News gathering Video Technology and Guerilla Journalism!

Los Angeles, CA—Wherever you go in the City of Angeles doing news the paranoid public relations people and their security agents demand absolute control over anyone shooting video. The equipment to shoot quality video was cumbersome and difficult to move around without attracting loads attention. That’s changing faster than the speed of light. They can’t seem to repress the journalist with the notepad but ejecting cameras from most real estate has proven all too easy.

Today you can shoot very watchable video with quality iPhone cameras and a host of small camera choices. The somewhat new GoPro cameras are nothing short of incredible. I have two of them now; the Hero 3 and a Hero 3+ are in my video gathering arsenal.

Any day now and I will take delivery of a Blade 350 Quadcopter that will zip right past security guards, police and fire lines. It will instantly defeat even the tallest walls and fences to obtain exceptional HD GoPro camera video.

On the ground I’m looking for ways to conceal the little GoPro cameras so I can do interviews and get B-Roll without attracting any unwanted attention. I am learning to do low profile scene stand-ups guerrilla style. My goal is to get in and out of the scene before anyone knows I’ve gathered my needed video.

Quality audio is important so as you see I will rely on a Zoom H4N recorder with lavalier or shotgun microphones. As you can see below the onboard microphone does not cut the mustard! As a freelancer there are really no equipment limits as long as I can bag the story.

The tiny GoPro needs some stabilization when handheld and there are solutions in the way of small Steadcam type devices that can be obtained and employed.

Most mainstream news directors and editors are presently fumbling around with the lawyers, journalism ethics professors hoping to learn if they can embrace the technology for their own reporters and photographers. In the meantime I will go out and get the story!

The Blade 350 can be purchased from B&H Photo 1-800-221-5743

A 40 Caliber Nightmare Is Caught On Tape.

So you’re confident that that .40 caliber S&W service round will keep you safe. Maybe you’ll have second thoughts after you see this video. One hot summer night in 1994 Tempe and Mesa Arizona police were involved in a pursuit with this suspect who ran into a stranger’s apartment to hide after being shot TWICE in the chest. He was shirtless and you can see the blood pumping out of those two wounds. What’s really frightening is just how agile this fellow is as he struts to the ambulance. If he was not handcuffed and had a knife or a gun, ask yourself if he could still hurt you, your partner or a hostage? If your jurisdiction demands that officers carry either the 9MM or the .40 Caliber S&W it’s time to show this video to your bosses and lobby to have the .45 ACP round authorized. The switch may well reduce the screaming by self-appointed community activists about how many rounds police had to use on a suspect. The really talented and courageous video journalist, Karen Ke...

The origin of the feature film, COME FRIDAY…

CLick On the pictures to see full size versions. Long ago there was a young lady I had the hots for in a big way (Yes, I know that hots is not a word). She was pretty, incredibly bright, and had some real elegance about her. She had a love for children and basic kindness that you don’t often see in someone her age. I met her parents and could understand she came from a much more stable home than mine. I was raised by a single, welfare mom and suddenly found myself way out-classed. For whatever reasons things did not workout they way I had hoped. Sadly for me, we went on our separate ways. From time to time I’d run into this lady in various places where our job had taken us. Whenever this happened my heart would skip a beat or two. I left my hometown Chicago, and moved to Arizona where I founded my detective agency. As a private eye and soon a TV news producer too, my career took me to the highest profile criminal events in Arizona and throughout the country. There’s no question that ...

America Will See Its Worst Race Riot Yet This Summer

Star Prosecution Witness, Rachel Jeantel Sanford, FL —Yes, the George Zimmerman trial here has thousands of African-Americans getting ready for some serious bloodletting. I don’t want to make idle and dire predictions but this nation has never been so divided and racially sensitive. Our African-American President took sides on this case at the very beginning. That ratified a George Zimmerman guilty verdict in the minds of millions. There’s just one little problem, and that is the murder case should have never been filed. It was filed purely for political reasons despite the fact that it was a simple justifiable homicide. Zimmerman was on the block watch lookout program and followed a suspicious Trayvon Martin after he used an improper entrance to a gated community. Zimmerman was acting as the eyes and ears of the Sanford Police Department. Martin did not like being followed and knew that he could easily beat up the out-of-shape...

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