NOTE: This is the description of the class we did in October. We will be offering more classes soon!

Tired of the same old news coverage?

Want to learn how to do the news yourself?

Join The UpTake for Political Video-Journalism Basics!

The UpTake is a new media and technology organization dedicated to citizen journalism and its role in democracy. Our goal is to cover important political stories – including those ignored by the mainstream media – and to make sure people hear about them.

There’s a lot going on out there. And that’s where you come in.

The UpTake is recruiting and training citizen journalists in key locations throughout the country to help cover the 2008 elections. As the title of our course suggests, we’re starting with the basics, including how to use a video camera effectively and tell good story. But after that, the sky is the limit.

Course details:
Political Video Journalism Basics
Friday Dec 7th, 5:30 p.m.
Colorado AFL-CIO HQ (Denver, CO) 140 Sheridan Blvd. Suite 201 Denver, CO 80226

This training is being offered FREE OF CHARGE. Tuition to future trainings will be $25-50; some scholarships will be available. See below for course syllabus.

To register, click HERE or contact Corrine McDermid or Mike McIntee at registration.co@theuptake.org

What to bring:
If you have a camera, bring it to class and be sure to note the make and model when you register. If you have a computer with video editing software, please note in your registration the name of the software and whether it is a Mac or Windows machine. If you have a laptop, please bring it as well. If you can’t beg or borrow a camera or a computer, let us know ahead of time and we’ll try to arrange to have some extras.

Instructors

Michael McIntee is a former network TV news executive with 29 years of broadcasting experience. He started up and ran All News Channel – a 24 hour TV news channel on DirecTV and managed and syndicated “First Business,” its number-one rated morning business program. He has also created and supervised programming for cable networks USA, VH1, and Lifetime. Mike is the founder of TimeScape Productions, which produces online videos and podcasts and manages user-generated video for magazines, associations and other organizations. Michael is an expert producer, writer, video editor and occasional fill-in host on Air America Minnesota.

Chuck Olsen is the founder of Minnesota Stories, called one of the best videoblogs by the New York Times and winner of two Vloggies Awards. He is also the producer-director of “Blogumentary,” a documentary feature film about the rise of political and personal blogs, and is the Minneapolis correspondent for Rocketboom. Chuck’s work has screened at the Walker Art Center, Harvard University, and on renegade laptops around the world. In politics, Chuck has helped the campaigns of Rep. Keith Ellison and Sen. John Edwards use online video successfully. In his “spare time,” he works as a freelance producer, videographer, editor and educator.

Syllabus

Part I: Why is citizen journalism important?
Where people get news, story impact, impact on media

Part II: Storytelling techniques
Why “content is king,” the art of revealing information at the right time

Part III: Planning your story
Photo resources, fair use. What makes a good video story, “what’s in it for me?” and other questions you should be able to answer for your audience.

Part IV: Equipment – the weapons of mass dissemination (WMDs)
What’s available, what you need

Part V: Exercise and discussion – doing an interview

Part VI: Shooting
Protecting your camera; the pros and cons of tripods and why you really want one; zooming, panning and why being close is really important; the three most common errors

Part VII: Editing
Beginning and ending a story, picking sound and video using time codes (AKA learning to love your log), editing software basics

Part VIII: Video is a team sport
Roles, working together

www.theuptake.org