I guess I'm a little confused.

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Lensmith

Lensmith

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I saw this and couldn't help wondering...is this yet another version of VJ classes or is it nothing more than a quick course on how to shoot and edit video working alongside a reporter, oops, sorry, I mean "producer".

PlatypusPhotoLayouts.jpg


http://www.workshopsinternational.com/film-video/programs/the-hdv-journalist/

Some well known names from the still photography world are trying their hands at a Rosenblum style course. Yet...they seem to believe it takes two to make a better product.

I had to smile seeing the difference in tuition price between those that shoot and those that produce.

Tuition for Shooter = $1,895
Tuition for Producer = $795

If nothing else, it's interesting to see the price for the lessons as well as the philosophy being promoted. ;)
 
I can hear the philosophy now.

Join the exciting field of video journalism. Translation: Get ready to live really cheap.

Prepare yourself to interact with high-energy broadcast professionals. Translation: When your co-workers aren't throwing fits and shoveling their piles of disrespect on you, they'll spend the other 10 percent of their time marvelling about how the universe actually revolves around them.

Learn how cutting-edge information gathering technology can propel you to a rewarding future. Translation: Count on selling pressure-treated lumber at Home Depot for a living after you've finished this course.

Discover what people are saying about a challenging career engineered for the 21st century acheiver. Translation: Can you put a little more money in my pocket here? I love the way it feels in there! By the way, what did you say your name was?
 
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This is the Platypus workshop, which has been teaching still photojournalists to do video for nearly a decade.

It's taught by Dirck Halstead (who shot the famous Monica Lewinsky Time Magazine cover) and PF Bentley, former Time photographer and now producer for Drew Carey's episodes on Reason.tv.

They teach their workshop all over. In the past they've held it at Brooks Institute in Ventura and at the Maine Media Workshops. This one you've linked to is under a workshop started by David Lyman, who ran the Maine Photo Workshops for decades.

It is targeted at newspaper and magazine still shooters and teaches narrative nat sound story-telling. Think Ray Farkas and Chuck Braverman. Yeah, it's VJ but it's not for TV shooters.

It's expensive because it's a nine or ten day workshop.
 
Newspaper-Video said:
It's expensive because it's a nine or ten day workshop.
Click to expand...

My comment about cost may not have been clear. I was interested in the difference in price between the people who did the hands on shooting and editing compared to "producers". It seemed odd to me that "producers" who generally make more, or at least equal to news photographers in many newsrooms, would have a much lower tuition. It seemed like a backdoor statement to me about what abilities were important and which deserved a higher price tag.

Dollar for dollar, the Platypus workshop is much better than other courses offering similar skill sets to be learned.

Below is a link to another four day course.
http://www.travelchannel.com/Academy/Course_Info_and_Fees

TUITION AND EQUIPMENT RENTAL FEES:
Tuition: $2,000* (Does not include airfare, lodging or meals)
Video Camera Rental: $250** (Optional - Includes tape stock and FireWire cable)
Laptop Rental: $250** (Optional - Includes Final Cut Pro, headphones, and mouse)

As you can see, fewer days, more expensive, and courses taught by people who have little or no real world experience actually producing small camera product to make a living.

The Platypus has some real names with real experience covering news and dealing with real news situations. Yes, they may not have the years of experience of video storytelling...but the cost/experience benefit seems much higher to me. ;)
 
I guess this reporter needs to take that class. There's not one steady shot, or static shot in this, just shaky pan after shaky pan and shaky tracking shot with un-interesting and poorly edited VO. Not to mention how truncated this story seemed. There are a bunch of places she could have taken it after she mentions the 'catch'.

Here's the LINK.

Warren
 
Lensmith said:
Dollar for dollar, the Platypus workshop is much better than other courses offering similar skill sets to be learned.

...

The Platypus has some real names with real experience covering news and dealing with real news situations.
Click to expand...

I did a search on TravelChannel.com's website for "What's Your Trip," the show that was constantly referred to in Rosenblum's pitches for the Travel Channel Academy bootcamps. Lots of you probably remember it: whenever he posted here, he constantly made mention of where he was that week (even threatening me with legal action if I showed up at the event he held in Chicago). "What's Your Trip" was supposed to host a wide array of OMB/VJs. We were told it was going to be a big deal.

The hefty $2,500 pricetag not only included the four day bootcamp and some of the gear, but a chance to network with Travel Channel executives!

Surprise of surprises, the only video clip associating itself to Travel Channel said the show would premiere in May. Everything else is shoved off to a corner of Travel Channel's website. In the middle of that page (taking up a third of it, as a matter of fact) are links to other shows -- and a Disney Vacation Club DVD offer.

Chalk it up to another Rosenblum failure.

