Author Archives: Training

Calling all students – take advantage of our huge student discounts, learn filmmaking before you graduate

Posted on by

Are you a student, interested in documentary filmmaking, video-journalism (becoming a ‘self-shooter’), media communications and marketing, or using video for your final project or fieldwork? We pride ourselves on our affordable and efficient intensive short courses in filmmaking, video production, and video editing, and for students they are even cheaper.

training

We offer our Digital Video Production Weekend — a great introductory course for beginners — for just £180 to students (a £60 discount on the full price), and our intensive Four Day Filmmaking Course — also suitable for beginners, but ideal for consolidating and expanding on basic or self-taught skills — for £350 (£150 off).

We also have a course designed specifically for people who want to learn video skills for academic purposes — for use in fieldwork or on their final project and a course for people interested in media communications and marketing. We have courses running soon — before your final project is due! — and over the summer. If you are graduating this year and interested in pursuing a career in documentary filmmaking, self-shooter video-journalism, media communications and marketing, or academia then sign up now and we will honour the student discount even if you graduate before the course start date.

For more information see our website, or email Charlotte at training@spectacle.co.uk to discuss which course would be best for you.

Video Training for Charity Communications

Posted on by
Reply

Many charities, NGOs and community groups find online video an indispensible way to promote their work, to raise awareness, to fundraise or to campaign. But outsourcing video projects to production crews is extremely expensive, and may not produce the best results. We can train Communications Officers and Marketing Teams to produce high-quality video in-house, instead.

IMG_1813

We offer an affordable three day course or bespoke one-to-one training to help existing staff learn to produce video in-house, on a small budget.

The course aims to introduce participants to every stage of the documentary filmmaking process, so that afterwards they’re in a position to build on their skills on their own. Once you or your staff have learned to make your own video content you will be able to do this again and again, saving on the cost of hiring a film crew

Not only is training existing staff or volunteers in the techniques of high quality digital film making far more cost effective than hiring a film crew, but the results can be better. When people working on the ground record their own activities and events, capture client testimonials and document their work you can often get better results than with a hired film crew of strangers. Where your staff have built relationships and trust with your clients they can film more relaxed and interpersonal moments – moments that might elude an external film crew, making for a more direct and powerful film.

If you work in remote locations or developing countries, training your own staff to record their work could be particularly beneficial, potentially saving you a lot of money and ensuring your organisation achieves an end result which accurately reflects the nature of the project.

Our Video Marketing Course always receives oustanding feedback.

 

 

Spectacle Delivers Video Training to Borough Councils

Posted on by
Reply

IMG_1813

Spectacle has recently been asked to provide training in digital video production and editing to the communications teams at a number of borough councils.

As well as sessions using traditional video equipment, we delivered training on producing high quality results using technology most people already have to hand: smartphones and iPhones to video, and iPads and tablets to edit.

What we invariably heard during the training sessions is that local government is experiencing an increasing demand to expand into online video content to engage modern audiences. Our training can help tap into this, on a budget.

After a highly successful session in Watford, we caught up with Angela Farrance, senior communications and engagement officer, to see why she had decided to organise the training, and if it was something she would recommend to other local authorities.

SPECTACLE: Why did you decide to arrange video training for your team? 

ANGELA: We work for a local authority, and want to promote our services, activities and places to visit in the most accessible and fun way, to a wide range of people.

Why did you choose Spectacle? 

I liked the flexibility that Spectacle offered; the training was completely bespoke and reactive to our needs, but still covered everything we wanted to learn.

Did the training meet your expectations? 

Yes, the team had varying levels of experience, and all felt it was a really well spent few days. Everyone is very keen to get started!

What part of the training did you enjoy most? 

The post-production was really good fun; seeing how everything comes together. Everyone really enjoyed the session on interview techniques too – really useful!

What part did you find most useful? 

All the hints and tips for capturing good footage – and then the post-production day. 

How do you plan to use the training now you have completed the course? 

We are going to start building a library of footage from around the town; and will capture each of our events this season. 

Do you think other local councils could benefit from the training? 

