Videojournalism for videojournalism educators, videojournalist aficionados- from British newspapers

8 Days

If you're a videojournalism educator, video journalist aficionado, then this might interest you.

I have uploaded 8 Days - UK's first videojournalists from regional British newspapers. - the story.

In many ways it's an on-the-day documentation of how after 8 days videojournalism work, 9 newspaper journalists took to videojournalism.

Five hours condensed into 15 minutes from a 40 minute tape shot over the whole period. The story was laid down 2 hours after returning to base. I'm using "collision" techniques to tell the story and "video impressionism"
I have always been interested in stories of ethnographic value e.g. The Successor Generation: South Africa's first generation of voters -made for the BBC and later ITN's Channel 4 News, Nato War Games - training journalists in simulated wars [ please note at the time of making this Flash did not have controls, so you had to use swf files. I'll repost with controls soon]- and more recently Beirut Videojournalists.

I'm pleased to say there's a story that I've been invited to look at which involves young offenders and dance. Many years back I spent a weekend filming in London's notorious Wormwood scrubs prison, reporting on catergory a prisoner - those inside for muder, so this project brings back a social responsibility

So here it is for the first time. Things to remember

• This was the first time the newspaper journalists were doing this, in a programme I wrote and delivered for the Press Association.
• In 8 days, they learmed more than enough of the basics to understand construct and voice driven reports. They would later go on to win several awards themselves and an international one this end.
• Videojournalism since first practicing it in 1994 has moved on, and since 2005 has shifted into free fliming and framing.

VideoJournailsm Today
Today I'm interested in the psychology and kinesethic underpinning what I call Integrated multimedia videojournalilsm - which is the basis of my PhD and a book by a US publisher next year.

And also next year bringing some clever people together we'll be looking to hold an event which looks at what I call Concatenation. A good example would be the Maclaren Buggy wheels and the mechanism of the boeing 747, so if you're a videojournalist or educator please drop me a line. I have been meeting with a fair few tech, think tanks and broadcaster and it's been very positive.

I'll keep you posted on this.

First UK Newspaper Videojournalists - The Original 8 Days Reduxed

It's the VJ film that captured the mood and ambitions of UK regional journalists taking the plunge into videojournalism in 2005.

The film "8 Days was a record of how 8 newspaper journalists after 8 days training would have to tackle their biggest assignment: a true brutal murder case, re-enacted by Cleveland Murder Squad.

For me as their trainer, it was also one of those rare moments, a chance to document who the journalists were and how they would fare The feature sat around for months before it was submitted to the International videojournalism awards in Berlin and three months later, a week before the awards ceremony, I was rang up on a Sunday to say I had won.

Back to the Present
A basic write up was placed into one of my oldest domains from 1999. Mrdot.co.uk.

And over the years it's been quietly sitting around as I have concentrated on viewmagazine.tv

Today, I opened the site to give it a face lift and over the days will place more relevant information about the group back then and how some are doing now.

Mrdot.co.uk was for me the site that would capture the solojo videojournalism paradigm, explaining what it was back then and how managers could use it. And it gave away one of the biggest secrets to learning Videojournalism used on journalists in The UK, US, and Africa ( Ghana and South Africa) .

Robb Montgomery CEO at the hugely successful site Visual Editors.com and Digital Editor and the brilliant videojournalist Gareth Bartlett at Cornwall and Devon are just two of many who've become fans.

They say, what's never been done awaits to be done and you know if you've been there that it can be the scariest, loneliest place. There are no footsteps you can walk in, no handrail to guide you, just you and your instinct and ambitions.

And this is how it all started one winters evening: 8 Days- the redux on Mrdot.co.uk

Qu. Can newspaper journalists do TV?

Qu. Can newspaper journalists do TV?
Ans. You decide!

8 Days chronicles the first UK newspaper journalists to turn videojournalists on PA's videojournalism programme. As novices they had 8 days to get into shape to report a murder case re-opened by Cleveland Police.

The site's finally completed. This link www.viewmagazine.tv/8days.html shows the feature, the making of it, the award it picked up in Berlin at the annual videojournalism awards, and things about video journalism.

Comments duely welcome including the occasional pork pie chucked my way :)

8 Days - How newspapers learned videojournalism in 8 days

How newspapers took 8 Days to learn video journalism



Overall this film is 15 minutes long. This segment is around 10 mins. Please go to Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLwjWsne6GA to watch the second part



Also Inside the Financial Times and their extraordinary grasp of Videojournalism. Plus the newspaper videojournalists who only make films for their newspaper.

Fancy that! You train as a newspaper journalists. Apply for a job at a newspaper and are told, you're only going to be making news features. Double page feature within the UK industry trade magazine UK Press
Gazette