Education from real-world professionals for almost two weeks of hands-on experience versus four days of empty promises from a quasi-professor of journalism with absolutely no field experience whatsoever? It's a no-brainer.

Lens, even though I understand what your qualm is, I believe Platypus Workshop is a good deal. The difference in price probably has something to do with equipment rental.
 
Newspaper-Video said:
This is the Platypus workshop, which has been teaching still photojournalists to do video for nearly a decade.

It's taught by Dirck Halstead (who shot the famous Monica Lewinsky Time Magazine cover) and PF Bentley, former Time photographer and now producer for Drew Carey's episodes on Reason.tv.

They teach their workshop all over. In the past they've held it at Brooks Institute in Ventura and at the Maine Media Workshops. This one you've linked to is under a workshop started by David Lyman, who ran the Maine Photo Workshops for decades.

It is targeted at newspaper and magazine still shooters and teaches narrative nat sound story-telling. Think Ray Farkas and Chuck Braverman. Yeah, it's VJ but it's not for TV shooters.

It's expensive because it's a nine or ten day workshop.
Click to expand...

These are two more photographers part of the Rosenblum exemplary models of VJ successes that the only way that they can make a living with their video is to go into teaching. A few more years and we'll see VJ teaching VJism on street corners with a tin cup in front of them.

The headline on today's Rosenblum's blog is a VJ that actually got a paid assignment; I'm sorry, the actual phrase used by Michael is "he was commissioned" (maybe it's not a paid job).
http://rosenblumtv.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/your-next-employer/

I start feeling sorry for MR, he must spend his time going thru people garbage looking for good VJ news to post on his blog.
 
Platypus

I am delighted you are promoting the Platypus course. It is very good.
You may be intrigued to learn that both Dirck and PF were participants in one of my very first VJ bootcamps in 1994. And of course, PF has done a lot of production work for me. But they both got the message loud and clear, and very early indeed. I would also urge you to take a look at their site: www.Digitaljournalist.org
 
My favorite line

My favorite line from MR's bolg

"RJ Reynolds has lots of money.
And they used to spend it on lots of TV commercials."

Last time I checked tobacco advertising was banned on TV January 1, 1971.

My guess is that was befoe 95% of the VJs were born.

I guess they can expect to be part of the next
"Camel News Caravan with John Cameron Swayze"
 
Michaelrosenblum said:
You may be intrigued to learn that both Dirck and PF were participants in one of my very first VJ bootcamps in 1994.
Click to expand...

At last! Michael finally shows us not one, but two people who are doing something after his OMB/VJ course! Unfortunately for him, they're not producing the daily content he claims will someday revolutionize television news.

Swing and a miss, Mikey. Swing and a miss. Did you threaten them with legal action for stealing your business plan? No, wait! I got it! You incorrectly accused the both of them of being anti-semites, right?

Where's "What's Your Trip?" Are you still telling people at TCA their videos are going to be on television, or are you finally telling them where the videos will really go?

How's your station in DC? Did it launch yet? Where's the website that will cause everyone in DC to turn off their televisions and get their news from the web?
 
Verizon FiOS1

The station in DC, as you are so interested, has been running for a bit more than a year now. If you are a Verizon FiOS subscriber you can see it on Channel1 on your cable box. It is called FiOS1.
You can see the DMA here:
http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/14746
It is not webcast nor is it online as the whole idea here is to provide a value to the Verizon FiOS service and not compete with it.
You should expect to see more of these in other major markets launched in 2009.
 
So, wait. Let me get this straight: even though you claim everyone and their mother is going to the web for their news, you can't even get your own station (complete with a whopping five OMB/VJs) a website with broadcast-quality material?

It is not webcast nor is it online as the whole idea here is to provide a value to the Verizon FiOS service and not compete with it.
Click to expand...

I seeeriously doubt that's the reason. Let's be realistic here: you can't convince anyone to dump more money into another one of your failures. It's the simpler (and more proven) explanation that's held true everywhere else you've gone.

Once again, you provide a link that's over a year and a half old. When you can use a current link to prove the well-being of your projects, people here will probably take you a little more seriously. My favorite part is near the bottom, where it says there's 207,000 customers. I'm going to guess that, since you provided such an old copy of what's actually a press release (not a DMA), that number's not gone up.

You should expect to see more of these in other major markets launched in 2009.
Click to expand...

Great! I can hardly wait to see them behind the wheel of a Chevy Cavalier in a Formula One race.

By the way, you avoided the other questions. Nothing new, I know. By now, we know that when you avoid a question, the answer is something you don't want to talk about.
 
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Michaelrosenblum said:
My wife says to me "are you on b-roll again? Why do you waste your time with that idiot Chicago Dog".
Click to expand...

And yet, here you are! I gotta tell ya -- it's strangely flattering that you give more attention to me than you do your own wife.

