I lost a lot of my youth to a Blues venue in Nottingham called The Running Horse where I started an obsession with the likes of John Mayall and the Blues Breakers, Hendrix and John Lee Hooker.  There’s not a lot that can beat live blues.

Tomorrow night I’ll be dragging the group down to The Barton Arms, a legendary old pub in Birmingham where Charlie Chaplin used to drink. On stage will be Georgia’s Chick Willis, famed as the Stoopdown Man, a living legend who has literally been on the road for fifty years.

So if you’re rattling around for something to do, why not join us?

(all our Summer workshops are now fully booked, however we have some spaces in October. Check out our training page and get in contact)

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But if you don’t have a critical ear for audio how can you tell?

Simple. If the audio of the person featured in your photofilm sounds like they are being interviewed, when its supposed to sound intimate, then you’re not close enough. It just won’t sound authentic.

How do you get close? Well that’s down to personality, yours and theirs.

This is what Steve McCurry said on Phil Coomes’ BBC Viewfinder blog:

There you go. Take the person you want to interview/photograph seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously.

(find out more about duckrabbit’s training here)

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Cathy Greenblat is another photographer who has been exploring age, though from a more detached perspective than Toledano.  Greenblat challenges the notion that people with Alzheimer’s aren’t really, well, people anymore. That’s challenging, especially for those of us who have stopped going to see people we love, because we can’t deal with the pain of feeling that we are unable to reach them anymore.

Cathy was one of the photographers at duckrabbit and Rhubarb’s Photography Still Moving Seminar in London last month. I threw together this EYECUE to show how easy it is to make a short promo of your work.

The interview was ten minutes, I edited it in another thirty five minutes and pulled the whole thing together in IMOVIE in an hour or so. In fact I spent more time trying to get the quality of the compressed video right than I did producing the piece!

The only person I’ve showed this EYECUE to cried. Not because it is particularly emotional or well produced, but because the photos and subject tapped into her own experience of losing someone.

Often, though by no means always, the photography we celebrate, especially in terms of photojournalism, leaves so little to the imagination. The journey begins and ends with the photograph and photographer.  The point is to make a big, bold statement. The same goes for photofilms.

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty bored with statement, it smacks of posturing and rhetoric; give me a beer and a conversation any day.

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First of all, why even write an artist/project statement? Well, you write a statement because that’s part of the game. That’s a pretty lousy answer, and there is more to statements than just that. But you need to realize that a) you should have a statement because you are expected to have one and b) you should spend a little bit of time on it, because a bad artist statement will make you and your work look bad.

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Here’s a couple of pictures of last Saturday’s multimedia storytelling workshop, including one of Anna whose session was terrific.  Which gives David and I the opportunity to say a big thank you to all the people who supported and took part in the event. (Adam Westbrook, Direct Studios, Rhubarb Rhubarb, Cathy Greenblat, Ed Barrett-Bourmier). And also thank the punters for making it so much fun, especially the one’s who sent us nice emails afterwards, including this one:

Thank you again for the seminar yesterday – I really enjoyed it, and came away very inspired by what you do and ready to get moving in learning how to make multimedia photofilms.  I had felt rather overwhelmed with how or where to start working with audio and yesterday was brilliant in sorting this out! Giving me extremely helpful advice on equipment etc as well as the basics of how to get started in actually making the multimedia – and putting it into context in terms of how it can be used both to earn money and for marketing.  Big thanks. – Georgina Cranston

More about duckrabbit’s training here.

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(C) Benjamin Chesterton

How does your reading of the first photo change when you see the second?

(c) Benjamin Chesterton

The two photos are taken at the same place and within seconds of each other and yet the meaning of the first photograph is only revealed when you see the second photograph.

How often do you think we are only shown the first photo and accept it as truth?

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Paul Lowe, who heads up the course, is a great supporter and advocate of digital storytelling. The fact that he wants to prepare students for life after print is rare amongst university educators (nudge, nudge Newport).

Anyway I’m going to put up the links to the pieces that we’ll be discussing in lesson one here on the blog.  Hopefully some of the students will leave comments as well (other readers feel free to comment).

The assessment for this unit has 2 parts

• Completion of a practical assignment of a multimedia piece of a maximum of 90
seconds duration using location recorded sound and a minimum of 12 images

• A 750-1000 word report on an aspect of the application of sound and image

Week One:

Digital approaches to Storytelling (theory):

Please view the following multimedia features. They use very different methods to tell stories.  Think about the different uses of photos, audio, text and music. What works and what leaves you cold?

CHUCKING OUT from duckrabbit on Vimeo.

Hungry: Living with Prader-Willi Syndrome – By Maisie Crow from liveBooks on Vimeo.

NPR in Gaza, A Photographer’s Journal from NPR on Vimeo.

The Sandpit from Sam O’Hare on Vimeo.

INNOCENCE – Sri Lanka’s Child Soldiers from duckrabbit on Vimeo.

Directed Study for week two:

Go through the archives on Multimedia Muse. Pick one photo essay. In the comments section write a short pitch on how you would treat the photo essay if you were to work with the photographer on making a multimedia story from it.

Please return to the comments section regularly and feedback on other students treatments.

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The American dream seems to belong to movies, novels and political speeches. For some immigrants in North Carolina, the story is a very different one, closer to a nightmare than to anything else.

Eileen Mignoni depicts in Facing Deportation the impact of North Carolina’s immigration policies on the families of those who are affected by these laws. She does it in an extraordinary and touching way, approaching the same story from completely different angles. It is not just a great journalistic work but also a very sensitive portrait of  an ongoing problem nowadays. She mixes video, pictures and audios with a heartbreaking result.

