News Camera Zoom Tips

Video Transcript

"Now in this segment we're going to learn how to slowly zoom in on a subject. Now first off what you want to do is of course check your focus. So you zoom in all the way and check your focus to where it's clear, so it's not fuzzy or grainy or anything like that. Then you zoom back out to where you're going to want to start your zoom from. Usually you're going to really start pretty wide. Usually not so wide that you see things that are off the set, things that shouldn't be on the news or in your production. So then from there, once your Director tells you to start your zoom, of course this one's a slow zoom so we don't want to put too much pressure on the trigger, you want to slowly go to the right with your trigger, because that's the zoom in function. And once I get it to a comfortable speed, hold it there. And of course if you're, if you're off center on your shot, you can slowly tilt up or pan, just to make sure you get your subject right in the middle of the shot. Otherwise, it's going to look a little weird once you get your shot set because then your subject's going to be off to the left, right or your head's going to be cut off of something like that. And also you want to be careful not to zoom too far in, otherwise once again, it's a little awkward shot. But of course your Director will tell you when to stop and when to zoom in more, zoom out or anything like that."