Over the next few days I'm focusing on ways we can make this whole video coverage thing easier to do. The biggest barrier facing anyone wanting to do video citizen journalism is usually a technical one. How do I capture the video with my camera and then get it on to the internet? Any article about doing this can easily de-evolve into tech speak.

Luckily the Knight Citizen News Network has put together a tutorial that covers this without going deep into geek speak. If you understand what a video camera and a computer are, but don't know what firewire and video codecs are.... this is the tutorial for you. It's part of a series of learning modules KCCN has done for citizen journalists. Even if you're an experienced reporter, there's some tips you can pick up here.

Cross posted from the TimeScape Media Forums

Automatic video cameras are great. But they're not as smart as they should be. Otherwise they'd yell at you if you were shooting someone with a background twice as bright as the light on the person's face.

Until they make 'em that smart, you'll just need to remember to do a few simple things.

1) Zoom in on your subject and lock your focus. When you've got a set shot the camera doesn't always know what you want to focus on. So the auto focus sometimes will bounce between you subject and something in the background. You may not notice when looking into a small viewfinder, but when the video is big enough for all to see it looks like your video is wacky.

2)While you're close up on a face locking your focus, lock your exposure too. There's nothing worse than trying to pick out someone's face when it looks like a black blob against a very bright background.

3) Use a microphone. Yes, camera mics are getting better... but they still pick up a lot of extra noise you don't want and not enough of the noise you do want. Audio is more than half of the video experience (try watching a video with the sound turned off and you'll see what I mean).

City Pages is recognizing what you've known for some time. In its annual best of the Twin Cities issue, City Pages named The UpTake as the Best Citizen Based Media Outlet.

Read more about it here.

We're flattered and want to share the credit.
Several names get mentioned in the article, but The UpTake is much more than the few people mentioned. We're a growing community of citizen journalists and supporters of citizen journalism. Everyone who has contributed video, text, time, comments or just moral support helped us win this. So this is an award, not for an organization as much as it is for a community and a movement.

Thank you City Pages... and Minnesota Monitor which wrote:

"Best citizen-based media outlet: Duh. The UpTake."

As one of the relatively new kids on the block it's nice to know you really like us.

Minneapolis, June 25, 2008—Participate in activities surrounding this year’s Republican National Convention (RNC) and voice your opinion about today’s democratic process by submitting a video for I Approve this Message, (theunconvention.com/iapprove) a project of The UnConvention produced by the Walker Art Center (walkerart.org) and The UpTake (theuptake.org).

Participants are invited to create short videos (maximum length two minutes) in response to the scripted nature of presidential nominations, political party conventions, and democracy in general.

Entries ranging in opinion and vision, humor and insight are encouraged. Tag entries “iapprovethismessage2008” on YouTube and be a part of citizen-driven journalism. Workshops to learn videography, editing, and uploading will take place Thursdays, July 10 and August 7, and Saturday, August 16 (details follow).

Partners and Community Involvement
I Approve this Message is a project of The UnConvention and is produced by the Walker Art Center (walkerart.org), a multidisciplinary contemporary arts center in Minneapolis, and The UpTake (theuptake.org), a media and technology services organization dedicated to advancing democracy
through citizen journalism. Partnering organizations include mnartists.org, The Twin Cities Media Alliance, Minnesota Television Network (MTN), Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and St. Paul Neighborhood Network.

 

Workshops
Thursday, July 10, 6–9 pm
Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab
Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis
Free, but registration is required. Call 612.375.7600. 

 
Thursday, August 7, 6–9 pm
Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab
Walker Art Center
Free, but registration is required. Call 612.375.7600. 
 
Saturday, August 16, 10 am
Minnesota Television Network 
125 SE Main St. #244, Minneapolis, MN 55414 
Contact: John Akre, 612.331.8575  

Submission Process
 
Post entries on YouTube tagged with “iapprovethismessage2008.”
 
Walker Art Center and The UpTake volunteers and staff will screen submissions for quality and adherence to guidelines. A selection will be featured on The UnConvention Web site (theunconvention.com), and selected videos will be screened at the Walker Art Center and other Twin Cities venues.

Guidelines/Disclaimer 

Length: Maximum 2 minutes.
 
Videos should be thoughtful, creative, and family-friendly and avoid hateful and defamatory language or images. Videos may address political issues and candidates, but cannot explicitly endorse or support a specific candidate or political party. The review panel values non-partisan participation and reserves the right to reject entries that are unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable. The panel reserves the right to reject videos that don’t meet these qualifications.

The UnConvention
The UnConvention is a non-partisan collective of citizens and cultural institutions assembled to create a forum in which to promote the democratic and free exchange of ideas during and after the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, from September 1–4, 2008.
 
It exists as a counterpoint to the highly scripted and predetermined nature of the contemporary presidential nomination process and convention. The mission of The UnConvention (theunconvention.com) is:
 
• To umbrella the myriad artistic and educational activities (exhibitions, lectures, performances, etc.) that will take place in the Twin Cities during the lead-up and staging of the 2008 Republican National
Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.
 
• To host the alternative media that will converge on the Twin Cities during the Republican National Convention.
 
For more information on I Approve this Message, go to (theunconvention.com/iapprove) or contact Allison Herrera, 612.375.7548.
 
 
Walker Art Center programming is made possible by its Premier Partners: Best Buy, General Mills, Piper Jaffray, Target, Star Tribune, and WCCO-TV.
 
The Walker Art Center is located at 1750 Hennepin Avenue—where Hennepin meets Lyndale—one block off Highways I-94 and I-394, in Minneapolis.
 
For public information, call 612.375.7600, or visit walkerart.org.