-Is there any possibility to talk about other issue rather than gentrification?
Yes. I think that when you developed a CV you have to have the fundamental steps for digital video making production. First is the introduction of technical skills such as the use of equipment such as the camera, tripod, microphones and headphones (meaning sound and image). Then how to speak with these images, the basics of camera movements, angels and shots. Then the video editing, working with an interface. From here you can adapt many topics as you want, having your support materials for the class and topic that you want to approach.
-How many weeks take to learn a basic digital video making production?
Time is an important factor, keep in mind the size of your group, and the equipment that you have. I always keep two students per camera and three for computer at most. Otherwise the concentration defuse and students don't experience by first hand the use of equipment. I will say that the minimal time is a week and half, developing a small project, with a class of five hours per day. The longest workshop that I had teach as been eight weeks and students can produce several small projects, where they learn a specific tool or editing strategy.
-How to keep the interest in a session of five hours?
Always keep a very detail schedule, taking in mind how many minutes each exercise will take. Since video production involves team work, every class start with warm up exercises to build the trust between participants, that way they can feel more comfortable.
So divide your class' activity in simple way:
1-Warm up exercises: building team
2-Technical skills: use of equipment
3-Visual theory: use of framing, camera movements, shots, angles, story board and script
4-The topic: bring your materials and start talking about the topics of interest
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TUESDAY - JULY 1, 2008 - 07:56:34 AM
The act: tricks and tips
1-Explain the project to students, leaving options to talk about issues that they feel comfortable and interested.
2-When we approach gentrification as a main issue, they should know how they are directly involved. Students can feel overwhelmed whit the complexity of the situation, so I tried to do it with simple examples, supporting the explanation with visual materials such as maps, tables, graphics, etc.
3-By the end of these explanation they can even feel a lack of interest to directly approach this issue. Not rush in any case gentrification is a very tricky topic that will be exposed through topics related with culture industry.
4-Give different options to students, and ask to have a priory research. That way they can have more interesting questions to ask during interview, and more critical material when the editing process starts.
5-During the video editing, help students to develop questions through the interviews montage.
This can be made based on b-roll and voice overs.
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TUESDAY - JULY 1, 2008 - 07:54:26 AM
The act
How we developed the videos.
1- We asked businesses owned by young people around the area of north west side of Chicago, to give a couple of interviews to digital video apprenticeships.
2-The area that we cover was only a ratios of three blocks in between Chicag St, Damen St and Wood St, in the City of Chicago.
3-The questions focused on the topic of cultural and economical interaction with the new neighbors coming to live to the area, mainly represented by young professional and bohemian community. Teens who develop the interviews are individuals who live or used to live in the area, and are in danger to be displaced by gentrification.
4-The videos produced were three and mainly related with their personal interest in urban culture, such as graffiti, the usage of tattoos, the meaning of the concept of subculture and improvements in their neighborhood.
5-These videos were the first approximation of students with digital video making production. The process to develop this small project involved media literacy, acquiring technical skills, developing a topic which involved a social issue.
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TUESDAY - JULY 1, 2008 - 07:52:12 AM
The act
How we developed the videos.
1- We asked businesses owned by young people around the area of north west side of Chicago, to give a couple of interviews to digital video apprenticeships.
2-The area that we cover was only a ratios of three blocks in between Chicag St, Damen St and Wood St, in the City of Chicago.
3-The questions focused on the topic of cultural and economical interaction with the new neighbors coming to live to the area, mainly represented by young professional and bohemian community. Teens who develop the interviews are individuals who live or used to live in the area, and are in danger to be displaced by gentrification.
4-The videos produced were three and mainly related with their personal interest in urban culture, such as graffiti, the usage of tattoos, the meaning of the concept of subculture and improvements in their neighborhood.
5-These videos were the first approximation of students with digital video making production. The process to develop this small project involved media literacy, acquiring technical skills, developing a topic which involved a social issue.
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FRIDAY - JUNE 13, 2008 - 09:28:34 AM
FAQ
The deal
Is difficult collaborate with teens and business owners, in a project that envolves media?
Our first approach and introduction between groups was fine, with no rush. Some places received us with open arms and very interested to collaborate, and some other were, more difficult to engaged. In any case was easier with young owners. Before we visit the places, we learned with students what they really want from their interview, and with the owners what they are going to have from this interview. In this way both groups learn more about their roles, and needs.
Should I leave students go out and make the work?
Visiting the business around Chicago street with the students, is a very fun activity. But I have to keep the group safe. Not only because they have expensive equipment, but because is better if some adult represent the team (at least for the first time).
Are all students welling to go out and make a video project?
In order to get hands on in a interview, of any nature, is always good idea learn technical issues such as, camera framing, good sound with the use of microphones, roles in the interview and make a brief research to formulate good questions, and assign roles as team. In this extend students can feel more secure about their performance as filmmakers. Interviews are just a good exercise to built the confidence in students, but is not the ultimate product. I tried to keep in mind that interviews are a common strategy in non-fiction film, but there is other narrative solutions.
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FRIDAY - JUNE 13, 2008 - 09:07:26 AM
FAQS
My Intervention
Is there a way to call students to collaborate?
That's a good start. In my experience in Chicago teenagers that I invited from my block, were completely uninterested. Maybe because they feel it was only a crazy idea. For me always work better go to some establish non-profit organization working with teens, because teens are the established clients, and they have a sense of trust with the place.
Are they exited to work with a project of this nature?
