PANAMA CITY, Panama, 8 May 2013 — The journalists at La Prensa typically work in “silos,” meaning that reporters usually write stories and “los graficos” usually generate visuals. Having said that, there is some overlap, and a limited number of the staff actually do both.
I had a great time discussing video journalism with them, as well as the promise and the challenges that the craft poses.
They actually published a couple of stories of my visit. You can see them at http://www.prensa.com/impreso/vivir/la-huella-de-un-reportero/176347 and http://www.prensa.com/impreso/vivir/recuerdos-y-consejos-de-gentile/176348.
(Photos by Julie McKay)
ARLINGTON, VA, 2 May 2013 — I gave a presentation today on Backpack Video Journalism at the DC Shootoff Workshop in Arlington, VA. Really cool bunch of folks.
(All photos by Ken Cedeno)
WASHINGTON, DC, 1 May 2013 — I’ll be back at this event tomorrow, 2 May 2013, for a two-hour presentation. The Shoot Off Video Workshop mentors military, civil service and government multimedia journalists with an emphasis on video fundamentals. Participants get the tools and techniques to become better visual storytellers.
It’s an honor to be able to address these folks.
WASHINGTON, DC, 25 April 2013 — Here’s the ad for the workshop I’m conducting in Guatemala on 20-24 May. The Backpack Video Journalism Workshop is sponsored by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, which is sponsoring a second workshop, to be held in London on 24-28 June. Both events are being offered to working professionals.
To see the whole ad, click HERE.
While in Guatemala, I’ll conduct a workshop for Fotokids, a non-profit founded by former Reuters photojournalist and colleague, Nancy McGirr. That should be a lot of fun.
WASHINGTON, DC, 22 March 2013 — Some of the footage used in this piece about JFK was drawn from “Through Their Eyes,” the one-hour documentary that my wife, Esther, and I made about AU Abroad students in Cuba during fall 2011. We’re proud to see it used in conjunction with coverage of the 50th anniversary of JFK’s speech on world peace.
You can watch the video HERE.
We screened a fine cut of our documentary on 30 January of this year. The final version should be ready for distribution soon.
How curious that the histories and the destinies of Cuba and the United States still are bound together so tightly. And how sad it is that the AU Abroad program that we documented in 2011 will not be conducted in Cuba this year for lack of student enrollment.
- Bill Gentile
22 March 2013
WASHINGTON, DC, 23 February 2013 — The seeds that my AU Abroad students planted in Cuba during fall semester 2011 continue to bear fruit. Click HERE to read a story and to see pictures made by Efrain Ramirez, one of six AU students studying on the island at that time. All six students took my “Photojournalism and Social Documentary” course. They took four other classes, all from Cuban professors.
WASHINGTON, DC, 7 February 2013 — We now are accepting registration for the March 7-10 Video Journalism Workshop in Washington, DC. Use my Promotional Code, BGENTILE, to get a $100 discount, and receive a FREE copy of my Essential Video Journalism Field Manual.
WASHINGTON, DC, 26 January 2013 — Join us for the screening this Wednesday 30 January of “Through Their Eyes,” a one-hour documentary about six American University students studying in Cuba during fall semester 2011. See how each student is transformed by the experience. The documentary will screen in the Ward Building, Room #1. This is the American University building located right at the intersection of Massachusetts and Nebraska Avenues. The auditorium is located in the basement level. Food and refreshment will be served. We look forward to seeing you there. Admission is free.
For those of you interested in the craft, this documentary is the embodiment of the “backpack video journalism” model that I introduced to American University in 2007. It’s one properly trained person performing the work of camera, sound, producer, correspondent, writer and narrator. The film is edited by my wife, Esther.
You can watch the trailer HERE.
Thanks and best regards,
Bill Gentile
WASHINGTON, DC, 16 December 2012 — Ivan Mejia traveled from Los Angeles where he works as freelance video journalist to attend the December 2012 workshop here in Washington, DC. I first met Ivan in the late 1980s while covering the civil war in his native country of El Salvador. Ivan now works as a freelance video journalist on the West Coast.
You can see the video HERE.
He joined our most recent workshop to learn the craft of character-driven, visually compelling stories that reflect knowledge of, and skill with, the visual language.
The Video Journalism Workshops are intensive, four-day immersions in the craft of “backpack video journalism,” defined as character-driven television/web productions with hand-held digital cameras by a single practitioner. The workshops cover the gamut of this storytelling craft from the genesis and shaping of story ideas, to shooting powerful images that drive the story, to the capture and use of sound, to script writing, narration, and editing with Macintosh computers and Final Cut Pro.
These workshops are appropriate for beginners with some experience as well as existing practitioners who desire to sharpen their skills or acquire new ones. We welcome photojournalists, print and video journalists, aspiring documentary filmmakers and independent storytellers.
See http://videojournalismworkshops.com
