Video Documentation and Upskilling at LOTE

Workspaces LOTE3 “The unPilgrimage”
,
1

Proposal: <1 hour pre-shooting meeting at the start of LOTE3, half-day post-production workshop at the end.

Day 1: Discussion and Guidelines for Shooting (at LOTE3 and in general)

The aim of this session is to see who is going to be shooting video of any kind at LOTE - whether on professional gear or smartphones, whether for a single session or trying to cover the whole event, whether working on your own personal video or wanting to work with others on a collaborative video.  Bring your gear and ideas, and let’s see what we have, what we want to make, and where and how we can collaborate by sharing footage and not doubling up on workloads.

We will also run through tips and tricks regarding technical settings, shooting guidelines, important points to remember, rules of thumb etc.

Session duration: 1 hour

Who should attend: anyone who is or would like to be involved in any stage of video production at LOTE, and anyone interested in improving their video production workflow. Also anyone planning on coming to the post-production session on day 4 would be advised to attend day 1 as well.

I’ll set up a framework for discussion, but ideas and input are welcome and expected from all participants.

Please bring: any gear you have with you which you may use for documenting LOTE: cameras, audio recorders, phones, microphones, laptops…

Special requirements: none, just the standard room setup.

Day 4: Post-Production workshop (using LOTE3 video documentation as an example, but applicable to any video project)

4-hour session consisting of:

Basic concepts and workflows of video editing.

Introduction to the free software video editing program Kdenlive.

Good practise in dealing with/organising files and footage effectively.

Rules of thumb, tips and tricks.

Introduction to actually useful effects.

Some technical explanations - file formats, codecs, settings, audio…

And whatever else comes up along the way.

We’ll be working through Floss Manuals’ Introduction to Video Editing with Kdenlive and editing the footage we shot at LOTE3, each issue may be introduced by me but the editing will be done by you!

Who should attend:

Anyone who would like to learn more about making videos, troubleshoot your workflow, or get some ideas.

Anyone who has been shooting at LOTE3 - the act of self-loathing that is editing your own footage is the best way to learn how to do it better next time around :slight_smile:

If you have experience working with video, feel free to help out with explaining/teaching/helping/answering questions.

Anyone curious about what you can do with video + free software.

Please bring: any footage that you shot at LOTE, or other footage you might want to edit. If you don’t have any of your own footage, we will have plenty to share!

A laptop.

Special requirements: someone with good linux chops to help me with software - setting up virtual machines for anyone who doesn’t have linux or who might have strange issues ocurring with graphics cards etc.  My knowledge is from a user/editor perspective but I’m a bit crap when it comes to installing distributions, codecs and libraries etc, and I’ve never had firsthand experience with virtual machines.

More info on the sessions from the initial post:

I’ve just run a two-day workshop on video editing, teaching 13 (mostly) beginners the basics of editing theory, some technical details, tips and tricks, and the specifics of working with the free software program Kdenlive. Through the process I learned a lot about what is useful to people starting out with video, and I’d like to offer a more compact workshop at LOTE3 to help Edgeryders use video more effectively and efficiently to communicate our work and ideas.

Following a suggestion from [Noemi], perhaps this could be a half-day workshop on the final day of LOTE, in which we could work on editing together our footage into a Making of LOTE video.

The workshop would loosely follow the structure of FLOSS Manuals’ Guide to Video Editing With Kdenlive, with some extra pointers about commonly used effects and techniques to improve quality and workflow.

One difficulty with offering a video post production workshop is the lack of quality cross-platform tools. Kdenlive works reliably on Linux and occasionally on Mac. It’s possible for people to run an Ubuntu LiveCD from a usb stick, I suppose. I can also offer support for people using Final Cut Pro on OS X, but I don’t have experience with any Windows programs. Is there anybody else with experience working with other programs who might like to help with the workshop? Most NLEs work essentially in the same way, just with different names for tools and concepts, and maybe different ways of applying effects etc. So maybe we can talk about basic editing concepts and show how to apply them in different operating systems.

Another key issue is that most problems in post-production can be alleviated with good organisation and planning before and during shooting. The most common problem in video post-production is not ‘I don’t know how to use effects’, it is ‘I have too much (poorly-planned) footage and don’t know what to do with it’.

Whether shooting with dedicated video cameras or with cellphones, whether shooting every day or just a single 15min session, it would be ideal if those of us planning to shoot video could get together briefly at the start of LOTE as well. Some basic discussions beforehand would ensure that:

-we shoot with a clear idea of how the footage is to be used.