Yes absolutely. Local media are increasingly looking to increase their video content online – we have found that the videos we send in are invariably used by local media outlets, and they achieve a fantastic reach on social media.  

Would you recommend the training?  
I would recommend the training, and already have to fellow comms officers in Hertfordshire. Mark made the sessions fun, accessible and everyone is really excited to get filming.  

 Thanks Angela!
If you are interested in booking the course visit the How to Book page.

For information on other Spectacle training courses

Or contact training@spectacle.co.uk

If you would like more information on future training opportunities at Spectacle sign up for the Training Newsletter – tick the box if you would also like Spectacle’s general newsletter.




 


 

Digital Video Production for the Web- Short Training Courses

Posted on by
Reply

Digital Video Production for the Web

NGOs, charities, social enterprises and small businesses have been badly hit by the recession and funding cuts. To reach out to your target audience and get your message across there is an ever increasing demand for online video- producing high quality online videos need not be an expensive luxury.

TRNVideofortheweb

DIY digital film making and successful use of No/Lo budget techniques, can slash your production costs and actually improve your production values.

By training existing staff or volunteers in the techniques of high quality digital film making organisations can greatly reduce production costs. When people working on the ground document their own activities and events and record client testimonials you can often get better results than with a hired film crew of strangers.

Where your workers have built relationships and trust with your clients they can film more relaxed and interpersonal moments, moments that might elude an external film crew, making for a more direct and powerful film.

This practical hands-on course aims to give you the “future proof” information you really need to know to produce high quality videos by concentrating on the techniques and skills that stay constant, regardless of passing developments in software, technologies and formats.

The training is not technology specific but gives you the knowledge and attitude to get the best out of whatever equipment is to hand, to navigate your way around the complexity of codecs and formats, to identify and solve technical problems. You will learn the techniques and methods of high quality digital production in a way you can speedily pass on the knowledge and expertise to other members of your organisation and client base.

Organisations with a member of staff who have completed the course can hire Spectacle’s equipment at a 15% discount.

The course is modular. You can take just the 2 day production course or the 3 day course that includes post production and uploading video to the internet.

For more information Digital Video Production for the Web

If you are interested in booking the course please visit the How to Book page.

For information on other Spectacle training courses

Or contact training@spectacle.co.uk

For info on new dates and courses please sign up for the Spectacle training newsletter – tick the box if you would also like Spectacle’s general newsletter.




Add

 

 

 

 

 

Digital Video Production Weekend Training Courses

Posted on by
Reply

For details and dates of the  next available courses visit:

Digital Video Production Weekend Training Course
Short, Sharp Affordable. This is a practical hands-on weekend course aimed at people who want a fast way to acquire detailed and concise digital video production skills. It is particularly useful for aspiring documentary makers, journalists who want to expand their skill set and anyone who wants to shoot their own films.

The short, condensed and effective course will give all participants a solid foundation of practical knowledge and a working understanding of digital cameras, sound recording, interview techniques, filming on location and industry language.

You will also get the confidence to use a wide range of equipment and learn the “future proof” principles of film making that remain constant despite the changes in technology and formats.

We allow a maximum of three people per camera set up (camera, sound, interviewer), giving everyone extensive hands-on experience.

Completing this course will guarantee you a work placement opportunity with Spectacle.

What you will learn

– Preparing a shoot
– How to use a digital camera (focus, white balance, aperture, formats etc.)
– How to use microphones
– Framing, types of shots, camera movements, cutaways and other techniques and tips
– How to conduct and shoot an interview
– Shooting on location
– The principles of lighting, both natural and artificial
– Filming to edit
– Legal issues, permissions and copyrights

To find out more and booking

 

For more details please contact:training@spectacle.co.uk

Digital Video Production Weekend Training courses

Posted on by
Reply

Digital Video Production Weekend Workshop Dates and details

This is a practical hands-on weekend course aimed at people who want a fast way to acquire detailed and concise digital video production skills. It is particularly useful for aspiring documentary makers, journalists who want to expand their skill set and voluntary sector workers who want to shoot their own films.

The short, condensed and effective course will give all participants a solid foundation of practical knowledge and a working understanding of digital cameras, sound recording, interview techniques, filming on location and industry language.

