Our sister organization, the New Orleans VideoVoices Project partnered with kids to make this incredible participatory film about their Iberville neighborhood.
Iberville Boys & Girls Club from Lily Keber on Vimeo.
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
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.
UC Berkeley School of Public Health, DrPH Program and Human Rights Center
present
A free screening of In Harmony: Reflections, thoughts, and hopes of Central City.
Tuesday, March 10. 6:PM. 109 Dwinelle. UC Berkeley Campus
IN HARMONY is a film about everyday people finding their voices and coming together to tell the story of their neighborhood, Central City New Orleans. It was conceived, filmed, and edited by people who felt that, despite the swarming of the mass media after Katrina and efforts by filmmakers from around the world, the real story of their neighborhood has not been told. As schoolteacher Michele Burton-Oatis describes it, “I was tired of talking about what was wrong with the way that my city was being treated and rebuilt. I decided to do something about it. I used a video camera.”
As the New Orleans VideoVoice team learned to use video cameras to capture the story of their neighborhood, they interviewed dozens of neighbors and local leaders, some who they had known for years and some who they had never reached out to. They built an archive of stories from local historians, business owners, activists, artists, parents and grandparents, police, homeless, teachers, medical providers, and more. In Harmony is the first film to emerge from this intensive effort to capture the spirit of Central City and its people.
For more information, email catalani@berkeley.edu.
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
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.
World premiere screenings, followed by dinner reception and filmmaker discussion session.
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