Day 2: Controlling Idea and Dramatic Arc

This is Day 2 of the March 12-15 Backpack Journalism Workshop and we’re working on Controlling Idea and Dramatic Arc. This is also the second day of shooting. Students’ projects are beginning to crystallize, after having cast wide nets over their subject matter yesterday. We’ve moved past the basics of the craft and into the […]

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Great Teaching Assistants

I’m so fortunate to be able to count on Teaching Assistants like Bill Delano and Ted Roach during these Backpack Journalism Workshops. They are masters of the technology involved in the craft but, more importantly, they are masters of the craft of human relationships. And it’s all about human relationships. Bill, (l) is a graduate […]

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Lesley Norman from NOW on PBS and Diana Ingraham from US Independents speak at the Workshop

Lesley Norman, Executive in Charge from NOW on PBS, and Diana Ingraham from U.S. Independents, appeared at the seminar this morning, to speak to the students about backpack journalism, the markets for distributing these films, and tips for these emerging filmmakers and backpack journalists.

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Day 1 of March Backpack Journalism Workshop

This month’s workshop kicked off this morning with 10 new students beginning the 4-day immersion program.  Here are the first pictures from the event:

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Gentile Quick Tip #7: Keep It Clean!

Especially because we usually work alone, backpack journalists have to pay attention to every detail. There’s nobody around to run through the check list with us. So every time you pull the camera out of the bag, clean the lens. I know it sounds silly, but we get so wrapped up in the big stuff […]

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Gentile Quick Tip #6: Stay Connected. Use Headphones.

I can’t tell you how many of my backpack journalism students lose critical visual and audio information because they are not connected to their characters with headphones. Once your character is out of eye sight and you are not listening to him/her over the wireless microphone, you’ve cut yourself off not only from what’s happening […]

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