September 2010
For members of the PA/VI community
Introduction: In an effort to remain focused on the visual media environment, we are pleased to introduce the inaugural “Imagery Insider,” an exclusive publication from Navy Visual News Service. The Imagery Insider is designed with unique and exciting content, including the latest in technology information, tips and tricks for success and more. Our goal is to keep you informed while helping you tell the Navy’s story, one image at a time.
Photo by MC3 Adam K. Thomas
HOW Spirit ~ ~ wa s s e e n b y m i l l i o n s INVINCIBLE
by Lt. Cmdr. Dave Hecht
To quote from the Maritime Strategy, “Mindful of the sovereignty of other nations, [Forward Presence]...contributes to effective responses in the event of crisis.” “Operation Invincible Spirit,” held between the navies of South Korea and the United States, exemplifies the strategies that help prevent wars through deterrence, forward deployment and sea control. MCs aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73) played an important role in that strategy. As GW’s new PAO and a big believer in “failing to plan is planning to fail,” my chiefs, MCC John Harrington and MCC Mike Kennedy, coordinated our coverage of the exercise. We nailed down the exercise’s schedule and assigned our team to the most important stories while identifying in advance the images we needed to shoot and distribute immediately to Navy Visual News Service (NVNS) – still and video. The night before pulling into Busan, we went over the game plan. It was important to stress that there was significant media interest in this exercise and Navy imagery would help tell that story if we stuck to our game plan. I wanted our products out the door first. If you’re first, you own the navyvisualnews@navy.mil 703.614.9154
message. MC3 Anthony Martinez was my videographer in the air. When GW pulled into Busan and sailed out in formation with ROK ships, his aerial b-roll was picked up by CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and countless broadcast outlets back home and around the globe. MC3 Adam Thomas, famous for his bow shot of GW with Mount Fuji in the background, was shooting still photos from a helo. Even with competing media embarked, his imagery appeared on front pages around the world, including the Wall Street Journal, which has a circulation of over two million. News releases were being written by MC3 Devon Dow. Daily News Updates were being put together by MC2 Ian Anderson and MC3 Michael Mulcare, while MC1 James Kimber, MCSN Cheryl Callihan and MC3 Danielle Brandt were busy behind the scenes supporting high level DV embarks that included the South Korean Chief of Naval Operations, Flotilla Commanders and local politicians. The biggest obstacle for my team as well as the embarked media turned out to be something we deal with frequently: limited AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
transmission capabilities. Uploading photos took a painfully long time, but timeliness was critical, so we increased compression with still photos and delivered video in 45-second chunks. Even then, the process took hours. Live interviews done by phone were problematic at best. Despite the adversity, print stories were sent, photos were submitted and video was fed. It took a lot of patience and persistence, a few curse words [sorry mom], but Invincible Spirit was successfully reported around the world. Our MCs aboard USS George Washington helped make that happen. At last count, more than 4,000 stories ran in the print and broadcast media. Planning, Planning, Planning: Prepare in advance by working with your operations branch to lock down the schedule of events and needed helo support. Assign imagery tasks for specific release to the media, and put on the release fast track in anticipation of common transmission restrictions. Think External First: The products we produce are not exclusively internal – just the opposite. Any well placed Navy visual moved as a priority can reach millions of viewers in commercial venues around the world, but the key is timeliness. Multinational concerns: Make sure the entire team is clear on the specifics of published PAG, so host nation sensitivities are fully understood and reflect in released products.
Wall Street Journal July 26, 2010
OUTTAKES by Oscar Sosa
MC’s frequently submit hangar bay photos to NVNS. The photographers properly compose the subject and set the camera and flash for the foreground, but underexpose the background, reducing the quality of the photo. The top photo was taken at F/13 @ 250 sec. with direct flash. The subject is properly exposed, but the background is so underexposed the photo lacks depth and the direct flash produces harsh lighting. A better way to shoot this scene with an oncamera flash would be to open the aperture to F/4 or F/5.6 and slow the shutter to a 60th or a 90th of a second. Set the flash to TTL and reduce the output by 1 1/2 stops. These settings will produce a properly exposed foreground and background, filling in shadows, and reducing the harshness of direct flash. Under most conditions, you may not need a flash during the day in a hangar bay. In the example at bottom, the photographer turned off the flash and used available light by resetting the camera to F/5.0 @ 80th sec. to photograph the same scene. The result is a well composed, nicely lit image that clearly shows a Sailor working environment.
