The Institute for the Future recently hosted a conference on the Future of Video.  Here is the video of my presentation.

Caricia Catalani from Institute for the Future on Vimeo.

Here are some highlights on this amazing conference by IFTF’s Mani Pande.

Highlights from Future of Video Conference

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Here are some of the interesting ideas that were shared by some of the expert panelists at the conference:

In the morning we had a panel with Howard Rheingold, Research Fellow, IFTF and Mimi Ito from UC, Irvine where they talked about user generated videos. Howard, who is an expert on the use of video for communication and teaching, talked about vernacular or informal video that is being created by non-experts. He pointed out that YouTube is providing new ways of doing things with video. There are probably new cultures that are developing on YouTube. Young people are going to YouTube to learn about new things like “how to videos” rather than Wikipedia.

Howard was quick to point out that video is more time consuming. In text you don’t get authentic presence of the person, but video does that making it more performative.
Mimi Ito, Research Scientist, UC, Irvine, correctly pointed out that most of the media today is made by amateurs. Amateur videos are entering everyday production and circulating in the same streams as professional work.

Ito who has studied Japanese youth said that camera phone was fostering new kinds of visual awareness among young people in Japan. Young people are paying attention to their environment because they carry cameras with them, and are always looking to capture everyday experiences with their peers. Ito also believes that to understand the future of video you need to understand the social context in which video is being created.

While discussing the new kinds of grammars and genres that are evolving, Robin Sloan, VP, Current TV, said that when Current TV asked viewers to make videos, most people were imitating journalist. It was a little bit of a disappointment. 90% were people acting as if they were on TV. Sloan believes that innovation is not flowing from people in their 20s. They are very risk averse. Instead you want to look at either side of bracket. Teenagers or older people.

Online performance artist Ze Frank pointed out that creativity and efficacy are not conjoint twins. What matters is how effective you are in conveying the message. Citing his own example, Ze said that advertisers gave him money because they liked being associated with this new powerful genre which makes people do stuff.

My colleague, Jess Hemerly, moderated a panel on authorship, appropriation and control with Alexander Cohen of UC, Berkeley and Paul Spinard, Author, the VJ Book. Jess made a wonderful video presentation, which can be found on this blog.

Hannah Eaves from Link TV and from Caricia Catalina UC, Berkeley, talked about the role of video in bringing about social change. Citing the Nirodh project in India where video was used to spread awareness on condoms, Catalina said that use of video has been highly effective in advocacy and intervention in public health. Hannah said that the strength of video is that it can cross language and literacy barriers and is effective in making people take action.

Check out some pics of our presentation at this year’s American Public Health Association meeting.  We had a great time with our friends from REACH NOLA.  Our presentation was packed, standing room only.  We presented with a panel of incredibly inspirational experts of community-based participatory research.

BACK HOUSE PRODUCTIONS, REACH NOLA, & COMIX

presents

Freestyle Love Supreme:

Purpose Party for New Orleans

VideoVoices Project




Freestyle Love Supreme and COMIX are throwing a Purpose Party to raise funds for the New Orleans VideoVoices Project! Join Tony Award-winners Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bill Sherman plus Chris Jackson, Chris “Shockwave” Sullivan, Utkarsh Amudkar, Wade Allain-Marcus and Anthony Veneziale along with special guests for an evening of amazing hip-hop comedy for a great cause. Directed by Thomas Kail.

We will be having some awesome silent auction items up for bid (ITH Tickets and more!) and it’s going to be an excellent show.

The New Orleans VideoVoices Project works to build a groundswell of voices for change using community media, inspiring hard hit communities to tell their stories.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8th
@ COMIX COMEDY CLUB
355 West 14th Street
7 pm and 9:30 pm

Tickets: $50 Advance / $60 (day of)
Students: $20 Advance / $25 (day of)


www.comixny.com

The New Orleans VideoVoices Project is a  REACH NOLA, VideoVoice Collective and community partnership.

For more information please visit:
www.video-voice.org or www.reachnola.org

-Freestyle Love Supreme

http://www.reverbnation.com/fls
Click here to put our songs on your Facebook profile.

Join us for a presentation on participatory video and human rights in New Orleans at the 2008 Human Rights Center Conference!

Conference, November 6, 2008, 10AM to 5PM
Alumni House, UC Berkeley

Health, Human Rights and Vulnerable Communities - 10:00 AM to 12 Noon (Toll Room)

Faculty Discussant: Cheri Pies, School of Public Health

• Caricia Catalani, School of Public Health, Berkeley, Participatory Video in New Orleans, USA

Abstract
Billions of people worldwide have gained access to the Internet, digital recording devices, and other new media tools.  More and more, these new media tools are used as innovative solutions to enduring human rights struggles, however often without critical understanding of their potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.  To begin to understand these aspects of new media more thoroughly, this evaluation of the New Orleans Videovoice Project describes the processes and outcomes associated with a particular participatory video methodology: videovoice.

Like its predecessor photovoice, videovoice involves partnering with communities to research health and human rights situations by putting digital cameras in the hands of everyday people.  The New Orleans Videovoice Project took place in Central City, an underserved nieghborhood that was hit hard in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Those who have returned from displacement have faced a difficult recovery period involving loss of family and friends, loss of housing and possessions, closures of primary sources of health care, marginalization by government and its recovery programs, and the ongoing stress of piecing one’s life and the community back together.

The New Orleans Videovoice Project arose out of a need to organize around human rights and health concerns at this critical time.  By building a partnership of diverse community members from the Central City neighborhood, public health researchers, filmmakers, and human rights advocates, the project has produced several participatory documentary videos.  The videos describe the neighborhood’s historical and current struggle for human rights, and their own solutions for a better future.  Beyond videos, this highly participatory project has resulted in other critical outcomes, such as increased capacity to produce media, understanding of community strengths and concerns, individual empowerment, and engagement in community action.

• Krista Kshatriya, School of Law, Berkeley, World Health Organization/Southeast Asia Regional Office, India
• Miranda Ritterman, School of Public Health, Berkeley, Christian Children’s Fund, Angola
• Nobuko Mizoguchi, Demography, Berkeley, Global Health Access Project, Thai-Burma border

Lunch Break - 12 noon to 1:30 PM

World premiere screenings, followed by dinner reception and filmmaker discussion session.

• Friday, August 22, 7:pm at Ashe Cultural Center, New Orleans
• Saturday, August 23, 5:pm (previously scheduled 3:pm screening has been changed) at Zeitgeist Multimedia Arts Center, New Orleans