The importance of play

How many times have you heard it said to a young person:" Stop mucking ( playing) around.

We get so wrapped up with ourselves that our own values : seriousness are foistered on others.

Play is an important constituent of child growth, but when and why does it stop?

Our propensity to play is counterbalanced by accusations of immaturity.

Today, I had a rather playful session with Chinese student and academic from our own China media centre.

The theme, the difference between seeing and perception which sits at the heart of visual intelligence.

The power of the image
Here's an observation I'm fascinated by at the moment. Given how image-based we are as a 21st century community e.g web, tv, posters, mags etc, it's remarkable how little we are taught about visual perception.

So today I played out a series of test to show for instance, the power of association: things that look the same are grouped. things that are stable are accepted.

What's really pertinent about all this is the notion hat we could be on the cusp ( could be 100 years, 10 years or less) on a higher consciousness.

We got it in the 13th, 17th and 20th century and as we approach a critical mass in visual literacy. It will happen, we may leap frog a means of communications that makes a nonsense in what we're doing at present.

I find that riveting and had a lot of time and books to eat into whilst on a walking holiday in Wales.

It rather underpins what at the moment is either the norm for you or something to be in awe of ie videojournalism.

I rather guess the next level of visual journalism playing about with semiotics ie language et al is already taking shape, but rather slowly.

The point where journalism - a fixed narrative - opens up to the provocation of reaction through art. It may not seem as barmy as it appears, for montage almost a 100 years old was conceived as cinematic art.

I have had this itch for a while, and further more have rationalised how my applied chemistry past could play an important role. So there's a message at hand.

Time for some serious playing

Play!

Videojournalism - the wow syndrome

Unengaged - photo taken at Art Gallery opening in Beirut.
Why does this work? And how does the videojournalism need to be informed?
Bit more space to the right.

If videojournalism gave over itself to qualitative empiricism we might tap into something science has known for millenia.

OMG! It is the phrase that proceeds the sight of wonderment.

As an Organic Chemistry graduate, I'd mumble it almost every week we entered the lab.

Benzene, the equivalent of Final Cut, waited patiently for a new substrate to come in contact with it.

Then it did its magic, often on its own in the right conditions, sometimes requiring the right intervention, the deft editing hand pushing video clips around that would yield the right film.

Benzene was also the Jack the Ripper of the chemical world, highly elusive in its manifestation.

In basic chemistry, we know oxygen and hydrogen makes water and is fairly stable. We can simulate the molecules with lego bricks enough to make a 6 year old understand.

Benzene was a different matter. To grasp it you had to as Kekule did be highly creative, even a bit mad. You see Benzene exists in a dynamic state of flux between two similar but different chemical structures.

Madder still when you left the practice of the lab and went metaphysical talking nucleophilic reactions, you entered the philosophical world of chemical reactions. OMG, there I go again.

And then you learn that power of empiricism. Science got better by testing and retesting. And each time a "rule" came along, there were others looking to finesse or even break them putting themselves up for peer scrutiny.

Beirut by night, Cheek by Jowl. Commercialism rubs shoulders with the legacy of Beirut's struggles.

In videojournalism we can go molecular as well. How do you get good pictures for instance. The trainer you're working with will tell you "rule of 3rds". But why is it 3rd and not 5th?

And might it be considered that the rule of 3rd was a matter of convenience for George Field one of the progenitors that lent the rule, which really is a guide.

That's not to say the technique isn't invaluable and is responsible for some of the best images around but packaging as it is makes good commercial sense.

The rule of 3rds is benzene inside the lab. So what happens when we go to the drawing board?

For that we have to indulge in cognitive reasoning. The science of seeing and perceiving. You see words on this page, but what you perceive is something different. How do you make sense of these words, and why will its context mean different things to different people?

See you next week

+++++
David is off to the Welsh valleys for some RnR and great walks across the felds.

The future....videojournalism?

Been a busy couple of weeks and there's no let up. A number of things are planned which may have some currency.

I was at the Beyond Broadcast conference and interviewed some of the key speakers. web TV launches are nothing special nowadays but Don Boyle's venture has the element of station launch about it, so what is Hibrow TV?

Rob Chiu, one of the UK's most talented and young motion graphics artists. He regularly presents at Flash on the Beach and OFFF, shot his first short story with a crew and high end production gear which included Red cameras. I shot a behind the scenes and should put that together soon.

