08 April 2012

How to film a revolution



The Occupy Wall Street protests were a live demonstration of various new tools and techniques, including the use of social media as a coordination mechanism and using 'citizen video' to document events.

The NY Times wrote in December 2011 about the influence of live video in the protests. Two weeks later, the video above, by Corey Ogilvie and Andrew Halliwell, was uploaded to YouTube in order to guide people filming protests, about how to maximise the information collected while minimizing the risk of injury and arrest.

This prompted social media student Chris Rogy to write a blog in April about 'how to film a revolution'. Rogy mentions 'Top 10 tips for filmmakers at protests' by the NGO Witness ('Video for Change'). Witness asks for your ideas on further tips (the correct link is: http://bit.ly/uWdkXI).

Tips for gathering video:
  1. Prepare: know your equipment, know whether you have the legal right to film, etc.
  2. Film with deliberation (plan shots and think about the video as much as the action)
  3. Keep filming
  4. Capture details and incidents (e.g. including places, times, names if relevant)
  5. Work as a team with others taking video (see video above).
Tips for using your videos:
  1. Use brief, descriptive titles.
  2. Add a description about the contents such as date, time, place, event etc.
  3. Use tags e.g. #arrest, #protest etc.
  4. Beware of identifying vulnerable people e.g. use blurring, cropping if necessary. Get legal advice if unsure.
  5. Keep a copy of the video in case it is blocked or deleted online.
Stay safe!

P.S. You might also like:
198 ways to protest
How to advocate with video
Using video to communicate


No comments:

Post a Comment

Translate