Directors Corner
As much as I embrace the social media environment as a remarkable communication tool, to be really effective we need to continue our efforts by diversifying the way we communicate; in broadcast, online, in print, on the web, internal and external. Navy Imagery Insider is intended to be an information resource to complement the many other ways we collaborate within our community. Each edition will contain helpful tips and policy reminders, best practices, upcoming events of interest, new industry innovations, and more. With each edition we hope to spotlight one of our MCs, giving them an opportunity to talk about their experiences in the field ashore and afloat. We are busy telling everyone else’s story, let’s talk about own experiences for a change. We intend to make this product available in multiple formats both portable and on-line. Please send us your ideas and feedback.
“A public affairs team of only people who deal with the print press makes no sense, just like a public affairs team of just people doing Twitter makes no sense. The key is to understand what can be done with each of those tools and figure out what the best combination is to achieve a particular goal” Douglas Wilson, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Washington Post, August 26, 2010.
SOCIALMEDIA Industry and PR professionals all agree; reality sells. We’re soliciting help from the fleet to develop a sustainable media product for social media sites (SMS) with the least amount of burden, and the most return on your investment of time. The goal is to produce a two minute video which can be used for both SMS and to gradually improve the file video holdings for the Navy. NVNS will ensure products are posted on the Navy’s Facebook™ page, and archived for documentaries, media markets and DOD/DON project support. New video is in ever-increasing demand to better reflect the new uniforms and equipment changes established over the last two years. Here are the details: We are looking for product that is two straight minutes of uncontrolled action,
focused on just one person, or a two-minute natural-sound story where the subject tells the story (not a voice over). That’s it, nothing else, just simple and powerful storytelling content. Neither video should contain any effects (audio fades are okay), and each shot must be at least 10 seconds between scene changes to hold interest and flow smoothly. When dealing with natural sound, look for multiple shots which show a sequence: wide, medium, close up and extreme close up. Try to capture good crisp ambient audio such as the ship’s whistle, the sound of boots hitting the deck, tools grinding, water splashing, etc. There should be a definitive beginning, middle and end. One suggestion is to start out with a working interview where the
subject says something like “I’m Chief John Jones and I’m a firefighting instructor aboard…” Then move to some training scenes which include the chief. This is followed by semi-planned audio of the chief saying something like “You need to come here ready, ready for anything.” Finally show more training-video sequences ending with a quote like “We get them ready for the unimaginable.” Be sure to include all prime-cuts for increased marketing by NVNS. Of course this is just an example. You know your people and environment better than anyone. All we ask is that you keep it as simple as possible. That is what our viewers want: simple, clean, honest video of our Sailors.
DIRECTOR
Contributors
LAYOUT/ART DIRECTOR
by NVNS Staff
EDITORIAL Editor Assitant Editor navyvisualnews@navy.mil 703.614.9154
Christopher Madden Kristina Miller Jessica Faller
Oscar Sosa Damon Moritz Lt. Cmdr. Dave Hecht MC2 Justin Stumberg MC2 Drew Geraci
AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
MC2 Jay Chu
Navy Office of Information Pentagon RM4B514 Washington, D.C. 20350-1200 Office: 703-614-9154 DSN: 224
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There’s always time for experimenting by MC2 Drew Geraci, DMA
The word ‘experimenting’ can sound like a dangerous term to a supervisor or a person in a leadership position. Rest assured it’s not. I find myself constantly trying new photographic and video techniques as a Mass Communication Specialist. These specific techniques aren’t necessarily new to the craft, but they are new to many of our products. One thing I’ve started doing more is shooting time-lapses. They can be so elegant, telling a very unique story one frame at a time. Before I shoot a time lapse, I make sure I have three things; my HD DSLR, a sturdy tripod and a remote timer. You don’t need a fancy camera to put together a time-lapse. You just need to make sure your camera has ‘interval timing.’ Many of your semi-pro cameras come with this function but if they don’t, you can always buy a remote timer for a reasonable price on the internet. I’ve also learned that it’s important to enable the ‘mirror lockup’ function on the camera. This will reduce the amount of movement and vibration created by the up and down motion of the camera’s mirror. From here, I let my imagination take over. A few basic steps for creating a timelapse image set:
ONASSIGNMENT during any part of the day, for any number of reasons. They can be used to show motion, an evolution or a process. The best example of a time-lapse I’ve seen in our career field was shot by U.S.M.C. Sgt. Andrew J. Carlson. He showed the process of a Naval Academy graduation. It was quite spectacular to see a completely empty stadium be filled with thousands of people in only a few seconds. This is the whole reason behind a timelapse. We want to show an expansion of time that would normally move too slowly for us to see. Then we condense it into a timeframe of only a few seconds or minutes. I think there are so many wonderful things in our daily life that could be enhanced by a time-lapse and I hope more people experiment with it. Why not show ship’s movement from the pier to sea, or air operations on the flight deck. Hell, even training in a classroom could yield an interesting composition if sped up. So I say, experiment.
