The Net Death March and the Phd - Give your ideas away

I have been knee deep in a Death March and hence neglected the conversations of blogs.

For the last five days, interspersed with all manner of things, I have been keeping a TDB ( Till day break) vigil with the mother of all questions which would determine whether I could pursue a PhD part time.

I have wanted to jump into a PhD pool for some time now.

From some quarters, there's been some indifference, but having found an outfit, SmartLab, I'm hoping there's a change in the wind.

But more importantly what's the point of a PhD, and pray, you don't really need a couple of letters to make sense of, or plough a course in this brave frontier of a network world?

I can name a kerzillion good thinkers and innovators from the young media giraffe Adrian Holovaty to the seasoned journalists and Net zeus Dan Gilmore whose brilliance is not inhibited by the lack of those three letters.

So is it the prefix Doctor then that so attracts me ?

Heavens no!

To my students, those from the Far East and the US used to calling their educators, professors or Sir, I'm simply David and bristle at any insistence of formalities. I wear nike trainers, jeans and a shirt and am often mistaken as a fellow student.

I'm confortable with David.

Is it it the elitism?

Absolutly no!

There's a calibre of person who believes those words should ensure red coats drape the floor in anticipation of their arrival.

If you know me enough, you'll know what I think of that. Respect is earned.

It is reciprocated through mutual trust and being a Dr does not make you codebuster for The Poincaré conjecture. In fact if you're a jerk, it matters very little whether you become president.

So why, just why, given most of that I yearn to understand is more or less in the public domain to be found with some diligance, do I seek a Phd as its transaction?


Chemistry
Simple. I'm a bl***y nosey parker who wants to know stuff and believes being taken out of my comfort zone into a place where others excel, where people from all walks of life meet to examine singularities within a cauldron of questions and subtexts, will get me thinking.

In staying up more or less for three days, I have asked questions, deleted, asked questions again, scrubbed the timeline and at some point reached a point where I lost all sense of what I was doing. And then some clarity appeared, and then, only then was I able to write about that which I want to know.

I submitted my forms this morning - only to learn that, the host Uni made a small mistake. The PhD lab apologised profusely. Wasn't their fault, but the process has made me fire up a few dead axons.

I want to use this odyssey to walk the plank, just as all those years ago in a bunk bed with a lantern ( It was lights out) I wrestled with advance maths and integration.

I grew up in boarding school in Ghana, a bygone era where privelaged boys - sons of cabinet ministers, grade A students and a few dreamers competed with each other. It was so competitive that you took Atkins (physical Chemistry) to the bathroom and read while eating.

We were up at 5.30 and went to bed at 1.30, though lights out was at 9.00. We were all terrified of failure and everyone helped each other.

I had never been to a night club until I left the college and was 19 years of age.

Those truly were the days and in retrospect I loved them


The Blog Mentality

As bloggers we feed of others and I feel this journey may well help me find new food.

Truth, I feel bankrupt. That's not a bad things .

Paul Arden, an advertising genius' slim book "Its not how good you are, It's how good you want to be" unveils some interesting mantras.

Along with such motifs as "Do not seek praise seek criticism" and "Don't look for the next opportunity, the one you have in hand is the opportunity", is "Do not Covert Ideas - Give away everything you know and more will come back to you".

Ideas are open knowledge, don't claim ownership.

... More will come back to you?

That's it really, I want to be fired up with more ideas, go back into the lab.

Ironically the PhD outfit is called The Smartlab - it's a lab and so I'm back to the days of experimenting in petri dishes and pulling radios apart.

Could I have found that elsewhere? Perhaps, at conferences and Networks like the Online News Association, through friends, allies and blogs, books, interviews and meetings.

But I'm hoping for more,a lot more where I can share, mash up, invite critique and get your thoughts as well.

At the very least I'm hoping some questions allow me to dig deeper, produce a range of videojournalism programmes with more substance than this one Digital Diversity made for Digital Diversity at the ICA and displayed on Apple's site.

I feel like I'm entering a brand new gift economy, and that masochistically I can see more death marches coming on

Children of Men - Creative Videojournalism

"We took a documenary approach as if you were just following characters with your DVcam in the year 2027"

Says Alfonso Cuaron, writer director of Children of Men.

It's one of those films videojournalists should study.

Most of the revelatory stuff is on the DVD bonus where Alfonso talks passionately about his craft.

