Dirck Halstead's blog
Digital Journalist Letter from the Publisher
May 2010
Every year, we visit the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las Vegas. It is the world's greatest toy store for anyone who wants to see the directions this industry is moving towards.
The convention fills three huge halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center plus the Las Vegas Hilton, where most industry meetings and ceremonies are held.
This year, the NAB exceeded last year's attendance with more than 88,000 visitors. It is the second largest show in Las Vegas (behind the Consumer Electronics Show).
Most people who want to see what the latest in technology portends for changes in the industry will walk an average of five miles a day through the halls and outdoor exhibits.
PF Bentley and I undertook this trek yet again, and the changes in the industry are momentous, and it is fair to say that a lot of it is being driven by DSLRs that can shoot HD video. At the Canon booth alone, there were over a dozen rigs that have been designed to stabilize shooting with these cameras.
Everywhere we went, we saw former still photojournalists toting their Canon 7Ds or 5D Mark IIs from Zacuto or RedRock rigs.
Many of these photographers have realized that in order to continue in video journalism the time is long past to make some basic changes.
We have surveyed some of the equipment that we think will be changing your lives.
What does the Platypus entail specifically?
We start on a Friday night with a reception then I give the keynote. Saturday morning we go through the basics and fundementals of video, then a basic training session on the Canon 7D. At noon, you are out with the camera to do the first exercise. At 3pm sharp you are back in the classroom for your first critque of what you have shot. BTW, you are only allowed to shoot ten minutes on this exercise. After dinner break we have the first of three evenings of looking at the kind of videos we want you to be able to make at the end of the course. On Sunday you spend the morning in class, then go back out to shoot your second exercise, returning for the critique. The evening is another showing of quality video. Monday morning back in class for instruction in story telling. That afternoon back to shooting to do your first small story. We critique that, but at this point we decide if what you have shot is cutable into a one minute piece. Half the class generally makes the cut and they are ready for the Tuesday class in Final Cut Pro editing. Those who have to reshoot exercise number three do that that afternoon (quickly) and by three almost everyone is starting to cut their one minute pieces. This is hands on, in which the instructors and TAs help you. Wednesday morning we critique all the 1 minute pieces.
HOW THE PLATYPUS CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
In the late Nineties I knew I needed a lifeboat in a hurry.
After 29 years of trotting the globe for Time Magazine, I could see that the photojournalism I had known was sinking. Budgets that today would be unimaginable were being slashed, not just at Time but at all the other magazines and the movie studios that I had worked for.
If you are a photojournalist today, you know exactly what I am talking about.
Platypus Graduate wins at Sundance Film Festival!
The Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Documentary for 2010 has been awarded to 'Restrepo' directed by Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger.
Platypus Workshop now has it's first major film award to a graduate. Kimberly Acquaro was nominated for an Oscar in but did not win.
Tim attended the 1999 Platypus as a student made possible by a CNN scholarship.
To see the trailer, go to Restrepo website.
FOR A REVIEW go to Restrepo review.
REGISTRATION FOR OUR LAS VEGAS PLATYPUS WORKSHOP IS CLOSING . REGISTER NOW FOR AN EXPERIENCE THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE
The Story of the Platypus Workshops
Over the past 10 years that we have been sponsoring the Platypus Workshops, I am always asked, "Why do you call a DV workshop the Platypus?"
In those classes, I explain it.