1. Choose the subject carefully (look for subjects that evolve or devolve over a period of time) Understand that you have to commit time to this project. 2. Determine the appropriate interval for the images. Length of the evolution, length of proposed video and amount of change over a given period are the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GyfprfXndo important considerations. http://www.navy.mil/media/multimedia/usna/ 3. Shoot the still photos. Set your camera usna2009.htm for manual white balance and shoot jpegs. The intervalometer is absolutely key. 4. Edit the photos in Photoshop using the is soliciting candidates to same settings and sizes for each image attend its 10 day Essential Skills Courses (continuity is everything) 5. Assemble the photos in a video editing (ESC). Upcoming dates are: suite. Add audio, titles, music and East credits to complete the production. Essential Skills Photography (ESP) 6. Export and review. 2010: OCT 4-15 7. Consider publishing all frames as a Essential Skills Writing (ESW) single photo-illustration (film strip) or as 2010: NOV 1-10 a flip book. Essential Skills Video (ESV) My favorite time to shoot a time-lapse is 2010: NOV 30 - DEC 11 in the evening. There is something about showing the glowing streaks of traffic or West the setting sun in a sped up sequence that Essential Skills Photography (ESP) really excites me. The great thing about 2011: MAR 7-18, JUL 18-29 time-lapses though, is that they can be done
NPASE
navyvisualnews@navy.mil 703.614.9154
AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
Essential Skills Writing (ESW) 2010: OCT 18-29 2011: APR 4-15, AUG 15-26 Essential Skills Video (ESV) 2011: MAY 9-20, SEP 12-23 Essential Skills Editing (ESE) 2011: JUN 13-24, OCT 17-28 ESP, ESW and ESV are designed to strengthen today’s MCs in the basic skill sets of news writing, photography and video. ESE is designed to focus editing and transmission skills for print, still and motion media products, as well as media and visual information (VI) accessioning points. ESE is especially suited for E-5 to E-9 and officers in PA or Production quality-control roles. To request more information, and to request a student quota for one or more of the offered courses please phone or email: East
Lt. Gail Cline NPASE East Training Officer (757) 444-3082 DSN: 564 gail.cline@navy.mil MC1 Erik Hoffmann NPASE East Training Petty Officer (757) 444-7548 or (757) 322-1081 DSN: 564 erik.hoffmann@navy.mil
West
MCCS(SW/AW) Donnie W. Ryan NPASE West Training Officer/OPS LCPO donnie.ryan@navy.mil Training Department: (619) 545-3858 DSN: 735 MC2(SW/AW) Brandie Wills NPASE West Training Petty Officer brandie.wills@navy.mil Training Department: (619) 545-1180/3874 DSN: 735
Act quickly, seats are limited on a firstcome, first-served basis. 3
INSIDERPERSPECTIVE “Hey Stump, the Response Team has been activated. You’re catching a flight to Haiti in three hours.” This was the phone call that began my Haiti experience. Hindsight is a funny thing. Never do I feel the same way during an event that I do months after when I’m away and have had time to reflect. This was a perfect example. Leaving my pregnant fiancé to travel outside the U.S. was far from something, at the time, I would volunteer for. However, as I look back I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. My Combat Camera team arrived at the crowded Port-au-Prince International Airport the next night. I don’t know if it was the teeming frenzy of hundreds of people at the airport, or the fact that the day prior I was sitting on my couch playing video games, but I was eager to get out and shoot. After all, it was my responsibility to gather imagery … no matter what it was. Soon I would realize how difficult that statement is to live up to. Separating yourself from what you’re shooting is easy when your subject isn’t screaming because their right forearm was
amputated, or another service member weeps uncontrollably to you because they know firsthand the extent of human suffering. Traveling through downtown Port-auPrince was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Entire blocks completely leveled were alien to me. I’m used to neatly packaged suburban neighborhoods, not piles of rubble everywhere, trash heaps that block four streets, the foul smell of sewage and decaying bodies, or the way stray dogs and pigs rummage unnoticed through trash. The Haitian people are no strangers to poverty or hard times. Although it was foreign to me, a lot of the locals I spoke with said it was hard to tell what damage was from the earthquake and
