Description

The internship generally runs from September to December, but start dates are flexible. The Motion Design Intern will design and animate motion graphics as well as work with lead designers and producers to create production timelines.

Applications are due July 15, 2013.

Qualifications

The Motion Graphics Design Intern should have:

• Advanced Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator skills
• Strong typography skills
• Ability to work independently and manage time efficiently
• Working knowledge of Premiere Pro and Cinema 4D a huge plus

How to Apply

All applications must be submitted through our online application form. Applicants should be prepared to supply:

• Links to pieces produced/collaborated on (please indicate role in each)
• Available start/end dates
• Hours/week available

Visit our Careers page for more information.

Register for the workshop on the Maine Media Workshops + College website.

About the Workshop

Date: August 18-24, 2013
Location: Rockport, ME; lodging available
Tuition: $1,095
Class Size: 15
Course Summary: Students learn the basics of shooting video interviews and setting up audio for those interviews. Principals of integrating stills and audio with video are also discussed in detail. Additionally, students are introduced to Apple’s Final Cut Pro as a means to edit and produce the stories they shoot.

Visit workshop page for more information.

About Maine Media

The mission of Maine Media Workshops and Maine Media College is to build dynamic educational communities that foster creative vision, craftsmanship and expression in the media arts. Over the last 40 years, the Workshops has influenced thousands of people – allowing them to remove themselves from the demands of everyday life and join a passionate community committed to learning a new skill or improving one’s work. Visit MaineMedia.edu for more information.

Climbing the Burj Khalifa (The World’s Tallest Building) from Joe McNally Photography on YouTube.

See what else we think is Worth Watching.

This article is part of a new series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers’ experience working with Adobe Premiere Pro after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post.

Today’s post was written by MediaStorm producer Eric Maierson.

File this tip under I-should-have-thought-of-this-years-ago.

First, some backstory from the MediaStorm Post-production Workflow.

At MediaStorm, when we log b-roll we use two specific suffixes to identify our sequences.

The first is RAW, which indicates that a timeline contains all the clips from a scene or day of shooting. So if a Finder folder contains clips from day one of shooting at a barn, the Adobe Premiere Pro sequence containing those files will be labeled Barn_01_RAW.

We then log these clips, raising selects up one video channel as seen below.

Next, we duplicate the sequence and replace the word RAW with SELECTS, thus naming the new sequence Barn_01_SELECTS.

We then remove all clips that were not raised, i.e., those that are not selects.

Previously I used a combination of shortcut keystrokes to mark in and out points around each non-selected clip on track 1, then deleted each one-by-one.

This is a time consuming process.

Here’s the tip, courtesy of Tim McLaughlin.

Choose the Track Select Tool (A) and simply touch the first clip on Video Track 1. All others will become selected, too.

Next, right-click to see the contextual menu and choose Ripple Delete.

All clips on Video 1 will instantly be deleted, quick and easy.

It’s a good reminder that if something seems too tedious, there’s probably a faster method.

To learn more about our production style, you can purchase a copy of our Post-production Workflow. Readers who purchase our current Final Cut Pro and Aperture workflow automatically receive the Premiere workflow when it is released.

MediaStorm offers several online and in-person training opportunities at mediastorm.com/train.

Have you made a recent switch in your editing software? Let us know about it in the comments below.

RTDNA is the world’s largest professional organization devoted exclusively to electronic journalism, representing local and network journalists in broadcasting, cable and digital media in more than 30 countries. The Edward R. Murrow Awards has honored work of the highest quality produced by radio, television and online news organizations around the world since 1971.

“This year’s winning entries are outstanding examples of electronic journalism at its finest,” said Mike Cavender, Executive Director of RTDNA. “Our judges faced many difficult decisions to select winners from so many high-quality submissions.”

A complete list of winners with links to the winning entries for the 2013 National Edward R. Murrow Awards can be found at rtdna.org.

For A Photographic Memory, filmmaker Rachel Seed creates a posthumous mother-daughter collaboration that examines the careers of some of the most influential photographers in history. Seed’s mother, filmmaker and journalist Sheila Turner-Seed, passed away when Seed was just 18 months old. But she left behind a treasure trove of rare interviews with the likes of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bruce Davidson, Cornell Capa, Lisette Model, William Albert Allard, and others.

A Photographic Memory, weaves together outtakes of this rare footage with follow-up interviews, reconnecting the women through their shared passion for photography.

You can help bring this piece of history to completion on Kickstarter.

Background

In the early 70’s, Shelia Turner-Seed interviewed photographic icons for an award-winning collaboration with the International Center of Photography (ICP) entitled Images of Man. The raw interviews for the project sat in ICP offices, like a time capsule, since her sudden death in 1979. Thanks to a generous donation from Richard Robinson and Scholastic in 2011, Rachel Seed was able to continue her mother’s work with A Photographic Memory.

The Film

For the film, Seed revisits her mother’s infamous subjects and their closest associates, blending her mother’s 1970s interviews with her own footage. The project is now three-fourths of the way through production.

How to Help

Watch the video above. Donate to the campaign by July 3, 2013 to help finance crew expenses, editing and post-production. Don’t forget to share the project on social media so others can do the same.

More information is available on the A Photographic Memory Kickstarter page.

How to Apply

All applications must be submitted through our online application form. Applicants should be prepared to supply:

• Links to pieces produced/collaborated on (please indicate role in each)
• Available start/end dates
• Hours/week available

Applications are due July 15, 2013.

Frequently Asked Questions

Trying to decide if you should apply? Here are answers to the most frequently asked questions we get from applicants.

What will I be doing as a Mediastorm intern?

This is a production internship. You will be working closely with the MediaStorm team to produce multimedia projects. This means full days in front of Premiere Pro, doing picture research, organizing images, transcribing, or doing whatever else needs to be done to complete a project. You will most likely not be gathering content or taking pictures as part of the internship.

We expect you to be proficient in an OSX operating environment and experience in Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro and Aperture will help immensely. Our interns don’t do anything we don’t do ourselves—if you’re a coffee drinker, we’d love for you to grab us a cup if you run out, but we’ll return the favor another day, we promise.

What skills do I need for a successful internship?

In general, applicants should have familiarity with the following (or comparable) skills:

• Multimedia Producers: Premiere Pro, Photoshop and Aperture
• Interactive Designers: Flash, After Effects, Motion, CSS, and XML PHP
• Developers: programming languages and MySQL
• Motion Graphics: typography, After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator; Premiere Pro and Cinema 4D a plus

See more on our Intern page.

What are the hours like?

We’re pretty flexible—a typical day is 10am-6pm, sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later. We work hard, but if you’re coming from out of town, you will have plenty of time to enjoy the city as well. Weekend work is rare (except during workshops).

Who will I be working with?

You’ll be working mostly with our producers, but depending on the internship, you may work with our interactive designers and developers. Either way, we’re a small team, so you’ll get to know the whole staff.

Who is this internship good for?

This is an advanced level internship. Applicants should feel comfortable in their skills as a photographer, producer, designer or developer and be looking for an opportunity to refine and advance those skills with an award-winning team.

Our interns must be self-motivated and proactive—we will work closely with you, but there will be times we’ll expect you to work on your own too.

When will I know if I’m chosen for the internship?

The application deadline for our Fall 2013 internship is July 15, 2013. We will be in touch with all qualified applicants by the end of August.

Ready to apply?

Applications are due July 15, 2013. All applications must be submitted through our online application form.

This article is part of a new series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers’ experience working with Adobe Production Pro after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post.

Today’s post was written by MediaStorm producer Eric Maierson.

A great new feature in Adobe Premiere Pro CC is the ability to nudge clips up and down tracks using only the keyboard.

To set a shortcut, simply open the Premiere Pro > Keyboard Shortcuts… menu. Then, search for “clip.”

You’ll want to add shortcuts for Nudge Clip Selection Up and Nudge Clip Selection Down.

We use Command-Up Arrow and Command-Down Arrow, respectively since they are similar to the default shortcuts for nudging clips left (Command-Left Arrow) and right (Command-Left Arrow).

To nudge your clip, simply select it on the timeline and press the respective keyboard shortcut.

Note that audio on Channel 1 can not be nudged up, nor can video on Channel 1 be nudged down.

As an added benefit, nudging a clip upwards can also be used to create new tracks.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC will be available in June.

To learn more about our production style, you can purchase a copy of our Post-production Workflow. Readers who purchase our current Final Cut Pro and Aperture workflow automatically receive the Premiere workflow when it is released.

MediaStorm offers several online and in-person training opportunities at mediastorm.com/train.

Have you made a recent switch in your editing software? Let us know about it in the comments below.

In 2008, MediaStorm had the privilege of working with Chicago Tribune photographer Scott Strazzante on Common Ground, bringing to life his documentation of the disappearance of the American family farm, and the grave cultural and environmental impact of the resulting suburban sprawl. In over 14 years of looking and listening, Scott set judgment aside as he explored the evolution of one plot of Illinois farmland, and the people who live their lives there.

Now Scott hopes to give this personal project permanence in book form. And he needs your support to do it.

