Video Geek Lab - Documentary and Journalism

This is the third section of the BlogHer09 Video Geek Lab. This one concerns resources for those of you interested in documentary videography, citizen journalism,video activism and presenting fact based videos.

• Web Camcorder - you will have to work harder on the video but it can be done.
• Digital Video Camcorder - upper level with more controls and features.
• Prosumer Level Camcorder
• Audio/Microphone Concerns
• Tripod/Monopod

You might need better quality equipment and a bit more skills to create different versions for distribution. In addition, you might need to learn some of the techniques of traditional and web based journalism.

News University – free and paid web classes on journalism issues, storytelling techniques and new media. You will also want to hang out at the Poynter Institute for Visual Journalism page.

Online Journalism Review - Tips for shooting better online video (2007). Technology has improved since this article but it is still solid information. You should also read What Are The Ethics of Online Journalism and How To Write for the Web because slapping a video on a blog is not always the complete story.

Many of us will find ourselves interviewing people. Here are some tips from Serena Carpenter:

How to shoot video interviews

View more presentations from Serena Carpenter.

Audio and storytelling resources at Transom.org Please read Curtis Fox, Elizabeth Arnold and Studs Turkel on the many paths to storytelling. You will also find information about microphones and recoding software.

Knight Digital Media Center - Camcorder information specifically for those people interested in journalism.

For journalism, social media and related information visit Serena Carpenter, Amy Gahran and Amy's posts at Poynter.org