Why online tv makers fail to understand audiences. There's something like the law of diminishing returns here in that the nuclear proliferation in video and videojournalism non curated appears to be baffling for users.

Dipping in and out of a service like Youtube may be fine, but many still want a dialogue with the brand. Simplicity is good. That explains the ipod and bbc iplayer. I'll be returning to my own site and deconstructing it for this purpose.

And fusing video and online narraritives. this year I have set the Masters student the challenge of telling stories to pull in interest, how are they doing?

So just some of the things I'll be looking at in the days ahead. Not to mention material from Beirut and an important discussion on leadership from one of the UK's leading innovative leaders.

The makings of a good leader

As a young girl Jude Kelly would stage plays and charge family and friends to attend. She wanted to be a director. She became one, a very successful one.

But she says it was not about her per se, but about the act of giving something to others.

Her beliefs have made her one of the most sought after directors and personnel in the arts, not to mention the works she's accomplished as the cultural director of the London 2012 Olympics.

In front of a collective that nurtures leadership qualities, she offered a candid and personnel testament of leadership and what's expected from good leaders.

This could quite easily have been a TED talk, inspiring in its content, deeply illuminating in its delivery.

"I purposefully today wore clothes so you could see my body shape, because line of sight is important in judging people", she said at the beginning.

Leadership, very much like the arts is about innovating, finding spaces and creatively filling them, she concluded.

You can watch the film I shot about her this event in a couple of weeks.

Beirut, I should try harder - A Videojournalist's tale

Viewmag’s David at one of Beirut’s thriving Art Bazaars, which comes
alive at night. TRY HARDER - is the title of a short film

A personal poem

Returning from Beirut, I'm reminded why I wanted to tell factual stories.

But I should try harder.

I recall in 92 how driven by idealism I made my way to South Africa, looking for the next generation.

And knew then I should try harder.

There as with Beirut, a state was shaking of the yoke of its perceived image, pleading for the documentarists:

to try harder.

To see past the news, the simplified mimetic discourse which feeds a cycle of recycled news.

That's why we should try harder.

For invariably, in all communities, states, our minds ferment more complex thoughts which require the light of day.

To show just how hard we are trying.

And in many cases it's been driven by the young, the successor generation,

who are trying really hard.

Their endeavors often go unnoticed, their voice drowned by three letter acronyms of news internationalists.

Are THEY really trying hard?

It is not the job of news, the argument goes, to tell anything other than that of news value.

But try this hard description for size then.

What is news?

Videographers, artists, bloggers, photojos, journalists, designers have within their reach the potential to show how THEIR view can turn yours on its axis.

Hard. Try. Try. Hard. Though I might add not through propaganda.

What is art is a perennial question ?

That which challenges us unlike no other to perceive beyond our station, to reprocess ingrained thoughts.

And that's why it matters.

Returning from Beirut I've rekindled the flame of why story telling keeps me awake.

Because the more we try, the easier it gets.

And the more easier it gets, the more we should most definitely try harder.


------
I sat down and brain dumped the above this morning, digitising footage for which I plan to make a short film from Beirut. Sadly, I hadn't planned any story or interviews, so really haven't done myself justice ( I was here for other, specific, reasons looking at the work of other VJS)
But in any case, I figure I'd like to go back soon and in this case I should try harder.

Videojournalism in Beirut

There's lots I can say, but alas don't quite have the time at the mo, but please drop by over the weekend when I'll round up my visit to Beirut and to one of the top newspapers and there incredible team of Videojournalists- a real joy.

You say VJ, I say Videojournalism, some say Videojockey

CTRL ALT SHIFT - from V.I. Artists on Vimeo.

A tad long perhaps, but this interesting film frames the practice of Vjing. That's video jockeying.

Interestingly, it's now a recurrent theme. "I'm a VJ", which then follows a period of acknowledgment, only for at some point someone to say:" Oh I thought you were a VJ".

I am, but that's video journalist.

So what came first in that entangled debate of the chicken and the egg?

Though the term seems to have become popular around 2000 ie video jockey, you could argue early video artists and even the psychadelics of the 60s might have called themselves such.

Much further back, you could argue Georges Méliès - L'homme orchestre (early film, 1900) and his contemporaries were early incarnations of video jockeys.

Yes it wasn't video, and sound would arrive later, but the lead into special effects around Vaudeville were early incarnations of using projected visuals in live entertainment.