You will also get the confidence to use a wide range of equipment and learn the “future proof” principles of film making that remain constant despite the changes in technology and formats.

We allow a maximum of three people per camera set up (camera, sound, interviewer), giving everyone extensive hands-on experience.

Completing this course will guarantee you a work placement opportunity with Spectacle.

What you will learn

– Preparing a shoot
– How to use a digital camera (focus, white balance, aperture, formats etc.)
– How to use microphones
– Framing, types of shots, camera movements, cutaways and other techniques and tips
– How to conduct and shoot an interview
– Shooting on location
– The principles of lighting, both natural and artificial
– Filming to edit
– Legal issues, permissions and copyrights

To find out more and booking

 

For more details please contact:training@spectacle.co.uk

Spectacle Training: Digital Video Production Weekend Workshop

Posted on by
Reply

Digital Video Production Weekend Workshop

Saturday & Sunday January 21-22 2012 10.00 to 16.00

This is a practical hands-on weekend course aimed at people who want a fast way to acquire detailed and concise digital video production skills. It is particularly useful for aspiring documentary makers, journalists who want to expand their skill set and voluntary sector workers who want to shoot their own films.

The short, condensed and effective course will give all participants a solid foundation of practical knowledge and a working understanding of digital cameras, sound recording, interview techniques, filming on location and industry language.

You will also get the confidence to use a wide range of equipment and learn the “future proof” principles of film making that remain constant despite the changes in technology and formats.

We allow a maximum of three people per camera set up (camera, sound, interviewer), giving everyone extensive hands-on experience.

Completing this course will guarantee you a work placement opportunity with Spectacle.

What you will learn

– Preparing a shoot
– How to use a digital camera (focus, white balance, aperture, formats etc.)
– How to use microphones
– Framing, types of shots, camera movements, cutaways and other techniques and tips
– How to conduct and shoot an interview
– Shooting on location
– The principles of lighting, both natural and artificial
– Filming to edit
– Legal issues, permissions and copyrights

To find out more and booking

Architect Fights Demolition of Battersea’s Little Pumping Station

Posted on by
Reply

Conservation architect Jack Warshaw is furious that Wandsworth council is proposing to give the go-ahead for vast amounts of development around Battersea Power Station – far more than would ever have been allowed, had permission ever been given for the site to be cleared. “On each occasion the excuse was that so much building was necessary to ‘save’ the Power Station – an enabling subsidy at no cost to the public purse,” he stresses.

The irony is that as each permission has been granted, the site has been sold on at a substantial profit from the added value it has acquired with the granting of these virtual developments. Its current owners Treasury Holdings may well do the same.

By contrast, the Station itself has been allowed to decay, which Warshaw feels may already well have gone beyond the point of economic repair. “And the Little Pumping Station, the one building that could be re-used at reasonable cost, is now the subject of a squalid application to demolish. Little by little, the heritage value of the site is being eroded. The permission already granted at the Power Station is a mockery of heritage conservation!” he exclaims.

As Wandsworth’s first Conservation Officer, he was proud of having built up its reputation as a leader in preserving London’s heritage. He was also the first to try, despite not succeeding, to bring about the rescue of Battersea Power Station.

So he feels strongly that the Little Pumping Station still stands apart “begging and able to be rescued. There is no credible case for demolition. Its loss, both of itself and as part of the ensemble, can only add a further insult, covering the Borough Council with still more ignominy.”

Warshaw is also a member of local activists Bordon Area Action Group (see www.baaga.co.uk) and is currently campaigning against another large and dense development in Whitehill Bordon, which will harm the local environment and character of this charming eco-town in east Hampshire.

Click Battersea Power Station for more blogs
See our Battersea Power Station project pages for more information and videos.
Or visit PlanA our general blog on urbanism, planning and architecture.

Spectacle homepage
Befriend Spectacle.Docs on Facebook
Follow SpectacleMedia on Twitter

Click Eco Towns and Villages for more blogs
See our Eco Towns and Villages project pages for more information and videos.
Or visit PlanA our general blog on urbanism, planning and architecture.