what damage was already there. Our team lived out of the 3rd floor of the U.S. Embassy and had direct access to groups who were helping put Haiti back together. This allowed us to do what Combat Camera does best – embed with various teams and document whatever mission they choose to perform. I was able to document the L.A. Search and Rescue Team’s rescue of a Haitian woman who was trapped under crushing rubble for six days without food or water. I traveled with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to Haitian orphanages that took care of children who were left parentless from the earthquake. I witnessed how important the dedicated members of the New Jersey Disaster Medical Assistance Team were to trauma patients who needed urgent care. Deploying to Haiti was life-changing. The everyday things in my life such as running water, sewer and sanitation, and three square meals a day are things Haitians live without. I was touched by their resilience, optimism, and the fact they were just happy to be alive. Thank God I’m an American. Photo story by MC2 Justin Stumberg Combat Camera-Alantic
navyvisualnews@navy.mil 703.614.9154
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Where Imagery Goes by NVNS Staff The conventional belief is that all Navy video goes off to a black hole, and that no one wants this old imagery if it’s not news. In reality, the media, documentary producers, military briefers and community managers are demanding more and more video and still imagery for their productions. So, where do I go to find video, photos and press releases covering the U.S. Navy all day, every day, even when the staff is at home asleep? That was the single most important question the Navy’s Chief of Information’s (CHINFO) Visual News department (OI-7) wanted to solve. Today, OI-7 (a.k.a. Navy Visual News Service) manages and maintains a robust digital asset management system. This July, the system went through its third lifecycle refresh, and the site was rebranded from Media Lighthouse to a more direct and defined Navy Imagery (NI) server. “We wanted to find a name that clearly conveyed our meaning, message and mission,” said Damon Moritz, OI-7 video program manager. Three new Apple XServes with 12 GB of Ram each and 42 TB of fibre-attached storage round out the hardware improvements, but what is under the hood is just as important. MediaBeacon, the system’s manufacturer, recently adopted HTML 5 and the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) as its Web language to reflect the experience users expect with today’s technology. “We’re so impressed with what GWT has
brought to the table,” Moritz explained. “We can now develop customized interfaces to meet mission demands on the fly. It’s as easy as a right click to change a color or add a widget.” That process used to require a contract and months of planning. The Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise 2010 public affairs staff was the first fleet-level effort to experience the new interface. They used the NI server as a delivery mechanism, and it facilitated their work. Field videographers and photographers from every service documented RIMPAC and uploaded to NI. The RIMPAC public affairs officer and her staff then reviewed, edited and approved imagery for release in one co-located site. From there, OI-7 took the imagery, made it public and distributed it to the Defense Imagery Management Operation Center, Defense Media Activity-Anacostia and DVIDS. “We’ve been able to push media out so much faster using this tool than anything I’ve been involved with before,” said Mass Communication Specialist Senior Chief Patrick Sullivan, NPASE-W det. Hawaii. It was the seamless integration of acquisition, approval and delivery that made the effort manageable with staff in Hawaii and at OI-7 in the Pentagon. In addition to the ease of deployment for special missions, many of the newest features were added to help regular contributors. The upload tool now handles multiple files and even supports drag and drop. Each file uploads
separately to ensure that if the connection is dropped (ship turns), that the upload does not have to start back at zero. Fleet users are also able to caption their own video or photos when files are uploaded. It can be as easy as cut and paste to the contributor. That effort saves OI-7 time and speeds imagery out to customers. “We’re working on a whole host of new widgets and capabilities for the site,” explained Moritz, “such as distribution widgets and possibly moving the server to a cloud computing environment.” OI-7 has contracted with Microsoft to move the NI servers to the Windows Azure cloud-computing platform. This will mean faster uploads, downloads and more uniform connection speed worldwide. This increases information security as customers are no longer accessing a server on the Pentagon network. Instead they are accessing a copy located in a server farm at a remote site. This cloud based instance of the server ensures all of the imagery collected is backed up with one copy in the Pentagon and another in the cloud for continued operations in the event of a disaster or attack. ”And those are just the improvements we’re allowed to talk about today,” said Moritz. “There is a lot more in development and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
