we produce beautifully crafted multimedia » Training

When it rains it pours…and everyone’s late

Mike Lusmore — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:14:55 +0000

It took me so long to get my last post up as work here in Tanzania has been so crazy busy but this morning I had a some extra time as the heavens had opened last night. When it rains here in Dar es Salaam there is a lot of water and most of it just seems to sit around on the surface. So everything kind of grinds to a halt, especially the traffic! So this morning is getting off to a bit of a slow start…

I'm glad this isn't where we are training...I think even with the pallets they are getting wet feet

There are a hell of a lot of 4x4's in Dar es Salaam and I can only assume this is all the action they can get - so I give them 'motion blur..'

mmmm....puddles

Big skies, great people, food to tell your friends about….oh and photofilms

Mike Lusmore — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:30:43 +0000

The view across the Indian Ocean a stone's throw from our training in Dar es Salaam.

Of course I’m talking about me being here in east Africa courtesy of the British Council who have put on a photofilm training course for local journalists, photographers and students here in Dar es Salaam in beautiful Tanzania. And just to clarify…it’s full of all of the above – big beautiful skies, a bunch of people who are fun to work with and that are passionate (sometimes a little too passionate!), food that reminds me that I’m not in Bangladesh and a dash (lets say a large dash) of photofilm training.

I had a great trip here including a wonderful companion on my bus to the usually busy terminal five at Heathrow. We managed to get lost in conversation talking about salad, bread and pop up restaurants so that by the time I arrived at the joyous m25 the hunger had started to kick in. After a slightly bumpy flight over Africa we arrived at a ghost town of an airport in Dar es Salaam which I have to say worked pretty well for me. Pretty quick through the sarcastic immigration official, bags all safe and sounds and quickly into our taxi. It took a little longer to get our bags in the boot of the taxi due to the large subwoofer kicking out the tunes in the back but I encouraged our driver to crank the music up to 11 so that we could start our Sunday morning with our arms out of the window, the sun coming up and the music blaring (Yep that’s a big smile on my face..)

The group get caught up with some captivating examples of what a photofilm can really do..

We kicked off the week here in Tanzania’s capital with a seminar held at the British council’s graffiti adorned premises which had a bit of a sell out crowd. Georgina took to the stage to talk about the who, what, where and why of photofilms and explain away the ever confusing duckrabbit and it went down pretty well. I helped out when it came to the exhaustive questions and answers session which proved pretty popular with the audience and we got asked about when we were coming back to Tanzania more than once, which sounded good to me.

Abraham test's out his interviewing skills with Georgina

Haika practices her audio recorder skills with Fadilil

Since then we have been getting stuck into our four day training here which is being held at the British Council offices pretty near to the beautiful Indian Ocean here in Dar. We have 9 willing trainees from a whole bunch of different disciplines and age groups who have been working hard to get to grips with photofilms and some new techniques and kit.

Meanwhile Georgina and I have been working hard to get used to the heat, although I must admit the pool helps…

Things to do in Birmingham

Mike Lusmore — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:43:22 +0000

Dan & Ray settle in for the edit after a cold afternoon spent in Birmingham.

Just before duck & rabbit ran off to Zimbabwe with the Oxfam crew for some tomfoolery and lots of audio and pictures we trained a few lovely people up in Birmingham. Dan, Ray, Oliva and Uta were a great bunch and I hope I will see some of their work post photofilm training soon. They were also all very good at having a few pints in ducks very cold but nice local pub! Here they are getting deep into the edit whilst building their photofilms on the last day of our Birmingham training.

Olivia & Uta put the finishing touches to their photofilm

Plane sailing

Mike Lusmore — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:07:02 +0000

It’s been a a bit of a trek getting out to Bangladesh where I am working with Benjamin for a few weeks and if I thought the trekking was over I was wrong. The transport here in Khulna is slow progress and the roads would keep the highways agency back in the UK busy for a lifetime. That said the drivers do their best to overtake everything in their path, and with one hand on the horn they get around as fast as possible using the whole road and a little bit more. If your still not put off by the driving out here in Khulna I suggest trying a trip in the dark. Lights here are definitely an optional extra here and after seeing the first coach load of people appearing from behind a single light resulting in our car lunging toward the water surrounding the road I started to worry a little bit.

