The Challenge of Rudolf Steiner – Trailer from Sue Smee on Vimeo.

It amazes me how much communicating we do without words.  Our faces and gestures tell truths about us that are often so subtle, unique and complex that words, no matter how artfully crafted, simply fail to describe.  However, a video camera can record these things very accurately.   That is one of the reasons why video fascinates me.

The camera is an excellent tool for recording nonverbal behavior and sound at the same time.  I think there is something pure and honest about that.   But not the whole truth, never the whole truth, because the camera sees within a limited frame – a rectangle – and the recording it makes is an image – a picture – an icon – a symbol.   As long as I remember these facts, I stay humble and open to the expressive possibilities video offers.   This is the place where I enter into the joys and challenges of craft.

There are essential layers of awareness I need to have to be able to craft an effective video.  I just described awareness of the camera and what it can do, but video making also requires an understanding of film language.

Film language is very specific and simpler than most people think, but like many deceptively simple arts, it is very difficult to master.  It requires dedication and daily practice.  It really is a language – a new language that did not exist before 1900.  A whole generation of celluloid filmmakers struggled to develop this language and it was a pretty elite club for a long time. They used very expensive, specialized equipment, and often even they were mystified by the process and struggled to explain it.  It is still evolving with a relatively small handful of people who truly understand it, but this group is growing rapidly.    More people than ever before are picking up video cameras and expressing themselves intuitively, but I wonder how many really understand the difference between thinking about video as a technology and thinking about video as a visual, symbolic language.    High definition digital video technology has proven to be environmentally cleaner to use and creatively more flexible than celluloid film processes, and new tools are increasingly affordable while modern distribution is far more democratic.   That is why I urge people to learn this new language.

One of the most powerful and socially  engaging ways I know to help people play with and learn the language of video so well that they feel it in their bodies is the video ensemble process.  I think one reason it works so well is because it parks all the economic priorities, rules and procedures of the film and television industry.  It imagines video communication in a more immediate human way that transcends technological agendas.  It helps people learn to cooperate with peers and engage with their community in a meaningful, positive way if they choose to.

It is important to allow people to just be people and empower them to freely examine and critique stories that are happening in and around them.
Why does video communication have to be learned in an industrial context at all?  Why can’t more emphasis be put on learning video as the social craft it really is?   Why not use video as a tool for nurturing self awareness, social skills, and good citizenship?  What about art, poetry, music, dance, drama and all those other meaningful activities and associated skills?  Aren’t those the very things that empower people to be more than consumers – to be creators?

Listen to what  Sir Ken Robinson  says about the importance of group learning in this brilliant short presentation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

Kimberly Smith

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My mission is to help you communicate with video either by making the video for you or by showing you how to do it yourself. For over a decade I have helped many people – especially those who are normally marginalized by main stream media and society.    I am fluent in all aspects of  video and film production.   

Video is a language. It takes regular practice to learn it.  Here are a series of fun social video making activities (Movie Games) you can do with your friends and colleagues.

Here is a video for the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies of Nova Scotia.    Take a look.  There are many more examples to see by following the links on the “About” page.