Glen Canning Productions

Africville 25th Reunion

2008-07-19T22:37:00.000-03:00

This year marks a special moment in the histroy of Africville. Africville was a small community located on the southern shore of Bedford Basin, in the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. During the 1960's the City of Halifax began to encroach on the southern shores of Bedford Basin and the community and its dwellings were ordered destroyed while the residents were evicted. Some were evicted in dump trucks.

Mark Carvery of Carvery's Video Enterprises is doing a documentary film to commemorate the 25th time former residents of Africville and their families and friends join in remembrance of Africville through song, dance, story telling, and prayer. I'm working with him as a camera operator and gaffer. I'm also going to shoot some still of the making of this documentary. That's Mark in the photo.

This project will be updated on my projects page.

Deep Sea Equipment

2008-07-15T06:11:00.002-03:00

Deep Sea Equipment is an under sea exploration company based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. They use Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to provide survey's and video. I will be documenting them through photographs and videos as well as piloting the ROVs from time to time. Should make for some great footage. I'm going to put together a documentary for some of the projects they are working on.

"Deep Sea Equipment specializes in the rental of the most current, state of the art marine equipment available today. With over 20 years of hands-on experience in project planning, equipment consulting, and logistics in the marine industry, the Owners and Operators of Deep Sea Equipment have the knowledge and expertise to cover a broad spectrum of marine sectors, including: Commercial, Environmental, Geophysical and Marine Surveying, Oceanographic, Military, Law Enforcement, Scientific and Offshore Oil and Gas."

This post is also on my projects page.

PPE and ME

2008-07-12T15:07:00.005-03:00

Posting wirelessly from the Chatterbox Cafe in Pugwash.

This years Pugwash Peace Exchange group photo at the Thinkers Lodge in Pugwash Nova Scotia 12 July 2008.

LGen the Hon Senator Romeo Dallaire and yours truly in Pugwash Nova Scotia 12 July 2008.

Pugwash Peace Exchange

2008-07-11T16:58:00.006-03:00

Jeffrey Boutwell, Executive Director of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, answers a question during a news conference for the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament International Conference and Council held in Pugwash Nova Scotia 11 July 2008. Also pictured is Warren Snowdon, Australian Minister for Defense Science and Personnel, and Stephen Leahey (r), Chair of Pugwash Peace Exchange.

Alexa McDonough, MP, chairs dialogue between LGen the Hon Senator Romeo Dallaire and Senator Emeritus Douglas Roche O.C. during a Pugwash, Parliamentarians and Political Will Conference dinner at Fox Harbour 11 July 2008.

Project 01/08

2008-07-10T21:41:00.002-03:00

Pugwash Peace Exchange

This will be my second year shooting the Pugwash Peace Exchange. I head out July 11 and return late July 12th. Hopefully I'll be able to photograph more of Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire (Retired). He is the author of Shake Hands with the Devil, his story of the UN mission in Rwanda during the genocide in 1994. This year I'm hoping to get some audio so I can put together a slide show.

This post is also on my projects page.

Journalism 2.0

2008-07-09T16:49:00.003-03:00

I downloaded a copy of Journalism 2.0 by Mark Briggs today. As a resource for what's new in journalism and where it is heading the book is priceless. From the web site: "Written for working journalists who are looking to make the necessary leap into the digital age, Journalism 2.0 introduces basic topics like Web 2.0, blogging, audio, video, online reporting and more. Each chapter contains screenshots and assignments so readers can quickly get their hands dirty with technology and be on their way to becoming more digitally literate." Mark has a blog titled Journalism 2.0 How to survive and thrive in the digital age. A copy of the book in pdf format can be found here on the Knight Citizen News Network.

Hope for Sierra Leone

2008-07-07T20:57:00.001-03:00

Sunday night I had the privilege of attending a lecture by Carolyn van Gurp about her work in Sierra Leone. Carolyn's blog is here and it delivers a message of hope for rebuilding the world's poorest country from the ashes of war. Much of her work is through the Centre for Development and Peace Education and Peaceful Schools International. She has about "3,000 photographs" so far and had to narrow it down to just a few for the lecture. Somewhere in there is a great documentary film.

Zoriah

2008-07-02T17:34:00.002-03:00

Zoriah is an award-winning photojournalist whose work has been featured in some of the world’s most prestigious galleries, museums and publications. Zoriah's clients have included The BBC, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, ABC News, NPR, Focus and many others. His web site gives an open look at the Iraq War and that has caused him some grief with the U.S. Marines. Following a photo display of a suicide bombing he was ordered to remove the post but when he refused his embed was canceled.

Global Voices for Justice has an interview with Zoriah here.

Happy Canada Day!

2008-07-01T09:19:00.002-03:00

It seems fitting my Citizenship Card arrived yesterday and today I am "officially" a Canadian citizen. Happy Canada Day everyone!