Background

Common Ground started as just another daily assignment for a suburban Chicago newspaper and turned into a nearly two decade long ongoing project that has graced the pages of the Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine, Mother Jones and National Geographic.

MediaStorm’s multimedia piece based on the project debuted at the Look3 Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville, Virginia. The project has also been honored with POYi‘s Community Awareness Award and 1st place in Feature Video in the NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism contest.

The Book

Common Ground will be a high quality hundred page book dedicated to the memory of project protagonist Harlow Cagwin, who died in the arms of his wife Jean, six days shy of his 90th birthday, in August, 2012. It has been designed by Deb Pang Davis, containing nearly fifty pairings masterfully chosen and sequenced by world-renowned editor Mike Davis. The foreword will be penned by 2013 International Center of Photography Infinity Prize winner David Guttenfelder, who grew up among the farm fields of rural Iowa.

How To Help

Watch the video above. Donate to the campaign by July 3, 2013 to help finance the editing and design work that has been completed and pay for the printing and distribution of the book. Don’t forget to share the project on social media so others can do the same.

More information is available on the Common Ground: The Book Kickstarter page.

This year’s workshops will take place October 15 – 20, 2013.

Application Guidelines

Applications will be accepted online started July 1, 2013. Registration will remain open until all three classes reach capacity.

Workshop Details

Participants can select from one of three workshops:

• The Photojournalism Workshop focuses on still photography, as coaches and participants explore individual character, the give and take of relationships, the deeply-felt sense of belonging to a place and the pride of participating in a shared heritage.
• The Picture Editing Workshop draws on the design sensibilities and electronic publishing expertise of its coaches to help participants learn to weave photographs and text together into memorable narratives.
• The Multimedia Workshop challenges participants to gather still images, record sound and shoot video, and then use cutting-edge digital and online tools to spin all these threads into stories that captivate.

Price

The cost of the workshop ranges from $625 to $825, depending on entry date and workshop category.

More Information

Visit MountainWorkshops.org.

It does not matter how many times you’ve done this exercise before. Each time you do it, it feels like the first. People tell you, you’ve done it before, you can do it again. But they don’t know what it feels like to be in the dark room searching blindly.

Your work is meticulous. You must evaluate not only each piece, trying to discern its nature, but also how it relates to all of the other pieces. Most of the time, you feel as if your work is wrong. It’s a persistent feeling, that the path you’ve chosen, the connections you’ve made, will ultimately lead you astray. That inevitably, you will be forced to begin again.

But the only way forward is through the uncertainty. So you continue, in spite of your doubt.

Only when you have finished the first lamp, do you begin to realize that this darkness might not be forever. So you continue until the room is fully illuminated and your work is finally complete.

Next time, you think, next time, I’ll remember this and it won’t be so difficult. But this is not true. Every time you will begin with nothing. Every time you will begin new.

This is what editing feels like.

PhotoShelter and Wonderful Machine recently published Pricing Your Work: Corporate & Industrial Photography offering insights from Wonderful Machine CEO Bill Cramer to help create estimates and fee structures for your work.

The guide includes tips on what to charge for corporate and industrial shoots, how to find clients and get smart with contracts, plus the main factors that influence the value of an assignment.

Get your free guide now.

About PhotoShelter

PhotoShelter is the leader in portfolio websites, photo sales, marketing and archiving tools for photographers. Over 74,000 photographers worldwide use PhotoShelter to power their success online, with customizable website templates, searchable photo galleries, e-commerce capabilities, and bulletproof image storage. Learn more at www.photoshelter.com.

This article is part of a new series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers’ experience working with Adobe Production Pro after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post.

Today’s post was written by MediaStorm producer Eric Maierson.

Premiere Pro CC, Adobe’s followup to CS6, is stuffed with all kinds of great new features. One of the most useful additions is the ability to see through edits, a feature available in Final Cut Pro 7 but curiously absent from the previous Premiere Pro iteration.

A through edit is a marker that indicates where you’ve made an edit but no frames have actually been omitted.

To turn on this functionality, from the Sequence menu select Show Through Edits.

Now, when you first make an edit, you’ll see the through edit icon. Adobe has conveniently used the same icon found in FCP 7.

To rejoin an edit, simply select the edit point and press delete.

Your clip will be restored.

Note that Show Through Edits does not have a keyboard shortcut assigned by default. To learn how to do this see the previous post MediaStorm Guide to Keyboard Customization in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Premiere Pro CC will be available some time in June.

To learn more about how our producers are using Adobe Premiere Pro see our other blog posts on the topic. Also, follow our producers’ twitter feed @PrProShortcuts for Premiere shortcuts.

To learn more about our production style, you can purchase a copy of our Post-production Workflow. Readers who purchase our current Final Cut Pro and Aperture workflow automatically receive the Premiere workflow when it is released.

MediaStorm offers several online and in-person training opportunities at mediastorm.com/train.

Have you made a recent switch in your editing software? Let us know about it in the comments below.

The Migrant Nation documents the stories of China’s rural families, separated due to urban migration: the millions of workers who leave their homes as well as the children and old people left behind. In the final phase of this project, Liu Jie reunites each family through photography. (“The Migrant Nation”/Liu Jie)

Each year, in the most powerful military force on the planet, the U.S. Army, tens of thousand of women are sexually assaulted by their male colleagues. Few report these assaults, while those who do risk being expelled from the military, and have only a slight chance of seeing the perpetrator brought to justice. (“An Enemy Within”/François Pesant)

Mabintou is a young woman from Guinea Conakry who, for eight years, has lived in Paris as a ‘sans-papiers’. Despite an uncertain future, she continues her political activism, following developments in Guinea and fighting for recognition in France for those who are without legal status. (“In Conakry They Called Me Princess”/Dirk-Jan Visser)

MediaStorm’s film “I Know Where I’m Going,” created for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with Simon Schorno, Leandro Badalotti, Tara Todras-Whitehill, and Eric Maierson was selected for the Multimedia Shortlist. All Honorary Mentions and Shortlist entries can be viewed at AnthropoGraphia.org.

Hussein Saleh was born in an area of Yemen partially controlled by an Al Qaeda-affiliated group. This film follows him as he networks with the government and other parties to ensure that the Red Cross can carry out its humanitarian mission. Shortly after the film was made, he was killed by an airstrike.

About AnthropoGraphia

AnthropoGraphia is a non-for-profit organization based in Montreal, Canada. The name AnthropoGraphia is a combination of the Greek words “anthropo” and “graphia”, which literally means ‘human-being – writing’. The essence of these terms reveals AnthropoGraphia’s mission: to write human stories, using photography as the medium. The organization is committed to the denunciation of human rights abuses through high-quality photography. It’s aim is to raise general awareness of issues that often marginalized by mainstream media.

The Eddie Adams Workshop has announced that the 26th Workshop, which will be held October 11th – 14th, 2013 in Jeffersonville, New York, is now accepting applications.

The Workshop is one of the premier photojournalism events for students and young professionals. It’s a weekend that offers an excellent opportunity to meet the top photojournalists in the world, and to work alongside the best photo editors in the business.

Deadline

Apply online by May 31st, 2013.

Workshop Details

The Eddie Adams Workshop is an intense four-day gathering of the top photography professionals, along with 100 carefully selected students. The photography workshop is tuition-free, and the 100 students are chosen based on the merit of their portfolios.

Samia Khan is dedicated to using the power of collective action and storytelling to build a more just world. She has spent the past decade working on human rights and development issues in Kenya, Pakistan, and the United States; with organizations like the UNDP, UNCDF, the World Bank, and Ashoka. Most recently, Samia worked as a strategic planning and fundraising consultant, where she helped organizations clarify their missions and programs and execute successful fundraising campaigns. Samia is also a founding Board Member of the Nur Project, an organization that seeks to shine a light on stories of hope and change in Pakistan.

Samia holds a Master’s in Public Administration from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and her dog.

Space Oddity from Chris Hadfield on YouTube.

See what else we think is Worth Watching.

W. Eugene Smith Grant for Humanistic Photography 2013

Grant: $30,000
Discretionary Fellowship: $5,000
To Apply: http://smithfund.org/eugene-smith-grant
Application Deadline: May 31, 2013

The W. Eugene Smith Grant is presented annually to a photographer whose past work and proposed project, as judged by a panel of experts, follows the tradition of W. Eugene Smith’s concerned photography and dedicated compassion exhibited during his 45-year career as a photographic essayist. The grant has often been referred to as the most prestigious honor in the field of documentary photography.

For 2013, the amount of the grant will be $30,000 to provide photographers with the financial freedom to continue or complete a major photographic project. An additional $5,000 in fellowship money will be dispersed, at the discretion of the jury, to one or more finalists deemed worthy of special recognition. Awards will be presented in a ceremony held in New York City in early October.

Howard Chapnick Grant

Grant: $5,000
To Apply: http://smithfund.org/howard-chapnick-grant
Application Deadline: May 31, 2013

Established in 1996 by the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund, the Howard Chapnick Grant encourages and supports leadership in fields ancillary to photojournalism, such as editing, research, education, and management. The grant honors the memory of Howard Chapnick and his enormous commitment to photojournalism.

