What Newsroom Staff Ask Us Before Booking Camera Technique Training

The question behind most enquiries

When newsroom managers ring about our camera technique sessions, the question is nearly always the same: will a short session really change what comes back from the field? It is a fair thing to ask. Training days have a reputation for being pleasant, general and forgotten by the following week.

Our sessions are built differently. They are short, they concentrate on framing, lighting and sound for fast-moving news stories, and they use the kind of kit your staff already carry. Nobody is asked to learn film-school theory. The aim is that a reporter or producer who has never had a camera course leaves able to get usable pictures and clean audio when a story breaks and no operator is free.

I handle bookings and scheduling here at dupyra, so I hear these questions before anyone else does. What follows are the answers I give most often, set out the way I would explain them on the phone, with a little more detail than a call allows.

Who the sessions suit

Most of the people who attend are not camera operators. They are reporters who also shoot, producers who sometimes cover a story alone, and junior staff who have been handed a camera with a few minutes of instruction. Occasionally an experienced operator joins to refresh habits that have drifted, and that works well too.

Group size matters more than experience. We prefer small groups so that everyone gets time behind the camera and feedback on their own shots. If your team is larger, we suggest splitting it across two sessions rather than crowding one. Callum Reid, our lead camera operator, leads the practical work, because he films breaking stories on location and teaches from what actually goes wrong there.

If you are unsure whether a particular colleague would benefit, tell us what they currently shoot and what problems you see in their footage. We will say honestly whether a session is the right fit or whether another kind of support would help more.

• Reporters who film their own stories
• Producers covering a shoot without an operator
• Newer staff who have had little formal instruction

What a session actually covers

Three subjects carry the day: framing, lighting and sound. On framing, we work on the basic shot types a bulletin edit needs, how to hold a steady picture without a tripod when there is no time to set one up, and how to leave room for graphics and cutaways. These are small habits, and they decide whether an editor can use the material.

Lighting comes next. Autumn and winter shooting means short days, low sun and poorly lit exteriors, so we spend time on reading available light, positioning a subject, and when a small portable light helps rather than hurts. Sound gets the most attention of the three, because poor audio is the fault editors find hardest to repair.

Every exercise is tied to a realistic news situation, such as a roadside statement, a crowded hall or a wet car park. Participants shoot, review on a monitor with us, and shoot again, so the correction is seen immediately rather than described.

• Shot types and steady handheld technique
• Reading and improving available light
• Microphone placement and monitoring with headphones

How long it takes and where it happens

The sessions are short by design. Most newsrooms cannot release staff for days, so we shape the content to fit a block of time that does not empty the desk. The exact length depends on how many topics you want covered and how many people attend, and we agree it with you in writing before anything is booked.

We can run a session at your premises, which is usually the easiest for staff, or arrange it from our base in Stirling. Working in your own building has a real advantage: people practise in the corridors, car park and meeting rooms they actually know, and we can look at the kit they use every week.

We travel across Scotland and the north of England for this. Travel is part of the quotation, not a surprise afterwards, and Duncan, which is to say me, will confirm what is included once we know the location and group size.

What to prepare beforehand

A little preparation makes the time more useful. Please bring the cameras, microphones and tripods your staff normally use, even if they are modest. Training on equipment people will not touch again is a poor use of an afternoon, and we would rather work with what you have than bring our own and leave you with habits that do not transfer.

It also helps to send us a few clips of recent footage, with a note of what concerned you. A shaky interview, muffled sound or a flat, grey exterior tells us where to spend the time. We treat these clips as working material for the session and nothing more.

Finally, tell us the sort of stories your team shoots alone. A courts reporter, a transport correspondent and a features producer face different conditions, and the exercises are better when they reflect the real ones. A short call with us before the day is normally enough to settle all of this.

• Your usual cameras, microphones and tripods
• A few clips of recent footage and your concerns
• A note of the stories staff typically cover alone

What changes afterwards, and what does not

We are careful not to promise more than a short session can deliver. Staff will not become full-time operators in a morning. What usually changes is the baseline: steadier shots, fewer ruined interviews, more attention to sound, and a better sense of when a story needs a proper crew rather than a quick phone call to nobody.

That last point matters. Part of good technique is knowing its limits. If a story is developing quickly or needs live pictures, our breaking news crews and rapid editing are there for that, and the training is meant to complement them, not replace them.

Editors tend to notice the difference first, because the footage that reaches the edit needs less rescue. We do not claim a figure for that improvement. The best test is simple: look at the material before the session and a few weeks after it, and judge for yourself.