Staging video...

MinLo (I don't put my entire name for google search purposes-- I'm non-committal with my opinions, they could change tomorrow)

Staging video is tricky, I guess it depends on your definition of "staging"... I'm not sure there is a clear line as Wertheimer said. When I reported I had no clear idea of what journalism ethics were, just my own moral compass, so I have no idea if what I did was ethical or not. For example, the most I can ever imagine having "staging" something was if I interviewed someone and I wanted a wider-angle shot of them working so I could introduce them in the story if I chose to before their interview was inserted. Usually after the interview if I thought that was an option, I would just say, "Hey, I just want to get some shots of you doing whatever you'd normally be doing, just pretend like I'm not here." Of course, if the person would normally get up and go to the bathroom at this given time or something else, they weren't going to do so because they realized I meant, "Do whatever you would normally be doing in this room"... I have no idea if that was ethical or not. When I'm shooting a story, I guess my only consideration is to not do anything that I'd be embarrassed to admit... And I'd be embarrassed if something was staged-- unless what I said above was such, in which case my definition of staging is sorely skewed.