The annual $5,000 Chapnick Grant may be used to finance any of a range of qualified undertakings, such as an educational program, research, a special long-term sabbatical project, or an internship to work with a noteworthy group or individual. Special consideration will be given to projects that promote social change and/or serve significant concerns of photojournalism. The grant is not intended to be used for the direct productions of photographs.

Recipients of the Howard Chapnick Grant will be selected by the Board of Trustees of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund in Humanistic Photography.

The Howard Chapnick Grant is supported by Harbers Family Foundation.

Photoshelter’s latest free education guide is here. Creating a Successful Photography Portfolio contains insights from seasoned photography consultants on how to build an online photography portfolio that attracts clients and wins jobs.

Get your free guide now to learn more about a range of topics including:

• 11 Secrets to Creating a Successful Online Photo Portfolio
• Attracting Your Dream Client With Your Portfolio
• Tailoring to Client Needs and Showcasing a Brand
• 5 Myths About Portfolio Reviews Debunked

About PhotoShelter

PhotoShelter is the leader in portfolio websites, photo sales, marketing and archiving tools for photographers. Over 74,000 photographers worldwide use PhotoShelter to power their success online, with customizable website templates, searchable photo galleries, e-commerce capabilities, and bulletproof image storage. Learn more at www.photoshelter.com.

This article is part of a new series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers’ experience working with Adobe Premiere Pro after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post.

Today’s post was written by MediaStorm producer Eric Maierson.

There’s a critical difference between the title tool in Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro. In FCP, one could slice a title that’s already in the timeline, open it in the Viewer window, then change the contents so that you now had two distinct titles.

This does not work in Premiere Pro.

In Premiere Pro each title is a distinct instance. So, if you splice a title in the timeline then change its content, you will also change the content of the first title as well. Both titles will say the same thing.

The only way around this is to create a new title instance for every subtitle. It’s a cumbersome process and one that we wish Adobe would change.

Setting Up a Title Template

In the Project window create a new bin (Command – /). Name it Subtitles.

Open the title tool (Command-T).

In the New Title window, name the title temp. The title size will default to your current sequence size.

When the title tool opens, press T for the Type Tool, then click inside the rectangle. Use 38pt Arial, then type a short phrase. If you plan to use drop shadow, and you should, add it here as well. (Tim McLaughlin will follow up this post with a more detailed look at the functionality of the Title Tool.)

Next, click the Selection tool (arrow icon) and move the title so that it rests on top of the title-safe line.

Use the Horizontal Center tool to align the title in the middle of the screen.

Close the title tool.

Drag the title from Project window to your Timeline.

To create a new title, simply click the New Title Based on Current Style button at the top right of the Title tool.

XML

At MediaStorm we no longer use burned-in timecode. We use XML to generate titles in our player.

If you plan to use XML with your subtitles for any reason, say to copy from one computer to another, the following steps are crucial:

Each time you paste a phrase from your transcript into a subtitle, you must also rename the subtitle instance with the exact same phrase.

If the contents of the subtitle is “I went home” the name of the subtitle instance must also be “I went home”; the names must match identically. That’s because XML in Premiere Pro reads the name of the title, not its contents.

Here too, we wish Adobe would change this behavior so that XML functioned as it does in Final Cut Pro 7, reading the content of the subtitle, not the name of the title file – the opposite of how it works now.

It’s obviously more expedient to avoid this extra step.

Subtitle Styles

Font Size – 38

Font – Arial

Drop Shadow – Standard effect, change opacity to 90%

Fades

If narrative is more than 15 frames from the end or beginning of a cut, set subtitle to start 10 frames before the start or end of narrative, then place 8 frame fade on subtitle.

To learn more about how our producers are using Adobe Premiere Pro see our other blog posts on the topic. Also, follow our producers’ twitter feed @PrProShortcuts for Premiere shortcuts.

To learn more about our production style, you can purchase a copy of our Post-production Workflow. Readers who purchase our current Final Cut Pro and Aperture workflow automatically receive the Premiere workflow when it is released.

MediaStorm offers several online and in-person training opportunities at mediastorm.com/train.

Have you made a recent switch in your editing software? Let us know about it in the comments below.

Awa Balde, 5, cries after being circumcised. Once a girl passes through the rite of circumcision, she is considered a respectable prospect for marriage. A future husband will sometimes pay a dowry to claim a bride before she becomes a teenager. Photo by Ami Vitale courtesy of Alexia Foundation

The Alexia Foundation will host the opening night of “Eyes on the World” at 25CPW Gallery on June 20th, 2013 in New York, New York.

The evening will feature current work on the clothes factory collapse in Bangladesh, an intimate look at domestic violence, and 2011 Alexia Foundation grant award winner Amanda Berg’s story on teenage binge drinking entitled “Keg Stand Queens.”

Event Details

“Eyes on the World”
25CPW Gallery (located at 62nd Street and Central Park West)
Thursday, June 20th, 2013
6:00 to 9:00pm

“Eyes on the World” will be on display at 25CPW Gallery Friday – Sunday, June 21st to June 23rd, 2013.

A lecture by photographer Amanda Berg will be open to the public on Saturday, June 22nd, 2013 at 4:00pm.

RSVP

Admission is free. Donations to support The Alexia Foundation are encouraged. Please RSVP to sarahbeth@alexiafoundation.org or 718-753-7607.

More Information

For more information, see the Alexia Foundation event page.

Don’t Talk When Shooting B-roll

It’s easy to think that you won’t need audio when you’re shooting visual sequences. But the truth is, b-roll is far more dynamic when it includes natural sound. B-roll with sound can be used for pacing between sections of your project or to cover interview sound bites and provide a rich texture.

If you talk while shooting, you lose this opportunity. You’re left with just visuals. While you can sometimes get away with this, say when you use music, it’s far better to have the option of using natural sound. If you have it, chances are that you’ll find a use for it.

Remember, no matter how softly you speak, the camera microphone will hear you. So once you set your shot, stop talking.

Don’t Take Still Pictures While Someone is Shooting Video

Sometimes photographers work alongside videographers. In these situations it’s critical to take turns shooting. If you don’t, you’ll inevitably record the sound of the still camera’s shutter. Nothing ruins a scene faster.

Working in teams is almost a prerequisite for creating great stories. It’s something we believe in and preach at our Storytelling Workshops. It’s essential that still and video photographers not only take turns shooting but also have an open and continuous dialogue about how to best approach each scene so that they are always working together.

Hold Your Shots

Too often I see video shots that are simply not long enough. I think this is because still photographers are trained to be on the move, looking for the next shot.

When using a video camera, however, one generally stays in place and lets the action flow past the camera. Video unfolds.

A good rule of thumb is once you have set up your shot and begun to record, leave the camera alone for the next 20 seconds. Don’t do anything. Your instincts will scream, “I’ve got this. I need to get other shots, now, now, now.” Ignore your instincts. This is how video works, you let the action happen before you.

When it comes to shooting b-roll, this is perhaps the hardest lesson to learn.

For more information on shooting b-roll, check out the MediaStorm Field Guide and MediaStorm‘s Online Training.

EVERYDAY from Gustav Johansson on Vimeo.

See what else we think is Worth Watching.

Program Description

The program consists of weekly production meetings, seminars, screenings and other public programs, along with regular masterclasses and critiques with visiting artists. Key benefits include:

• Dynamic interaction among a network of talented peers
• Direct exchange with visiting artists and industry experts
• A structured environment for research and experimentation
• Mentoring on the production of original work and regular group critique
• Exhibition opportunities for the year’s collaborative project

Learn more at UnionDocs.

Deadline

June 15. Apply online.

About CoLAB

CoLAB is a new and alternative fellowship model, offering residency and visa support for six participants coming from abroad and an equal number of spots for local, non-resident participants. It is designed to be affordable and, although participants are asked to make the CoLAB their primary creative focus, the schedule does accommodate full-time or freelance work. Rather than applying with a project proposal or rough cut, all participants are selected on the basis of previous work and enter the program at square one, open to discovery and fresh connections.

The CoLAB has presented original work at premiere venues such as MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight, TEDxBrooklyn, BAMcinemafest, the Harvard Film Archive, the Visible Evidence Conference, Camden International Film Festival, Hot Docs, and Direktorenhaus, Berlin, among other venues. Learn more at UnionDocs.

This article is part of a new series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers’ experience working with Adobe Production Pro after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post.

Today’s post was written by MediaStorm producer Tim McLaughlin.

At MediaStorm, we use tracks to organize by asset type on the timeline. It gives our timeline a level of organization and visual clarity that allows us to find specific items quickly. Additionally, because we often work on each others timelines, it gives us an immediate sense of familiarity with one another’s projects.

One of my favorite options in Adobe Premiere Pro is the ability to color code assets directly on the timeline, making the visual organization of the timeline all the more obvious. Below you’ll see a timeline color coded by asset. This post will teach you how to replicate this color coding, and how to get Premiere Pro to automatically color assets correctly on import.

First, let’s take a look at the options we have in Premiere Pro’s options panel.

Go to Premiere Pro > Label Colors.