For duckrabbit this is a great  example of how to use multimedia to get people thinking about the lives of those less fortunate in their own community.

ANTONIO JAEN

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They used to be known as “river gypsies”, and crisscrossed the country’s waterways to transport goods.

Those days are long gone, but today more and more people are again choosing to live on canal boats – only this time often for financial or environmental reasons.

I’ve developed something of a fascination for the different ways in which people live, and have always been struck by the pretty little houseboats that line the canals in London, and the genteel towns and villages of the Peak District.

So joining Leah and Peter Findlay as the moved their Dutch barge from Hebden Bridge to Leeds – a journey that by road would take no more than 30 minutes, but will take them three long weeks – was a fascinating experience, and hopefully a way to get behind some of the cliches of canal boat living.

CIARA LEEMING

RESPONSE:

duckrabbit

Ciara was one of duckrabbit’s first trainees. This an incredible effort, made in just two days.

Just goes to show with a bit of training, some graft, talent and an ear for a story, really strong work can be produced. Can’t wait to see what Ciara produces next.

DANIEL:

“Royal emptier of the shitter…”, hah classic line.

Really good slide show Ciara, very impressive

Dave

Well done Ciara. Top stuff. After recently spending four days on a barge and meeting a selection of people who have chosen to live like these guys, I can really see the attraction. Some great pictures there. Well done again.

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“It was like being a proper journalist again …. turning up in a town you’ve never been to and not being allowed to leave until you’ve got a story.“

Last Weekend duckrabbit ran its first multimedia training course at the Trinity Arts Centre, in Bristol, England.

We threw our two students right in at the deep end, unleashing them on the British seaside town of Weston super Mare. We gave them one day to sniff out a story, collect the photographs and audio, and another day to rough edit the material.

“When we went to Weston super-Mare with duckrabbit we had no idea of what we’d come out with, but there’s little more satisfying in that situation than pulling something out of the bag.

After a wander around the town centre to weigh up subject potential, we agreed a plan of action and with the help of Benjamin and David each did our thing. After just a few hours we returned home with a huge sense of achievement and the raw material for this finished piece.” Ciara Leeming.

The finished result (above) is a powerful, evocative and warm meditation on loss. We also hope it shows what magic can happen through training, as well as the undoubted talents of our trainees.

Please be aware to fully appreciate this feature you need to watch through right to the end.

What our students Ciara and Oliver have to say:

‘Thanks again for a great weekend, I was thinking the other day that it is well worth the money as I learned so much more than I would have done on any other form of photographic/software/audio training. I have been having lots of ideas to use it commercially.

I will stay in contact and give you guys a ring from time to time if that OK, also if there is any work or help training, or recommendations, or photographs you want me to do, I will be happy to oblige if I can get the time off work as I really think duckrabbit and multimedia is going to take off and I would like to be one of the original photographers working on high quality multimedia in the UK.” Oliver Edwards, Photographer.

‘I’m really pleased to have been one of the first to learn from duckrabbit because I love what they’re about and would love to capture even a tiny bit of that spirit in my own work. Audio interviewing was probably the biggest challenge for me but I’m now actually looking forward to integrating this into my own storytelling and being able to make my subjects’ voices heard.‘ Ciara Leeming, Freelance Journalist

For more information about duckrabbit’s training just give us a shout.

YOU RESPOND

ED KASHI

What a sweet little story that gives one a sense of the place and wonder of the event, yet conveys a deeper and universal message through the excellent audio. The images are wonderful as well. Great job!

jonwild

I am amazed at the quality of this. The layered soundtrack is a wonderful achievement in its own right, but add a consistent and varied selection of images with some superb individual pictures, and it reaches a level of professionalism that really astonishes for a first attempt. And that’s not even mentioning the journalistic nous to craft a narrative that turns from jolly seaside spectacle to a little parable on the frailty of life and relationships. Well done Ciara and Oliver for producing a great testament to duckrabbit’s skill and inspiration.

Miki Johnson

Fabulous! It is SO hard to elevate a little story like this past the simple visual wonder of the sculptures to something vast, no less than a commentary on humanity and mortality. The juxtaposition of the children/father’s comments and the kicker at the end is brilliant. Thanks guys.

MARK PAGE

I thought this was again a masterclass. Duckrabbit, storytellers supreme, and generous with their craft. Lessons well learnt by Ciara & Ollie……….

JUNO

Beautiful photos and audio! Places one right in the scene.
Who would have thought there’d be a great lesson to learn from sculpting sand. Thanks.

LISA

Woah, this is an absolutely fantastic little story. So gentle and humane…

My beautiful, wonderful Tinka dog, who was my best friend for eleven years passed away suddenly on Wednesday morning and somehow this wonderful meditation on life and loss appears on the inimitable Duckrabbit site just a few days later…

It has hit all the chords with me, not sentimental, but feeling and knowing and well, it just has the perfect tone really…

Wow, the more I know about these rascally Duckrabbits the more I appreciate their absolutely gorgeous hearts

LITTLE SIS HANNAH

Fabulous slide show – you weren’t kidding when you said it was a masterclass!

CIARA

wow, thanks everyone for the lovely feedback…we had such a great time making this, so it’s great to know that we got it right.
once again, a HUGE thank you to Benjamin and David for all their support and advice )

OLLIE

Thanks for all the comments everybody, was a great weekend and thanks again for everything I learned.

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