Apperceptions

First Videoblogging Workshop at the Digital Dojo

I made a video from some pictures and videos that we shot at the first Videoblogging workshop at the Digital Dojo.

I used iMovie on my Mac PowerBook G4. The videos are not all the great as the lighting was poor and people were just learning to use the camera (half the time we did not even know it was on).

I need to plan to shoot more video during the sessions, but everyone was so busy having fun and learning that we just forgot. Click the pic to view the vid.

Addendum: great news! One of our workshop particpants has posted her first video!  Way to go Danette!  Next week, we add a feed.

Eric Rice On SpinXpress

Yesterday in the videoblogging video conference, Eric Rice answered some questions about how he uses SpinXpress. Click the pic to view a screen cast video I made of it.

Thanks for the great explanation Eric!

Who Is The Media?

Here's a quickie video I made as a demo for the Webzine 2005 workshop titled "You Are The Media: Video Blogging 101". 

I could only attend Webzine for one day, but it was great fun seeing "old" friends like Eric, Schlomo, Renegade, Zadi, Carlton, Chris, Josh Wolf, Enric, Shawn and "new" friends Bre Pretis (you can see him way in the back in the picture above) , Charles Hope, Mike Huduck and Josh Kinberg.

I also got to talk with a lot of interesting people about all kinds of ideas including tagging, videoblog hosting, RSS, robotics and, of course, being the media.

Webzine 2005 - Eric Rice's Mac

Eric Rice shows off his Apple Powerbook's stickers at Webzine2005.

Click the pic to view the photo(s).

Addendum: Here's a real quick video snapshot.

Webzine 2005

I'm off to Webzine in San Francisco to coordinate a workshop on videoblogging.  I'm following the course charted by Michael and Ryanne at Freevlog.org of course.  This will be a quick version of the workshops that we are holding at the Digital Dojo. 

Here's a little video I made from a picture tagged with webzine2005 at Flickr.

Click the pick to view this very short video.

Tustin High School Madrigals - Spotlight Performer

Brooks Allen Steputis

My friend Jody sent me a link to her son Brooks' performing group and I noticed this posting.  Way to go Brooks and Jody!

"Brooks has been performing with Mrs. Peay since he was in the first grade!  As part of her "Dancin' Cowboy Review" he square danced his way into her heart and has been involved in her choral groups at Tustin First Baptist, Pioneer Middle School and now at Tustin High!

Newbies

Raymond challenged me to a speedvlogging match today and the last rounds' topic was "newbies".  I won that round, but messed up the video by leaving out part.  It worked anyway.  Here is the full version that I had intended to submit.  Click the pic to view it.

There is a new videoblogging group for newbies.  I like it.  A nice "quiet" and "safe" place to jump into the videoblogging pool.  The pool is pretty big now and we can use a place where people can wade in easily without having to watch out for the pro divers and big kids doing cannonballs.

There is some controversy here as it is a sign of growth and sometimes that is hard.

I have been a videoblogger since April, but I am still a newbie.  Especially at video editing.  I wonder if I should join.  I'd love to help, but I also want these people to have their space.

Just know that help is just an IM or email away if you need it. 

Our new Digital Dojo will definitely be "newbie" friendly.

Speed Vlogging

Raymond up and challanged my butt to some speedvlogging.  Three rounds, 7 minutes each to create a video around a proposed topic, including encoding.

Well Raymond is the master, but I gave him a run for his money. 

The first topic was "spheres" and was my pick.  He responded with a vid about a ballon that was truly funny.  Mine was a bit abstract and so I conceeded the round. Then he picked "Make a vlog entry only of material that has been on your vlog more than 3 months ago".  I blew that one because I made a vid around it and that was new - you gotta pay attention to the rules.  What I like about videobloggers is that we still kept on and I think I got Raymond with a more interesting video about the current topic of "newbies" in the videoblogging group.  I accidently cut out half the video at the beginning, but it worked anyway.  At least I got titles and CC licences on all of them.

What fun and what a challange of your videoblogging skills.

Here are the links to the vids:

Spheres - Raymond - Markus
Three Months - Raymond - Markus
Newbies - Raymond - Markus

Ventura Meetup Last Night

Wow!  Did I have a great time last night meeting some wonderful people interested in personal media like podcasting, blogging and videoblogging?

You bet!

Alicia and I met up with Ionia, Lana, Atom, Paul, Patrick, Chad and Danette to share ideas and discuss issues related to personal media publishing on the web.

We intend to hold some workshops at the Digital Dojo, create a wiki for networking and organize more meetups.  What a great group.

Click the pick to view a vid of us all (actually Alicia had left already and I'm holding the camera, of course).

Talk Like A Pirate Day #3

It's "Talk Like A Pirate Day" and so I thought I'd post a few public service announcements.  Here's #3. Click the pic to view the vid.

