On Friday, February 15 the Office of Information Technologies (OIT) hosted the first Video Community of Practice, a planned ongoing series of events to support and encourage faculty and graduate student research projects involving video and multimedia.
Moderated by award by award-winning documentary filmmaker Sarah Elder, participants showed examples of their work, which included:
- Documentary projects on suicide in Alaskan indigenous communities; historical memory; eccentric personalities; the history of an extinct people; and an exploration of ancient and modern Pompeii through sensual archeology.
- Transforming a collection of photos from World War II-era Germany into a film.
- A series of videos supporting a mobile application for identifying and reporting invasive species in Massachusetts.
- Examples of student-produced digital essays for a college writing class.
The engaging, constructive discussions that followed each presentation touched on techniques and best practices for dramatic storytelling, tools for video and multimedia production, and general advice and support.
OIT is planning to host another Video Community of Practice Event near the end of the Spring 2013 semester, so please look for an announcement in the coming weeks.