IPS Journalist Assaulted

2008-06-29T09:51:00.004-03:00

GAZA CITY - Mohammed Omer, the Gaza correspondent of IPS, and joint winner of the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, was strip-searched at gunpoint, assaulted and abused by Israeli security officials at the Allenby border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on Thursday as he tried to return home to Gaza. Read more...

Martin Fletcher

2008-06-23T21:52:00.003-03:00

I just finished Martin Fletcher's book 'Breaking News' so though I'd post a thumbs up. It's a great read and offers quite a few tales of living life as a foreign correspondent. Lots of close calls, sad memories, friendships made and lost, and moments of reflection. I really enjoyed this book. More about it is found here in MSNBC's web site.

War/Dance

2008-06-15T18:39:00.009-03:00

War/Dance is a documentary film that explores the importance culture plays in the lives of children and how through it they can triumph over tragedy and war. Set against the backdrop of Uganda's 20 year civil war during which over 30,000 children have been abducted by a rebel army, the documentary tells the story of Dominic, Rose, Nancy and their school in the Patongo Internally Displaced Persons Camp as they make an historic journey to compete in Uganda's national music and dance festival.

The film is simply breathtaking as it captures the beauty of Africa while exposing heart-wrenching terror seen through the eyes of children. It's one thing to read about the atrocities that plague Africa and it's people but quite another to watch a young girl cry at the grave of her father as she begs God to let her see him one more time.

War/Dance was directed by Sean and Andrea Nix Fine. It scored an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. A documentary should do one of three things - inform, outrage, or inspire. War/Dance does all three.

Shooting Back

2008-06-13T19:56:00.003-03:00

In January 2007, B'Tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, launched "Shooting Back", a video advocacy project focusing on the Occupied Territories. They provided Palestinians living in high-conflict areas with video cameras and asked them to film the reality of their lives under occupation.

"Shooting Back" works with families who live in close proximity to settlements, to military bases or at the sites of frequent army incursions. It's a form of citizen journalism that records the daily life of the Palestinian people. Settlers attacking farmers, soldiers shooting unarmed civilians, invasions, and death are being brought to the global audience as shocking evidence.

The BBC has published online one such attack on an elderly shepherd, his wife and a nephew by four masked men for allowing their animals to graze near the settlement of Susia.

Video Vigilante

2008-06-12T22:25:00.002-03:00

I've been following a local story that involves a crime recorded in Dartmouth and posted to YouTube. I originally watched the video on LiveLeak (where it has over 70,000 views) before posting it to a Halifax based forum called Reality-Check. The video was shot by Dartmouth resident Jason Lavallee from his front window. It shows three teenagers chasing, beating, and robbing what appears to be a young kid. HRM Police originally stated there was nothing they could do since the victim has not come forward but may have been swayed by public opinion into acting. Nothing like enabling criminals to make their victims fear for their lives so they remain silent. Two teens have now been arrested.

As for Mr. Lavallee, a military member, he has received threats and even had the taped teens show up at his house to confront and threaten him before fleeing once they saw his camera. He has stated the police are helping and claims to have hunting rifles and dogs for protection.

Breaking Ranks

2008-06-12T22:01:00.002-03:00

Breaking Ranks examines the current phenomena of US soldiers seeking refuge in Canada as part of their resistance to the war effort in Iraq. The film combines the gripping personal stories of young soldiers with political, cultural and historical analysis of the issues their actions raise for Canadians and the world. A support site for War Resisters is here.

This documentary film had a screening courtesy of the Halifax Peace Coalition at Dalhousie University. It's part of a Tuesday night Summer Peace Film Series they are putting on.

It's a moving documentary by director Michelle Mason that allows these men to tell their stories and plead their case to the Canadian public. The vote in Parliament passed 137-110 to allow them to stay but Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who campaigned on a promise to follow the will of Parliament, has stated he won't allow it.

Multimedia Training

2008-06-11T16:53:00.004-03:00

Colin Mulvany is the multimedia editor at The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington. The latest entry on his blog is titled Stop bitchin’ and just train yourself and deals with the growing importance of video training for journalist and photojournalists.

Colin sums up the current state of journalism nicely: "As newspapers accelerate their move to online, it is more important than ever for journalists to have new media skills... No longer will the skills we learned in college be enough to sustain a career. Journalism has changed. The people who went into the profession to just write or just take photos will soon be considered dinosaurs."

I attended an interview last week for the Nova Scotia Community College Broadcast Journalism program. The course teaches radio, television, journalism, and video/audio production and editing. 2nd year students produce a documentary film. The course looks like it will give me the skills I need to continue in the media field and be able to sell myself. Unfortunately this years class had more then 250 applicants and only 30 were chosen. I was late to apply. Bummer. I'm in for 2009 though so my plan for now is to try to get on as an apprentice with a local media outlet. Hopefully it won't be to hard seeing as the military will pay my salary for up to six months.

Exciting times.

Videomaker Podcasts

2008-06-07T15:16:00.003-03:00

Two of the podcasts I listen to daily are the CBC and BBC International. My favorite video podcasts are from Videomaker. Each one features useful information like using a lav mic, shooting in the snow, soundtracks, ambient noise, transitions, etc. There are 118 casts in total and they add up to hours of learning fun.

