YouReportTV is your personal news network; we created the platform so you could tell the world YOUR story. However, we thought is might be useful for you if we offered some tips on what to think about when putting your reports together... we hope it helps

Include the basics

Tell the world Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. It needs to be true, and try and be as fair as you can

Connect

You care about your story, It's your job to make people realise why they should care

Speak plain English

You may be an expert on a particular subject, but everyone else may not be - so steer clear from jargon as much as possible. If people want detail they will let you know

Pace

All the best stories have a pace to them, try and build some into yours. Use narrative, quotes, natural sound where possible

Emotion

People want to feel that you care about your story; otherwise there is no reason for them to care. Emotion helps us understand one another and its as natural as breathing - don't be afraid to show your emotion

The path to truth

When editing a video, include a photo gallery and perhaps a text story. These help to show the key details, the most important bits and how they are connected.

Following these basic guidelines will go a long way to helping you contribute compelling reports.

Enjoy!

Look at the Background

Regular old plain backgrounds will normally do the trick!
Avoid busy backgrounds

Steady Goes!

For a quality shoot, hold that baby steady
You could use a tripod, but if you don't have one, a steady elbow propped up against something will help.

Think About Your Story

What narrative will you use? You don't have to, but it adds professionalism
Think about what you're trying to get across
For a full story, try to use as many angles as possible.

The More the Merrier!

Take as many photos as you can, cameras nowadays, even mobile phones have loads of space.
Photos taken at on the spur of the moment can turn out great.

Close Up

Simple is best. Get the feeling behind the photo by getting as close as you can to the subject
Doesn't matter about the type of story, close ups always help

Off Centre

Instead of placing the subject centre of the frame, it's better to put it off centre in the frame
This way you will give the subject room to "breathe
Doing this will also add a "wow" factor to your photograph

Using Your Flash

Bouncing the flash off of a wall or ceiling or wall if can will give the photo a more professional feel.
If you camera has a shutter - lower the speed and try not to point directly at your subject
A tripod works best in situations where there isn't much light

Use the Foreground

Adding depth to the subject can be easily achieved by using the background
Elements such as a tree branch can help create a frame for your photos

Let There be Light

Firstly make sure you keep the Sun to your back
Think about the kind of natural light when shooting

By following these basic shooting techniques, you can make your videos more enjoyable to watch.

Ensure Proper Light

When shooting indoors, turn on all the lights in the room if possible. This will avoid graininess when your camera tries to brighten up the image. As a last resort, use an on-camera light, although it will give you a more "deer in the headlights" look compared to the natural beauty of multiple lamps.

When shooting outdoors, keep the sun above your subject, or to the side. This will prevent your subject from having to squint in the sunlight, or from having the background too bright.

Turn off the Auto-Iris

The iris is what controls the amount of light coming into the camera. Normally this is set to be automatic, so you don't have to think about it.

But these results in the video image being brightened and darkened constantly as you pan between subjects, or having your subject darkened to where you can't see it because you had a bright window behind them. If you camera has the option of using manual exposure, be sure to turn it to manual so it stays even.

Avoid Zooming

Walk in close (within 5 ft.) to your subject whenever possible and avoid zooming, which makes your image shaky and obscures the field of view around your subject. Plus you continue to lose light as you zoom in.

If you're shooting people or children, a close up of them while you're completely zoomed out seems as if you're right there next to them, not some distant stranger trying to peek in. Furthermore, your audio will be much louder, cleaner, and tighter when you shoot close up to your subjects.

Frame your Subject Properly

Now that you've got the camera close up to your baby in the walker, now frame the shot where the head is NOT in the centre of the viewfinder all the time.

Always try to put the back of their head near the edge of the viewfinder. This is a much more pleasing picture to watch, instead of having faces bumped up against the edge of the screen.

Overshoot, then Edit Later

You will get far more memorable moments on camera if the camera is actually recording compared to when it is turned off. So overshoot constantly even if nothing seems like it's happening, because eventually it will!

Go back later and edit out the slow stuff. If it seems too tedious or too expensive to invest in all that tape stock, consider upgrading to a non-tape camera, such as a DVD recorder, hard drive recorder, or even a good digital still camera can shoot decent full screen video and record it to a memory card. This way you can record non-stop and delete the boring scenes instantly.