-our footage is relevant, high quality, and can integrate well with other video

-we understand what kind of B-Roll* makes sense, and how it can be used (*details, cutaways, inserts, whatever you want to call it)

-we know what / how much other people are planning to shoot

-where possible, we use the same technical standards (framerate, sample rate, picture size)

-we all have a basic understanding of ‘rules of thumb’ for lighting, composition, audio recording. (even if we go on to break those rules!)

This can all be covered relatively quickly, in less than an hour. Having a quick meeting at the start not only means we work better together and share the task of documenting more evenly, it produces better quality footage and (MOST IMPORTANTLY!) less work in post production.

So what do you think? Would this be a worthwhile use of our time at LOTE? If anybody would like to be part of these sessions in any way or has any suggestions, please let me know!

2

Again, I’m in!

Sam, I so much appreciate your work! I think it’s great if, like you suggest, we start with a pre- crash course and we all get on the same page, then meet up in a final day. If we each film with different devices (ex cell phones or more professional cameras) what makes more sense? Each of us working with their own footage or try to harmonize everything into a video with diverse quality depending on how its pieces were filmed? maybe it doesnt make sense to decide now, just writing it down for later in case we’ll decide :)

3

This rocks!

Sam, this absolutely rocks. I’m definitely signing up. Just two days ago I edited an Edgeryders video, which ended up being quite amateurish… because I am an amateur. By the way, could you give me an opinion? It’s right below this.

Tech proposal. Do you think it is technically sustainable to run Linux tools from virtual machines? That would both standardize your session and resonate with the free-and-open ethics of Edgeryders. I run an Ubuntu machine from within Virtualbox on my Mac, but I know video really pushes the edge of what you can do. If you like the idea, you could even create virtual Ubuntu machines with enough juice to do video, pre-loaded with the necessary software, then save them as Virtualbox or whatever files. People in the session could then simply download them and install them on their physical laptops. Make sense?

The video:

4

Glad you like it!

[Noemi], thanks for your enthusiasm! yes, we can decide later, but it’s good to start thinking about it. If certain people want to tell certain stories as well/instead of a community video, that’s great too. I thought perhaps we could all put our footage under a libre license and exchange footage at the end, so that if people want to do their own separate videos, they at least have extra footage to help illustrate their work. And they might be shooting for their own specific purpose but it could provide something of use to a general LOTE video as well.

[Alberto], I very much like the idea of using Virtualbox - there were a couple of people using VMware at the workshop on the weekend, it seemed to work pretty well. But I did have a number of Linux gurus to help on that side - I have no experience with virtual machines and kdenlive requires various dependencies, codecs and plugins, so it is a little above my abilities. Perhaps someone more software savvy could help out?

I think your video tells the story well and really gets across the spirit of the people involved. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to include some images or video of the kind of projects edgerdyers are involved in - even though the theme of the video is about the people and their interaction, a few more visual clues would help. If you don’t have a chance to film anything, then this can be creative commons footage from the web, screenshots from websites, photos etc. Something which tells a curious viewer a little more about the direction edgeryders is going. It also gives you a little ‘breathing room’ when you need it - there are a couple of tight cuts from one person’s sentence to another - having something else to cut away to for a few beats of the music allows the viewer to take in the information, and then bringing in the audio of the next speaker a few seconds before we see them could help to tie the shots together. (this is called an L-cut or J-cut).

Also in this case, rather than using your video editor’s titling capabilities to write ‘Edgeryders’ it is a better idea to layer over a .png file (with transparency) of the edgeryders logo instead, which looks professional and ties it in visually with the existing website/branding.

Oh, one last thing - from a legal point of view, rather than writing

‘Frame, The Last One, CC from Free Music Archive’ at the end of your video, you need to properly state the license and follow its terms. That means at the end of the video you need:

'Music:

The Last One - CC-BY-NC-SA Frame’

and also

'Video:

CC-BY-NC-SA Alberto Cottica’

In the video description on Youtube, you should include a link to the track on the FMA and also a link to the CC-BY-NC-SA license text.

But as a true free culture activist I should probably tell you to use CC-BY-SA music instead :slight_smile:

5

Do some, drop some

There’s several good Linux people in the community: [rysiek], per esempio, or [Asta]. Both might be up for helping.

As for the video: thanks Sam. Great advice. Some of it I’m following (you’ll see…) but I’m dropping the part on adding images of projects: it would be really cool, but we don’t have those. It will come.