Equally video journalism, the practise, not necessarily the use of the exact tools has its roots bang on film's emergence, with the bolex et al playing a hand in where we are in today.

In practice these semiotics and simulacrum are never quite clear cut, but there is a great deal of common ground and appreciation of form.

One uses music to carry narrative and motion; the other uses narrative to inform music choice motivated by the performance. And then when you watch a video documentary by a video jockey about videojockeying, what then?

And even where there are no obvious mind melds, there's every reason to look at this burgeoning form and ask what can be borrowed, inculcated into either.

Experimenting in the grey zones

A VJ piece live at the Purcell Rooms to Classical Music - the Shirley Thompson ensemble

It's in the cracks of semiotics where some of the most interesting and passionate debates take place as much as new developments.

Whether its in the basement jack or the multimillion pound extravaganza roadshow of U2, or the corporaredom of the AV industry, to the heightened launch of the next BMW series behind discordant visual themes, or any number of the zeigeist VJs to the film makers turned installation artists like Peter Greenaway, it's the experimentation of the form that is vital.

Incidentally, one thing that is very common with my shoots, is something called the dance - an as live shoot of a film, bit like drama, where I am being influenced by narrative and music.

Videojournalism Fight Club - Viewmagazine.tv from david dunkley gyimah on Vimeo.

You'll find quite a few on viewmagazine.tv and the recent Fight Club piece (posted two day's earlier) or Obama video projected live over Shirley's Classical score are examples of how live VJ videojournalism mixes its form.

So what came first VJ or VJ.

Yes I agree with you. Who cares? So long as you come away feeling nourished.

Video Journalism Fight Club

Videojournalism Fight Club - Viewmagazine.tv from david dunkley gyimah on Vimeo.

Just for the fun of it 100 stories in 40 seconds - pure mashup nonsense

Respect to Rob Chiu - Ronin for audio

Videojournalism Fight Club

Cultural shifts - the emerging video journalism picture

An Iranian woman struggles to exit a wagon in Tehran's Metro.
Image by Yannis Kontos at YannisKontos.com

The world is turning on its axis and in reference to Bushism's legacy, axis needs to reclaim its more appropriate usage.

Bluster-diplomacy is giving way to the more refined process of language nuances. Is there a cultural-socio shift really in the offing?

Obama's Cairo speech, Netanyahu's response, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's announced probe into Iran's recent elections. On the lighter side, Buckingham Palace planting it's own vegs in a new allotment??

These in retrospect may be the normal on goings as the world turns on its, yes, axis; night follows day, weeks to months and a new bout of things to deal with.

Yet if there is change a foot, we still haven't cracked the one which gives journalism sleepless nights: the deteriorating health of newspapers, with no cash injection life support to keep it going. Conversations are being held.

Hell, some as high up in Government, but it follows that all too familiar sound of the few discussing what's percieved good for the many.

It may not be the right subject bed fellow, but when the conversation started against Facebook's ownership of your material, it went nuclear, driven by you and I, then change happened. Actually a revert to common sense ground.

Perhaps, this pay-as-you-surf is not in our best interests.

But this thought was not what got me writing today. Though there is a relation. I've been clearing out my study; magazines and articles that date back to the early 90s, some in pristine condition.

The 1990s
The late 90s came flooding back with a series or re finds and there in lay a lesson.

Does anyone remember First 9 months?

In 1999/2000 an amazing piece of work by a graphic designer doodling around with Flash 3/4 hit the web. It documented the journey of his first child - from conception to the final image of himself and wife.

First 9 Months was simply a stunning piece of work.

It had not been done before. Flash had not been used to the best of my knowledge in a way that brought together journalism, Graphics and motion graphics.

And what about Hillman Curtis's multimedia promos and in particular his story, as I recall about a journey, not his, across Afghanistan ( I think!).

What made it so mesmerizing was the use of typography in telling a story. There was no Flash involved, but you kept reading. This was the era of the wild west, legendary Saul Bass's reincarnation through the work of graphic designer Brendan Dawes.

What was, did not exist before. There was no standard. It was fresh exciting, anarchic , banksyish, sometimes, but above all it dared to do it.

Do what?

It!

That's all changed somewhat, though you can still find clusters of "the thinkers". The serial idea brokers, who play the numbers game releasing as many great ideas that see the light and many perhaps that slow burned away.

