Video For Change. A Guide For Advocacy And Activism (2005)
Filed under book | Tags: · activism, human rights, independent media, journalism, mass media, media activism, video

Pictures from Abu Ghraib showed the power of the amateur image to grab the world’s attention. The Asian tsunami, caught on camcorder, brought home the reality of what had happened more than any news report ever could. Around the world the increasing availability and affordability of technology has fuelled the world of social justice video activism. Film-making — at its best — has the power to change the way people think, and create real social change, and now the tools to do it are more accessible than ever before. This book shows how activists and human rights campaigners can harness the power of images and stories for their own purposes — it’s a step-by-step guide to the handicam revolution.
Written by leading video activists, and staff of the world-renowned human rights organization WITNESS, this practical handbook will appeal to experienced campaigners as well as aspiring video activists. It combines a comprehensive analysis of what’s going on in this growing global field with a how-to primer to doing it yourself.
Video for Change is packed with real-life stories from the fray, how-to guidance, and easy-to-use exercises. Clear and accessible, it provides a crash course in the basics of social justice video documentation and advocacy. The authors cover every aspect of filmmaking from technical guidance to strategic and ethical issues, making it indispensable for both amateur and professional filmmakers.
Readers are shown how to plan, film, edit and distribute; they are shown how to adopt an effective strategy so that their video makes a difference. The book is unique in that it also covers the practical ethics and responsibilities of social justice video-work and offers a global range of real-life stories to learn from.
Edited by Sam Gregory, Gillian Caldwell, Ronit Avni, Thomas Harding
Preface by Peter Gabriel
Published by Pluto Press, 2005
ISBN: 9780745324128
344 pages
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Comment (0)Nicholas Gane, David Beer: New Media: The Key Concepts (2008)
Filed under book | Tags: · archive, interactivity, interface, media theory, networks, new media, simulation

Digital media are rapidly changing the world in which we live. Global communications, mobile interfaces and Internet cultures are re-configuring our everyday lives and experiences.
To understand these changes, a new theoretical imagination is needed, one that is informed by a conceptual vocabulary that is able to cope with the daunting complexity of the world today. This book draws on writings by leading social and cultural theorists to assemble this vocabulary.
It addresses six key concepts that are pivotal for understanding the impact of new media on contemporary society and culture: information, network, interface, interactivity, archive and simulation. Each concept is considered through a range of concrete examples to illustrate how they might be developed and used as research tools. An inter-disciplinary approach is taken that spans a number of fields, including sociology, cultural studies, media studies and computer science.
Publisher Berg, 2008
ISBN 1845201337, 9781845201333
149 pages
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Comment (0)Thomas Harding: The Video Activist Handbook, 2nd ed. (1998/2001)
Filed under book | Tags: · activism, community, documentary film, human rights, independent media, journalism, mass media, media activism, television, video

This second edition of the highly popular The Video Activist Handbook includes numerous examples of contemporary video activism from around the world. The first book to provide the basic skills and know-how required for beginning video activism, it also offers a wealth of ideas on video strategies to those with some prior experience. Whether you are involved in campaigning, non-violent direct action, or simply want to know how to make use of video as a political tool, this book is for you. • Covers the key topics in a step-by-step guide – from choosing and using the right equipment and planning when and where to shoot, to supplying to TV, making a campaign video and legal considerations • Combines clearly written and illustrated practical advice, backed up by a wealth of resources, with first-hand examples of successful video activism • Critically assesses the mainstream media agendas and offers a lively survey of the international video activist scene.
Foreword by Anita Roddick
Publisher Pluto Press, 2001
ISBN 0745317707, 9780745317700
Length 255 pages
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