The DV cam reference is quite pivotal, as is this comment here

"Part of the reason why we chose to do Children of Men in very fluid long takes was to take advanate of the elements of real time".

Alfonso goes handheld with one take in key areas of the film. Of course a Sony Z1 is not an Arri, but still you could achieve comparable effects for online/ the small screen.

In doc formats working a room or scene without resorting to cutaways often entails a sense of knowing where the subject is.

It boils down to prepping the room or scene; one of hte 4 preps I brief VJs on.

Children of Men employs an elaborate camera and bespoke car to achieve one famous scene, where the characters have to slide in and out of the way of the cam on a robot crane.

No such worry for the VJ, but as in series like The Shield" the camera should be able to fluidly move and if you're planning to run without a min steady cam, then try the military "clear house" walk.

The film has overtones of Ridley Scott's - though yes they are very different.

Buy the DVD and also visit the site for an example of how to present a film on online using masks.

Very nice in fitting with the film

Running out of creative ideas

Here's an idea:

Seven people eat different food substances against their own judgement and then we wait to see how long they can withstand going to the bathroom.

For good measure two of the meals have been laced with laxatives, whilst another candidate has been refused water on a starch-ridden, constipating meal.

And the winner is. . . ?

The world's gone mad or at least that square screen in the corner of my living room has.

I have nothing against reality TV programmes.

The genre's early outings created an inclusivity into audience participation that hitherto TV makers gave short shrift.

For TV makers to suggest, as some do now, that reality programmes provide the most widespread use for television and its viewers is as obvious as PM Gordon Brown this morning saying he put off an election to let the electorate see what the labour party is made of.

There have been some noticeable exceptions, like any genre of programmes there will also the good, bad and the darn right.
The most outrageous - an experiment - that made itself onto the schedules from a TV market was giving away a baby.

But at 10 O'clock in the morning and I have just seen a flurry reality programmes slated for our screens.

- How to make a TV programme

Find a host with experience, find a shed - daub it with bright painting and festoon it with chairs from the nearest DIY.
Go to the contacts book and look for the speakers. Remember to pay them for getting up early, despite the fact you have no funding. Vary the nature of the chat and then call it something grand, like The Big Question.

Next week, how to swallow microphones without getting a sore throat

Filming in London

I have it on good authority, the Press Association's legal eagle Mike Dodd that City of London police have no grounds to stop you from filming in the city unless that is you're causing an obstruction, nuisance , public safety aong those lines.

But too often crews/VJs are being stopped.

Mike has already sought clarification from the City of London's press office, but I'll post the latest which he's looking into.

I have been stopped a couple of times and the police have been quite adamant that no filming is allowed unless you have prior permission.

According to Dodds, the police have no jurisdiction on public highways unless a criminal event and the aforementioned is talking place. HRH owns the roads in the City et al.

But try saying this to the next PC that wants to confiscate your camera and send you to the nick, after you refuse to stop filming.

There is a magic word you should pronounce. Coming soon.

nice helmet - shame about the . . .

ITN in Afghanistan and even the seasoned journalists can't resist a bit of raising the anti. .

"people are now returning to. . .

" people now feel safe. . ."

Now unless ITN's correspondents have been stationed in the region and become empirically well versed with its politics, then they'll be relying on their information from the armed forces, so they should still attribute.

As a previous editor-on-the-field in Nato's War Programme, I have made this point to senior military officials. We won't deny -unless extenuating reasons - what you're saying, but we'll have to attribute this to you.

The army says people are now safe . . .

More ho humming this morning, hearing BBC Radio News report Bill Clinton wants a role in Hillary's ( his wife) cabinet trying to restore the US's image abroad.

On hearing the interview with John Humphries on the Today programme, unless I'm dense, a different picture emerges.

Humpries asks Clinton about a job, he declines to answer saying his wife will decide.

Humphries presses. But what would you want?

Clinton measuredly talks about the need to improve US image abroad and he'd like to do that.

The context is important. You may draw the conclusion that his plum job is image ambassador, but he's been pressed. This information absent from the news casts a different tone on the nature of the report.

Interestingly enough Humphries later asks about Iran.

Clinton doesn't take the bait.

He asks again what Hilary would do.

Ask Hillary is more or less his reply

Before he proffers, prodded for an answer that Hillary says . . . leave nothing off the table.

Humphries presses: so without putting words in your mouth.. bombing iran is an option.

By this time I'm waiting to hear te 9 oclock news to know whether a NIB ( News in Brief ) item has made it.