What happens behind the scenes offers value, which we sometimes give scant regard to. When we get the headline idea, the news, that's it.

It's milked, before the cow runs dry and then is slaughtered. Innovation yields to commercialisation. One source of news and that even might do.


Behind the scene
Obama's Cairo speech, Netanyahu's response, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's probe into Iran's elections are fantastic stories, but what lies either side of them provides the sort of needed context to understand the complexities of these crucial items.

No it's not about the big story per se, but watching Rageh Omar's brilliant Iran feature, interviewing ordinary ( small "O") people gave some idea of how the schism in a state reported for its overall control, could happen.

It's the "either side" of the dominant news that provides us with both context and revealing content, which is why White House photographer Pete D Souza's pictures are so compelling.

Rageh is a highly skilled programme maker, but his pleading with an Iranian music star for an interview gave the feature that of-the-cuff videojournalism moment and pathos of the film wanting to be everything that TV doc features aren't in being too rehearsed.

For that moment I even had a heart chuckle remembering the Rageh I bumped into time and time again as we were both attempting to launch our careers with the BBC African Service in 1992.

These small cameras we have access to are something much bigger than often I find from the value given them.

Yes, they have multiple functions indeed for the big story, and even the obscure ones, but above all, they should allow for stories, a bolder approach to producing, not performed in that metronomic way of news, but perhaps more reflective of the whys?

And that's an axis worth looking at in greater detail.

Creative archivers- Videojournlism's legacy

Some of them set the tone; early creatives undeterred about what you or I said, because frankly there was no standard.

No wait, what standard did exist they made up. But these weren't whims or wild guesses. They were gudied by their own strong sense of design and creativity

In the last 15 years I have been charting their progress, from subscribing from the first editions of Computer Arts International, Video Age, to attending some of the first One Dot Zeros.

And now? Why now, we've got all formulaic. Going back to basics and with a new look and feel to some of the videos and projects coming up here and on Viewmagazine.tv

See you soon.

Learning video journalism - a trainer's tale

Learn video journalism - a trainer's tale from david dunkley gyimah on Vimeo.

There is an iteration of videojournalism as a newsgathering unit which has yet to find a widely acceptable lease of life.

I'm not referring to the individual. There are magnificent videojournalists around, but how it works as a unit and with a news agenda that delivers on a new approach to the audience.

David Brewer a fantastical media manager who's been behind some of the biggest online launches around e.g BBC, Al Jazeera, ITV, and CNN International gave a presentation in Podgorica, Montenegro.

I may show it here one day, but the essence of it was how a newsgathering unit becomes reliant on the "diary" by as much as 70%, when it should be driving its own news by that amount.

That's a lot of money and resources. Actually it's not and depends much on your underlying strategy at driving a well oiled news system.

At Miami University, the students' coverage of the Special Olympics targeting
the family of the Olympians is an example of innovative reportage.

Videojournalism at its basic form is a a device to collate more material, but just like a burgeoning Net which is unrecognisable from the time I built my first web site in 1996, it is much much more.

The video I have posted provides a basis of that thinking, when I say it stands to be a language in itself.

Having worked for the BBC in radio and TV, Channel 4 News, WTN... I'll stop, but you'll get my point, videojournalism's operating practice has for me been an exercise in the modifying the strengths and revising the weaknesses of its related disciplines.

Motion graphics, photography, cinema, TV, radio, montage, online, social network, innovation and the Outtherenet - my own area of research.

But what makes me terribly excited is what might come from the interaction with artists - at the South Bank.

Here, perhaps is the opportunity to push again and new vigour outside that comfort zone we inhabit when co-opting technology.

And throughout the summer, I'll be looking to put on a few masterclasses and gatherings that seek to address some of these evolving issues.

See you there!

NB. If you're interested in training - you can contact me on Viewmagazine.tv

Breathing creative air - a new chapter

It is a humbling experience to be sat at a table surrounded by people who excel in their own fields to be told "why don’t you show your work".

This morning's meeting with some of the artists-in-residence at the south bank yielded such an occasion.

Humility is a word that often loses respect; we tend to forget this at conferences and the like.

There was Martin whose meme diagrams are works of fantastical scale and art; and Martin's new deal of the mind seeks to be the 21st century blue print for how creative talent can work us out of austerity.

Meeting people whom by dint of their presence may challenge sometimes your own epistemologies can be an experience. In the commercial world it can easily degenerate into bear bating.

