In a tie up with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), Washington D.C., 9.9 School of Communication (9.9 SoC), Delhi, has invited applications for a six-week course on video storytelling which will be conducted by Emmy-award-winning journalist Pierre Kattar from December 2, 2013 to January 10, 2014. The course will be conducted in Hindi by Ravinder Bawa, former Senior Special Correspondent with Aaj Tak.
An online course, the only equipment participants will require during this course will be a simple video camera or a phone with video and audio facilities.
Students will get to learn different aspects of video storytelling — shooting, editing, storytelling, writing and narrating, besides learning how to use audio (voice and background) for radio and multimedia reports. They will be trained to shoot and edit video and combine moving pictures with audio.
“Students will review written instructions and sample photos, audio and video, and be asked to produce their own photos, audio and/or video, which the instructors will critique,” says Kattar. They will be taught how to build a compelling story using all these elements.
Both instructors will be training the participants one-on-one, and will give individual feedback on each of the assignments. “The top students will be invited to Delhi for a one-week, in-depth video storytelling workshop with Amey Polekar, a consultant for ICFJ who is a video collaborator for The New York Times ’ India Ink,” says Sharon Moshavi, ICFJ’s vice president, New Initiatives.
The course will also focus on photography to train the participants in refining their skills in shooting a video. “It’s easier to learn the basics of video — composition, framing, using light — by taking photographs. With photography, there’s less to worry about, like gathering audio or zooming and panning. It takes the confusion of image composition out of the video-shooting process. Once trainees are comfortable composing and shooting well-framed and composed photographs, they will have an easier time switching to shooting video,” says Kattar.
The application fee is Rs 1,000, but the participants, will not be required to pay additionally once selected for the course. Journalists, bloggers, communications professionals and university students can apply for the course. According to Bejoy Suri Associate Dean-Admissions and Marketing 9.9 SoC Associate, “Fellows may be expected to put in at least 8-10 hours per week.”
The last date for receiving applications is November 25. For more details, log on to: >http://soc.edu.in/onlinevideo-story.php
Pierre Kattar writes
I think video storytelling is more important now than ever. More and more people are communicating with video, cell phones, Skype or using GoPro cameras to document their lives. The visceral quality of video is unmatchable. It speaks directly to our emotions. Video has its own grammatical structure with subjects, verbs, predicates and punctuation. Learning to “speak” the language of video will improve any journalist's storytelling abilities. It encourages journalists to be on the scene and capture the action emotion of a story. You can't call in a quote in video like you do from your desk at the newsroom. So, it makes for more detailed reporting. Journalists I've trained from around the world say that video has the added benefit of providing authenticity to stories in countries that mistrust the press.