Blog Archives

2008-06-07T11:55:00.003-03:00

I added an archive lists of old posts from my old blog. It seemed a shame to just get rid of them and I know they show up in Google searches for various reason. Nothing worse then a 404 error from visitors so they are back and linked to their original folder online. All the photos are up as well.

Behind the Screens

2008-06-03T21:03:00.004-03:00

Hollywood movies are rapidly becoming vehicles for the ulterior marketing and advertising motives of studios and their owners, rather than entertainment in their own right.

Behind the Screens explores this trend toward "hypercommercialism" through phenomena such as product placement, tie-ins, merchandising and cross-promotions. It combines multiple examples taken directly from the movies with incisive interviews provided by film scholars, cultural critics, political economists, and an Oscar-nominated screenwriter. Behind the Screens is produced by the Media Education Foundation.

This is part 1 of a five part clip. The remainder are available on YouTube. "But bein' this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and it'll blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question...."

A Polaroid a Day

2008-05-27T16:26:00.003-03:00

Jamie Livingston (1956-1997) documented his life by taking a Polaroid every day for 18 years, including the day he died in 1997.
His project seems to have captured the hearts of tens of thousands of people on the Internet. On May 21, Mental Floss ran a story by Chris Higgens about his discovery of Jamie's website leading to the an overload on the server and bringing the site down. It has since been reborn here.

After Livingston’s death, his friends Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid put together a public exhibit and website using the photos and called it PHOTO OF THE DAY: 1979-1997, 6,697 Polaroids, dated in sequence. More about the project can be found here. All the photographs were added to a wall for the exhibit and it took up a 7 x 120 foot space.

This is a remarkable record of a man's life that documents not only his everyday moments but his illness and ultimate death.

Cinderella Children

2008-05-20T18:40:00.005-03:00

The documentary film Cinderella Children was made to "promote the awareness and sponsorship of war orphans at the Kitgum orphanage in Uganda." The story is based on Australian grandmother Irene Gleeson who in 1991 sold her Sydney Australia beachside home, founded CHILDCARE Kitgum Servants (CKS) and towed a caravan to the war zone of Kitgum in North Uganda, gathered 50 war traumatised children under a mango tree and began to teach and feed them. Now in 2008, 8,000 children are given day care, schooling, medicine, and food in five CKS schools. It's an incredible story. The DVD can be ordered from the site and ships from Australia.

The film was produced by Brisbane Australia filmmaker Matt Clift for Pastor Grant Windlethe of the Christian City Church Westside. What I found really interesting about the film is that the production was a one man show. Matt has shared a lot of information on the equipment he used and the techniques that worked for him in the field with very little resources available and a time limit of only one week. His article is titled One Man Doco Crew in Uganda is available here.

Here is the trailer for Cinderella Children:

Multimedia Links

2008-05-14T20:49:00.002-03:00

One of the better links for video help is The Digital Video Information Network. I haven't posted there much but find the members friendly and helpful. The sections can be very specific for camera models and problem solving.

Another on of my favorites is News Videographer. It's a blog format site put together by Angela Grant. The site is "meant to fill the gap in training and provide a robust feedback forum. The main service of this blog is to provide honest critiques of online news videos and related multimedia content. These critiques will be honest and blunt, but they will always be constructive." I always enjoy their latest entries and learn something from each one.

Some more of my favorite videography links include FourDocs, Visual Editors, and Videomaker.

The Move to Multimedia

2008-05-08T20:42:00.003-03:00

The Move to Multimedia - Interviews with Industry Leaders.

The Move to Multimedia from Brett Beadle on Vimeo.

Visual Editors

2008-05-08T08:10:00.003-03:00

One of the sites I enjoy reading over is Visual Editors. "Visual Editors is the online classroom and meeting hall where student and working journalists from newsrooms around the world come to study the latest reporting, editing and design techniques, story forms, media trends, and interactive strategies. " It's a very helpful site for studying journalism from a videographers perspective.

Multimedia Study

2008-05-03T17:46:00.003-03:00

The Multimedia Workshop I attended at the NSCC was very informative. This is a very exciting time to be involved in the journalism field and to see where this is all going. The era of being simply a photojournalist has pretty much ended. It's a multi task job that now requires knowledge of video, audio, the written word, software editing programs, slideshow presentations, etc. Some media outlets are creating not just two minute news clips but ten minute documentaries for their online content and with a great deal of success.

The term 'Mojo Journalist' was also used. It refers to Mobile Journalists that can either be staff or freelance and who use technical tools such as digital cameras, camcorders, and laptops to publish their work on the road.

MediaStorm was also discussed. MediaStorm's principal aim is to "usher in the next generation of multimedia storytelling by publishing social documentary projects incorporating photojournalism, interactivity, animation, audio and video for distribution across multiple media." This is somewhere along the lines of where I want to go, creating small media productions for online content.