Making a videojournalism story

Making a videojournalism story.

If videojournalism can do anything, which involves readdressing our notions of what we think, and what is, then it goes beyond that of merely the cheap one -wo/man-band recording of events. And if it can dare to seek out its own aesthetic, we may have underestimated it. And if we can create bespoke site experiences, then there's no need to plead with the detractors.

Videojournalism can lay claim to its own Bauhaus. See Videojournalism definition on Mrdot here. Presenting at SXSW, I spoke about "the film is not enough" which I'll repost. There's still a lot of work to be done.

PART I






SXSW
The film is not enough - Presentation at SXSW - annual gathering of creatives attracting more than 10,000 people in its week. Thanks to the many people, such as Tony who rated the session as one of their best sessions.

Here's an extract of my 50 minute talk

David presenting at SXSW on IM Videojournalism from david dunkley gyimah on Vimeo.

Beirut Videojournalism Press release more expained

Beirut Videojournalism - Media Press Release ( see previous release)

"There is a world that lies between art and what is beyond the artist's imagination, a place where laws are defied and nature grows in your living room. Surpassing design, luxury and anything that meets the eye it can be yours. Discover a world beyond".

Pic taken by David in Beirut


Immediate use

A combination of free framing and visual gut instinct - is what it boils down to - when constructing stories on the hoof.

Sometimes an innocuous image may carry significant value later in the film process. It may not seem like driving an F1 ( far from it) but the process of quick thinking and rethinking is required to fashion a narrative, when at face value it's nothing more than a closed event.

This is one method how David goes about creating videojournalism films. It's part a mimetic art, part muscle memory from one's past, he says, but the key is to capture the "sign-sentence"- which David has been developing as part of his PhD thesis at the Smart Lab.

A lot of brilliant film makers I know find it difficult to explain the process. Not the physicality of say the rule of thirds and crossing the line, but the kineasthetic and its phenomenology.

That's the part I'm interested in the same way for instance if you place four people with no apparent relationship together, as I did three weeks ago lecturing to a group of Chinese University students, everyone automatically starts making symmetrical groups out of them.

You have to ask yourself why this is?

Videojournalism and Artistic practice
David has been translating the surface art of his work into areas such as:

• IMVJ -Integrated Multimedia Videojournalism. Brings together bespoke online site building with videojournalism. See soon current crop of Masters students he's been supervising
  
• Vlog Butterfly - Visual Blog interviews
  
• The Cinemaphome - which he's currently developing with other areas of visualisation at the SMARTlab PhD School
• etc.
  

This year he commences an artist in residency at London's leading cultural and arts centre and Europe’s largest centre for the arts, the South Bank Centre.

Previous residents have included Orchestras such as:

• London Philharmonic Orchestra
• Philharmonia Orchestra

And artists such as: Bellowhead, Cape Farewell, Shlomo, Lemn Sissay and Rahayu Supanggah.

David runs viewmagazine.tv - which is an example of IMVJ - which is his labour of love. He has trained or lectured extensively in places such as Podgorica, Montenegro; Norway, Chicago and Miami and recently in Beirut- where he's completed a videojournalism film about videojournalism.

Image from Beyond Broadcast Media Futures 2000 - in which David is dues to put together a feature looking at the future of broadcast

Beirut Videojournalism - Media Press Release

Beirut Videojournalism - Media Press Release

Immediate use

You don't always need to plan, but you can still come away with a film of value, that's the beauty of videojournalism says David Dunkley Gyimah.

Award winning videojournalist, university senior lecturer and videojournalism trainer David spent four days in Beirut with one of Lebanon's leading independent newspapers, Annahar, swapping ideas and training tips with their videojournalists.

Annahar which prides itself on its innovation and independence is one of the first Lebanese newspapers to adopt videojournalism, hiring in ex-university film graduates.

Says David: "There are a number of skill sets I feel a videojournalist should have and the brief couple of days training provided an opportunity to make the team aware of them".

Wadih Tueni, Annahar's IT Manager, was responsible for setting up the scheme, which provides his videojournalists with the remit to report on lifestyle, society and people issues.

He invited David over after the pair met in Gotheburg, Sweden where David was presenting at the World Association of Newspapers.

Wadih says videojournalism answers a promise he gave to the former newspaper's editor Gebran Tueni, (also a relative), to put the paper at the forefront of technology.

Whilst in Beirut in between training, David snatched some shots which he's used to compile a 15 minute report that gives an overview of Annahar's plans and the course of videojournalism, which newspapers elsewhere may face.
His report also provides a backdrop to the city recently named one of the best tourism destinations by the New York Times.

A three and half minute preview cut can be viewed on Viewmagazine.tv with the full version posted on the 6th of August and also offered to Annahar TV

Ends

Continue here: David explain how one facet of videojournalism works and more on his background, which includes working for Newsnight and Channel 4 News