New Nine Elms development no more than a Battery of Tower Blocks

Posted on by
1

Architect Keith Garner is voicing strenuous objections to the so-called ‘regeneration opportunity’ at Nine Elms in Battersea. Wandsworth council and developer St James are proposing the construction of tower blocks of 16,000 new homes, along with shops, offices and a tube extension. He went to see an interactive model of the area, along with videos and other visual displays at the exhibition at Battersea Studios, off Silverthorne Road.

Model of proposed Nine Elms development

Garner, who is also a member of the Battersea Power Station Community Group, is objecting to what he views as a “deeply unattractive project,” on three grounds: the destruction of views, especially of Westminster Palace, the disappearance of promised open green spaces and thirdly, the nonsensical positioning of the new northern line extension from Kennington.

To allow a battery of tower blocks to be built at the east of the area towards Vauxhall would ruin the ordinary public’s views upstream from Waterloo and Westminster and downstream from Battersea and Chelsea, points out Garner, apart from residents and tenants of the new development. Millbank Tower, now a Grade II listed building, was consciously designed to replicate the proportions of Victoria Tower nearby. However, its presence should not be used merely to justify yet another “collection of banal residential and office towers,” which are likely to spoil the backdrop of the Palace of Westminster looking down Whitehall.

Model shows planned cluster of new tower blocks

The architect also noted that the linear park ‘green swathe’ that was such a redeeming feature and justification for the project had vanished from the model! He said it was clear from speaking to Wandsworth Borough Council (WBC) staff at the exhibition that the developers were just ignoring the requirement to have a large green open space and that they had no real power to make them provide it. “Shouldn’t the areas designated as green swathe have been compulsorily purchased or handed over by the developers to WBC?” he remonstrated.

In addition, there was a missed opportunity to move Nine Elms Lane back from the river to the approximate line of the lamented green swathe, as the narrow sites between Nine Elms Lane and the river are so pinched and uncomfortable. This would enable larger sites adjacent to the river and the possibility of more substantial riverside public space than the customary 10 metre wide riverside walk. Moving the road may or may not be a good idea, but could at least have been been investigated. Bigger blocks should be up towards Wandsworth Road, not right by the river.

Finally, the proposed Northern Line extension from Kennington seemed to be purely to serve these development sites, and was not integrated properly at all with east Battersea. “Why, for instance, does the terminus at Battersea Power Station stop about 200 metres short of Battersea Park station? Why, indeed, are there no plans to refurbish the listed Battersea Park Station?” enquires Garner. “There is no public benefit to the existing communities of east Battersea from having the Northern Line, yet almost all the S106 money will go to pay for it rather than real benefits such as upgrading Battersea Park and Queenstown Road stations from their current squalid state, or other real public benefits such as new public park on the river or a 50 metre swimming pool.”

Garner concludes: “The overall impression the exhibition gave me was that this was just another developers’ carve-up like the Guinness site and the riverbank from Wandsworth to Battersea in general, with very little public benefit and a great deal of harm. If this ‘unrivalled opportunity for businesses’ means doing so much damage in an area beside the river and close to the city centre, then the council needs to re-examine its priorities. I would prefer these sites to be left fallow until more civilised and intelligent proposals come forward.”

Click Battersea Power Station for more blogs
See our Battersea Power Station project pages for more information and videos.
Or visit PlanA our general blog on urbanism, planning and architecture.

Spectacle homepage
Befriend Spectacle.Docs on Facebook
Follow SpectacleMedia on Twitter

New Spectacle Training 2009

Posted on by
Reply

New Courses are planned for the New Year !!

Spectacle will be running new courses in the following areas;

Workshop on Workshops – For people who are interested in running video workshops but need to gain practice in the use of media equipment and the processes of managing groups. Will take you through all stages of preparation, filming and preparing footage for editing.

Live Action Multi-Camera Shoots – Aimed at musicians and live performers and all those who would like to record and document a live event with a three camera shoot. Will cover handling equipment, sound recording and preparing footage for editing

For further details or to register an interest please contact: training@spectacle.co.uk

or visit our website: www.spectacle.co.uk