caption writing tips types design. tips for caption writing accuracy, caption-ese, style,...
TRANSCRIPT
Accuracy:Check facts
Facts in caption must match facts ran in story Interview, interview, interview Check and recheck for accuracy sake
Who: Mary Jones
Where: In the locker room
When: Before the first game of the season
What: Gets fired up before the game
Who: Mary Jane
Where: In the boys locker room
When: Before the first game of the season
What: Gets fired up before the game
=
Accuracy:Know what you are talking about
With sports, know the difference between the different types of plays, locations of games, what position people play, etc.
After stealing the puck, right winger Charlie Zilinski (38) breaks away for a touch down at the game on Friday night. The team won by seven points in the third inning.
Uh, do you really think so?
Accuracy:Know what you are talking about
Do not make judgments about others’ moods based on photos Pay attention to the actions around the subject Confirm the mood by talking to the subject
Sad? Tired? Mad? Embarrassed?
Accuracy:Avoid libelous information
Keep captions factual in order to avoid hurt feelings or worse a threat of lawsuits
Stay away from
No mater how innocent they may seem
Accuracy:Do not editorialize
Avoid Go Team! Congratulations (insert group name here) We love our players Go out and support the (insert mascot here) We have the best (insert group or team name
here) ever
Cheer in the stands, not in your captionsCheer in the stands, not in your captions
Caption-ese:Avoid describing the obvious
Avoid phrasing that tells viewers about obvious actions, such as shakes hands, looks on, gestures, chats, etc.
Get real, the viewer’s eyes are open
Band directors Joe
Black and John Bob
shake hands.
Principal Jake Vanderfind looks on as math teacher Vince Smith shows him something on the computer.
Caption-ese:Clichés and trite wording
Avoid clichés or trite wording that describe actions with feelings, such as happily rejoices, jumps with joy, claps with glee, etc.
Addressing subjects of photos
Avoid addressing or talking to people in the photo. For example, do not use: Hey Bob, what are you doing with that car?
Caption-ese:Drop photog. from caption
Avoid acknowledging that the photographer interacted with the subject.
How long do I have to sit here
before the photographer finishes?
While reading the morning paper, Gary Hanks drinks his orange juice while staff photographer Jo Tori takes his photo.
Style:Verbs and Nouns
Use action verbs instead of forms of the “be” verb
Use vivid nouns and descriptions to help peak readers’ interestsIs
Are
Was
Were
Be
Being
Been
Jumps
Plans
Reads
Sings
Scares
Studies
Prepares
Truck
Girl
T-shirt
Ford F150
15-year-old girl
Old Navy T-shirt
Fashion designer
Designer
Style:Tone
Echo tone of photo with tone of caption Funny photos can have funny captions Serious photos needs serious captions
Go for the funny
Avoid the funny
Style:Structure
Write with good grammatical structure: subject verb object Start out with a present tense sentence then move to a past
tense sentence for more information
What do you see?
A reflection of people lining up on the track
A reflection of people that have lined up, in the past
or
You see action as it is happening, so use present tense verb for first sentence
Style: Varied starting points
Use various styles, such as starting out with why, what or how, but don’t always rely on -ing words
What When Where Why/How
Choosing to sing “I think I love you” by Jessica Simpson, sophomore Amanda Demspey entertains the crowd during intermission.
After the first half of the annual fashion show, sophomore Amanda Dempsey sings a rendition of “I think I love you.”
On the dimly lit school auditorium stage, sophomore Amanda Dempsey sings a rendition of “I think I love you.”
While the fashion show models change into different outfits backstage, sophomore Amanda Dempsey entertains the crowd with a rendition of “I think I love you.”
Identification: Titles and attribution
Use identifiers with names Style choices include:
Placing the identifier before the name
Placing the age or grade level in parenthesis after the name
Choose one way to identify and be consistent
Sophomore Rachel Moore sings the school song.
Rachel Moore (10) sings the school song.
Rachel Moore, a sophomore at VHS, sings the school song.
Examples
Identification:Large and small groups
Identify all the people that can be clearly seen in the photo
If the photo contains five or more people and is not a posed group shot, then individual identification is not necessary, unless one or two people are obviously the center of attention of the photograph
Individual identification not needed
Individual identification needed
General Tips Instead of repeating a
story or headline, choose a different angle
When several photos and captions are packaged together, give full attribution for dominant image only. Then, Trust your reader to look at the dominant image’s caption
Avoid starting captions with the word WHO
Avoid using the school’s name, initials or mascot
Avoid the words THIS YEAR
Avoid starting with articles or adjectives
Overall, make sure information is clear