Well, the most of the teens are more exited if the have a minimal stipend, so it seems like is a job where they learn. I like to name it as a media arts apprenticeship. But in Mexico I had the experience where students just go because are interested, the trick is keep them engaged. For them see their work screened is a reward.
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WEDNESDAY - JUNE 11, 2008 - 06:53:08 PM
Tricks and tips:
Learn the use of a video camera, make a video project and talk about a subjects such as gentrification is not a easy task. So these are my tricks to make the students interested in finish a project and find a personal meaning on this.
1) Talk in group> Brainstorming around the topic
2) Make groups> Students love work with their pals, just try to keep them organized
3) In groups make a subject> Ones the group is formed, start a short research about the topic that they choose.
4) Let's walk> Ones they have some idea of what they want to do, let's take a walk and observe places that can be potentially interested in collaborate.
5) Let's talk>If they identify the places and people who feel interested , lets go in group, always with you as mentor, this is going to give more trust and a formal presence to the project.
6)Let's make a deal> At the time to talk with the subjects of the interview is good idea if you introduce the group and talk to the business man, landlady, dog walker, etc about the project. Then students will feel more comfortable and they will lead the conversation.
7)Then go back to think about the interviews and planning the video production.
8)Schedule with the group and the interviewee a time for the interview. The go out!
Remember before they go out make roles inside the group, it can be the cameraman, the interviewer, the sound director, that way everybody knows what the have to do.
Here some pics with disposable cameras, a good exercise to start framing.
Blog
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WEDNESDAY - JUNE 11, 2008 - 06:22:37 PM
Here is the deal:
Many of the young entrepreneur business around Chicago street are related with culture Industry. Among them are coffee shops, record stores, tattoo salons, framing stores, haircut, and a store for anime and toys collectors. Young people always feels very attracted to them, so we usually go and ask them about different subjects. To be honest, students don't feel very engaged when the subject is directly related with gentrification. In this way I think the deal with students is to make them feel motivated, letting them the space to develop their subject of interest, and eventually the subject of gentrification will show up inside interviews.
These subjects that they choose to work with, go around subculture, and cultural identity. They planned three videos related with the activity and services that some of these stores offered. One video is about Tattos, second is Cultural Clicks and third one is related with Graffiti as public art manifestation. The business people accepted to collaborate, given their opinions about the subjects and letting the students to take b-roll of their store and costumers.
Here are some of the pictures of the Live Wire workshop and students who are part of it.
-Learning the basics of video
-Getting ideas: Conversation about the changes, benefits and
contradictions that gentrification brings
-Observing the surroundings: create a walk in the neighborhood, and talk with the
entrepreneur business about the the idea of produce a short video
about their store, as short narrative about their story.
-Pre-production time: General ideas, how are the users?, What is the main people to targeting?, What are the benefits for the neighborhood?, How students are personally related as consumers?
-Production time: Video production time in three teams, getting stories, interviews and footage.
-Post-production time: Video editing and show the ad's in groups, finish the project and make the dvd for the costumers.
What is it?
Chicago Street TV, is a project developed as part of the Flash Job Campaign*, a group project originally developed for the New Life Berlin Contemporary art Festival.
The Chicago Street TV will invite several students from SLYM , to participate in a two weeks video workshop. In this period of time students will develop several video commercials about the entrepreneur businesses located in the Chicago Avenue, near by Street Level place. This have two implications, one is to develop a critical review with participants (teens), about the process of gentrification, and thier implication with the development of culture industry ( "new" business related with music, coffee, tattoos, books, art galleries and their consumers such as artist, students, new professionals). Through this learning process, the project will allow group conversations about benefits, negative impacts and changes, that different communities perceive around the economical interaction of gentrification.
blog
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THURSDAY - MAY 29, 2008 - 03:52:22 PM
Hello, I am Amanda Gutierrez living in Chicago and born in Mexico City. I am contributing in distance from Chicago, as a Catalyst in The Flash Job Campaign. Throughout this project I would like to dedicate my blog to the stories, FAQ's and tips about media literacy. My first contribution is to publish the text, which can be a short CV to develop a Video workshop. I submitted in my application for the project. Among the eleven Catalysts, we agreed to share our application-texts, since this seems like a fair way to start our relationship.
Please let me know the best way to help you in any trick or requirement working on-line, I would be very happy to help you from here.
DESCRIBE YOUR REASONS FOR APPLYING, AS WELL AS RELEVANT PAST EXPERIENCES (IF ANY)
I'm very interested in ways of collaboration through media literacy, I have experience working with media workshops for teens developed withing a week. I believe that new media, specifically video production, can be a critical tool for youth to explore their community and ways to understand their own identity. I wish I could be there to develop and personally help documenting and teaching this skills, bust I believe that on-line resources can be excellent tools to do it yourself or even connecting two worlds.
DESCRIBE YOUR ARTISTIC PRACTICE
My work is based on the analysis of the media and performance projects, in which sound art is present as the fundamental element. It was from this experience that I came to understand the processed on real time on sound and video. I acquired different arts residencies within media art institutions such as the Multimedia Center at Mexico City, ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie) in Germany, and Video Machete in Chicago, acquiring my first experiences teaching and producing video documentaries, in collaborative process with teens. I had been working with media performance projects called "A brief history of fictions", in which video art is present as the fundamental element. “A brief history of fictions” is a project series created from non-fictional stories. Each project is developed from several phases of post-production, using methods of documentary and theater. The result of this process culminates in a performance; which allows the construction of a video documentary on real time. The documents resulted along the process are showed in the gallery; emphasizing the use of different mediums and strategies to represent truth, such as sound, video, photography and writing.
Amanda
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