Pretty weird sounding pirate in this one.

Hey! I just realized something.  This is the 50th video that I have made for this vlog.  Wahoo!

Talk Like A Pirate Day #2

It's "Talk Like A Pirate Day" and so I thought I'd post a few public service announcements.  Here's #2.  Click the pic to view the vid.

I love these two guys!

Talk Like A Pirate Day #1

It's "Talk Like A Pirate Day" and so I thought I'd post a few public service announcements.  Here's #1.  Click the pic to view the vid.

The film used in all three videos is from "Clothes Make The Pirate", which I found on the Internet Archive.

Despotism

Yesterday's search led me to some great films available at the Internet Archive.  One was "Despotism", a 1946 piece by Encyclopedia Britannica Films.

Here is an excerpt (about 90 seconds) that gives the main idea, the full length version (about 10 minutes) goes into each "freedom metric" with an example, often depicting a despotic situation.

Man!  I can't imagine that they make school films like this anymore.

It would be interesting to re-mix this with scenes from today's news. How many of these indicators are dangerously close to the "despot" level these days?

Are you kidding?  All of them!  Wake up!

Another Search

Motivated by yesterday's post, I decided to perform another Google search and I hit some real gold. 

Here's a great flash video (page, flash movie) I found in the results.  Check it out.

Failure

My friend Ionia recently joined the Yahoo Videoblogging Group and she asked me if it would be appropriate to share a funny Google search result with the group.  As a moderator, I had to point out that it really needed something to tie it to the topic of "videoblogging" before she sent it in.  So here's a video that demonstrates what she (and I) found so funny.  Click the pic to view the vid.

Video Conference Jam

Cross-posted to We Are The Media...

There's another one of those videoblogging video conferences today at 8pm eastern.  The topic for tonight?  You decide.  Sometimes the best things happen when there's less structure. 

Last Saturday's meeting was an example.  A little jam session broke out between Eric Rice, Anders and Adam Quirk near the end of the conference.  I've extracted the segments from the Flash Meeting archive recording and made a Quicktime video (1m20s).  Too much fun.  Click the pic to view the vid.

Here's the link to tonight's conference.

Meet The Vloggers

Aaron posted a fun vid from the LA Grove Apple Store "Meet The Vloggers" presentation that I participated in this last Saturday.  It was great fun and we had a great turnout.

He even caught a bit of me speaking about my new friend and fellow local blogger/vlogger, Ionia Kershaw.  Check out his site for a great music video.

Here's a brief moment I captured of some people who saw us (Arron, Zadi, Gena, Steve, friends and family) all relaxing afterwards and then they shouted out "Vloggers! Vloggers!

Click the pic to view my short (10 sec) video.

Update! I was checking Gena's site and she has posted a video too!  Way to go Gena!

Vlog Europe Press Pool

Several vloggers are converging in Amsterdam for Vlog Europe.

Many will be shooting video of course, but some are so busy they need help with editing. 

So we have set up this collaborative "press pool" using SpinXpress so that people can share and mix video for this great event. Submit your videos, podcasts, interviews, comments etc.  Maybe it's just some of your scrap footage, but someone may find it useful.

VC Reporter Article

The VC Reporter has put together a great article on blogging in Ventura County.  My friend Ionia Kershaw and I both got a great write-up.  I'm so glad to learn about other blogs in the area.

Ionia and I are planning a blogger/vlogger/podcaster meetup for Sept. 19th at The Underground at 7:30pm.  Let's get together and jam on what's happening and get to know each other.

Also, we're offering our first free Videoblogging workshops at the Digital Dojo in Ojai on September 28th at 7:00pm.  Seating is limited for each small workshop, so please call for reservations at (805)640-7447.

The Digital Dojo is proud to be a founding member of the Node 101 association of videoblogging training and resource centers.

Spinflow Summer Recap

My friend Rachel Toole has posted a great video where she recaps our summer learning adventure at Outhink working on SpinFlow related projects.  It was great fun and I am so proud of her. 

Please post your comments on her vlog.

Ionia: New Vlogger in Ventura

I met a really interesting woman today named Ionia Kershaw.  We met for lunch to get acquainted and talk about all kinds of great ideas related to videoblogging in Ventura.  She wants to help organize some meetups, present to local schools and help people communicate.

Her vlog centers around her passion for living in Ventura and she also has a website with lots of other great videos about Ventura called Explore Ventura.   One of the fun things she does is interview people about what they like about Ventura and so I asked her the same thing.  Click the pic to view the vid.

Ionia is a talented artist; she even designed the Truth Out video logo, which I found in her portfolio.  I'm so happy to have met her and look forward to future collaborations.  Welcome to vlogland Ionia!