By default, this is what you’ll see:

Both the colors and the names of the colors are editable. Click on either cell, and you can change the name associated with a color, or you can change the color itself.

We tend to leave the colors as default, but we do change the names of those colors to match the assets we use on a timeline. The asset we associate with each color is listed in the photo below.

While in Preferences, let’s take a look at the Label Defaults pane. Label Defaults allows you to choose what colors Premiere Pro associates with specific asset types on import.

Below are the settings we use. We leave Bin and Sequence as default. Video, Audio, Movie, Still and Adobe Dynamic Link are all changed to reflect the colors set above.

It’s important to note that this will only change the Label Colors of those assets imported after you’ve changed them in Preferences. Anything you’ve already imported will remain the same.

To change the Label Colors of these assets, you can do so by right-clicking on the asset in the timeline, going to Label, and choosing the appropriate label for the asset. You can also follow the same steps for those assets in the Project pane.

To learn more about our production style, you can purchase a copy of our Post-production Workflow. Readers who purchase our current Final Cut Pro and Aperture workflow automatically receive the Premiere workflow when it is released.

MediaStorm offers several online and in-person training opportunities at mediastorm.com/train.

Have you made a recent switch in your editing software? Let us know about it in the comments below.

Since 1985 ICP’s Infinity Awards have brought attention to outstanding achievements in photography. The 2013 Infinity Awards films serve as a portrait of some of the important contributors to photography today.

Special Presentation: Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges is an Academy Award-winning actor. He is also an accomplished photographer. He’s been taking pictures on the set of his movies for more than 30 years, capturing intimate and surprising behind-the-scenes moments.

Young Photographer: Kitra Cahana

Blurring the line between subjects and friends, Kitra Cahana captures a rare level of intimacy with her subjects. As a documentary photographer, her images explore anthropological, social and spiritual themes through a human perspective.

Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Erik Madigan Heck

As a photographer, Erik Madigan Heck does not differentiate between art and fashion in his work. Adhering to no rules, embracing his fears and seeing endless possibilities, Heck creates images people remember.

Art: Mishka Henner

Looking, and trusting in that act alone, Mishka Henner explores photography as an appropriation artist. Through new and alternative technology, Henner inspects art from the past while innovating in the present.

Cornell Capa Lifetime Achievement: David Goldblatt

David Goldblatt spent his life documenting apartheid in South Africa. While many photographers chased mass demonstrations and violent rebellions, Goldblatt focused on the cultural values that led to more than 40 years of repression.

Photojournalism: David Guttenfelder

Surreal and mysterious, North Korea was a black hole to outsiders wanting a glimpse of the country. That all changed in 2012, when AP photographer David Guttenfelder led the opening of the bureau’s newest office inside the hermit kingdom.

Publication: Cristina de Middel

The idea of an African space program may sound funny to some, but not to Cristina de Middel. Through a mix of fact and fiction, de Middel forces viewers to reinterpret a 1960s space program in Zambia in her photobook, The Afronauts.

ICP Trustees: Pat Schoenfeld

Pat Schoenfeld, 2013 ICP Trustees Award recipient and last remaining member of ICP’s original staff, shares stories from ICP’s earliest days and reflects on her continued involvement—though in a different capacity—nearly 40 years later.

Michael and his partner Taj Forer founded an organization dedicated to a print product in 2003, when the industry was already moving to digital. In this interview, he discusses the growth and adaptation of Daylight in the evolving digital landscape and how winning the Howard Chapnick Grant helped him reach his goals.

Interview with Michael Itkoff

What led you to create Daylight back in 2003?

Taj Forer and I founded Daylight in part because we felt that our specific area of interest—photo-based work existing somewhere between the documentary mode and that of fine art—was not being properly addressed by the industry.

We set up Daylight as a platform for more subjective, personally experienced truths that were realized through photography.

You founded an organization dedicated to publishing art and photography books in 2003, when the industry was already moving to digital. How has Daylight worked within the massive shift in art and photography publishing over the last decade?

Although only 10 years ago 2003 is ancient history in the context of the print/digital shift. In those days it was not yet obvious that a sea change was on the horizon. In fact, it took us over a year after publishing our first edition to develop a proper online presence as we were so committed to the physical object.

Since that time we have anticipated and embraced the continued shift toward digital formats with our multimedia program and newly launched iPad publishing program.

As part of Daylight’s continued shift toward digital formats, they have recently launched an iPad publishing program.

Tell us more about your multimedia program. Is it integrated with your books program?

The multimedia program highlights the work of an individual artist and presents a portfolio-based slideshow of work along with the artists narration and a curated musical selection. We feature artists from the Daylight Photo Awards as well as from our books program in addition to artists from outside the fold.

We have been producing multimedia as a separate initiative since 2007. To date we have over 50 features available for free.

Now that you are producing both digital and physical products, do you find your audience shifting in one direction or the other?

It is too early to tell. I believe our core audience shares our commitment to print as well as our interest in experiencing work within the digital space.

“Jeff Jacobson: The Last Roll” is Daylight’s most recent multimedia project. They now have more than 50 features available for free.

You were awarded the Howard Chapnick Grant in 2006. How did you use the grant and what has it meant for you personally?

The grant proceeds went straight into publication of Issue #5 of Daylight Magazine. Our goal at that time was to remain in print and the Chapnick grant certainly helped offset the cost of our fifth edition!

It was also a benchmark for Daylight as it signaled public acceptance and industry recognition. I am still proud to have received the award.

Itkoff used the Howard Chapnick Grant to fund the fifth edition of Daylight Magazine.

Daylight runs an award program of its own. When did you start running it? And who does it seek to award?

We launched the Daylight Photo Awards in 2010 along with the Center for Documentary Studies, but have since proceeded to offer the awards on our own.

The DPA offers $1,000, a solo show and a multimedia feature to an artist with a developed body of work in order to showcase it and aid in its development.

About the Howard Chapnick Grant

In 1996 the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund announced a new award, the Howard Chapnick Grant, to encourage and support leadership in fields ancillary to photojournalism, such as editing research, education and management.

The Grant was established to honor the memory of Howard Chapnick, and acknowledge the value of his enormous contribution to photography.

The annual $5,000 grant may be used to finance any of a range of qualified undertakings, which might include a program of further education, research, a special long-term sabbatical project, or an internship to work with a noteworthy group or individual.

According to the Fund’s Board of Trustees, special consideration will be given to projects that promote social change and/or serve significant concerns of photojournalism. The grant is not intended to be used for the production of photographs, which will continue to be funded by the main grant of the Smith Fund.

Applications are due May 31, 2013. Learn more and apply at http://smithfund.org/howard-chapnick-grant.

Visual Storytelling in the Age of Post-Industrialist Journalism

The project, which ran from July 2012-April 2013, aims to map the global emergence and development of multimedia in visual storytelling, especially photojournalism.

The study examines these issues through a comparative look at multimedia trends in three parts of the world: the USA, Europe, and China. In each of these locations, the research team asked five questions:

1. How is multimedia being produced?
2. How is multimedia being financed?
3. How is multimedia being published and distributed, and who is publishing/distributing multimedia?
4. How are viewers consuming multimedia?
5. Which types of multimedia attract the most attention, and what are the criteria of success?

Download the full research report and join in the discussion on Dr. Campbell’s blog.

Multimedia & Visual Storytelling: The Start of a Conversation

To hear from multimedia makers themselves, the research team produced a series of five video conversations with some of the leading players in the field giving their views, and sharing their personal experiences, about the challenges in funding, producing and distributing multimedia.

Multimedia & Visual Storytelling: The Start of a Conversation, part 1

Multimedia & Visual Storytelling: The Start of a Conversation, part 2

Multimedia & Visual Storytelling: The Start of a Conversation, part 3

Multimedia & Visual Storytelling: The Start of a Conversation, part 4

Multimedia & Visual Storytelling: The Start of a Conversation, part 5

About World Press Photo

World Press Photo organizes the leading international contest in visual journalism. The foundation is committed to supporting and advancing high standards in photojournalism and documentary storytelling worldwide. Its aim is to generate wide public interest in and appreciation for the work of photographers and other visual journalists, and for the free exchange of information. The activities include organizing annual photojournalism and multimedia contests and global exhibition tours.

The Academy programs strive to stimulate high-quality visual journalism through educational programs, grants and by creating greater visibility through a variety of publications. World Press Photo is an independent, non-profit organization with its office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where it was founded in 1955. Learn more at www.worldpressphoto.org/.

The German Development Media Awards

The German Development Media Awards is a new journalism prize supported by Deutsche Welle. The awards recognize excellence in human rights and development journalism and are an initiative of Deutsche Welle and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Submissions are open to journalists from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Germany. Entries can include stories in all journalistic formats in print, radio, TV and online.

The stories should focus clearly on human rights and development and must have been published or broadcast between January 1, 2012 and May 31, 2013.

The deadline to apply is May 31, 2013. Learn more and apply at germanmediaawards.org.

Call for African Photojournalists

One of the German Development Media Awards this year is for African press photographers covering human rights issues in Africa.

