no time to think about whether it will bring good or bad effects to themselves. What they show in front of the camera is the most authentic reaction. For major news events that arrive on time, the subject may have been prepared in advance and expected to be photographed or interviewed, so the reaction is relatively natural. In addition, in the reports of some important festivals, we can see that all the people photographed are full of energy. Even in some unexpected news conferences or follow-up reports, we can often see that the parties are calmly interviewed because they are prepared in advance, but we can't see some scenes that block the camera or besiege reporters.

For the third kind of daily news reports, such as meetings, the subjects may have more nervous reactions or performance reactions when shooting. For example, looking at the camera or sitting up straight on purpose, but this reaction has little effect on the overall interview effect.

In the fourth kind of reports, because most of them are performance reports, subjects are more likely to appear to beautify their own performance reactions or escape reactions. For example, in the current unsatisfactory economic environment, the benefits of some enterprises have risen instead of falling. For some reasons, they don't want to be interviewed by the media, fearing that "the tree will attract the wind" and lead to "escape the reaction". There are also some business leaders who will take all the credit for themselves during the interview to show their work ability. This is the "performance response".

In the fifth kind of reports, mutation reaction, escape reaction and drug resistance reaction are the most common. For example, when people suspected of breaking the law are under investigation, they often find that photographers are present and cover their faces with their hands, or stall owners who set up stalls sometimes block the camera or besiege reporters when they find reporters coming to shoot.

Thirdly, sociological and psychological analysis of lens response.

After summarizing the basic types of lens reaction and clarifying the relationship between different news types and lens reaction, it is necessary to further analyze lens reaction by using some principles of sociology and psychology.

Role practice and field influence of camera

A camera is not a simple image copier. French director Godard believes that the camera is an "ideological machine", which often hides various social forces and has the function of attracting attention. Usually, the power of cameras and news media will have an association and connection, which will produce the ubiquitous effect of media power, thus exerting "field influence" on the subject. Therefore, the involvement of the camera is an important factor in catalyzing the situation, and the various lens reactions of the interviewees are the catalysts under this stimulus.

According to the principle of sociology, people's behavior is shaped and modified according to the scene defined by their society. People in different scenes often have different role choices, and everyone has a process from "backstage" to "foreground" (social scene) according to social norms or social expectations. Facing the camera, the client will face a dilemma of role-playing, whether to play the "original me" in front of the camera or "me concerned by the whole society". Is it "subject" or "object"? In the case of becoming the focus of social attention, interviewees often leave their background images and enter the foreground area, thus showing different lens reactions. All these lens reactions have a considerable relationship with the influence of the camera's field of view.

The pressure of Hawthorne effect

"Hawthorne effect" was discovered by researchers at Hawthorne Factory in Chicago, USA in 1930s. The researchers initially noticed that a group of workers who assembled telephones would increase production because they realized that they were being paid attention by researchers. The attention of researchers has changed the behavior of workers. Hawthorne effect is a phenomenon in scientific research, which exists in almost all fields. As long as it is an abnormal reaction caused by "being noticed", it belongs to this effect.

In every interview activity, because the interviewee is "noticed" by the reporter, it will produce "Hawthorne effect" more or less. Especially when there is a camera in the interview, the "Hawthorne effect" is more obvious. Television cameras can put pressure on people. This kind of pressure is mainly because people in front of the camera tend to think too much about their own image and worry about the evaluation of the audience and the social impact of the information they are talking about. This also reminds our reporters that in a single interview, we should screen the meaning expressed by the interviewee and give full consideration to their environment, psychology and personal situation.

Fourth, use different shooting modes to deal with various lens reactions.

On the basis of sociological and psychological research, combined with practical work experience, it is possible for us to rationally explore the reaction shooting of various lens reactions, form a concise and practical shooting mode, and in turn guide and apply it to practical work.

The so-called shooting mode, like a formula, refers to the corresponding effective shooting strategy that can be applied immediately in some news shooting situations that meet certain conditions. Try to sum it up as follows.