Photo by MC3 Dylan McCord
CIB=Combined Information Bureau DIMOC=Defense Imagery Management Operations Center DVIDS=Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System Media Lighthouse - Navy Imagery Server
navyvisualnews@navy.mil 703.614.9154
AMERICA’S NAVY: A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD
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LINKS to KNOW
1. Ted.com An Innovative website featuring “riveting talks from remarkable speakers” about ideas and concepts worth sharing. www.ted.com 2. Ready.gov A Government website for emergency preparation including natural disasters and terrorist attacks. www.ready.gov/
3. Light Stalking A Photography blog with a focus on “beautiful imagery and the photographers who produce it.” www.lightstalking.com 4. Digital Vault The official gallery for the National Archives, offering a hands-on experience to explore archived imagery. www.digitalvaults.org
Desperately Seeking...
Weather Imagery. Anything showing weather such as: aerographer’s mates, weather forecast centers, weather conditions affecting ships, shore stations and aircraft as well as preparations for inclement weather; doubling lines, etc. Video or timelapse photography of weather rolling in and weather measurement equipment. Navy Marine Mammals. Video and photos of working marine mammals, in training and on the job. From force protection dolphins and sea lions - how does the Navy deploy animals for Navy missions? Be sure to include their trainers or handlers, veterinary care, living environment, etc. For wider marketing potential, please provide HD format whenever practical, and check for other emergent request on the NVNS Facebook page and MCs Talk Shop.
5. National Press Photographer’s Association The official site for the NPPA, an association dedicated to the advancement of visual journalism. This site offers membership details, professional development and upcoming competitions. www.nppa.org/ 6. National Association of Photoshop Professionals The official site for the NAPP, an association dedicated to Photoshop professionals. The site includes membership details, tutorials, training tips, news, reviews, discounts and more. www.photoshopuser.com
related imagery, galleries, resources, networking opportunities and upcoming events. www.navyphoto.net 8. Poynter Online Training, Trends & Technology in the Media. www.poynter.org/
7. National Association of Naval Photographers Open to all active duty, retired and veteran photographers, this site includes Navy-
Events and Deadlines
AP Style Guide
1. Northwest Video Workshop Oct. 16, 2010 Seattle, Wash. nwvideoworkshop.org
Months: Capitalize the names of months in all uses. When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. Spell out when using alone, or with a year alone. When a phrase lists only a month and a year, do not separate the year with commas. When a phrase refers to a month day and year, set off the year with commas.
2. 2010 Interagency Visual media Group (IVMG) Conference Oct. 7, 2010, at Bolling Air Force base, Washington, D.C. Register at: ivmg@nro.mil (Name, Unit, PH#, email) 3. Photoshop World East March 30 - April 1, 2011 Orange County Convention Center Orlando, Fla. https://photoshopworld.com/register/ 4. National Association of Broadcasters April 9- April 14, 2011 Las Vegas, Nev. www.nabshow.com/2010/default.asp 5. Photoshop World West September 7-9, 2011 Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Las Vegas, Nev. https://photoshopworld.com/register/
EXAMPLES: January 1972 was a cold month. Jan. 2 was the coldest day of the month. His birthday is May 8. Feb. 14, 1987, was the target date. She testified that it was Friday, Dec. 3, when the accident occurred. In tabular material, use these three letter forms without a period: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.
All references to commercially available sites and services are provided for informational purposes only, without Department of the Navy endorsement.
navyvisualnews@navy.mil 703.614.9154
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