This award recognizes African photojournalists who inspire and change perceptions of life in Africa through the power of photographic storytelling.

The competition is open to professional African photojournalists who live and work on the African continent. The award winner will receive 2,000 euros in prize money and will also be invited to attend the awards ceremony in Berlin on August 14, 2013.

See the conditions of entry for further details.

The deadline to apply is May 31, 2013. Learn more and apply.

Tag Savage’s Sideways Brain from Narratively on Vimeo.

See what else we think is Worth Watching.

I Love Your Work, released today by Jonathan Harris, is an interactive documentary about the private lives of nine women who make lesbian porn.

It consists of 2,202 10-second video clips, taken at five-minute intervals over 10 consecutive days. The full interactive website is limited to just 10 viewers per day, and tickets cost $10 each for 24-hour access.

There’s also a premium package available for $300, which includes one 13×19″ limited-edition archival print of I Love Your Work signed by Jonathan Harris and three 24-hour instant-access tickets to the full interactive website (for yourself or as gifts).

Ten percent of ticket sales is donated to the Sex Workers Project, providing social and legal services to sex workers.

Tickets available at iloveyourwork.net/.

About Jonathan Harris

Jonathan Harris makes projects that reimagine how humans relate to technology and to each other.

Combining elements of computer science, anthropology, visual art and storytelling, his projects range from building the world’s largest time capsule (with Yahoo!) to documenting an Alaskan Eskimo whale hunt on the Arctic Ocean (with a warm hat).

He is the co-creator of We Feel Fine, which continuously measures the emotional temperature of the human world through large-scale blog analysis, and has made other projects about online dating, modern mythology, happiness, anonymity, news, and language. His latest project is Cowbird, a community of storytellers working to build a public library of human experience.

Cortney Cleveland is a freelance writer helping professionals and brands tell stories on the web.

Her coverage of professional development, cultural, and entrepreneurial topics appears in online outlets like Madame Noire and Black Enterprise.

Prior to starting her freelance career, she worked in public relations, supporting a variety of communications campaigns and managing high-profile client accounts for public relations agencies in Washington, DC (GMMB) and New York City (Peppercom).

As an honor student at Howard University, where she studied Journalism and Psychology, she completed a legislative internship with U.S. Senator Paul S. Sarbanes and community relations internships with Washington DC’s top hip-hop radio station and advocacy organizations.

Her goal is to tell good stories, creating engaging content and experimenting with platforms to help her readers live life on their own terms. She shares her work and interests on her blog, MyReadIsRed.com.

The example below is for an interview with the subject sitting screen-right. If you want the subject to be sitting screen-left, camera and lighting placement should be reversed.

Visual Look

Background – We often use a black background behind our subjects to focus attention on what the subject says and how he or she says it. A large felt cloth works nicely.

Cameras – We currently use the Canon 5D Mark III for our interviews.

Camera Settings - It’s important to standardize settings on all cameras. Make sure each camera has the same frame size, frame rate, aperture, ISO and white balance. Below are the settings we generally use on interviews in our studio. Note that your aperture, ISO and white balance will be different based on your lighting setting up.

Frame size – 1920×1080
Frame rate – 24 frames per second
Shutter speed – 1/50
Aperture – 4.5
ISO – 500
Kelvin – 4500

Camera Position - The wide shot (Camera A), is positioned on the right. The tight shot (Camera B) is positioned on the left. They are as close to each other as possible and should be near the same height. The cameras are both positioned nearly over the shoulder of the person conducting the interview. Make sure the interviewer’s shoulder is not in the shot.

Example – Camera A and B are placed almost directly above the interviewer’s shoulder.

Camera A (Wide, On-Tripod) - The subject is sitting screen-right, looking into the frame screen-left. The subject is composed so that his or her hands are visible laying on their lap. This allows the wide angle to capture any hand gestures or body movement that might be storytelling body language.

Example – The look of Camera A.

Camera B (Tight, On-Tripod) - This shot is also composed with the subject sitting screen-right, looking into the frame screen-left. Composition of the subject should mimic that of the wide shot.

Example – The look of Camera B.

Camera C (Tight, Off-Tripod) - This camera is optional and requires an additional photographer for an interview. We use this camera to show the subject in profile on screen-right looking screen-left. We vary composition with this camera, sometimes focusing on details like the subject’s hands, as well as wider shots of the subject in profile.

Example – The look of Camera C.

Audio

Microphone Position - MediaStorm uses a Sennheiser ME66 shotgun mic supported directly over the subject’s forehead. The mic should be as close to the subject’s forehead without being in the wide shot. As you can see in the image below, the shotgun mic is supported by a boom on a lightstand, pointing down toward the location of the subject’s forehead.

Example – The shotgun mic is above the subject, pointing directly at his or her forehead. It should be as close to the subject as possible, without being in the shot.

Audio Setup - The shotgun mic is connected to a camera mounted juicedLink via an XLR cord. The juicedLink is a preamp that records higher-quality sound directly to the camera’s audio track, has XLR inputs and allows headphone monitoring. We place the juicedLink on Camera A. This will be the main audio source for the interview.

Cameras B and C have mics mounted on their hot shoes, plugged directly into the DSLR’s mic mount. The audio for these cameras must be clean, but they will be used primarily for syncing in post-production. If you’re using the stabilizer function on Camera C’s lens (the stabilizer should be off for Camera A and B when on tripod), it’s imperative that you use a separate mic. The sound of the stabilizer will ruin the audio of the onboard mic making the camera difficult to sync in post.

Levels for all cameras should be recorded at the industry standard of between -12 and -6db.

Lighting

Key Light – The main light source, or key light, should be on the subject’s screen-left portion of his or her face. See the example below.

Example – In our setup, the key light should be on the subject’s screen-left portion of his or her face.

Example – The key light should provide an even amount of light over the majority of the subject’s face, falling off slightly on the screen-right portion of his or her face.

Fill/Hair Light - The fill/hair light provides additional light on the screen-right portion of the subject’s face, while separating the subject’s shoulders from the background. We place this light on a boom pole that is above and to the right of the subject, pointing down at the subject’s shoulder and face.

Example – The fill/hair light is placed on a boom pole above and to the right of the subject.

Equipment List

Lights

• Lowell Rifa EX 55
• Lowell Rifa Lite EX 44
• Avenger A635B Stand

Audio

• juicedLink RA222
• Sennheisser ME 66
• Rode Video Mic Pro
• K-Tek KE-89CC Avalon Series Aluminum Boompole with Internal Coiled XLR Cable
• Manfrotto Boom Assembly, Black – 6.5′ (2m)
• XLR Cord

Tripod

• Sachtler 0750

Camera Equipment

• Canon 5D Mark III
• Canon 24-70mm f/2.8
• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8

Documentary Fundamentals @ UnionDocs

This nuts-and-bolts professional development series is designed for the beginning or intermediate documentary filmmaker. Documentary Fundamentals @ UnionDocs is a six-week course culminating in a certificate of completion. Registrants can also attend individual sessions.

Sundays, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, April 21 – June 2
(excluding May 26 in observance of Memorial Day weekend)

Schedule

$20 per session or $100 for series and certificate (general public)
$15 per session or $75 for series and certificate (bodega passholder & partners)

Click here to purchase a Series Pass. Enter the code “SeriesPartner” to receive a 25% discount, allowing you to attend all 6 sessions for only $75.

For individual sessions, please visit www.uniondocs.org and enter the code “Collaborator” for a 20% discount, or $15 for each session

About UnionDocs

UnionDocs (UnDo) is a Center for Documentary Art that generates and shares big ideas.

We bring together a diverse community of experimental media-makers, dedicated journalists, critical thinkers, and local partners on a search for urgent expressions of the human experience, practical perspectives on the world today, and compelling visions for the future.

UnDo and Do Up!

Learn more at www.uniondocs.org.

Staff Producer

Start Date: Spring/Summer 2013
Location: New York City
Salary: Competitive non-profit salary commensurate with experience, plus benefits

New Media Advocacy Project Description

The New Media Advocacy Project (N-Map) is a non-profit organization that combats human rights violations by using digital video and other media to strengthen social justice advocacy in courts, legislatures, and communities. N-Map’s lawyers, advocates, and media professionals help human rights organizations integrate this new technology directly into their strategies, enabling them to win their cases and achieve their clients’ goals more effectively and efficiently.

We work on behalf of courageous clients in areas such as unlawful detention, gender-based violence, forced evictions, prison conditions, race discrimination, criminal justice, and more. We develop high quality, tactically sophisticated media advocacy projects that can be used in the courtroom, in legislative offices, within our clients’ communities, and more broadly in the public.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Staff Producer is an experienced documentary or television producer, journalist, or filmmaker, in charge of managing creative direction and media production of multiple N-Map projects. Each N-Map project is staffed by a lawyer or advocate and media professional who combine their skills to create innovative media campaigns. The Staff Producer is the media side of this team.

The primary responsibility of the Staff Producer is the direction and production of short form documentaries, campaign videos, social ads, and other kinds of media productions. In addition, the Staff Producer will collaborate with N-Map lawyers and advocates on project management, advocacy strategy, client relations, and other responsibilities that go beyond media production. You will be at the center of innovative advocacy campaigns on behalf of many of the world’s most vulnerable communities.