Bill Clinton has asked that Iran. . . .

No such thing. Phew.

Now I'm just Mr Simpleton, with no reach to an award winning prog like Today or ITN but this sits a little skewed for me.

So if you're new to the game, press, be forensic, but don't trend extrapolate to the point where deductions may need more qualified explanations - and you leave them out.

The new generation

Back in August I had the pleasure alongside some senior industry figures - predominantly from the Press Association to visit the Telegraph's offices.

A lots been said about the Telegraph - but on the ground showing us their studios coupled with an hour tour from one of their senior execs, you easily got the sense that you hadn't seen half of what you've read about.

Which is why at some point I'll release the podcast of that tour. But there's more. This week I had the pleasure of meeting the Telegraphs's creme de la creme next generation journalists.

These are dedicated multimedia journalists, mainly of post grad calibre, many from City University, whom are being put through their paces in the black ops of journalism - multimedia.

They do everything. I mean everything. Merge newspapers with broadcasting and online and that's the new super journo.

Eight of them chosen from 800 whom may well set the standard for the shape of the industry.

At the University of Westminster, we're tracking this future with our online cum VJ programme; the big difference here though is the industry link and the huge experience each of these young (22-25 or so) journalists will accrue.

I was able to film them in a number of settings to provide a snapshot of their thinking, so look out for that.

But it was their demeanor and outlook that I also found engaging.

Law, subbing, videojournalism - these are hurdles they're clearing.

The end game will be intriguing for in that team is the making of many editors and leaders.

Videojournalism Interview : Next Generation multimedia journalists

Guest hosting today Charlotte Bailey who is one of the chosen 10 recruited by the Daily Telegraph's multimedia training scheme.

The program aims to equip this cohort with all the modern skills of multiamedia including videojournalism.

So Charlotte how do you feel doing this?

Charoltte: I feel pretty challenged by the whole experience to be honest. A year ago I would not only have questioned the need for this training but I would have wondered what it was all about in the first place. This is an area which is completely new to all of us.

David: So what have your colleagues been saying?

Charlotte:They've been surprised at how quickly they've taken to it - both practically and also in the sense that I think we've all be surprised at how much we've enjoyed this. We are all, at the end of the day, writers, but this is refreshing for us.

David:When you went for the interview at The Telegraph that must have been tough. What was going through your mind? When did you find out you'd be choseen from how many?

Charlotte:I had spent two years or more gathering work experience. I hadn't done a journalism course and so I suppose I got here via a route which is not that common these days.

I had worked with a lot of old-style journalists during periods of work experience and they had all taught me some great basic skills leading me to follow more practical routes of learning my trade.

Then when this job came up, I saw it as a chance to get some theoretical training and to finally make a move forwards into something more concrete than just regional work placements.

I filled in the application form, and as they all say, did not think any more of it.

I got a call from my dad saying I had got an interview and I have to say it took about a month for the whole thing to sink in.

We had been chosen from 700 and 32 were interviewed.

David: Cool, the chosen few - that must feel good.

Now you don't have to make me blush or anything or if you want, I have thick skin, but how did you find some of the things we shared...?

She's having to think about this.. that's a good tghing shes says. :-(

Charlotte:This has taken a bit of thought and I surpised myself with my hesitiation to be honest because I have had a lot of thoughts going around my head today about what videojournalism is and how i'll fit into it and I suppose this was the problem at first - I didnt know where I fitted in.

But at the end of the day it became clear that this wasn't the question at all, that there was no need to make efforts to fit in around a pre-formed structure but that we create that structure for ourselves.

This form of journalism not only allows us to inject our own ideas onto a piece but allows us to form a piece as near to how we envisage it on our minds as possible and being able to convey our mind's eye to other people is an incredible force.

David:So to any student or professional reading this, any advice on the multimedia and vj front? You know any pearls or slivers of wisdom?

Charlotte: Well, being the conscientious student that I am I would sum it all up in one simple ratio - 3:6:9.

we're both laughing

No, but seriously, without brazenly flaunting my new-found techy speak, I would advise that we don't shut out this form of media before we've given it a go.

Talk about it, have a look on some of the news websites and just become aware that this is already a big part of journalism.

David concludes: Everybody had a voice.. thanks Charlotte.. now time to go back and tidy this up and post. Getting late here. BFN

Charlotte: Thanks and I'm going to have to get away now too and rest up - if I'm going to be a VJ pro by the end of tomorrow..

