Stand up teases are meant to show your reporter is in the heart of the action. They prove they’re out in the community, actively searching for news, not waiting passively in the newsroom. Your stand up should whet the viewer’s appetite for an engaging location with neat stuff to see.
Step one is to avoid the “postcard” stand up shot. These stand ups are usually wide shots with either a building or a sign in the background. The reporter is in the foreground; something static and uninteresting is far in the distance. These shots are reminiscent of the standard Grand Canyon photo we all took on vacation as kids. While they may be framed nicely, they reveal that our reporter is miles from any kind of actual news. There is usually no one else in the shot, just a single reporter with picturesque architecture framed pristinely behind them. It is the antithesis of story involvement. If there’s something interesting going on inside that building, your reporter missed it. He has been banished to the front lawn.
The goal of a great stand up tease is to demonstrate and interact with the environment. Give viewers a firsthand tour of the action. That means the stand up should be more tight than wide. It should move, and as much as possible, give an interactive experience of the location.
1) Don’t wait until the end of the day.
Most reporters shoot their stand up tease AFTER they’ve shot the story. Instead, be on the lookout for the most visually interesting component throughout the day. A great stand up tease should be a part of the story process, not an afterthought. Help me understand the story by taking me right to the action. If you wait until the end of the day, odds are, you’ll be forced to stand in front of a building.
2) Give me a small taste of the specifics of the location.
What is interesting or visual about this story? Avoid the visual overview of the news location. Think tight instead of wide. When you arrive at the scene, take a moment to walk around the entire location. Do a 360 of the scene. Scout out visually interesting components and use those for your stand up tease.
3) Demonstrate and interact.
Instead of standing on the front lawn of the burgled home, take me down the alley and show me the window where the thief broke in. Instead of standing in front of the snow drift, grab a big handful and throw a snowball. Show exactly where the action took place. Recreate the action for me. If you find yourself standing in one place without moving, you probably missed an opportunity. Concentrate on specific components of the story instead of describing an overview of the location.
More Stand up teasing tips next week….
Graeme Newell is a broadcast and web marketing specialist who serves as the president and founder of 602 communications. You can reach Graeme at gnewell@602commu nications.com.