Key responsibilities include:

• Project planning and strategy with N-Map Project Managers
• Management of pre-production, production, and post-production, on a variety of video and other media projects;
• Collaboration on project implementation, including on strategic distribution, outreach, and audience engagement efforts, which are unique to each project
• Day-to-day project management,
• Client communications,
• Media management,
• Management of equipment and other technical needs for N-Map shoots,
• Grant reporting, evaluation;
• Recruit and manage creative contractors around the world, particularly local production crews and bilingual editors; and
• A variety of other tasks that may come up as the organization grows.

Job Requirements

• At least 5-7 years experience working in documentary or television production, international journalism, or media and technology, with an advocacy focus a plus. This is a serious requirement. Please describe the required experience in a short cover letter. Candidates with more experience are encouraged to apply as well.
• Ability to field produce documentary film. Basic videography and editing skills (Final Cut Pro preferred) are required. Professional level shooting and editing skills are a plus. Experience with narrative film/music video/TV/animation also a plus, but not required.
• Travel experience throughout the developing world and the ability to work effectively in physically and culturally uncomfortable environments. This position will involve a significant amount of international travel.
• Experience as an entrepreneur or in a startup environment (in any sector) is a significant plus – the Staff Producer must be a self-starter and comfortable working alone or in small groups in challenging circumstances.
• A commitment to public interest and/or human rights demonstrated by significant work experience and/or volunteer work.
• Ability to work in at least 1 foreign language in addition to English is a plus, but not required (Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic preferred).
• Excellent writing and communications skills required.

Please send a resume and short cover letter describing your interest and relevant experience to jobs@newmediaadvocacy.org.

The Platypus Workshop 2013: Digital Video Storytelling

A 21st century digital storyteller has to be producer, writer, camera, sound, editor, and everything else. Just as the millennia-old platypus—a mash-up of otter, duck and beaver—has evolved and survived, so must the modern photojournalist.

In this workshop you learn how to be a digital storyteller using DSLR cameras, compact lights, wireless microphones, and professional editing software. You learn how to find a story, how to interview, how to shoot video sequences that keep your audience enthralled, and how to edit it all together.

The workshop is led by one of the icons of photojournalism, Dirck Halstead, formerly TIME Magazine’s Senior White House photographer. Also contributing their knowledge and experiences are Beth Corwin, an award-winning network news cameraperson, and Tom Wolsky, one of the gurus of Final Cut Pro.

Since 1999, The Platypus Workshop has trained hundreds of photojournalists in the art of video storytelling. The Platypus team will be hands-on, filled with professional tips, tricks, and solutions, as well as exemplary and inspiring work—and perhaps life-changing moments.

The workshop tuition is $1795. Tuition for producers is an additional $900.

Members of NPPA and ASMP and active duty members in the military receive a 10 percent discount.

For further information, contact Dirck Halstead at dhalstead@me.com, or Beth Corwin at btc@me.com.

The Instructors

Dirck Halstead is a freelance photojournalist and filmmaker; he holds the record for the most TIME magazine covers shot by any single photographer. Dirck has been one of the most prolific advertising photographers for the motion picture industry. His clients have included Warner Brothers, Universal Pictures, Tri-Star, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and DEG. Other corporate clients have included ITT, Merrill Lynch and IBM. He has been a leader in the transition from still photography to high definition video, and has produced stories for ABC, The State of Texas, and AARP. His web site is dirckhalstead.net.

Beth Corwin has been a news photographer since age 15, when she began freelancing for her local newspaper. After majoring in communications in college, she apprenticed in local television, mastering the craft of editing and camera work. Hired by ABC News in New York in 1982, Beth has worked as a network news camera operator ever since. Examples of her award-winning videography have been showcased on PrimeTime Live, ABC World News Tonight, Nightline, 48 Hours, and other national news programs. Along with Tom Wolsky, Beth owns and operates South Coast Productions, a project production company.

Tom Wolsky is a respected techno-guru and author, with a resume rich in software-training experience. He’s an Apple-Certified Instructor in Final Cut Pro who trains teachers and students across the United States. A graduate of the London School of Film, Tom is the co-owner and producer/editor of South Coast Productions, a television production company in northern California.

Before becoming a prominent software expert, Tom enjoyed a full and rewarding career in television and film production. During his 40 years of broadcast experience, he worked in London as a writer, producer and technician, notably as an operations manager and producer for the London Bureau of ABC News.

See what else we think is Worth Watching.

Presence and Absence, a combined exhibit by Maggie Steber and Carlos Rene Perez opens Thursday, April 18, 2013 at Leica Gallery in New York.

The exhibition combines the works Rite of Passage by Maggie Steber and An Artist’s Life by Carlos Rene Perez.

The two works find commonality in their personal nature and in dealing with issues of isolation. A secondary bond of the pieces is the continuing friendship, support and influence between the two artists, who lived together for more than two decades.

The exhibit opens Thursday April 18, 2013 and runs through June 1, 2013. Hours for the opening are from 5-8pm and it is open to the public.

Event Details

Presence and Absence
Leica Gallery in New York
670 Broadway Suite 500
New York, NY 10012

Exhibition opening: April 18, 2013, 5:00p.m.-8:00p.m.
Open to the public

Exhibition dates: April 19 to June 1, 2013
Tuesday – Friday 12:00p.m. – 6:00p.m.
Saturday 12.00p.m. – 5.00p.m.

Rite of Passage by Maggie Steber

Maggie Steber’s exhibit, Rite of Passage, is an intimate recording of her mother’s voyage through the melancholy of dementia. An only child of an only parent, Steber oversaw her mother’s care for nine years. She used photography as a therapeutic tool to survive this longest goodbye. The fact that Steber never intended to share the work publicly makes the intimacy far more pronounced.

It was the surprise ending that changed her mind about exhibiting the work: Steber discovered the real Madje, not someone defined by the role of mother. As the walls between mother and daughter fell away, revealing unseen aspects of Madje’s character, a gift appeared: the gift of a last chance to love.

“To see who someone really is and was, and to be left with a heightened sense of appreciation can change one’s whole life experience,” Steber observes. “This was something I had not expected and is a remarkable legacy, the most important legacy left to me by my mother.”

This work, accompanied by her own narration, appears in a multimedia film produced by Mediastorm entitled Rite of Passage, which premiered at Galapagos Art Space, in DUMBO, Brooklyn in June 2012.

Steber has worked in 63 countries as a freelance magazine photographer. While working as Director of Photography of The Miami Herald, the paper’s photo staff won a Pulitzer and were twice finalists for this coveted award. Her extensive work in Haiti in the 1980s and 1990s was published in an Aperture monograph entitled Dancing on Fire. Steber’s work is included in many private and museum collections as well as the Library of Congress. She has been a recipient of grants from the Alicia Patterson Foundation, the Ernst Haas Foundation and the Knight Foundation.

An Artist’s Life by Carlos Rene Perez

In a remarkable contrast, the diversity of Perez’s work exemplifies the role of the photographer as artist. During almost 20 years of Leica Gallery’s existence, Perez has been a regular contributor to its calendar. With this exhibition, An Artist’s Life, he shows a remarkable multiplicity of style, vision and technical control, all along maintaining a truly personal perspective.

His work spans 45 years beginning with traditional street photography but then veering off to fanciful tabletop toy adventures, and on to gilded masterworks inspired by Renaissance illuminations. In recent years his photographs have been influenced by Edward Hopper’s paintings by focusing on the solitary experiences and encounters of individuals in intimate and introspective moments.

In particular Perez’s photographs Hamburgers, 1967 and Military Plaza, 1968 are examples of his early attempts at documenting a sense of existential isolation. The concept reappears in his more recent works like 1904 Newsstand, 2006 and John’s Deli, 2010. Perez refers to these images as moments of presence and absence. To a greater extent they represent the circular nature of his creative journey.

An Artist’s Life presents a highly diverse and mature vision. “For me,” Perez explains, “the creative odyssey is a cyclical undertaking. Start one place, move on, and start again: The creative circle.”

Carlos René Perez has consistently exhibited his fine art photography over the years in New York and in Texas and his work is in many private collections across the United States. Commercially he has worked with Associated Press, USA Today and US News & World Report; Pratt Institute and Columbia University; New York Presbyterian and New York University Medical Centers; Bloomberg News; and 20 years covering New York fashion shows.

The nominees in this category are The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin by Pitchfork, The Roper by Lucid Inc, America the Gutted by GlobalPost, Out for Change by Ford Foundation and The Unseen Bean by Whole Foods Market.

The Webby People’s Voice award is now open for these five nominees. Place your vote at http://pv.webbyawards.com/nominees.

Watch the nominees now…

The Soft Bulletin

The Flaming Lips offer an oral history of The Soft Bulletin, with intimate interviews examining the stories behind this modern classic.

The Roper

The Roper from Lucid Inc. on Vimeo: The true story of Kendrick, a young calf roper we met in Louisiana who dreams of one day making it to the Las Vegas rodeo finals.

