CARACAS, Venezuela, 4 May 2012 — Students attending my Backpack Journalism Workshop in Caracas, Venezuela, view the results of their first day at the workshop. Today we focused on the basics of the visual storytelling language, the vocabulary, and the progression from clip to sequence to scene to story. Below, students work on their projects.
CARACAS, Venezuela 2 May 2012 — Friends and relatives of prisoners inside the notorious La Planta Penitentiary in Caracas maintain a presence at the prison gates to ensure those inside are not transferred to facilities far from the capital. Prisoners inside rioted on Monday 30 April, sparking a 10-minute gun battle and speculation that authorities […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 4 April 2012 — Here’s the latest piece that Time Magazine posted from our work in Cuba last fall semester. It’s another example of what one properly trained practitioner — a backpack journalist — can achieve with limited gear. We could never have done this with a traditional, extended crew. The operation would […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 28 March 2012 — I was one of a handful of judges at the Defense Information School (DINFOS) during yesterday’s “2010-2011 DoD Visual Information Production Awards” competition. We spent the day reviewing and voting on dozens of videos submitted for the competition. I had the opportunity to meet and speak with professionals in […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 24 March 2012 — I tell participants of my Backpack Journalism Workshops that they have to understand their cameras before they can make those cameras do on tape or on a digital platform what the students “see” in their mind’s eye. Part of this is understanding how the glass works. Yes, the glass […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 24 March 2012 — Jenna Bonello recounts what she learned at the March 8-11, 2012 Backpack Journalism Workshop in Washington, DC. Monica Echeverria shot this brief clip while Jenna was shooting a piece about food trucks that now are so pervasive in the city. Watch the clip on YouTube HERE. My workshops are […]