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.

The Institute for the Future started a research project to capture, via video, ideas from futurists, media experts, and the public that explore and participate in the emerging culture of video communication and to foster a discussion about the future social, political, and cognitive impacts of visual media. Researchers within the Institute for the Future and experts in visual medias are investigating the transformative power of video.

Watch their interview with Caricia Catalani.

Caricia Catalani was interviewed by KALX 90.7FM in Berkeley for their series on innovative approaches to graduate research.  She discusses our work in New Orleans, using a community-based participatory research approach to video.

Listen to the radio interview.

Reel Change

Husband/wife team Anthony Veneziale and Caricia Catalani take their talents and give voice to those in need.

Guideposts Magazine: Inspiring Stories, Inspiring People

By Jen MacNeil
New York, New York
When Anthony Veneziale and Caricia Catalani got married last spring, they wanted to find a way to join not just their lives but their careers. Not an easy feat when he’s a filmmaker and producer and she’s working on a doctorate in public health. They also wanted to use their talents to help empower others.

Read the article

This week, the VideoVoice Collective and the concept of participatory video were featured on a news story by Quantum Shift TV called “Filming What’s Important”.

Check out this 2-minute clip from Shift-In2.

Watch more videos like this at www.quantumshift.tv

The VideoVoice Collective was featured in this month’s issue of Positive Thinking Magazine. Check out the article on “Positive People: There are all kinds of ways to make a difference in the lives of others. See how these folks do it.” It is a bit of a founders’ piece but still some good press on the importance of participatory videomaking.

Positive Thinking Magazine, Photograph by Scott Jones