America the Gutted

Out for Change

Out for Change: Perspectives from Across the Country from Ford Foundation on Vimeo: Securing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people is the civil and human rights cause of our generation. On Nov. 28, the Ford Foundation’s Out for Change event presents some unique perspectives from the LGBT community. Individuals, couples and families from across the United States share their stories of struggle, inclusion and hope.

The Unseen Bean

The Unseen Bean: Roasting Coffee In The Dark from Dark Rye on Vimeo: Gerry Leary began life with less sight but more curiosity. He doesn’t just get by either. He’s become a craftsman, an entrepreneur, and a destination for the most particular coffee drinkers in Boulder, Colorado. There’s other ways to take in your world other than sight. Watch Gerry.

In addition to the nominees in this category the Webby Awards named 10 additional nominees. See the full list of honorees.

Congratulations to this year’s honorees. Best of luck to the nominees.

See the full list of 2013 Webby nominees at http://winners.webbyawards.com/2013/web/general-website/activism.

Just as we’re ready to be done, we must once again see our work hyper-critically in order to complete the final stages of production.

In revisiting this topic, I’d like to offer a more detailed list of the steps we follow once the picture edit is complete.

Keep in mind as you move through these steps that finishing a project is a non-linear process. You may be mixing audio when you discover an image that needs recropping. It’s OK to make that change, but try to stay on task as it’s easy to get distracted.

Audio Mixing

Audio generally requires less render time than video so it’s a good place to begin.

• Add tone between interview bites
• Mix interview, tone, b-roll, and music
• Add one frame dissolves to the head and tail of all audio bites
• Fix pops and hums

Once complete, review your work. Play your project and just listen. Take notes if you need to, but try to watch and listen straight through. Things that sound fine when you play them over and over again, may need more work when heard in the context of an entire piece.

Depending on the length and complexity of your project, mixing can take anywhere from several hours to a day or two.

Video Color Correction

• Color correct interview. Once you have one interview clip to your liking, you can copy and paste attributes to the rest of the interview. You may still need to tweak further, but this will certainly cut down on your overall time.
• Color correct b–roll

Just as with audio mixing, once your first pass of color correction is complete, try to watch the entire piece before making additional changes. This will help you to see the overall look of your project.

Color correction usually takes longer than audio mixing. It can easily take a day to complete, maybe two.

For more information see MediaStorm’s Guide to Basic Color Correction in Final Cut 7. Though it was written for FCP, the principles apply directly to Adobe Premiere Pro. Premiere Pro even uses many of the same tools.

Photography Color Correction

• Tone photography
• Replace RAW images with toned photography

MediaStorm’s photography workflow is covered in our Post-Production Workflow. The $14.95 package includes a complete 50-page guide to using Apple’s Aperture.

Subtitles

Subtitles generally require the most render time as they use an alpha channel, or semi-transparency, so that video can be seen beneath them. Unless the project is in a foreign language, we usually add them last.

For more information on subtitles including our style guide, see MediaStorm’s Guide to Using Subtitles.

The MediaStorm Approach

For a complete guide to our entire approach, check out the MediaStorm Post-Production Workflow. Currently the workflow covers working in Final Cut 7 and X. If you purchase now, you’ll receive free access to the Premiere Pro workflow when we add it later this year.

Their new guide, The Photographer’s Guide to Copyright, is filled with insights and resources to give photographers an understanding of copyright law, registering images, and protecting their work from infringement.

This guide is a go-to resource that will help photographers:

• Understand their six exclusive rights under copyright law
• Learn how to safeguard photos and avoid infringement
• Get tips to register their work through the U.S. Copyright Office
• Discover steps to take if their work is infringed

The Photographer’s Guide to Copyright is part of a series of free guides from PhotoShelter with tips to help photographers grow their businesses.

Download your free guide now.

About PhotoShelter

PhotoShelter is the leader in portfolio websites, photo sales, marketing and archiving tools for photographers. Over 74,000 photographers worldwide use PhotoShelter to power their success online, with customizable website templates, searchable photo galleries, e-commerce capabilities, and bulletproof image storage. Learn more at www.photoshelter.com.

About ASMP

The American Society of Media Photographers is the premier trade association for the world’s most respected photographers. ASMP is the leader in promoting photographers’ rights, providing education in better business practices, producing business publications for photographers, and helping to connect purchasers with professional photographers. ASMP, founded in 1944, has nearly 7,000 members and 39 chapters. Learn more at asmp.org/.

This article is part of a new series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers’ experience working with Adobe Premiere Pro after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post.

This great tip comes from Jonathan Grubbs via Josh Meltzer.

Should you install Premiere Pro on a machine without Final Cut Pro, you will find your machine missing some key codecs such as ProRes. The solution is straightforward.

Quit Premiere Pro.

Download the ProApps Quicktime Codecs from the Apple site.

You’ll receive an error if you try to install the codec package without FCP on your system.

The workaround is to first install the free application unpkg.

Drag the ProAppsQTCodecs.pkg file on to the unpkg icon.

Unpkg wil extract the components to your desktop.

In the Finder select Go > Go to Folder… (Command-Shift-G). Enter /Library/QuickTime.

Drag the component files in to this folder. You’ll need to click Authenticate and enter your root password.

Open Premiere Pro and the new codecs will be available.

To learn more about our production style, you can purchase a copy of our Post-production Workflow. Readers who purchase our current Final Cut Pro and Aperture workflow automatically receive the Premiere workflow when it is released.

MediaStorm offers several online and in-person training opportunities at mediastorm.com/train.

Have you made a recent switch in your editing software? Let us know about it in the comments below.

Photography, Expanded: Interactive & Multiplatform Strategies for Photographers will feature presentations by Susan Meiselas, photographer and president of the Magnum Foundation, Amy Yenkin, director of Open Society Foundations Documentary Photography Project, and Wendy Levy, director of New Arts Axis.

They will present a series of case studies and lead discussions examining works-in-progress and the challenges facing photographers in the field. Attendees will also participate in break-out sessions that explore tools, technologies and strategies that can advance documentary photography projects in new directions.

Event Details

Photography, Expanded: Interactive & Multiplatform Strategies for Photographers
April 20, 2013
9:00a.m. – 5:30p.m.

Aperture Gallery & Bookstore
547 West 27th Street
New York, NY 10001

Event free with ticket | Register for a ticket

About Magnum Foundation

Magnum Foundation values documentary photographers and supports visual storytelling on social justice issues. We develop new strategies to increase the impact of historical and contemporary photography in the 21st century.

About Open Society Foundations Documentary Photography Project

The Documentary Photography Project believes in the power of images to advance social change. Through grants and exhibitions, we support photography to engage and mobilize people around issues of justice and human rights.

When it’s time to color correct photography, rather than scanning the timeline for image names, we use the Asset Parser to create a quick list. These file names can then be copy-and-pasted into Apple’s Aperture or a similar application to locate the necessary photographs.

Here’s an example of an asset list generated by the parser.

In addition to speeding up your color correction workflow, this list can be used as a guide for other tasks, such as manually archiving your work.

The Asset Parser works with both Final Cut Pro 7 and Premiere Pro 6.

Try using the Asset Parser with your project at tools.mediastorm.com/asset_parser.

This project was produced in collaboration with Ripple Effect Images and support from the Harbers Family Foundation.

The project is a short, character-driven video piece that shows the life-changing impact CARE’s programs have had on the life of a woman in rural Peru. The piece extends beyond the surface of what the organization provided and speaks to the psychological effects of empowerment.

Project Synopsis: Lourdes Pilco is a middle-aged woman who’s spent most of her life working backbreaking jobs for little money. With the help of CARE, Lourdes was able to send her children to school while setting a new standard for women in her community.

Job Description

TITLE: Senior Manager and Producer, Impact Communications
DEPARTMENT: Communications Department
REPORTS TO: Online Community Director
ORGANIZATION: Share Our Strength
DATE: January 2013

Position Summary

No child should grow up hungry in America but one in five children struggles with hunger. Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign is ending childhood hunger in this nation by connecting kids in need with nutritious food and teaching families how to cook healthy, affordable meals. The Manager and Producer, Impact Communications will collect, produce, and distribute relatable and effective content (written, photography and video) that demonstrates the No Kid Hungry campaign’s national and local importance and impact. This position will oversee content assets that bring the No Kid Hungry campaign to life in order to engage our stakeholders and audiences across the Share Our Strength network. Primary assets include but are not limited to No Kid Hungry impact messaging, statistics, ancedotes, short films/videos, and images. The Senior Manager and Producer will oversee an Associate, Content and Storytelling.

