With video becoming an increasingly vital part of how radio stations reach audiences, and production budgets not necessarily increasing at all, Glen Mulcahy, from Titanium Media, set out to demonstrate how delegates can maximise their mobile devices and turn them into video production suites with #MoJo (Mobile Journalism).
“Think, if you will, of your mobile device as a Swiss Army Knife” said Glen.
Firstly, Glen demonstrated the potential of mobile cameras by showing footage from Steven Soderbergh’s new Netflix production, High Flying Bird, that was shot on iPhone. It looks absolutely stunning and it becomes quickly obvious that if cameras are used correctly and creatively it is possible to make something brilliant.
So how is that achieved? Glen discussed the importance of good composition. He says “A nine month old can take a video on a mobile device, so we can do a bit better, right?”. By following compositional techniques such as ‘Leading Lines’, ‘Rule of Thirds’, ‘Close-ups’ and ‘Symmetry’, delegates can create visually pleasing and professional-looking shots.
Glen went on to explain that it’s not all about maximising video either. He discusses the option of using mobile devices as a viable alternative to Marantz and other field recorders, with the aid of specialised audio recording apps and microphones such as the Sennheiser HandMic Digital. On top of this, the roll-out of 5G across Europe will make outside broadcast, from mobile back to studio, much more realistic thanks to Network Slicing, a function that allows the purchase of guaranteed bandwidth, ahead of time, to help avoid drop-out.
An enormous masterclass with a plethora of clever mobile and video trickery, delegates walked away with a ludicrous amount of easy ways to improve their video content on very little budget.
Glen leaves us with this: “After ten years of mobile evolution, smart phones have finally transcended the limits of broadcast.”