Tony's come into the room. He's the head of training at Press Asociation. Anything to say Tony?

Tony: It's great to see lots of smiliing faces walking out of a training room at the end of an 8 hour day and to see people reluctant to go home.


Ok that's it . . .

Original post before David rudely interupted:
Having spent most of our first day's training kneeling in fields, sprawling across pavements, and generally behaving more like the SAS than Lois Lane and Clark Kent, I find that my original thoughts as to what journalism was all about are beginning to show some cracks...

Labour party online

So what did I find when I googled "UK Labour politics", this headline Labour recruits election staff' from the BBC of course.

Of course?

Well its shouldn't be really, but. . .

Not exactly a controlled test but then I punched in "UK Labour Party Politics" the Guardian pops up with a "More about the labour party" report.

And then 4 links down the party can be seen extoling that grand statement "Labour: Join us", from the labour party itself.

Now I mean if you can't "own" your own spot based around your area of expertise and title, then, what are you doing?

It's unlikely being on the front page may propel anyone to give over themselves to Labour, but importantly compared to the Conservatives, they're working the search engines.

Labour it seems has a better hang at the new economy, supposedly; a greater positive profile

And indication also that they're guarding their online presence and the sort of stories emerging about them.

Now that might not mean anything to you if you bar hum bug the net - but for the next generation, 8 years, googling to find out more about basic politics in English lessons or whatever, the first page tells them what they want to know.

I'm sure Iain Dale, (shared a platform with him during the summer ) one of the UK's more prominent bloggers might be able te get the party to look into this.

Because the more seriously online is taking the better it is for, well. . .

Wasn't it BT that last week saiid it had no reason to justify switching to fibre optics when it emerged we are some way behind France etc in broadband technology. That's just one example of the domino effect of the politics of online.

How seriously do they take the web?

Is David Cameron - opposition leader - as new economy savvy as his onlne video psting suggests?

Just a couple of interesting ruminations.

If anything a couple of other things emerge from this exercise.

In political blogging, you might suggest we're still somewhat behind compared to the US. The sheer energy from Hugh Hewitt's book "Blogs" gives that impresssion, where a number of big bloggers have moved agendas.

It got me thinnking whether any of the parties endorsed either bloggers ot videojournalists to attend their party gatherings, cuz next year I might see if I can put my politics mac back on and join the fray.

Tory Politics in google search

The top story when you type in "politics conservatives BBC" is the long happened defection of Tory MP Quentin Davies to labour back in June.

At least when I typed in "uk conservatives politics" I got this Politics.co.uk leading with Davis: Scrap ID cards to pay for prisons, which then falls off to the BBC's home page.

This little experiment suggest:

The conservatives haven't quite got the hang of SEO and its impact

I'm off to do the same on Labour.

advertising using video journalism's craft

local advert

Independent Television experts suggest there's something like a billion pounds untapped in uk regional advertising.

That's businesses who can't afford a national TV ad, but might look to a newspaper.

The sequence below is from a local business, my tax advisor, demonstrating various points; video journalism's aesthetic, the Victor Kayem approach to ad-info updated, and how one shoot can become 5 different spots.

more soon

Reading could lead to jail

sample of books I have travelled with on a number of occasions

Ok the headline is a bit sensational, but this isn't a reference to the heretics or the guardians against the enlightenment period

Wired magazine reports the US is screening international travellers, particularly those pulled aside for added screening and detailing what they read.

Because of my surname - it's of Ghanaian descent by the way, not that it matters - when I fly internally there's always a tad longer exchange around American football or Dan Rathers.

If you've watched the movie se7en then you'll have seen how the FBI monitor book lists. Fact or fiction?

In any case you can see both sides of the argument. On a trip to DC interviewing the former head of the CIA, James Woolsey, I remember some small chat about profiling.

What you read, how you walk - all sorts of things play a part.

I might have to leave behind World Power and World Money by Andrew Walter when I travel- fine book I used for my LSE International Relations modules.

Meanwhile, in the UK the compulsory retention of your telephone call number comes into effect soon.

This the authorities say is to combat serious crime and anti terrorism.

Previously the act of retention was a 1992 voluntary code.

Some civil liberties believe that information in the wrong hands can expose Infidelity and Financial transaction trails.

