Developing video news stories that hit the right notes

Take a moment to read this line - "And therefore, you have landfill sites which are higher than mountains." Now, close your eyes for a few seconds and try to visualise a landfill which is taller than a mountain.?

To imagine a landfill site 'higher than mountains', without a visual reference is probably tricky. However, by just watching the initial few seconds of this video about the Bandhwari landfill site near Delhi, you will instantly get an idea about how big a waste mountain is and also understand how easily the visual medium can communicate a complex message.

Such is the power of video storytelling. "Show, not tell", is what they?call it.?

"The ‘show-not-tell’ approach is really powerful and often sticks in a viewer's mind more than the narration or interviews."?- Kartik Chandramouli, Senior Digital Editor, Mongabay-India.

As an environmental news reporting platform, Mongabay-India has leveraged the power of visual storytelling and videos play an important role in it. The approach of "show, not tell", has enabled us to report on various complex news reports in a manner that our audience can grasp in multiple visual formats.?

To understand more about how visual storytelling can work to tell environment news stories, I spoke with Kartik Chandramouli and Hagen Desa from Mongabay-India's video team.?

"Our videos engage viewers by making environmental issues accessible and relatable. They also serve as crucial documentation, providing tangible evidence of biodiversity threats for journalists, researchers, and policymakers."-?Hagen?Desa, Video Production Coordinator, Mongabay-India.?

While it's crucial to make videos emotionally relatable, Hagen emphasises that it's necessary to avoid using sensational visuals, language, or exaggerated facts to evoke an emotional response.?

"A story should adhere to factual accuracy rather than relying on sensationalism. Maintaining credibility with factual videos ensures trust and upholds journalistic integrity in the long-term."-?Hagen?Desa

Videos help simplify complex environmental issues, but video journalists must not oversimplify a topic to fit popular narratives or to arrive at a conclusion for the sake of it, Kartik explains.

"Doing that in a video is tempting because it might fit a script well and make the narration seem logical, but it's dangerous."- Kartik Chandramouli

How to ensure that a video hits the right notes

Typically, a video news story follows a standard process: Planning >?Reporting >?Filming > Sourcing >?Scripting >?Script editing > Video editing > Video reviews > Publishing

During the filming stage, the reporter must provide the context of the video to the subjects. Kartik suggests that it is a good practice to film interviews by explaining context and intent to the interviewee.? Another crucial yet tedious step is transcribing all the relevant interviews. This step helps find parts that can be used in the script but also fully understand the context in which a response was given.?

"It's a personal and an organisational practice at Mongabay-India, to have a paper script (the whole video script written down in a document) close to what you have in mind for the final video edit. When in text, it helps us to see if the story is missing linkages or evidence. Directly producing something visual and watching interviews can make us overlook gaps."- Kartik Chandramouli

Hagen explains that upon receiving a pitch from a journalist, he first identifies unexplored angles and potential story improvements. Brainstorming with reporters and editors during this stage deepens the narrative's impact and relevance, he adds.?

"Depending on the story, we develop a narration that guides viewers through key points and provides context. This narration helps the transition between interviews, and enhances the overall coherence of the story."- Hagen Desa

In addition, identifying the key characters plays a vital role in humanising the story, explains Hagen.?

"We focus on identifying compelling individuals whose experiences can resonate with viewers, making the content relatable and compelling."- Hagen Desa

While the points mentioned above make the script engaging, fact-checking is also an important part of the video production process.?Fact-checking is a default part of any video story and it is, by default, the reporter’s task while reporting, explains Kartik. Treating video journalism as journalism can also be the difference between a good video news report and a bad one.?

"An interview byte cannot always be treated as evidence. If someone says that climate change caused a flood in a particular village, it ?cannot be considered a fact, because it's difficult to attribute specific extreme weather events to climate change alone. Or if someone says a species has become locally extinct, it cannot be translated into a fact, unless there’s published scientific work."?- Kartik Chandramouli

The motivations that drive the video editors

Hagen is fascinated by the creative process itself—the choices and decisions involved in collaborating with contributors on a script or video editing.

"Crafting a narrative and selecting visuals are opportunities in which?each choice reflects personal?biases. Confronting and navigating these biases is the most engaging aspect of my work."?- Hagen Desa

For Kartik, the opportunity to interact with creative individuals from all over the country who have important stories to tell and are passionate about sharing them, is a motivating factor to work in video production.?

"As an experiment, we worked with an illustrator/animator and a writer to produce animated films on human-animal interactions. One of the films on crocodiles living close to human settlements in Charotar, Gujarat, was creative in its execution but highlighted some nuances of the situation - the human-animal relationship there cannot be romanticised or taken for granted."?- Kartik Chandramouli

At Mongabay-India there is a constant push to include diverse and credible voices in videos to present information.?

"Collaborations with the film festival ALT EFF has helped us work with filmmakers and video storytellers to make journalistic videos on lesser-known topics and take our stories to a newer audience. Another ongoing collaboration with the Marathi news platform, Baimanus, helps us produce stories in regional languages and then translate those hyper-local stories for a national and global audience."?- Kartik Chandramouli

It is also a rewarding experience when our videos are played in schools and colleges, adds Kartik.

"When approaching a video, our focus isn't solely on achieving impact. Instead, our aim is to educate or provide previously inaccessible information on the topic."?- Hagen Desa

An impact from a video arises from various factors and often evolves over time rather than being immediate. It's a culmination of factors and efforts that may eventually lead to significant outcomes, says Hagen.

Learn more about?India's landscapes, lesser-known species, climate action plans?and more,?here !?

In the next edition of Mongabay-India Specials, we take you through the rigorous copy editing process behind our stories. This process helps you access the most accurate environmental news. Learn the tricks of the trade from our copy editing team!

Thank you,

Saumitra Shinde , Social-Media Coordinator, Mongabay-India

PS:?Feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions to [email protected] , and don't forget to share this edition of Mongabay-India Specials with your friends, family, and peers!