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Robb MontgomeryThe Smartphone Newsroom
Cardiﬁcation" of
news is a standard
story form
expectation for
mobile consumers.
And they expect to
be able to interact
with the information
in smart ways.
MSNBC Spectra Visual Newsreader

(T

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Story cards
Vertical presentation of
stories and information
that take advantage of
high quality screens in
the hands of mobile
consumers

I
Swipeable
Streamable
Visually-led

Consumers are “Mobile First”
“While mobile is often referred to as
the second screen, the reality is that
smartphones are really the ﬁrst
screen among connected consumers.
They are always within reach.
They are the ﬁrst place consumers go
to communicate, research and share.”
B. Solis ⁄ Ad Age

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Content moves  
to where audiences gather
Snap Chat Discover

Ask yourself: What
does a mobile
consumer expect from
a typical story? Mobile
news and information
consumers expect
frictionless
engagement with
content.

There is a design
language for mobile

Mobile is not a bolt-on service
“If publishers and marketers are going
to succeed with mobile, they will have
to adapt to the notiﬁcation, alert,
subscription, and personalization
behaviors that only purpose-built
mobile-only can deliver.”
- Robb Montgomery

The news of now

Ijf15 The smartphone newsroom - Robb Montgomery

Vertical video
Split the screen to show
multiple angles.
“Literally, can’t even”  
on Snapchat

Vertical video
You can hack the display
to provide multiple
windows to content.

x
Vertical video
Reduce the motion in
vertical video to keep
your viewers from
vomiting.

x
Vertical video
Let events unfold in
front of the camera.
Best if any motion is
small in relation to the
full frame.

Vertical video
Smooth motion is best.
Focus on unique visuals
that surprise and
reward the viewer.

Th
30 seconds
Can you tell a story  
in 30 seconds?

Robb MontgomerySmart Film School
Cut a 30-second video and upload from the camera roll to Twitter in widescreen.

Robb MontgomeryMake Smartphone Video Like a Pro Robb Montgomery
One reporter,
one iPad, one story.

Bicycle cam!

x
Multimedia report
30 second video clips
Text
Photo galleries
bitly.com/berlin-thing

If
Storehouse + Twitter
By posting an image with a
Tweet, my Storehouse story
became a story card that
was widely shared.

bitly.com/berlin-thing

News story
Sequences
Shot sizes
Patterns
Sound bites
Narration
Script
Performance
Natural sounds
Graphics
Titles
Branding

Press conference soundbites captured with Android smartphone..

Make Smartphone Video Like a Pro Robb Montgomery
What storytellers need to know
Master the shot patterns
and sizes that build visual
sequences.
Discover how to get great
soundbites and work with
interview subjects.
Improve story planning,
script writing and on-
camera pieces.
Produce all of the elements
with an iPad or iPhone.

MOJO gear
IPhone 6+
UnigripPro mount
Luxpad 22 lamp
K&M desktop stand
Miniball head
Powerbank
Shotgun mic w/ dead cat
iRig Pro preamp

What sequences do
Compress time
Create suspense
Change location
Introduce new idea
Introduce new subject
Show a process

Gathering interview sound bites
Stability
Shot size
Background
Framing
Eye level
Angles
Lighting
Microphones
Questions
Responses

Log and capture
Best soundbites
Best shots
Best sounds
Most compelling facts

Transform
the clips into
a “shot list”

Establish scene
Sequence
Witness
Cutaway
Expert
Summary

Robb Montgomery
smartfilmschool.com
A MOJO school in your pocket.

Robb Montgomery
Self-directed courses can be
taken in as little as 45 minutes.
Structured learning makes it
easy to ﬁnd and focus on the
tasks at hand.
The lessons are always on
your phone.

These new
courses are being
used to train
correspondents
at CNN and  
The New York
Times in mobile
storytelling
methods.

Robb Montgomery
The Smart Film School is a collection of certificate courses that teach filmmaking,
video journalism, content marketing and mobile journalism to professionals.
Course packs with lessons in:
Mobile filming and editing fundamentals
Multimedia stories and apps
Video content marketing
Gear and apps for mobile journalism
Mobile reporting methods
Interview techniques
Script writing
Narration and piece-to camera
Multimedia content creation
Story planning and scripting
Video editing

Robb Montgomery
Design your own course
We have several clients who are choosing to build their
own courses from our library of more than 125 lessons.
Site license pricing makes your custom training program
affordable.

Retooling the newsroom

If many of your reporters are able to work in the ﬁeld,  
then who should be working in the newsroom?
• Editors
• Producers
• Social media teams
• Curators
• Designers
• Developers
• Data teams
• Writers
• Mobile rewrite desk
• Video editors
• Audience researchers
• Video graphics
• Picture editors
• Video presenters/ hosts
• Studio staff
• Event staff
The S.M.A.R.T. Media Lab is built for mobile production.

S.M.A.R.T. media lab
The ‘mobile-ﬁrst’ newsroom

bitly.com/smartmedialab

The MOJO pyramid
Three levels of mobile reporting
VJs
Specialists
Generalists

The MOJO pyramid
VJs
Specialists
Generalists
VJs - Highly skilled, solo ﬁeld
reporters with specialized gear
and the most demanding
assignments.
Specialists - Dedicated to
producing one story form  
at professional level with
dedicated gear.
Generalists - Field reporters
producing a range of
multimedia assets using
common mobile devices.
By Robb Montgomery

The MOJO pyramid
VJs
Specialists
Generalists
Video journalists are the
James Bond of MOJOs.
They have all the skills and can
function by themselves.
VJs can shoot, report, write,
edit and ﬁle from anywhere.
VJ’s use a range of lightweight,
high quality devices and
accessories to deliver ﬁnished
packages with high production
values.

The MOJO pyramid
VJs
Specialists
Generalists
VJs can file in-depth, original
films, reporter’s notebooks,
behind the scenes, and social
media updates to keep an
audience glued to the
subjects they are there to
document.
They can be parachuted into
conflicts like BILD and RTE
Ireland do with theirVJs.
@Claas_Weinmann
@philipbromwell

Turkey’s SOMA mine disaster by
@Claas_Weinmann for BILD. de
http://strh.se/WlTe

First, some questions
How do we plan coverage?
What assignments make sense?
How do we plan ‘swarming’
scenarios for our ﬁeld
reporters?
What goals should we set for
mobile reporting?
What expertise do we look
for in new recruits?
What new knowledge do
chief editors need  
to have?

Story planning
What will be the best way to tell
this story?
What am I trying to produce
with a mobile phone?
What materials or media do I
need to ﬁle?
What multimedia story elements
will I need?
What story forms am I best at?
Can I or should I do all this
myself or . . .
. . . . Should I be working with a
colleague?
Am I seeking visual
answers to story
questions?

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Ijf15 The smartphone newsroom - Robb Montgomery

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Ijf15 The smartphone newsroom - Robb Montgomery