I completely agree with the idea of having a libre resource of videos from the community. [Petros At FreeLab], who is producing videos, is certainly up for it. I think he could also benefit from your session at lote.

6

CF session needs vid prod.

Posted a proposal for crowdfunding session. One of the most important tasks of the session is producing quality video&pix. Would it be a good idea to put them two in a program in a way that we can get video prod insights for CF session from this VideoDoc session?

7

A team in charge of video recording Lote

I just heard from [Jessy Jetpacks] and she’s interested in recording the conference, even has some equipment. Would it help to assemble a team starting now and know who we’re counting on to collect material for later edits?

8

if you want, sure.

If people want to sign up, then great, more info is always useful - though it’s not absolutely necessary. I personally don’t have much of a dead-set plan - I am happy to see what other people would like to focus on and then work around it to make sure all bases are covered.

But I’m thinking mostly about documentary footage + event wrap-up videos - if you’re talking about recording whole talks etc, it’s a bit different. If we want to guarantee that every session is streamed/recorded and uploaded in its entireity, then yes, it would be worthwhile to first check that we have enough time, cameras and volunteers to do so.

9

You’re right, it’s 2 different things

Which is why I’m hoping [Jessy Jetpacks] will let us know (perhaps in a different post) how she sees the recording to happen and if she wants to build a small team around it depending on the goals, i just thought it can also be an extra help for this session.

10

Streaming => bad idea

I would advise against streaming.

  1. It is difficult to set up – and remember, we will be the first people to use the unMonastery as a venue. We should expect Really Bad Internet Issues.
  2. It generally does not pay as an investment. Unless you design the whole event from the ground up for streaming (TED style: great video production, professional miking, iron order on the agenda) few people connect, and those few get bored soon.
  3. Like all unconferences, perhaps more so, \#LOTE is not a spectator sport. We work online all year round; once a year we meet offline and, by Jove, we are going to enjoy the offline experience. It does not really makes sense to impose on the people who come the costs of providing for the people who don't.

Making footage and using it to mount useful artifacts, on the other hand, is a useful skill: every crowdfunding campaign, for example, needs a video. The call is yours, [Sam Muirhead], but I would focus on that.

11

I very much agree with Alberto here

in that if someone else wants to organise and run streaming/recording of all sessions, then I will support them and help out with setting up some of their cameras etc. However, for most of the time my camera and I will be off doing other things, gathering more specific doco-style footage for editing into online videos.

12

Agreed! Streaming might be great for events which are not built in such a participatory way.

And also a lot of stuff happens between the sessions - impossible to consistently stream it all.

For those who can’t show up and are dying for some streaming we can get them some live audio on demand from a particular session. So we don’t eat up all of the internet connection.

Wouh, I can’t wait till we take it offline into RL in Matera.

13

hi, sorry for delayed response, im ill with a fever. i was thinkking not so much in terms of streaming, but in documenting, and i think it can be useful for;

those who want their talks recorded for their own future use/ improvement/ feedback and issues happening at the time.

alberto says crowdfunding, i also add, growing interest, and other fun promotional nuggets.

i have a good quality dictaphone, a normal camera for photos and a small video camera, i was thinking to bring them all along, and people can borrow as and when they need, or request for a proper film, with both dictaphone and camera.

obviously some footage would be good for the matera hashtags and stuff.

14

Yes to Video documenting and upskilling at LOTE

I’m keen to be part of capturing audio and visuals for promo video etc! I have some experience but like Alberto - the results are good but amateurish;) I can bring laptop with finalcut pro, a good quality sound recorder, a crappy lapel mic and errrr the dubious contribution of an iphone camera…

15

A few questions

While finiding out how/when will I be able to join LOTE3, I would ask a couple of question:

  1. I can say that post-production is, presently, my main occupation (and videomaking, in general, one of my main interests). But I mostly use commercial packages. Would that clash with Edgeryders’ philosophy?

[TheCP] mentioned finalcut pro, so I’m probably not alone on the “dark side of the software”; what’s Edgeryders’ position in this regard? Is open-source a must, or just a preferred solution? Is there something like an Edgeryders’ core production which is to be entirely made with open source software (as opposed to a wider collection of “do-as-you-wish” media)?

  1. If I’ll be able to join LOTE3, I have quite a variety of toys which I might bring with me (DSLR camera, directional mic, Zoom recorder, Igus slider, shoulder-rig, flycam, …). I’m comfortable/experienced with some of them, just a noob with some others. Would it be worth to bring them all? Do you foresee some high-end “official” video, beyond the video documentation of the event?

