SoloJourno

Via Kino-Eye.com:

It’s a special time that comes around every ten years in which we take a moment to reflect back on the past decade and make our “favorite” and “best-of” lists. It was a good decade for documentary films, here’s my own idiosyncratic list of thirty five notable documentaries released between 2000 and 2009 (in chronological order).

Read the of the list.

This list was compiled by David Tamés (shown) who, besides running Kino-Eye.com, is a professional filmmaker and teaches “a five-day intensive course titled “Documentary Video Boot Camp” through MassArt Professional and Continuing Education which is offered a couple times a year” as well as “Documentary Project Studio” a critique-oriented studio course in which students produce a complete 10 minute documentary on a topic of personal interest.

If you’ve been interested in learning how to create an iPhone app, but only know coding and scripting languages like HTML, CSS and JavaScript, well, there’s a course for that (and it’s free!):

Well-known tech publisher O’Reilly is offering a free 5-part live online course, “Learn to Build iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript“.

The course - which runs from January 5th to February 2nd, 2010 - will be of interest to people who want to learn how to program web-based iPhone applications. The course is being taught by Elisabeth Robson, co-author of O’Reilly’s “Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML“. In her capacity as Special Projects director at O’Reilly Media, she has also developed a number of workshops, including, “Build, Compile, and Run Your iPhone App in 2 Days” and “Developing Android Applications“.

No experience creating iPhone applications is required. All that is needed is a working knowledge of the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. O’Reilly promises that “Each session offers easy-to-follow, hands-on lessons. You’ll begin the course by building iPhone apps with standard web tools, then you’ll learn how to create native Cocoa-based iPhone apps using Apple’s tools.” View a 22 minute course overview here - http://blip.tv/file/2962732

People who are unable to attend or who did but want to watch the course over and over will be able to buy a video of the sessions, each of which is 90-120 minutes in length. Code examples and slides are included. The video will cost U$35 until February 5, 2010. After that, it will be U$79.

Official Description:

In this four-session video workshop, you’ll quickly learn how to create simple web apps with features that take advantage of the device’s remarkable functionality. You’ll also learn to use Apple’s tools to create native Cocoa-based iPhone apps. Each video session offers an easy-to-follow, hands-on lesson. It’s the perfect way to get started with iPhone app design.

Presented by CreativeTechs in partnership with O’Reilly, each session offers easy-to-follow, hands-on lessons. You’ll begin the course by building iPhone apps with standard web tools, then you’ll learn how to create native Cocoa-based iPhone apps using Apple’s tools. It’s the perfect way to get started with iPhone app design, and all you need to know in advance is HTML, CSS, and JavaScript basics.

• Build working web apps for the iPhone, using HTML and CSS web standards
• Learn what a mobile web app is and how it differs from a native iPhone app
• Create gestures and animation using JavaScript and the iUI and jQTouch libraries
• Integrate your web app with several iPhone features
• Build simple native iPhone apps using the TapLynx library – without programming!
• Learn how to build on your new-found iPhone web app development skills

UPDATE: While browsing the O’Reilly site, I discovered this related ‘early release’ ebook, “Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript“. From what I can tell, this is almost like a sneak preview as it seems the ‘dead tree edition’ hasn’t gone to print yet, and the title is only available at the moment as a PDF. The ebook is U$23.99 while book itself will be U$29.99; if you want to get both the book + the ebook, the price will be U$32.99 which is a very good deal.

Today was Day 3 (Video Reporting) of the multimedia training at The Toronto Star. Topics included fundamental of producing video stories, how to shoot a visual story, interviewing and script writing tips. The workshop also introduced concepts like basic edits and story planning to speed up production time.

photo credit: Robyn Doolittle
(can you tell which attendee is yours truly?)

For this workshop, Robb was set up with a mac and Final Cut Pro, but it’s not so much the tools - which one can learn at any time - but the way that they’re used that’s important. MovieMaker comes with WinOS, while iMovie comes with MacOS. They’re both pretty good little programs, and additional plugins and widgets (titles, transitions, effects, etc…) can be downloaded for them, but a more robust program that a journalist can grow into might well be the way to go when choosing an editing program. On the Windows side, Sony Vegas Vegas Movie Studio Platinum, http://www.sonycreat … oftware.com/vegaspro and Adobe Premiere Pro are popular choices. Mac Users tend to favour Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro.

Helpful tips:

• Before you leave for your interview, make sure you have everything you need. Lay your equipment out on table if need be. Make a check list, and check things off.
• Test your equipment ahead of time. Check and double-check. Then check again. Take spare batteries, spare cables, etc.
• Use a tripod. And if you're not going to use a tripod, hold your camera firmly in front of you with two hands, much like a soldier would hold their weapon.
• Remember 3-6-9: for 3 shots (wide, medium and tight/closeup) that are each 6 seconds which will make 9 sequences. This sort of shot-making is the grammar of videography and photography. Don't pan and zoom, walk the line between the subject and the camera.
• Start recording a few seconds before talking, not at the same moment there's going to be talking. And wear headphones so that you're not recording blind.