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, 7 April 2012 — We now are accepting registration for the May 17-20 Backpack Journalism Workshop in Washington, DC. Click HERE for information on how to “Engage. Embrace. Empower” with visual communication. My workshops are intensive, four-day immersions in the craft of “backpack journalism” defined as character-driven television/web productions with hand-held digital cameras by […]
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, 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 […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 24 March 2012 — Registration is open for the second “Backpack Documentary Expedition: Nicaragua,” scheduled for 12-23 July 2012. Bill Gentile accompanies participants to the Central American nation of Nicaragua for an immersion in the process of documentary filmmaking. Participants follow American volunteers working with the non-profit organization, “Bridges to Community,” in the […]