This wasn’t the first time my heart had been left beating hard since leaving home. As we crossed the tarmac at Dhaka airport to head west towards the fishing areas I saw our transport for the afternoon. No not the learjet with the armed guard parked up at the end of the runway but the ageing twin prop next to it. I didn’t really take a second look until we had all boarded the place when I noticed out of the corner of my eye a mechanic staring blankly up at the engine. He was joined by the captain, another mechanic and another all of whom looked more bemused than the last. The last straw came for me when the air hostess started to offer up suggestions to the cockpit…surely they aren’t trained for this..’Chicken or Fish….oh and maybe you should try the big red button..’

Not what you really want to be looking at whilst sitting on the runway..

Thankfully they shipped us back to the terminal where we kicked back in the vip/cip lounge (suggestions on a postcard..?) whilst they looked into the problem although with all honesty, my confidence was low. Half an hour later we were boarding the same plane with the faulty engine already running as we arrived. I can only assume that they hadn’t really fixed the problem, rather just got it running and didn’t really want to stop it. To make up for it we must have had a very talented pilot as it was a smooth ride all the way although I would say that next time I’d prefer not have the faulty engine staring me in the face for the flights duration.

More to come from Khulna soon. I’m heading off to Ali Baba’s restaurant tonight so maybe a restaurant review is in the pipeline.

I was pretty happy to be coming in to land in Jessor by this time

M1 ‘plane crash no.2

Getting close to people

duckrabbit — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 12:52:55 +0000

During the photofilm training we’ve just wrapped in London we spent a lot of time talking about how you get a great interview. There’s no magic. Its just about you and the person, having a bit of time, having a connection and most of all trust.

For me the best interviews are when people tell you something they were not expecting to say.

I think Brenda Ann Kenneally expresses the route to trust really well in this post I found on Fotoevidence.

I establish trust in photography the way anyone starts and maintains a relationship. I show up. I am interested. I hope the other party is interested in me. I reveal as much or more about myself as I would want them to do of themselves. I am myself at all times, or I try to be. I am honest about what I do. I notice after years of doing what I do that people see that I am passionate and I work hard.

Wish you were here…

duckrabbit — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:54:44 +0000

No, really. You are missing out on one of the most beautiful, creative and inspiring workshops I’ve ever known.

OK, I have a vested interest, but I don’t do bullshit. The Hinterlands Workshop is exceeding our wildest expectations.

We are blessed to be able to spend time teaching and learning from some fascinating students, blessed to be able to see a blanket of stars every night, lucky to sleep in huge Mongolian Yurts and even luckier to be chasing intriguing stories.

Oh, and don’t forget the awesome food, the real ale, the cider, the campfires, the sheepskin rugs, the camaraderie. Plus…..there’s a whole lot of learning going on ( that is the point, after all ).

Our students have been up in gliders, seen the emergence of new life, learned about beekeeping, steam trains and eagles, amongst a thousand other things.

As I write this they are sat in the communal barn working on their story edits, and tomorrow they will produce their final pieces. Also tomorrow the subjects who were kind enough to allow our students to pester them for a day will be coming to watch the final pieces, voting amongst themselves which team has created the most interesting and inspiring piece.

Like it says at the top, wish you were here…you’re missing out. Please come next year… what’s not to love.

The Good And Bad News About Training With duckrabbit

duckrabbit — Wed, 11 May 2011 00:46:24 +0000

The bad news: all our three day workshops have sold out. More later in the year so get in contact if you want to go on the list.

The good news: we still have a few slots left on The Hinterlands workshop which starts in ten days time and is going to be a blast.

But is a duckrabbit workshop worth going on?

Don’t ask us, ask the people who have just finished training on our workshop here in Montreal. The following (humbling) comments are taken straight off their feedback sheets.