Also, is there some place on this site, where you’re planning travels to Matera? If somebody is leaving from Rome, it’d be great to share the trip; otherwise I’d have to go by train, in “sherpa-mode”; that would be a bit more impractical…

16

open source as preferred?

[MoE] I really do hope you can make it in the end!

I am re-reading Sam above but can’t figure out if we’re all be using the same platform for post-production. If not, I wouldn’t mind anyone using commercial packages for post production, I think what’s important is that the final output can be widely & freely shared no? Many of the people here are open source enthusiasts, but also a lot of us use what;s coming in more handy - for example i tend to use cracked versions of also commercial packages…

Travel planning & wiki here: /t/lote3/312-logistics-team/travel-arrangements

As for travelling from Rome, i’ll also be doing that, and booked with Marozzi (bus, a 6 hour ride): http://www.marozzivt.it/web.aspx

17

exactly!

yes, I use and prefer open source, and Kdenlive will be what I’ll be using to give examples, but the concepts, functions and layouts of non-linear-editing are basically the same across free and nonfree software. There is no suitable cross-platform high-quality program and I don’t expect everybody to have Linux, so we’ll work with whatever is available - the software is just a tool, the focus is the videomaking process. It would be great to have you there [MoE]! I used Final Cut for many years, I’m sure we can both help out any Mac users who might be curious - even if they don’t have FCP, I assume iMovie works along similar lines (I have no experience with iMovie so that statement may be completely wrong!)

It sounds like you have a pretty great setup, certainly a slider would be very useful if you were thinking of bringing it along. I only have a very ‘stripped-down’ kit with me as I’m travelling around at the moment, so anything extra you can provide would be great. If you have less experience with certain gear, bring it along! this is the perfect opportunity to give it a thorough workout.

At this stage I imagine we will be producing a general ‘story of LOTE3’ video for putting on the website and sharing (<5min) and perhaps the initial material for a crowdfunding campaign (come along to the crowdfunding session too!) - these two should be of professional quality as they should serve as a first impression of LOTE3, the UnMonastery and ER.

We’ll also be working on more specific subject or workshop oriented documentation of the process and results of LOTE3. This is likely to be a varied collection of short videos, but we’ll have to see who turns up, and what ideas, gear and energy they bring with them.

1 Like
18

Where to post videos online, curate and share them?

Hi Sam and all,

Im super excited that this session is happening and would love to be involved. Recently [Ariane] left this comment on one of the posts about a discussion which is the red thread tying a lot of what we are exploring in Edgeryders. It reminded me of the importance of storytelling and content curation in supporting one another, and others in bridging the widening gap between the need to make a living and the need to make meaning:

I feel that intellectual frameworks are good but I’d make a strong plea for emotional frameworks and stories… Even when we are trying to capture the attention and heart-minds of policymakers, legislators, politicians, it’s not data or rationality that persuade so much as emotions/morals/values. What’s the P2P guide (I’m late to the conversations, I know, I apologize)- I mean how would it work, how do people access it? How about we partner with ARTE and other TV channels to do a reality TV on The Good Life (Meaningful, fulfilling, contributing value & getting rewarded for that). ?

Perhaps what Ariane and I could bring to the table is more of a focus on the content curation and storytelling aspects. As well as thinking about how to reach and engage many more people through the video materail produced during lote3. Perhaps we could come up with a nice format that could fit nicely into the unMonasterian’s Cookbook? Some inspiration:

  • A friend has built Linklib, a clever online-mobile application for using video as cultural containers and pointers to other content elsewhere online.
  • An acquaintance of mine has set up video magazine.
  • A third alternative are storytelling spaces like medium or cowbird.

I just realised it’s probably a good idea to put together a list of accounts where videos can be posted online if the participants in the session want to:

  1.  Vimeo: Edgeryders has an account.
  2. Youtube: Edgeryders has two accounts: account 1 and account 2
  3. Any other places?

19

Count me in

I’ve been reading this thread and realized just now that I haven’t yet said:

“- Count me in, it’s a great opportunity!” Thanks! :- )

I’ll be taking digital photographs.

I Would like to experiment timelapse sequences with sound mixing. Ideally also adding a drawing layer over the photographs…

Not sure if fits in the session’s scope… but would like to try it! see you soon! :- )

20

Videos & photos from LOTE

I uploaded a selection of videos and photos to:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lk25qqweuuilr09/Y80SIvjg0k

All media is usable under (CC) sharealike licence

Regards,

H.