Art of the Interview (Podcamp Boston 3 presentation)

The interview is a fundamental element of most documentary films and many video blogs. Through examples and discussion this session, which I presented at Podcamp Boston 3, covered practical strategies and techniques including how and why to use interviews, how to choose the right interview style (e.g. walk-and-talk vs. formal sit-down), how to choose a form of address (e.g. first-person vs. third person), tips for prepare for an interview, suggestions for putting subjects at ease, how to conduct an interview, and more. The session was designed for both beginning and intermediate videobloggers and documentary filmmakers.

Related to this presentation, see also my previous post, “Notes on the Interview” (January 23, 1006). This is a set of notes I’ve collected that I use to remind myself of things to think about when I’m preparing to do an interview.

View slides (on SlideShare): Art of the Interview PC3

Download slides as a PDF (from SlideShare): Art-of-the-Interview-PCB3

List of example clips screened and discussed (year, description, roles):

“Student Activities Midway” (2006, video podcast story segment, MIT ZigZag Episode #10, Co-Producer, Director, Editor)
“MIT Freshman Experience” (2007, video podcast episode, MIT ZigZag Episode #14, Producer, Director, Editor )
“Journey to MIT” (2007, excerpt from series produced for 2007 MIT pre-commencement show, Co-Producer, Director of Photography)

Some of these clips can be viewed at: kino-eye.com/about/reel/

Media Tech Tonic: monthly demo/seminar series in Boston

Media Tech Tonic is a series of monthly demos/seminars held in Boston on media technology topics for media makers and artists. Meetings are hosted by MassArt Professional and Continuing Education, presented in collaboration with Boston Media Makers and organized by yours truly. Check out the Media Tech Tonic web site for information on upcoming sessions.

The origin of the name (which I believe came from a suggestion by Steve Garfield during a brainstorming conversation we had on the name for this) comes from: Media: 1. plural of medium, 2. the means of communication that reach or influence people widely, 3. pertaining to or concerned with such means, origin: from the latin medius, central; Tech: 1. technical, 2. a technician, 3. technology, origin: shortening of technology, from the greek technologia, systematic treatment; Tonic: 1. a medicine that invigorates or strengthens, 2. anything invigorating physically, mentally, or morally, 3. the first degree of the scale, the keynote (music), 4. quinine water, 5. soda pop (new england), origin: from the greek tonikos, pertaining to stretching or tones; and thus, Media Tech Tonic.

If you would like to present at one of these meetings, contact me about it.

Pixels at an Exhibition

Curator Rachel Greene recently asked several artists (Sue de Beer, Matthew Higgs, Matthew Ronay and Wayne Koestenbaum) to present their favorite YouTube videos in Manhattan on May 13th at the Kitchen gallery and Virginia Heffernan wrote about it in the New York Times. I wish I could have seen the show. I’m fascinated by the potential for time-based media collage and how easy it has become to quote media and see life on the screen recontextualized in a gallery setting.

Smile Boston Project

Smile Boston Project is an award-winning short documentary about Bren Bataclan’s “Smile Boston Project,” a street art project. In the summer of 2003, Bren Bataclan began leaving paintings of his colorful characters for people to take all over the Boston area on park benches, in subway stations, schoolyards, and other public locations. To each painting Bataclan attached a note that read, “This painting is yours to keep if you promise to smile at random people more often.” This film covers the project from its inception in the summer of 2003 through the spring of 2007, examining Bataclan’s influences, his goals, and the reactions of the people who have found, purchased, and critiqued his paintings. The film was edited by Elissa Mintz and the music was composed by Colin Owens.

Play Trailer (00:54)

Visit the Smile Boston Project web site for more information about the film.

Back to the Project List.

Shadow of the House is a rare and beautiful gem

This weekend at the Newburyport Documentary Film Festival I has the pleasure of seeing Shadow of the House, an intimate documentary by Allie Humenuk that presents a portrait of photographer Abelardo Morell. The film shows his process and daily life behind the work without interpreting it for you, presenting no experts telling you about the importance of Morell’s work, instead, you see that for yourself, as if you had walked into a beautifully mounted exhibition without placards or a program.

Read more