Benjamin is a superb teacher, down to earth, open and very flexible. The workshop was a great learning environment. I feel energised’ – Corinne Smith, CBC

The workshop taught me to push myself and my subjects. To learn from my mistakes and to really look for the interesting people and stories. This workshop came at an important time for me. Thanks. -Scott Gray

Benjamin is raw and you will learn a lot in this workshop. He is a very generous teacher. Get ready to have your thinking challenged. – Nathalie Fonteux

I loved Benjamin’s openess and honesty. His passion was so inspiring. I have done a number of multimedia workshops and duckrabbit was by far the best. – Brigette Bouvier

The totally honest, humble way Benjamin shared his huge amount of knowledge around the balance between strength and fuck-ups was inspiring. I loved the beautiful mix between humour and really deep and serious learning. – Trine Mikkelson

I’ve learned more in these 3 days than in the whole of last semester at Uni. Everything rocked. The group, the teacher, the venue and our project. Everything, so thank you! – Aalia Adam (workshop scholarship student)

You are a huge inspiration and I am hoping a little of you take-no-bullshit-stop-being-so-fucking-boring approach to storytelling will rub off on the work that I do. -Sue Allan

What a great workshop. There was a perfect balance of chilled learning and pressure to produce a finished photofilm. – Brandt Slomovic

http://www.flickr.com/photos/duck-rabbit/sets/72157626691771246/show

A massive shout out has to go to the awesome photog Daniel Seguin for organising possibly the best duckrabbit workshop ever (and taking the photos above). I’m really looking forward to working with Daniel in the future, so if you want to be kept up to date about workshops in Canada drop us a line.

To find out more about what training duckrabbit has to offer please go here.

Hope amongst the chaos

duckrabbit — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:04:13 +0000

In our recent trip to the DR Congo the great photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba told me why his pictures often carry so much hope (something he has in common with David).

Whilst his father was dieing his mother never gave up hope.

From that simple, but profound experience, he learned that in almost any circumstances people cling to hope. For Yasuyoshi, if he is to truely reflect the world he lives in, then his pictures will carry this story.

Of course in life there are many moments where hope is lost. Like the Tsunami in Japan. And if we only photograph moments, then it is possible to present an ugly, hopeless world. But if we tell stories, then there will always be hope amongst the chaos.

Amonst the wreckage of last months earthquake a cherry tree blossoms. (c) Yasuyoshi Chiba

‘You are thirst – and thirst is all I know’ (inspired and inspiring photofilm)

duckrabbit — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:51:46 +0000

Every now and again duckrabbit has the pleasure of training someone who understands that to nail a great photofilm has as much to with sweat as it does talent. David Mansell-Moullin has worked his photofilm ‘To The Desert’, close to perfection.

Short, poetic and speaking to my heart. I hope it speaks to yours too (comments always really welcome, details about the poem and music below)

The poem “To the Desert” is by Benjamin Alire Saenz. The music is from the soundtrack “Desert Capriccio” by Yo-Yo Ma.

‘”The classes and tutorials that I have taken with Benjamin (duck) have not only been inspiring but opened my eyes to the possibilities and power of working with photo-films. His experience, insights and suggestions have proven invaluable in taking my practice to another level.”

If you would like to be trained by duckrabbit we have a few spaces left on courses running in May/June and July.

“Stop thinking so much and look to your heart”

duckrabbit — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:38:10 +0000

This short film could be brilliant but for me its a great illustration of how to nearly nail an interview.

The next time someone tells you:

“I feel happy to not have to have something more to fill the void, cause the void is filled with love”

STOP THEM AND ASK THEM WHAT THEY ACTUALLY MEAN?

Surprise them by not accepting such a generalization. Because actually when you boil it down it’s pretty meaningless stuff, it’s not really telling us anything.

One of my top lessons for interviewing is never, NEVER accept generalizations. MAKE people explain what they mean. That’s when the conversation gets interesting.