You said videojournalism is better than broadcasting. what the *** do you know?

But in an artistic setting you’re allowed your space. Indeed the criteria amongst the gathering AIRS is to be nice.

Being nice helps, certainly for the newbies, but it's about being afforded creative space to say what you want and when.

An important lesson my alma mater share is everyone is addressed as senior, irrespective of the year you graduated. And if you know the lesson of the first captain and crew studies in the 70s, then enough said.

In ten minutes it is both futile and in my case an exercise in linguistic slaloms to tell my story, but it is an invaluable introduction to initiate further dialogue. For it’s through shared space and talk that we begin to pick out areas of interest and mine deeper.

And there's the theme of reciprocity.


Creative Audits
Call it an audit; there is value in that, yet commercialism would sometimes have the quick fix.

Taking time out to explain is something I feel is done less well nowadays, and when it is it’s obfuscated in meetings about meetings and the power card: "here's my card... call me"

A couple of years ago my father passed away. I remember hurtling down the stretch between Kumasi and Accra, a section of which is known as the road of death for good reason, when our driver found himself sandwiched between two articulated trucks, as we all let out wails and screams.

I was being taken to see the queen mother of the village my dad had grown up in and indeed I’d spent some of my formative years.

Why were we going?

In part to pay our respect, but also to find that space to talk. And the queen mother, one of the humblest people I had ever met was a good listener and talker.

We sat on her balcony and she offered us water, which she retrieved herself. Yes she did have servants. And we spoke about the world, this and that, and left.

I often find myself reflecting on those times and others when in a big spacious place.

I left with several impressions this morning, a sense that I had found the queen mothers balcony, closer to home.

And for that I’m grateful. Grateful that I felt invigorated at a new chapter in learning and that it was not my story that mattered, but that I'm looking to engage in with everyone else in this new space of the mind.

A gift from Cairo University

Handed to me after a talk with media staff at Cairo University, but what does it say?

Freeframing inside BBC Multimedia

It looks like something out of youtube, which in itself has its own aesthetic, but videojournalism film making is all about different forms and applying them.

I'd probably have preferred going handheld peaking. See 8 days or Reuters for a good example. but freeframing, is the dogsville of filming, surfing blindly not so much as looking for a set, but feeling it.

So this VJ shoot, most likely the only one you'll find on a non corporate site, of the BBCs recently appointed Head of Multimedia News raises a number of things.

Firstly deep thanks to the Mary for granting me the time. She's extremely busy. We met in Podgorica, Montenegro on a training presentation programme.

Results - How to create a multiple angle interview in 3 mins from david dunkley gyimah on Vimeo.

Mary wasn't excpecting a camera when I got to the BBC and neither was I really in the mood to do a "crafted" shoot.

The intention was for a show around the BBC's new multimedia studios, so while I had my camera frankly its incidental all the way through and I never make any real attempt to focus up or frame. Mostly it's being framed by spatial awareness.

It's evident because Mary and I are actually having a conversation, rather than an interview, and the camera is almost always at waist level focusing up, with me throwing the odd glance at the viewer.

Freeframing
Freeframing is something that's catching fire and the real proponents of this shoot so carefreely, that so what if you hive of a head or get the composition wrong.

If you're a trained VJ it's more difficult, but there is a time and place for freeframing and I have come across many instances whereby it's the only option for the shoot.

In this case, given time constraints and the attention given to the conversational exchange, I'd let this through.

By the way, at Channel One we use to freeframe a lot. Bear in mind we were using BVW betas with no flip out screens, so the question is how did you know what your framing looked like ona fast turnaround shoot.

A more refined version of freeframing is peaking - cf 24. and this short piece on Reuters launching their mobile phone.

I'm going to be engineering variants of this following a summer programme of being an artist-in-residence at the South Bank supporting work which I'm feeding in from my research.

Next week I'll post a tour given to me by the head of the media department at Cairo Univerity - where President Obama has just visited. Here I'm in shoot mode.

What newish media could learn from Old - Britain's Got Talent

And so Britain's Got Talent is done, over Kapush!

Well not quite. In my last post I mapped out the regime behind producing the sort of compelling VT with Susan Boyle story et al.

Diversity won, a blow for the producers in their attempt to chart Boyle's breakthrough with a doc and indeed attach a talent coach from say, Simon Cowell's company.