Duties and Responsibilities

CULTIVATE THE STORY OF NO KID HUNGRY

• Plan and execute impact content collection, production, and distribution, working with a cross-section of internal stakeholders
• Identify new content opportunities and ways to repackage existing content
• Manage and develop collection strategies including but not limited to interviews, research studies, focus groups, and online surveys
• Produce and manage impact messaging that can be used throughout the year in a variety of mediums, including the website, in printed materials, in presentations and by partners
• Oversee the creation and distribution of impact and storytelling content to the No Kid Hungry network. This includes identifying leads, developing stories, compiling all relevant content, and distributing a user-friendly form to the staff
• Serve as the lead producer on all video and photo projects across the organization
• Recruit and manage content vendors: film crews, editors, photographers, freelance writers, etc. as needed, effectively managing the budget for these projects

ENABLE OTHERS TO TELL STORIES, COLLECT CONTENT, AND USE CONTENT

• Develop “voices” from the Share Our Strength network – individuals who can reliably be counted on to provide content about the No Kid Hungry campaign’s importance and effectiveness. Identify potential media spokespeople
• Field and respond to content requests and needs from a variety of departments and individuals
• Train staff on how to collect, create, and effectively use content
• Provide support to colleagues on the Digital Communications team regarding email strategy, website content, the blog, online distribution, and social media content

MANAGE OUR STORYTELLING ASSETS

• Maintain an internal content management system and regularly share impact updates
• Enforce brand standards and content guidelines with assets, vendors and other departments in conjunction with the Design team
• Manage the content budget and editorial schedule, as well as media rights and releases

STAFF MANAGEMENT

• Oversee the Content Development and Storytelling Associate

Contacts

Maintains and develops extensive contact with Share Our Strength staff, network, and production vendors.

Location and Travel

This position is based in Washington, DC at the Share Our Strength headquarters office. Up to 20% of working time is allocated for travel.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree. Major in a related field is a plus
• At least 5-7 years of experience in journalism, communications, digital media.
• Expertise in the areas of marketing, media, storytelling, branding, and production. A strong understanding of journalism and production industry standards and experience managing the film production process
• A high level of organization and project management experience
• Strong leadership skills with problem solving abilities
• A proactive and clear communicator
• Strong writing skills with the ability to make complex information relatable to a variety of audiences. Creative writing skills and script experience are a plus
• Ability to shoot and edit videos and proficiency in Final Cut Pro is a plus, as are photography skills
• Existing relationships with photographers, filmmakers, and social influencers is a plus
• Must be able to relate to a wide spectrum of individuals, from corporate CEOs to low-income beneficiaries of our programs
• Passionate about the power of storytelling to inspire others to join the No Kid Hungry campaign

Content Samples

Please submit a minimum of two writing samples and (if possible) two media samples (infographics, short films, photography, etc.) Please do not submit more than 8 content samples. We recommend submitting various types of content if possible.

Learn more and apply at www.nokidhungry.org.

Arkasha Stevenson is a photojournalist currently based in Los Angeles. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina in December 2010. While attending school, she documented issues in the rural South, such as drug addiction and prostitution in Durham, N.C., and child care in Elizabethtown, Ky.

For the last year and a half Stevenson has worked as a photography and video intern at the Los Angeles Times. During her internship she has had the opportunity to photograph a wide variety of subjects, including the Occupy movement, the remote desert squatter camp of Slab City and the Coachella Music Festival, and has been sent internationally to follow the Stanley Cup. For six months, Stevenson had the privilege of documenting 19-year-old Jesus Garcia’s battle with terminal cancer.

In 2011 Stevenson won first place in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program National Photojournalism Championship. She was named the 2011 College Photographer of the Year by the North Carolina Press Photographers Association and was awarded first place for multimedia in the College Photographer of the Year competition.

Are you interested in an internship at MediaStorm? We are currently hiring a social media and operations intern for Summer 2013 and production interns for the fall. Learn more and apply at mediastorm.com/about/careers.

This article is part of a new series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers’ experience working with Adobe Premiere Pro after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post.

Today’s post was written by MediaStorm producer Eric Maierson.

Each time you import audio or MPEG video files into Adobe Premiere Pro, the application caches a version into a database. This speeds up performance so that new previews do not need to be generated each time you view a clip.

Audio is stored in a .cfa file and MPEG in .mpgindex. These files are shared between Adobe Media Encoder, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Encore and Soundbooth.

By default both the cache files and the database are stored in the location /Users//Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common.

To check this, open Premiere Pro > Preferences > Media.

Storing Cache Files

Under normal circumstances, we tell producers to keep all project files together. But in this case it’s problematic as the media cache is not project-based. It stores files from all of your projects in one location.

So if project A, along with your cache drive, goes offline, project B on a separate drive will need to rebuild these files.

Of course, you could change the cache location each time you begin work on a different project. But honestly, the chances of forgetting this step seem high.

At MediaStorm we’ve left the cache in its default location without any noticeable performance issues. Nevertheless, the sheer number of these files means that they will add up quickly.

Cleaning the Cache

In the cache preferences (Premiere Pro > Preferences > Media) you’ll see a Clean button. Unfortunately, this function works counter to what might be expected. The Clean button deletes cache files associated with files that are currently not online. It ignores cache files related to your currently open project.

With that in mind, it’s difficult to create a specific workflow for deleting unused files. Our best suggestion is to make sure all current projects are mounted before cleaning the cache. This can obviously become burdensome if you’re working on more than one project.

Making The Cache Better

Ideally, I’d prefer to see the clean cache function work like the Render Manager in Final Cut Pro 7 (Tools > Render Manager…).

In FCP, the Render Manager opens a new window displaying a list of projects that contain render files. It offers the ability to individually select which project files to delete.

Hopefully, Adobe will address this issue.

For more information on Premiere Pro’s media cache database see Adobe’s support document Setting Up Your System.

To learn more about our production style, you can purchase a copy of our Post-production Workflow. Readers who purchase our current Final Cut Pro and Aperture workflow automatically receive the Premiere workflow when it is released.

MediaStorm offers several online and in-person training opportunities at mediastorm.com/train.

Have you made a recent switch in your editing software? Let us know about it in the comments below.

Applications for the 2013 Aurora Multimedia Workshop are now open. New for 2013 they’ve split the workshop into two back-to-back sessions.

The first two days will be a 101 Seminar for a wider audience looking to gather the latest information in the world of dSLR filmmaking and network with fellow colleagues and faculty.

Directly following, there will be a smaller 201 Hands-On Workshop program for those wanting more in-depth education. It will include hands-on experience in producing a short project in a small group environment.

101 Seminar

During the 101 Seminar, presenters will share how multimedia fits into the future from the perspective of new media ad agency Crispin Porter+ Bogusky to how traditional news media are transitioning (National Geographic in multimedia) to the goals of a new division of a highly respected picture agency (Novus Select) to tips from documentary filmmakers. This is not just training for today, but a vision of the future.

201 Hands On Workshop

The 201 Workshop will have practical hands-on training. Small 3-4 person groups will develop a story idea, shoot in the field, edit a short piece and have that final edit projected before the group and discussed at length among the faculty.

About the Workshop

The Aurora Multimedia Workshop prepares photographers for creating effective multimedia projects and examines the challenging new world of visual storytelling. Partnered with Aurora Photos and Novus Select, this hands-on workshop provides instruction in combining still photographs, sound, narration and video. It is held on the University of Colorado campus.

The workshop includes faculty from National Geographic, MediaStorm, Novus Select, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, and the New York Times, among others.

Learn more and apply at www.photographyatthesummit.com/aurora_multimedia_workshop.html.

The BoP Awards honored many excellent multimedia pieces this year. Alan Spearman and The Commercial Appeal swept the awards with “Memphis Poverty: What Obama Didn’t See,” which won Best Use Of Multimedia, first place for Feature Multimedia Story and honorable mention for Multimedia Package.

“Framework” by Albert Lee of the Los Angeles Times won first place in the Multimedia Package and the Visual Column, Recurring Series or Visual Blog categories.

Follow My Steps won second place in the BoP Documentary Multimedia Category.

In what BoP called “a deviation from normal judging,” the panel honored a second piece in the Best Use of Multimedia category with special recognition for “Dying for Relief” by Liz O. Baylen of the Los Angeles Times.

Other winners in the Multimedia Package category were the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with second place for “100 Gallons,” which includes the work of MediaStorm interns Josh Davis and Jon Kasbe, and “Beyond 7 Billion” by Rick Loomis and staff at the Los Angeles Times, which took third place.

As I Am is part of “Memphis Poverty: What Obama Didn’t See,” which won Best Use Of Multimedia.

Second and third place for Feature Multimedia Story were “Losing Stu” by Robert Gauthier of the Los Angeles Times and “Another Day Without Alex” by Liz O Baylen for the Los Angeles Times, respectively. MediaStorm intern Jon Kasbe was awarded honorable mention for A Beautiful Waste.

A Beautiful Waste won honorable mention in the Feature Multimedia Story category.

Reuters won first place in the Tablet/Mobile Delivery Project for “The Wider Image.” Second place went to “Health Care 911” by James Gregg of The San Diego Union-Tribune and third place went to “PUSH Magazine” by Debra Pang Davis, Multimedia Photography and Design Department at Syracuse University.

The second and third place winners of Visual Column, Recurring Series or Visual Blog were, “The City, Exposed” by Mike Kepka of the San Francisco Chronicle and “CNN Photos” by Simon Barnett, CNN Digital, respectively.

For a full list of this years winners see the NPPA BoP winners list. Congratulations to this year’s winners.