Tuesday, January 05, 2010

A brief visual history of video journalism -from BBC to newspapers

A brief visual history of videojournalism from david dunkley gyimah on Vimeo.

Recently, I've been spending my spare time researching further into news film making and a video journalism praxis, with the view for a book later this year.

My US publisher is like the best editors: "carrot and a big stick approach".

It's going to be fun, but in the meantime I thought of posting this vid above in expectation of NewRewired, a much talked about London media event I have been scheduled at speak at.

Next week too is the start of South Bank's Collision - an amazing gathering of artists and experts who will share each other's company and exchange ideas.

I have always believed some of the best ideas come from inviting others to share an reconstruct new threads and thoughts. So I'm thrilled at what Southbank has achieved here.

I'm also delighted that an expert who is hugely and widely respected in film and docs has accepted Southbank Centre's invitation for the week, in which I'll play the discreet host to him.

The story of film

His name is Mark Cousins. When speakers inviting a guest on stage say things like... the following guest needs no invitation, they would be talking about the likes of Mark.

This is his Mark's background. And be sure to get hold of his book, the story of film.

Back to the video.

In television terms you could call it a showreel, but I do believe it's more than that. In essence through the fringes of my career it gives some idea of the changes in video productions from the early 90s to my curent Phd practice.

Here's a precis of the video inserts

  • Channel One TV- Channel One launched the year the web grew up circa 1994 with the launch of the first web browser Mosaic. The clip shown is part of a larger film looking at newspapers taking to the web in 1995
  • Videojournalism is as much a western model as printing is believed to have been soley down to Guttenberg. Scholars have determined Guttenberg wasn't the only one on the trail of mass printing. And as for videojournalism, the Africans started experimenting with it in 1997. More recently in the Middle East a number of countries e.g. Beirut, Jordan, Egypt have taken to videojournalism
  • Channel One proved something else - using the vj concept it could make any genre of programme. Last year Ferrari gave my good friend the 599GTB. We made a 15 minute vid taking the car back to Ferrari HQ which has got some good hits on youtube.

Through out the videos I'm sing a verite approach - something I call accelerated verite.

The vid ends with one of my favourite young film makers Rob Chiu whom I accompanied on the making of his first full short about teenage angst in London.