Diversity for all their brilliance will not be as easy to manage, because of the sheer size and the speciality of their act, plus the boy's have their own independence.

Their story will be told, but frankly they may begin to resent the intrusion and the need for the newspapers to tell a story that has conflict and adversary as a narrative.

"So one of you is studying physics, you've got a Masters, and you're doing IT. Er were you ever in any, er.. you know..."

Awkward questions follow. I hope the boy's find themselves a good manager and minder because the intrusion into their backgrounds is set to rise - from particularly the newspapers who for a limited time know the lads for Essex will sell newspapers.

It shouldn't be that way. Good stories should just sell, but the technicians behind newspapers don't think that way and for them this is business.

I'm related to one of the UK's superstar rugby players and during the intense interest in his brilliant plays, his folks had to deal with all kinds of the press interest. I spoke to a few journalists from the red tops .

So to what in film we call a turning point as I address the central themes of this post and the the question, just what could newspapers, new media and videojournalism learn from the pros?

Simply, that when you have a good story, stick with it.

Some stories can run and run. And a number of the acts from Britain's Got Talent may well have been approached to be the subject of documentaries or series. For as the curtain comes down, that some of their lives will be transformed means there's more video to run.

Lets hope that they'll all be as inspiring as their acts on the day.


Post script

This was added belatedly following the news the ff day of Boyle being admitted to hospital under the mental health act.

Firstly this may just be a preventative measure, so best not to read too much into it, until a doctor's assessment.

Colin Paterson of the BBC, talking on the Today programme was right to draw attention to Ms Boyle's playful gestures after he BGT show, but not to make a link with what he said and her admission into a clinic.

Nonetheless, this will no doubt raise questions of TV's handling of contestants re: the early Big Brother sagas.

Boyle though is different. BB you enter knowing the consequences of the gold fish bowl. BGT promises you fame, but not overt scrutiny.

As a former producer, I can imagine what it would have been like to set eyes on Susan. It would have been evident quite early if she were ill. The producers would have offered her support on a professional level to get her through the show.

"OK Susan you're doing fine. The public love you".

Often after a show, this support disappears, there are new projects to move onto. And a tv producer is no Doctor. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of thought went into: what if Susan loses, based on how swiftly she was admitted into the Priory - one of the most sought after places for pop and tv stars, seeking privacy.

It's often difficult to comprehend this, but for Ms Boyle leading a sheltered life, conservative ( small c) quiet, a church goer/singer having to go through such public attention will be extremely difficult.

What she needs now is someone like Max Clifford to keep the image everyone's come to love safe in the knowledge that is what will make her the money, many will say she richly deserves.

Because her admission so swifty

48 million views, because it’s a multi layered story well told

Screen grab of Susan Boyle from Youtube video Freemantle/ ITV

Soon after it's release it was The Matrix, then Big Brother followed, and soon academia using various phenomenological studies and psychoanalysis will no doubt turn its attention to Susan Boyle and the Susan Boyle moment.

Just why did her video take off in the manner that it did ? 48 million views! Closer to 150 million views now at the time of writing.

This article doesn't probe an underlying philosophy, though it would be a fascinating exercise in story structure, arcing, empathy in music and indeed manipulating the viewing audience.

Instead I took to writing this after spotting a post from Mindy McAdams, a highly respected Prof in media at the University of Florida (US) and behind a successful blog.

Mindy posted this on her site: "One of the hardest things to teach is how to tell a story. I could say “how to tell a story well,” but no, it’s simpler than that. Students just don’t get how to evaluate the pieces, how to hone and polish them, and how to arrange them in a satisfying way. So I’m always on the lookout for great examples of storytelling" .

Her post was prompted by : A (Nearly) Frame-by-Frame Analysis of the Susan Boyle Video by Gary Stein on Click Z: News and expert advice for digital marketers .

Interesting I thought so I left this response on Mindy's site. (this is a slightly different version and correction of grammar doh!)


Mindy,

Susan Boyle moment: this is TV at its best by committee from a reputable production company, a completely different beast from solo video story telling. I counted close to 100 personnel, 30 at least of whom would be involve in direct production. Here's the list for the US Version. There can be many permutations depending on the show's turnaround, whether it's all live etc.

Firstly, the show's magic revolves around a team of personnel from that small community of live Ents shows and camera crew /technicians, which will vary depending on whether it's ITV/Freemantle (commercial) or (public sector) BBC. The costs for one show can be quite something.