We've been warned

Black Image on TV - Channel 4 celebrations

Geoff Small - a respected TV producer/director invited me as an added panelist to an event he's hosting for Channel 4, which celebrates 25 years on British TV.

Good cast of speakers mentioned here.

I can't make it for reasons, but here's what I suspect will emerge and what I would have wanted to contribute.

There's no doubting the contribution black people have made to Channel 4 and British TV as a whole.

Panelist and Big Brother winner Derek Laud joins a long list of talent, whilst Channel 4's own Dr Robert Beckford's blend of the visual academic thesis on a current affairs bed have become appointment viewing.

But despite coming a long way in representation on screen and off, there is still work to be done - something the Cultural Diversity Network, supported by the industry would acknowledge, and the BBC's Director General Mark Thompson mentions from time to time.

There has been some sterling work:

Move on Up driven by BECTU's indefatigable Janice Turner

Aspire - a collective of concerned journalists out to promote more inclusivity

Mark Boothe's B3 Media, which hosts a number of digital events.

Black Britain's range of networks

and many many more agents.

However the CDN having staged a fair few events appears somewhat bereft of the big ideas to seismically move on the agenda.

The last event I attended at the BAFTA yielded an interesting debate, but how did they follow up?

Style and Substance

This could be a presentational issue for there are many many actors within this area and It would be churlish of anyone including me to suggest I'm privy to all internal and external workings.

However there have been successes. Something to build upon.

BBC 3's Three Non- Blondes, Some excellent music docs on BBC1, and Channel 4's Dr Beckford and its brilliant late night interactive drama Dubplate.

In the mid 90s there was the BBC's Black Britain which either launched or provided oxygen for many of the careers of today's well known TV figures and executives.

But as the industry with its pending sqeeze on jobs at the BBC and ITV and a dearth of risk-taking ideas looks to the future, what hope for black images on TV?

Programme maker and academic David Dunkley Gyimah hosts B3 Media's "Breaking, Entering and Staying in the Game" at the
ICA Cinema with Nelson George (US' Filmmaker, writer), Catherine Johnson (Screenwriter, Bullet Boy, and author), Ray Paul (Executive Producer 1 Xtra, Specialist & Live Music programming 1Xtra), and Maxine Watson (BBC commissioning executive)

What hope for TV?

For the industry as a whole the outlook may not be as bright as the Culture Secretary James Purnell so bouyantly suggests.

That's inspite of the recent shenanigans.

Greater innovation within broadband and cable e.g. streaming HD without compression will continue to put pressure on the TV Industry. The triple play scenario, greater broadband speeds and if BT can pull its finger out optical cabling will push broadband as a viable transmission network.

Note this number 10mbits at MPG2 coding.

Bleak is the Future?

However for people of colour, bleak could be an early assessment.

In times of crisis, those policies and pledges not occupying centre table at exec meetings see the waste paper basket first.

Now even docmentary programming is feeling bruised and embattled. Who would have thought?

But unlike a decade ago, today the landscape offers a burgeoning solution in broadband and IPTV and other potential online broadcasters, such as the newspaper industry.

Today it really is a global market, with new players looking for talent.

That shouldn't make broadcast managers complacent, but provide a window for all potential broadcasters and ethnic minorities.

Future TV strategy

Part of any strategy hereon must involve a multiple track approach both in self suficiency and preparing the next generation for the new market place which desperately requires cross over convergence skills.

I made a passing point recently in this postingUniversities of the 21st Century

Last week Guy Ker of ITN was unequivocal: "We need videojournalists!" But they're rare on the ground.

Also, there must be a concerted approach to remove the stigma that broadcasters are giving people of colour a leg up when recruiting ethnic staff.

Similarly, the industry and broadcasters still need to work on their presentation to explain their position to non ethnic parties alarmed at what is perceive as discrimanatory employment.

The operative word here is "perceived".

Ethnicity and the media is an emotive topic.

I also believe the industry should not shy away from telling truths about future prospects.

At Move On Up's first event industry event some years back, I bumped into a very senior BBC producers whom I'd worked with some ten years ago.

"David we simply don't have the sort of turn over that enables us to go on such recruitment drives", he said to me shaking his head.

As a member of BECTU and Director-member of the UK Broadcasting Journlism Training Council (BJTC) whose job entails assessing the strength of UK-university media institutions, there has to be more work with broadcasters and places of learning to provide the necessary skills to all, including ethnic people.

Too often in my capacity as a lecturer and public speaker, I have come across students of all hues, particularly ethnic, whose understanding of the industry is skewed.

