Pull up a chair and dig in – the video is narrated by Chris Dean, who grew up in Memphis in some pretty difficult situations, but rose up to be able to introduce President Obama during a visit to the city.
Powerful stuff.
New Tascam DSLR Audio Recorder
Mar 31, ’13
8:08 PM
This looks very, very cool – Tascam is introducing a new audio recorder to mount under DSLR cameras. It has all the bells and whistles and a price that puts it below a lot of the others out there.
Wantwantwant.
(Thanks to David Simpson for the link.)
Grady College’s Bluejeans Workshop – March 23
Mar 5, ’13
11:30 AM
If you’re anywhere near Athens on Saturday, March 23, get yourself over to Grady College for the annual Bluejeans Workshop. It runs from 8:30 to 4:30 and it’s cheap – just $35 for the whole day, and that includes lunch. (Price goes up after March 18.)
It opens with a panel discussion that has been phenomenally good in the past, then heads off into smaller workshops.
Will Watchup Work?
Feb 15, ’13
10:52 AM
There’s a new iPad app called Watchup that, if you have an iPad and are concerned about journalism, you should look at. The free app will let you collate video streams and then play them back automatically – essentially, you can curate your morning news show and then set it to run while you do other things.
I grabbed it this morning and have started playing with it, let me know what you think. Initially, it’s a smooth interface but I’m a little worried about how this will affect the news organizations – some are using pre-roll ads that transfer over, so there’s revenue coming in, but some are not which means their income is from banner ads you’re not seeing.
Multimedia Immersion Workshop
Feb 4, ’13
7:04 PM
Info is up on the 2013 edition of the NPPA’s Multimedia Immersion workshop, May 14-18 this year. Have heard nothing but great things about this very hands-on training session.
Video That Matters
Feb 2, ’13
3:22 PM
Every spring, I teach a course titled Documentary Photography and, the lest few iterations, I’ve felt a little funny with that name. It’s now about half photography and half video storytelling, because that’s what my kids need.
Depending on which conference you head to and what pundit has tweeted most recently, you either believe in video our you don’t. There aren’t many journalists who are ambivalent about it anymore.
Me, I’m a believer.
I teach the nat sound model, one where we don’t script it, we don’t have our voices in it, we let characters tell their own story. Those are the pieces I love to watch.
Every now and then, though, a piece gets done that floors me, a story that doesn’t fit my ideal. The Newark Star-Ledger has one of those up right now. It’s big, at 22 minutes you need to invest in it, something a lot of folks may not be willing to do. But if you care about journalism, if you care about connecting, then you have to watch Splinters & Sand.
You just have to.
Journalists Brian Donohue, Bumper DeJesus, Andre Malok and Seth Siditsky have come together to produce an emotional piece of, well, advocacy journalism on why the Jersey Shore needs to be rebuilt.
I have never been to any of the places they report on, but I have felt them all. You will too.
Creativity on a Deadline
Jan 17, ’13
8:53 PM
Poynter’s NewsU has a workshop on Saturday titled Video Storytelling with the Pros: Creativity on a Deadline. It’s all online, with a steep discount for NPPA members (pro and student).
Will run through the day and, if you can’t watch it live, you’ll have access to the archives afterwards.
I would hate to catch a cold and not be able to do any work around the house this weekend … cough cough.
The Value of Planning
Jan 13, ’13
9:42 AM
I’d love to know some more about the planning for this clip of Dean Potter tightrope walking across Cathedral Peak. As a full moon rises behind him. Very nice cinematography by Mikey Schaefer and Bryan Smith.
Moonwalk from Reel Water Productions on Vimeo.
If you check the Vimeo page, you’ll see that’s shot with, ahem, a 1600 mm lens. On one heck of a stable tripod, I’d imagine.
Streaming Faster
Jan 10, ’13
10:56 AM
NPR’s Sami Yenigun takes a look at bandwidth and video streaming, something almost all of us need to be paying attention to these days.
Poynter-NPPA Video Storytelling Online Workshop
Nov 28, ’12
9:59 AM
Go register for this and then clear your calendar for Saturday, Jan. 19 – the Poynter Institute and the National Press Photographers Association are doing an online, day-long seminar subtitled Creativity on a Deadline.
If you’re an NPPA member, it’s $55. If you’re a student member, it’s just $35. Toying with the idea of hosting a gathering in my lab for that day, bring all the students in and have them do this together …. hmmmm ….
From the description:
WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE:
Video, TV, multimedia and other journalists who want to tell more powerful stories every day, plus college educators who teach video journalism–and anyone who tells stories with pictures and sound.
Sounds like that fits everyone I know.