Lessons learned in 360 video from a New York Times contributor
Two days after a deadly tornado ripped through Hattiesburg, Mississippi, photojournalist William Widmer was on the ground shooting for The New York Times, something he does often.
The difference this time was Widmer was not only making still images of the aftermath but also capturing the scene with 360 video.
Widmer’s video is part of an initiative by The Times to publish a 360 video each day, called The Daily 360.
Having freelanced for The Times since 2010, Widmer was invited to join the ranks of journalists — both staff and contributors — producing content for The Daily 360.
“I actually think that the Daily 360 sort of model — which is just little blips or vignettes into interesting scenes — is kind of perfect for me because they’re a little lighter,” Widmer told me during a phone interview.
“It’s not necessarily the full story, but it’s kind of an interesting view into something most people don’t get to see,” he said.
So in addition to his familiar Canon EOS 5D DSLRs, Widmer, who is based near New Orleans, was supplied with two Samsung Gear 360 cameras and an accompanying Samsung Galaxy phone with which to control them.
“I’d had preliminary conversations with the editor about it and gone over sort of like the 101 how-to guide and watched some other successful projects that they worked on, and then the tornado came and I went up there on pretty short notice,” he said.
When the video opens, the viewer is in the middle of rubble that was once a family’s home.
From the camera’s perspective the viewer is presented with a scene of destruction wherever they look: Trees have been stripped bare, wood paneling is strewn across the ground, and a concrete foundation is littered with an assortment of possessions.
While the video is brief — the three clips last just over a minute in total — it’s able to achieve something still photographs and words can’t: It gives viewers unfettered access to explore an area upended by natural disaster.
Because 360 video doesn’t allow the photographer to dictate to the viewer which direction they may look, the audience can have a much more immersive experience than if they were viewing standard video or photographs.
Being able to witness the entire scene at the moment those affected by the storm comb through the wreckage of their home has the effect of eliciting a level of empathy arguably not attainable with text, flat video or photographs.
With nothing more than that basic introduction to 360 video, Widmer drove the two hours north to find what he said was ground zero for the tornado.
When he got to work documenting the aftermath of the storm, Widmer realized his subjects didn’t need any direction on what to do other than to just ignore the camera as they went about their work.
“Kind of universally everybody got it. Whether they’d seen a 360 video [or not], they were like ‘Cool, we’re glad you’re here,’” he said.
Widmer said mostly he just reacted to what he saw happening in front of him. When he noticed a man going in and out of the house several times to gather salvageable items, he placed a camera in the middle of a room the man was passing through.
The result is the second clip, which provides an effective transition with the man entering and exiting the scene, while also offering a complex set of things to look at — particularly the lack of a roof.
The Times, he said, generally instructs their journalists to exit the camera’s view unless there is good reason to be on screen.
So except for the two pieces of text that identify the location and the people in the scene, there is no additional background information for the viewer, which places the video in the category of ancillary rather than narrative.
The Times editors would have incorporated a voiceover had he provided one, Widmer said. But the logistical hurdles associated with transferring several gigabytes of footage as well as the looming deadline for turning around breaking news meant there wasn’t time for it.
During a December Inside The Times podcast panel discussion, Marcelle Hopkins, executive producer for 360 news at The New York Times, discussed what they’re looking for in the short VR videos that make up The Daily 360.
“I would say 90 to 95 percent of the time [traditional] video can probably do it better,” she said. “But there are those instances VR and 360 video actually adds something. And those are cases where the place is really important.
“The place is almost a character,” she said. “And if we can take people to that place through VR, then we want to be able to do that.”
During that first 360 assignment, Widmer had to balance several technical priorities, the first being where to aim the camera, he said.
He found that aiming the stitch point toward the light source ensured a better exposure than having only one lens face the light source.
But that technique can cause problems with other best practices — such as how you generally want to avoid having your subject cross through a stitch point if they’re too close to the camera, which causes distortion of the subject as they pass between lenses.
“I have a better idea of maybe how to produce this next piece because I’ve done it once,” he said.
“I learned a ton that first day on a very short timeline,” he said. “But that was the very first time, so I think the learning curve tapers a little bit, I suspect.
“Having done it even just one time, I can see the potential is there,” he said.
“And I’ll get more articulate with the technology and worry about it a little less, and that’s when the real effective work can take place.”