Mode 1: Long time shooting

It is suitable for almost all lens reactions. This technology was first used in documentary shooting. In order to record the most authentic behavior and language of the characters, documentary cameramen will spend a long time with the subject with a camera from a few months or even a year before shooting, until the subject has completely ignored the camera and accepted the cameraman psychologically. In news shooting, it is impossible for a cameraman to have enough time to communicate and get along with the subject, but as long as time permits, the cameraman should try to learn from the subject in this way to reduce performance, avoidance and resistance. Get along with the subjects more and reduce unnatural reactions; Shoot more news materials to prevent sudden changes.

Mode 2: Quick Snapshot

Suitable for unnatural reaction, performance reaction and escape reaction. Photojournalists rely on their news sensitivity and picture sensitivity to analyze the reported events with considerable shooting skills, observe the subjects and surrounding environment and make quick judgments; At the same time, through the adjustment and grasp of shooting angle and shooting opportunity, we can avoid all kinds of lens reactions that are not conducive to expressing real facts, and try to capture pictures that can reveal the truth and significance of news. The first reaction of a character is the most authentic and can best reflect the inner world of the character, which is the key point that a cameraman should try his best to capture. One of the keys is to turn on the machine quickly, and turn it off after a proper delay. When the subject has no time to perform or escape from the camera, the most real events and characters have been captured by the camera, which is completely fresh material.

Mode 3: Direct shooting

Suitable for escaping and resisting reactions. Direct shooting refers to the photographer directly shooting the lens reaction of the client to the shooting behavior, which is characterized by shooting the lens reaction of the subject as part of the report content. In some critical reports, the interviewee's camera reaction is often very intense, sometimes covering the camera with their hands to avoid shooting, and sometimes even hindering normal interview activities. At this time, the cameraman simply records the lens reaction of the subject and reveals it in front of the TV audience, so the audience can naturally understand the meaning behind this reaction, thus increasing their understanding of the news facts. For example, when a reporter reported the news that a shopping mall sold fake and shoddy goods, the mall staff immediately hid these goods when they found the camera shooting. Although the reporter didn't get a clear picture of fake and shoddy goods in the end, he still captured the action that the staff hurriedly removed the goods from the shelves and hid them. After the TV broadcast, the audience can naturally judge that the mall has done something wrong.

Mode 4: Hidden shooting

Suitable for unnatural reaction, avoidance reaction and resistance reaction. Covert shooting, also known as "sneak shot", is the behavior of photographers using special shooting equipment in the process of news shooting. The biggest advantage of this method is that the subject doesn't know that a reporter is filming an interview, so he has no precautions, thus avoiding any lens reaction caused by the existence of the camera. In this way, reporters can easily collect news facts and the original appearance of the subject when shooting various reports. However, whether the covert shooting method can be used in TV news reports has been controversial in the industry. On the one hand, I am worried that the abuse of this method will involve invasion of privacy, on the other hand, I am worried that journalists will fall into a kind of "trap shooting" when taking candid photos, and induce the subjects to do some illegal acts. Therefore, photographers must be cautious when deciding to shoot hidden shots.

Mode 5: Take more photos of the actual sound.

Suitable for sudden and evasive reactions. The so-called real voice of characters refers to the speech of characters, the dialogue between journalists and interviewees, etc. Facing the camera, the interviewee may have a sudden reaction, that is, the previous words and deeds changed 180 degrees; Or avoid the reaction and refuse the interview. These reactions often make the interview fail. But at this time, it should be said that it is a good remedy to shoot more actual sounds and recall, describe and prove the truth of the incident through other witnesses.

In short, as a professional cameraman, we must master the corresponding knowledge of sociology and psychology, flexibly use various shooting modes according to the different psychological conditions and lens reactions of the subjects, and create the most suitable interview environment. When necessary, conduct positive psychological counseling and on-site organization, and collect images and on-site scenes that best reflect the essence of news events.

(The writer is a senior cameraman at Shanghai Radio and Television Station)

Bibliography:

Zhang Junde and Liu Haigui: Journalism Psychology, Fudan University Press, 2004.