Three former very talented black students, one of whom (Dionne Clarke) blagged her way onto the red carpet premiere of Dream Girls and Sin City, and produced wonderful interviews, are still without work.

Yes, a life lecturing is required. It's a tough industry for everyone and you've got to be driven and know what you are getting yourself into.

Margaret Hodge, (MP) Minister for Culture, was not in the wrong once on Channel 4 News when she remarked to a recent graduate, a black woman, it would be a struggle finding work because of the nature of the industry.

Where Next?

So what's likely to be the outcome of the event?

Rigourous debate and hopefully a genuine reflection and zeal to understand the issues, more so in these dynamically changing times.

A chance to speak to the TV execs in a language they understand.

A further opportunity to talk up that its about talent and diversity of talent

This latter point is something Simon Prosser from Macmillan Publishers, behind Zadie Smith et al makes in an interview - part of which I have clipped in my report Is Television Killing the Arts?

There are 6 million people in London, 2 million of those are from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, who we should have the opportunity to hear something about, he suggests.

All Change

Will there be fundamental change?

Geoff and I have been around long enough to know that answer, but what Geoff has is a platform to shine a big light on a topic that often lies under a bushel.

It's a chance to find new patrons, supporters and like minded souls interested in the contribution black people have made, can make, and should make in the years ahead.

Programmes like BBC 3's The Trouble with Black Men, even if it was a polemic, should be more responsible in their quest to entertain as well as inform on such controversial subjects.

In remaking our own programme here, The Trouble with the Trouble with Black Men, what emerged was the need for the broadcaster to provide a forum to discuss the issues. Crimewatch cum reconstruction without the desk exchange.

One thing though is certain when we look past ethnicity and the colour divide it's about TV making, good TV making - and the industry has shown that it recognises that, with reference to Geoff, David Upshall, Paul Blake et al.

It just that it, well, needs more commitment.

Brightcove personal Videojournalism films

In one year as I recall I made nearly 500 videojournalism stories. Phew!

At the last conservative estimate at the studio I had some 800 beta tapes, 150 digibetas, 700 dvcam and countless VHS - that's a lot of stories, but I'll spare myself the embarrassement and try and be a bit more critical.

So here are some of the stories that are on viewmagazine.tv which I have now migrated to Brightcove, whose compression codec compared to Youtube is streets ahead.

Eventually the films should provide an interesting time line in videojournalism's many styles, which starts of looking like traditional TV before, something else...

The few uploaded thus far are more promo orientated, (something I enjoy doing from working in Soho) but here's the link, where a number of films I had to split into two for yourtube to get the compression right can now be viewed in their entirety. The Ferrari film for once doesn't come out looking like chewing gum.

At some point, I'll produce the Making of the film in Cairo between Robb Montgomery and me..

Great films online - go watch

Go vote for Hillman. Soldiers has made it into the finals of 800 International shorts entered in filminute 07

Probably one of the nicest, talented individuals, you'll ever meet.

I'm so much one of his biggest fans.

From pioneering Flash design to now some of the best online films you'll see anywhere, Hillman does it like no one else.

It's the simplicity, elegance, magic. . .

Here for his Film, "Soldiers"

Here for my interview with Hillman

Tip 109 video journalism

Black Hawk Down - a master class in video journalism, though Dir.Ridley Scott uses multiple cameras. It's even rumoured Scott had photojournalists on set as advisers. David occasionally cites this film to advanced video journalists as in this article for the UK's industry press gazette: In the Frame of Video Journalism

Most writers have a favourite writer they admire whose work they often ape for style and rhythm.

Most artists (painters) study the classics looking for clues to aid their own work.

Many musicians often start off learning the 'picks' of their idols

If you want to learn video journalism, first thing I would advise is pick a director or a show whose films turn you on.

Then watch it not as a viewer would, but as a technician.

By that, attempt to deconstruct their knitting style in the way the camera moves, the angles of shots established and the sequences.

Often when I watch one of my favourite directors I go into predictive mode.

My aim is to see if I can get into the head of their film, ask questions of their narative.

It's obvious I won't get anywhere near enough the shot directions right, but the execise opens me up to a different perspective of the director's house style.

Video Journalism is far from Television
Video journalism, unlike TV which follows a well worn format, has more fluidity about it.

