Notes From The Field

Better get your mojo working

"News Quoyle, news. Better get your mojo working."
                         - Annie Proulx, The Shipping News

A draft of this post has been loitering in my documents folder for a while. But six months on from when I gave some mojo apps a workout in Nigeria and in Georgia I've got a few more points to share about what a mobile phone offers journalists for field reporting.

Editing video on the iPhone with ReelDirector

I mentioned the ReelDirector iPhone app in my previous post about mobile video reporting and I've been playing with it a little more.

The beauty of ReelDirector is that you can use clips you've trimmed/edited on the iPhone and work with a (very) basic timeline to produce a video story.

But there are limits. You'll need to plan your shots carefully to craft your story. Video and audio for each clip remains linked and you can't add a voice track. It's sort of iMovie Fisher-Price. That might sound a little harsh but I actually think being easy to use will encourage more people to give it a go.

This time I tested the app using the low quality setting and posted a video direct to YouTube, Kyte (and by email to Posterous). I was pleasantly surprised as the file was only 15 MB for a 2:30 video - that's not so big to move from your iPhone. My first attempt with a video of around 4 minutes in high quality produced a file well over 100 MB.

ReelDirector also lets you use clips produced with other iPhone apps. Since my video blog story was Super 8 cameras I produced a short clip on Vintage Movie Maker app using the 60's home movie filter and projector sound and then just dropped it into the ReelDirector timeline.

 

Something to keep in mind. ReelDirector added the Vintage Movie Maker clip in low quality, but in high quality it popped up an "incompatible" video message. This might just be a bug or the settings for the clips you import from another app might have to be adjusted. If you're a video blogger you might also think about producing a branded pre or post roll clip to store in the iPhone Camera Roll to use with ReelDirector.

I'm still thinking about how best to use this app in its current form but hopefully the developers Nexvio will add more features.

Maybe Germany can do more?

Just spotted this poster in Bonn of Social Democrats' big cheese, candidate for Chancellor and current Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

I wonder if the SPD's ad/media space buyers or those of British American Tabacco were more excited about this political poster duet?

Unser Land kann mehr roughly translates to our country can do more or our country can do better. I wonder if Germany could do more about banning tobacco advertising, or the cigarette vendor machines on every corner?

On the opposite side, BAT suggests politics goes well with Lucky Strike ciggies, especially when filling in your ballot.

Hey Frank, have you got a light mate?

More musings on the elections in my Frontline blog post.

Images from Abkhazia

With a little time at home this month I'm sifting through some photographs I took in Abkhazia and gradually adding them to a Flickr set.

All photographs taken with a Canon G10.

Firebird: Young Romanians inspired to dance!

If you know me, then you'll know that I'm far from impressing anyone with my skills of dancing in any style or to any sort of music. Despite that, I very much appreciate contemporary dance. So, I'm looking forward to going to the Enescu Festival in Bucharest this week to see a performance of Stravinsky's Firebird. And not performed by a professional dance company, but by around 100 underprivileged Romanian teenagers under the expert guidance of choreographers Royston Maldoom and Josef Eder. It will be the first community dance performance staged in Romania.

This hugely ambitious project is the brainchild of my mother-in-law Monique Gruber. While living in Bucharest a few years ago she devoted much of her spare time and (boundless) energy to helping street kids.

Monique has since established the charity Jungen Rumänen eine Chance! to continue supporting young Romanians, many of whom are among the most vulnerable in society.

It's inspiring to read the project blog Dance With Us as it chronicles the journey the kids are taking in the lead up to Saturday's performance, and to read of the massive logistical effort to keep over 100 teenagers and volunteers housed, fed and happy over the past month.

Take a look at this clip of RHYTHM IS IT! to get a sense what the project is trying to achieve.

I know any donation will make a difference. Details for donations by bank transfer are below. Go on, you know it makes sense - every euro counts for these children.

I'll be tweeting from Bucharest and will pass on all messages of encouragement for the kids and volunteers.

Account name: "Jungen Rumänen eine Chance!"
Account Nr: 2381435
Badische Beamten Bank
(BLZ 66090800)
IBAN: DE6609 0800 0002 3814 35
BIC: GENODE61888

The association is recognized by the Finanzamt Überlingen as a charitable corporation. Accordingly, your contribution can be deducted from your taxable income. For a donation receipt send a mail to: wm.gruber@gmail.com. If you do not object, your name will appear on our list of friends and supporters of the association.

(Photo: Daniel Angelescu)

Summer and something of a seaside independence

(First published on the Frontline Club blog)

Earlier in August I had the opportunity to film in Abkhazia with Matthew Collin -  Al Jazeera's correspondent in Georgia and fellow Frontline blogger.

It's now one year since Russia recognised Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.

The first time I visited Abkhazia was in December 2006 to produce radio features.

I had always wanted to visit the region during summer. This time I was keen to not only experience what brings Russian tourists and their much needed roubles to Abkhazia's Black Sea coast, but also try to get a sense of what's happened inside the territory in the past year.

Abkhazia is not the Côte d'Azur, but if you're after a cheap flop and drop beachside holiday, plenty of hearty shashlik or trout, cold beer and smooth vodka, then Abkhazia would fit the bill.

Unfortunately the closest I came to a quick dip at the beach was filming two Russian anti-submarine corvettes anchored of the coast near Novy Afon. My bad luck for not getting up early for a dawn patrol paddle.

Russia has announced it will begin providing protection for merchant vessels trading with Abkhazia. That's the sort of news that will go down well with local taxi drivers complaining of fuel shortages after Georgia's coast guard recently intercepted a tanker.

Early in the trip we had the chance to interview Abkhazia's Vice Foreign Minister, Maxim Gunjia. He says that since Russia recognised Abkhazia as independent and pledged to offer protection, Abkhazians have more confidence to invest and develop businesses.

Gunjia says the Russian-Abkhaz relationship is broad and rejects the idea that Abkhazia is just a buffer state.

 
Max Gunjia clip by fieldreports

Matthew Collin's online report has more and you can also watch the accompanying video feature.


  (Photos: Guy Degen)