When creating school and community-based resources, we like to ensure they reflect our partners’ languages and cultures. Typically, we come on-site with a professional videographer for 3-5 days to collect local audio and video footage. We shoot interviews, attend activities and events, and gather local footage that showcases people and places in the community. 

Filming in Community

Over the past few years, we found the cost of travel sometimes made it challenging to create all the different resources communities want. It was hard to collect footage across different seasons or film a series of events across multiple weeks or months. It involved multiple trips, which quickly got too expensive. 

Now, with new travel restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19, it is even more difficult to arrange in-community filming. Travel to remote and Northern communities often requires a 14-day quarantine period upon arrival. 

Virtual Youth Training Program

In thinking about how to best support our community partners and keep them safe during this crisis, we developed a new program that will help develop capacity in-community for audio and video collection. It will enable a more regular collection of materials. We can gather footage as needed, either in place of our own travel or between our visits. 

We’ve developed a new virtual training program for youth to help support the collection of basic audio and video footage. This program is a multi-week training session that walks participants through the basics of photography, videography, and audio file collection. Our team in Montreal will deliver it via video conference. In addition to the theory and knowledge, we will also give participants several assignments. We’ve geared the program toward older youth, between 18 and 30, with an interest and aptitude for technology and visual arts.

Photography, Videography, and Audio Recording

Participants will learn about the equipment used for photography, videography, and audio recordings and learn when and how to use each piece of hardware. They will also learn about the basics of digital photography, including controls, ISO, composition, exposure, lens choice, image formats, and depth of field and focus. 

The training will cover all elements of working with a shot list, setting up the environment for the best shot, coordinating with community members to arrange interviews, and more. We will focus on the technical knowledge and the Protocols for inviting and filming an Elder or Knowledge Keeper. 

Hardware Kits

We will provide each participating community with one or more audio/video hardware kits that participants can use to complete assignments. This kit will include a laptop, a prosumer camera, an audio recorder, microphones, and necessary accessories. These kits will remain in the community for ongoing footage collection after the training.

Once learners have completed the training and are ready to begin filming, we will work with them to provide shot lists and filming guides and hire them at an appropriate daily rate to gather footage for resource creation.

Skill-Building Opportunities

This program helps learners build and hone new skills and provides them with opportunities to explore career paths in visual arts and multimedia. They will have the opportunity to learn about audio and video, which may lead to entrepreneurship opportunities or post-secondary training in the field. 

While this program will not eliminate the need for outside videography, it can help augment what we can collect in community and extend the filming time. That will enable us to collect more footage and film more activities. It can also help support footage collection when travel restrictions are in place. That way, we can continue creating digital educational resources that support remote learning and preserve local knowledge and teachings. 

If you are interested in learning more about this program or exploring how it can increase capacity in your community, please contact Andrea by email (andrea@learningbird.com) or phone (1-888-844-9022 ext 808).