You are the camera-director; something an increasing number of contemporary big directors have been doing for a while e.g. Mike Figgis, Steven Soderbergh, Robert Rodriguez.

And the truth is it's far more liberating to map out your own shot threads, which in turn should make you a stronger director working with a camera crew.

So next time you're off to the cinema or having a late night in; pick up some pop corn paper and pen.

Remember copying someone's work ( not plagiarism) is some kind of flattery. It worked for Tarrantino and Rodriguez

University lecturers of the 21st Century - Data Intermediaries

There is a romantic ideal I have of universities which borders on the Aristotlean.

Ampitheatres with lecturers and students exchanging views which cover a breadth of subjects, tutorials where students swap roles with lecturers, and greater links between academia and industry, where we oscillate from one to the other.

The University of Lancashire's case links its academic institution with Johnston Press one of the most successful news publishers, to examine the newsroom of the future.

And there's more, which it would be wrong to talk about now.

So the question I wanted to know was what might universities look like in the decades ahead?

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Westminster, Dr Geoffrey Copland, since retired claimed universities were one of the few places that had not embraced the Net revolution, comparing it to the travel industry where you can do almost anything online.

I discovered his views from being asked to present at Digital Hollywood and made this short film - The Future of Universities.

Full article and short interviews with senior educationists e.g. Dr Elizabeth Goodman here

In this edited short film Dr Copland mentions the ff:

Student working from a home base

No face to face lectures

There will be celebrity lectures

Students will devise their own curriculum

Students may opt for a full degree or part of a degree

They may take modules and cash in their credits later, so a degree could take any length of time

Lectures, notes will be open source ideas

With the wealth of information, lecturers may occupy a role of data intemediaries- sifting what's relevant for students

We live in interesting times. What do you think?

NB Views expressed here are in no way a reflection of David's current university and its policies. These views are personal.

England's World Cup star

I rang my aunt and uncle to congratulate them on the success of their son, Paul Sackey, England's emerging World Cup star.

I have never met Paul, but like many proud Brits watched the game yesterday, cheering the side.

This morning I put a call in and my aunt in a measured voice said: " The News of the World are here".

My Aunt and Uncle are really lovely people, and it doesn't matter whether you work in the media or not, you've a relationship that needs some managing.

Paul's story is likely to catch the imagination of any news-sports organisation. He started playing Rugby very late, at 16 and was placed in a position very different from where he is now.

I look forward to reading the piece tomorrow.

Media Storm photo essay doc wins emmy

MediaStorm Wins Emmy for Outstanding Broadband Documentary
In Kingsley's Crossing, a 23-year-old lifeguard from the impoverished town of Limbe, Cameroon, dreams of a better life in Europe. He embarks on a harrowing journey that takes him halfway across Africa.
Photojournalist Olivier Jobard documents the passage.

David writes:
This is an outstanding piece of work for its craftsmanship and simplicity.

Its strenght lies in the powerful synching of photography and narrative. Which goes to the show how easily you can make videojournalism redundant.

The added quality of this film compared to video would be its bandwidth size

Secretless Society

Trailer: A world with no secrets speaking to senior Intelligence men.

The very idea that everything is availabe on the net, that there are no more secrets, everything is open source

Successor Generation - Videojournalism's 7up

David shooting with a Digi700 camera for a Channel 4 News feature from South Africa

It is an incredible feeling as a journalist, sociologist, or an interested party to see change within a nation take shape before you.

The Civil Rights Movement of the US, Glastnost and Perestroika in Eastern Europe, Thatcherism and the politics of self - these provided genuine reflections of our changing attitudes.

Often documenting them yields first time rough drafts; a snap shot of history by the hand of the achitect.

Nonetheless they are visual documents for new generations to ponder.

Truth, I don't by any stretch think so grandiosely about this work or others.

But watching this film - a version of which was made for Channel 4 News - is a strong advocacy for videojournalism and  why we must persevere to tell non ageneda stoies.

The Successor Generation
In 1999 working as a freelance producer at Channel 4 News, I learnt the programme had no plans of reporting South Africa, five years on from its historical elections.

The most would be a short report from the studio.

So I did what many others I feel would do with 18 months prior experience reporting from the region in 1994.

In that year BBC Radio 4 commissioned me to make a documentary following the lives of four South Africans.

They were about to vote in their first election.

That documentary proved a huge success, which is why I went back and shot this piece.

There's lots today I would have done differently. That's progress.

But what they have to say here is still relevant today as it was back then.