This mammoth feat, the end show starts from researcher/producers at the auditions looking for subjects with entertainment value.

It can be quite thankless sometimes. There's a lot of hit and miss, but Boyle would have attracted most producers' interest. And after she would have *sang (woops mistake, doh! left on Mindy's site. Use of past participle here) sung for them privately, it would have been a no brainer.


Then the producers set about looking for all those things that make a story sell. It can be quite ruthless here as Boyle would probably have not volunteered most of the info we now know about her. There's been some debate about this shoehorning on radio stations here like LBC.

The VT (video) segment producer would probably have his/her own team including, a music librarian, who'd conjure up those ditty tunes and feel good songs and then there's a very experienced editor brilliant at cross cutting.

The stuff that happens on stage is the skill of a live gallery/studio director (Jonathan Bullen) with at least 6 cameras, one or two on jibs, which s/he is calling up on screen. What we see on our teles is what s/he is calling live or "as live".

Technique and Gut Feeling
You could break it down and analyse it, but it's the director's gut feeling call for when and what camera comes up. You've seen them at work, it's an incredibly specialised and highly stressful job. You know: "cam 1 zoom- cu on girl-stick with her"; 3 pull back; 4 get ready for a swoop; 1 cue Ant and Dec.

Ant & Dec now saying you didn't expect that. But the team in on the act knew it and had A&D prompted.

Before the live performance, a producer would have "run VT" - ie. played in Boyle's background bit. Look hard and you can see the break on the Youtube VT.

The floor manager will have had the VT countdown cued and be counting in Simon and hushing the audience.

And then after the show the prod would take the ROT (recording of transmission) and recut that for a new package. All this with a committee: Exec, series prod, etc throwing in their comments/critique in. From the offline to online for any segment can sometimes involve several cuts. You simply have to love this way of working otherwise...

At least that's how I remember it working on the various Ents/News shows on BBC TV I worked on.

If your class are interested in this then I'd recommend a live TV multi-camera training course and visits to studios. BTW if you're in the UK etc I'd rec University of Westminster.

This is something TV has always argued it does supremely well, particularly ENTS TV. Susan Boyle is fab value, but the VT package is a TV moment, as much a YT hit, because it's multilayered from a multi talented team.

Recent add on: looking back, the first show of BGT is actually pre-recorded, so while a lot of the above applies, the producer would have had time to construct a bigger overall package of director, and segment producer cut.

On the credits I counted close to 100 personnel, about a third of these would have been directly involved in on the day production and VT. There were 7 offline editors; 4 P&Ds and 4 Exec Prod. Here's the credentials of Jonathan Bullen - the studio director.

David
Viewmagazine.tv

p.s The skillset and choroegraphy into an event like this is highly refined over many years. And it woud be a real joy for me to see a new digital media company mimic this to this degree.

BTW if you liked this, you might like:
How I made the:

• Obama 100 Days video for the UK South Bank commemorations, featuring a live ensemble e.g. violins, Bass etc, and with minutes to spare
• You can find a slew of videos and articles on Viewmagazine.tv, which I have recently redesigned ( thanks to Mediastorm) for the big shout.
• You can also follow me on Twitter as I look forward to an interesting summer of assigments
  

Fight Club Videojournalism - Breaking the rules

Breaking the rules, because the truth, there are none.

Guidelines, yes.

"Stop trying to control everything and just let go".

Once you learn to ride the bike, then you might want to try the wheelie.

Excerpt taken from forthcoming *thingy exploring The cool hunters.

First talked about five years ago whilst presenting and chairing the day of digital paraphernalia for The UK Film Council - UKs govt film funding body.

Videojournalism Training from david dunkley gyimah on Vimeo.

GOTO Viewmagazine.tv for wider screen version

Thanks to Robb Montgomery for shooting me.

I spent three days in Chicago doing a masterclass in editing and two days of Advance VJ, which I can tell you is no way near enough.

However.

Interesting point here, Robb or for that matter a traditional TV person could see from the rushes how many times I have taken non-standard shots, the sort of shots that should not even be digitised.

I make a habit of this often shooting unconsciously and there have been many occasions when I'll give the camera to an interviewee and ask them to shoot a POV.

The point? It's the things we do not plan, the mistakes that often yield unique creative processes. I know of some brilliant technicians (camera etc) who've worked on shows and told to undo what they've learned for the desired affect.

