Tv is a visual medium. You can take great footage, with scientific content on the slim side, and still make a great story, but the reverse is never true. If you hold the key to life itself, but have no footage to back you up, you will not be a great story for tv. So, if you want your work shown on tv, it might be worthwhile to spend a little time trying to 'think in pictures' about your research. Also, record important developments as your research progresses.
Stills can be useful, but are obviously a second choice.
No one is going to expect you to be a professional cinematographer, but, the better the quality, the more we like it. If you have a grad student more adept with video technology, get them to do the filming. At that point, it may not be possible to go in and do the filming ourselves. So, try your best to record important events as they happen. Still images will do in a pinch, but two black and white stills and a graph do not make compelling television.