Videojournalism: Multimedia Storytelling, by Kenneth Kobre

If your responsibilities now extend to the production of multimedia content, this book should interest you. You've probably seen magazines produced by people who don't come from a publishing background. Style is loose, writing is sloppy, and design is undisciplined. At least, that's how they look to our critical eyes. They're rough around the edges. Amateurish. Well, we've got news for you: That's what we've been hearing about some ventures into video production that have been undertaken by us publishing professionals. A lot of editors are now producing video content for digital replica editions and other online offerings that doesn't measure up to normal standards. But even if you have become a video pro, you'll still find useful tips in this book.

Videojournalism: Multimedia Storytelling is written by Kenneth Kobre, who directs the video and photojournalism program at San Francisco State University. In the preface he says, "Good videojournalism demands a broad set of technical skills and a real appreciation of how to tell a story. But with practice and knowledge borrowed from these traditions, the skill of videojournalism storytelling can be learned. As a matter of fact, that is expressly what this book is all about."

The chapter titles describe the scope of the book:

1. Telling Stories
2. Finding and Evaluating a Story
3. Successful Story Topics
4. Producing a Story
5. Camera Basics
6. Camera Exposure and Handling
7. Light and Color
8. Recording Sound
9. Combining Audio and Stills
10. Shooting a Sequence
11. Conducting an Interview
12. Writing a Script
13. Editing the Story
14. Ethics
15. The Law
16. Marketing a Story

In the spirit of multimediaism, the book is accompanied by an extensive assortment of online video clips that supplement the text. These are accessible via QR codes printed in the book.

Videojournalism: Multimedia Storytelling is well illustrated in an 8.5 x 11 format. It is published by Focal Press, an imprint of Elsevier (272 pages, paperback). It is available for $38.00 on the Editors Only "Books" page under the "Books on Multimedia" heading.

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