It's difficult but there is a way of making professional mistakes, which to a director might work.

In The Usual Suspects, as the accused lined up for the first time, with Benicio Del Toro doing the funny accent and everyone laughing that scene was not in the original script. Singer, the director keeps it in for good reason.

Del Toro's flatulence game ( unknown to the viewer) makes his fellow actors laugh and shows them to be a team - needed for the script. In Good Morning Vietnam, Robin Williams ad libs his way through.

There is an underlying philosophy to this and as way of illustration consider the following.

If you look at the way we teach 4- 6 years old Art, it's free flowing with abandonment. Then when we get to secondary school we are given form and process.

And by the time we get to university, if that's the case, our sense of identity revolves around rigid form. The intuition, the impromptu thought has been civilised.

To re-capture the peripatetic essence of the 4 year old, we must try to return to those values (small, "v").

How do we do this? And how can we make use of those imperfections and rawness.

How does Pollock know when an action brush works?

This summer, in conjunction with one of bastions of Art and Culture, The South Bank, I look forward to distilling some of this either as a workshop or video. Incidentally the Obama Video on viewmgazine.tv (Click US Flag) is slowly catching. Thanks to those who've fed back.

Videojournalists- how much do you get paid?

Back in the day, 15 years ago, there was some disparity in VJ pay scale and fee. As I recall the discrepancy amounted to some 20,000 UKP that's some $31,182 odd with small change today.

I doubt that's the case today. I have advised a few companies on what I think is a good rate for starters which tends to hover around the mid 20s sterling.

The pay rates way back though were very significant in determining your entry into the TV/broadcast market with commensurate pay.

Again, though this has happened quite recently with some newspaper VJs I have trained warp-driving into TV, with the explosion in Vjism, that's unlikely to be the norm.

Now should VJ be paid more than a crew? Should a solo singer command more than a a band?

It might be comparing chalk and cheese, but yes I do know of several VJs whose rates match what they would say is their experience and risk assessment at bringing prime bacon home.

And what about rates elsewhere? Well I have negotiated my rates working for broadcast networks along a mutual agreement of primary and secondary sales. It's a significant difference btw and is calculated along duration over a fixed time.

This system is not so uncommon from that also expressed by a range of broadcast fee formats on national networks. I once put together this news package which took me four days of tooing and froing, partly because the producer moved slow, but at the end of the four days for an 8 minute piece the princely cheque I picked up amounted to 200 UKP.

Nice!

BTW Call this an RB. Funny how RT has caught on but RB never did.

Angela Grant from Newsvideographer posed the question. I'm in some vein at the moment with a couple of initial chapters for said book about this, but that's the skinny.

Skinny? Sorry I have been watching The Wire. I can't even understand my own self now.

And finally apologise if you're a regualar follower of these musings. I'm in the marking zone at the mo, hence the scarcity

Videojournalism film not enough - viewmagazine redesign

More often than not I'm talking about video and visual journalism, but invariably the film is not enough - at least online.

I have been lecturing in aspects of online design from 96. Truth, I've come to enjoy the project creative process, stemming from my last job as creative director with a Soho ad company re-active, more so than the nuts and bolts of sitting down designing.

That said I found time today to overhaul the front page of viewmagazine and will set about soon css-updating some of the pages.

Some of the marketing mantras we came to live by in Soho included:

• Ensuring a logical viewer pathway
  
• that everything on a page had rhyme and reason
• User-friendly
• Creative, delivering an experience and an aesthetic
  

Journalism sites, compared to corporate ones, thanks to a slew of social networking utilities, and a new web 2.0 design openness have truly come a long way and the televisual experience is an increasing feature.

Features such as mogulus enable us to stream live news, though aside from the likes of the G20, live lecture, weburnalists are finding original live content streaming an interesting challenge.
Bit a deference to the News editor now eh at the traditional station.

The New York Times' Reader 2.o has something of the zeitgeist about it.

But one facet which is becoming a key issue is languages. Consider this: stats passed to me from a marketing friend.

Ten years ago, the web was said to be read by 70% English speakers. Today that figure has inverted with non-English speaking being more dominant.

So one of the strategies is to devise a landing page, in my case in Mandarin, Italian, and Spanish for the associated media.

I was expecting to be in Beijing this summer but couldn't commit the 6 weeks required for the gig. It seems like it's going to be a busy summer nonetheless, so expect a few more languages to crop up.