I feel dirty. So, if you'll excuse me, I have a bathtub full of turpentine calling my name.
 
Michaelrosenblum said:
You may be intrigued to learn that both Dirck and PF were participants in one of my very first VJ bootcamps in 1994. And of course, PF has done a lot of production work for me. But they both got the message loud and clear, and very early indeed.
Click to expand...
......and that message was that the only way to make a living as a VJ is to go into teaching others to become a VJ, and so on.

Think about this if you are planning to hand over your money to these guys. As we've seen his camera works over and over, if Michael Rosenblum "the VJ teacher" would rely on his camera and photography technical knowledge and skills to earn any money he couldn't afford afford a happy meal at MacDonald. The only way that these people can make money with their VJ skills is by taking your money.
 
Michaelrosenblum said:
The station in DC, as you are so interested, has been running for a bit more than a year now. If you are a Verizon FiOS subscriber you can see it on Channel1 on your cable box. It is called FiOS1.
You can see the DMA here:
http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/14746
It is not webcast nor is it online as the whole idea here is to provide a value to the Verizon FiOS service and not compete with it.
You should expect to see more of these in other major markets launched in 2009.
Click to expand...


I work in DC and have yet to run into one of these VJs. I see the washingtonpost.com folks around sometimes but no one from this hyperlocal channel.

If they were at a story, I more than likely would have noticed.

I'm just sayin'.


FOXPhotog
 
FOXPhotog911 said:
I work in DC and have yet to run into one of these VJs. I see the washingtonpost.com folks around sometimes but no one from this hyperlocal channel.

If they were at a story, I more than likely would have noticed.
Click to expand...

.....you ain't gonna see them around.

Assignments for VJs working for MR in Washington Verizon Hyperlocal consist of four minutes per day, that's it, time fillers. They don't do news or current events just insignificant mini features.

On Hyperlocal's first anniversary MR posted with pride the best work of his VJ in Washington. At first he tried to convince everybody that the work was very good, then when everybody started detailing how and why that was the worst, MR removed the clips from his blog and from Youtube. That's when he received the well deserved nickname "videoblind"
 
Michael I'm confused too

Michaelrosenblum said:
It is not webcast nor is it online as the whole idea here is to provide a value to the Verizon FiOS service and not compete with it.
Click to expand...

Are you the same one that have been preaching for years that the future of television and any publication is the web and have been charging small (or even big) fortunes for training and converting publication to the web. But for your own operation that's not progress that's competition?????

I guess this sense of trust goes well with what you've been saying for years, and that's all it's needed to do video for television is your booth-camp training, no additional knowledge or training is necessary. Yet for you own operation in Washington you hire only kids out of college and not a single VJ that took your classes. And also this trust goes well with what you've been saying that VJ can do well financially, yet you pay your own VJ in Washington below poverty level.

You once asked me why people are against you, trust and honesty equal credibility was my answer to you.
 
Truth and Justice For All

Lensmith said:
I saw this and couldn't help wondering...is this yet another version of VJ classes or is it nothing more than a quick course on how to shoot and edit video working alongside a reporter, oops, sorry, I mean "producer".

PlatypusPhotoLayouts.jpg


http://www.workshopsinternational.com/film-video/programs/the-hdv-journalist/

Some well known names from the still photography world are trying their hands at a Rosenblum style course. Yet...they seem to believe it takes two to make a better product.

I had to smile seeing the difference in tuition price between those that shoot and those that produce.

Tuition for Shooter = $1,895
Tuition for Producer = $795

If nothing else, it's interesting to see the price for the lessons as well as the philosophy being promoted. ;)
Click to expand...

The truth about our industry is simple and easy to understand even for the last few who still cling to the idea that a story is still worth what it USED to cost to produce it. It's about economics. A high school kid with 3 months experience holding a camera and a thought in his head that he can do this, can put together a piece that isn't polished, isn't cut perfectly, might have a SLIGHT white balance issue, a few jump cuts in it, can put something on the tee vee news if the story is compelling enough and the camera movement is steady enough not to give viewers motion heaves. The days when it was common to spend $3 grand a day for stories to put on a newscast that is being shunned by the public in increasing numbers, is for the most part dead. Yes some of us are still working in that arena, and yes it's the only way to do things a one man band CANNOT do, but publicly traded media companies who have to answer to share holders who are seeing viewers and thus ad revenues fall through the floor, no longer can justify the expense and need "another way," to produce content while they are still alive.

Moral to this story is if MR can make a living showing people who wouldn't know a white balance from depth of field, how to do this, more power to him. Why do any of you care what he does if you are still doing well ? Quality is expensive. I would suggest those who slam MR for doing his thing even though it doesn't or hasn't yet affected your ability to make a living, try and find a way to change with the tide when it comes or be washed out to sea like a relic.
 
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