The art in video, videojournalism, and journalism

Solo - a film about videojournalism from david dunkley gyimah on Vimeo.

There is art in this thing we do, a non-quantifiable asset often hard to describe.

Some see the words, others see the spaces in between that connect the words. Many see what the eye records, but the artist sees the syllogism, past the obvious, reinterpreting and finding new meaning.

Can it be learned, studied ? Why oh yes! But often it comes from study, that insatiable and tireless habit to know why.

There are few geniuses in this world who can tilt the power of transaction, cause and effect, to be asymmetrical.

In life you get out what you put in.

Many through dexterity and greying hairs have become masters of their trade, but have not forgotten the respect for their craft. The writer chews over every letter, syllable, that emerges from the tips of their frayed fingers to the keys and magically finds itself on the screen.

But today we ask for the Master and Jack of all trades. It's not uncommon. Renaissance was coined centuries ago.

But have we become arrogant in those ways? New journalism does not prescribe old journalism as dead. For without one you cannot have the other. Without the foundation can we build sky scrapers that touch new space?

And have the masters also forgotten that at some stage they too must relinquish their crown? Time moves on, but deference to them must remain. And we're not simply talking about the Cronkites.

There is art in this thing we do, but it is one honed through late nights, early mornings and a bid to see past that where many will tell you it can't be done.

For all the great writers, many of whom had lean years, there are countless others clamouring to get to the top. For all the great videographers, another tier of peers awaits the chance to proclaim their prowess. For every multimediaist, there are countless more playing with form who say they have seen the future.

There is art in this thing we do, but often art does not seek a common consensus. It is the confidence of you and appreciation of others. It is the he or she that sticks their neck out for others to throw invectives.

It is he or she who dares say something that many of us find preposterous, only to realise eventually the haste in our reply was ill-thought.

Camera in eyes, full site streaming at 1gb, gesture video calling up by voice recognition: the hapless thoughts of fantasists.

There is art in this thing we do and sometimes when you're not deluded, you're the only one that knows and sees it. Till others see it as well. That is the greys in your hair, solemnity in your voice and the skill of your pen and video.

Therein lies the art.

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

Is Television killing the Arts?

The Edinburgh Fringe Assembly Rooms director William Burdett Coutts is not pleased at the level of Arts television coverage.

I read this at about the same time, Metal - a dynamic arts think thank -
emailed me about setting up a new body.

The two events set me off. So I trundled down to the South Bank - London's culture metropolis and armed with my camera proceeded to put together a piece about what's wrong with Art and Television.

From what appeared to be a quick 3 minute piece, soon grew to a 7 minuter, exploring a couple of themes.

The overriding one for me is simple and I'll post more detail with the vid in Viewmagazine tomorrow. But here's a snap shot.

TV no longer offers exclusive red blood cells for those Arts bodies needing oxygen for publicity

We know that in blogworld, citizen journalism, even fast approaching, now politics. So the piece I have made asking folk what they think makes that point.

It includes snippets of Simon Prosser, director of Hamish Hamilton publisher of Zadie Smith; a brief look at the wonderful photo exhibition at the Festival Hall; and then we whizz around to the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

Television's relationship with the Arts can only get better with a new constituent of producers and TV personnel who are able to see a new horizon, who can seperate high from low brow, who can make use of the long tail and hold their nerve and who understand that Art is not just a night at the proms, but an experience, which in recent times conductors have shown by allowing populist repertoires and jolly behaviour.

If the best we can do is to discuss whether its proper to clap in between a Mahler symphony, then the plot has been lost. Art and Culture must never be stagnant, but move with the times.

You could argue that TV has done neither and that this has not be helped by some custodians of Art whom may struggle to understand what a blog or video journalism piece is.

Post tomorrow