Geek Girl VLogging Workshop at Geek Girl Con

I’m thrilled to be apart of the first Geek Girl Con coming up this weekend in Seattle.  On Sunday, I have two sessions I’m participating in:

Geek Girl Vlogging
Vlog your way to a better tomorrow! Feminist Frequency and Reel Grrls team up to host a Geek Girl video blogging workshop. This introductory workshop covers the basic how to of video blogging from shooting to publishing. See examples of some of the most interesting vlogs on the net with panelists’ critique on the do’s and don’ts of creating compelling online videos.
Panelists: Maile Martinez and Anita Sarkeesian.

Media Literacy, Criticism, and Production
Geek Girls are fluent in popular culture, yet sometimes miss the subtext imbedded in the words and images put out by the media. Panelists will open your eyes to the good, the bad, and the ugly of media and help you to start asking questions of media creators, distributors, and consumers.
Panelists: Maile Martinez (moderator), Anita Sarkeesian, Leah Wilson, Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, Kelsey Wallace, Kjerstin Johnson

 Resources and Recommended Videos below

Resources

Here are some resources that we have put together that are helpful when creating and promoting your videoblog/webshow.

V I D E O

• MPEG Streamclip – 
MPEG Streamclip is a powerful free video converter, player, editor for Mac and Windows.
• Miro Video Converter – 
A super simple way to convert almost any video to MP4, WebM (vp8), Ogg Theora, or for Android, iPhone, and more.
• Fire Fogg – Allows users to encode videos in ogg and webm formats and upload them to compatible sites. (HTML5)
• DownloadHelper – 
DownloadHelper is also a free Firefox extension for downloading and converting videos from many sites with minimum effort.

M E D I A

• ccMixter – 
ccMixter is a community music site featuring remixes licensed under Creative Commons where you can listen to, sample, mash-up, or interact with music in whatever way you want.
• Creative Commons Search – 
Find Creative Commons licensed media

A C C E S S I B I L I T Y

• Universal Subtitles – 
Universal Subtitles is a free open source subtitling and translating video platform.

M I S C

• Center For Social Media – 
Learn about the best practices for fair use
• nist.tv – A feminist video aggregator site, it’s like YouTube for feminism!
• Organization for Transformative Works – 
a nonprofit organization run by and for fans to provide access to and preserve the history of fanworks and fan cultures.

VLogs and Web Shows

Check out these videos, vlogs and web shows

• Grrl Vlog – created by the staff and students at Reel Grrls, they discuss media, feminism, tech things or what’s going on at Reel Grrls.
• Ill Doctrine – ill Doctrine is a video blog hosted by Jay Smooth, founder of New York’s longest running hip-hop radio show, WBAI’s Underground Railroad.
• That’s Gay – A segment on Current TV’s InfoMania discussing representations of Queer folks in the media
• Target Women – A former segment on Current TV’s InfoMania discussing gender in advertising
• NineteenPercent – a YouTube vlogger who occasionally comments on the media and women’s rights. Check out these videos: Beyonce: Run the World (Lies), Planned Parenthood, and The Erosion of Roe and Why You Should Give a Sh*t
• Going Rampent – discusses political issues such as sexism, ageism, etc. in relation to fictional media, as well as general analyses. Check out Male Rape Jokes
• Violet Drow – Did a series of videos discussing historical women for Women’s History Month. Check out The Pirate Queen, Yaa Asantewaa, Annette Kellerman.
• Someone To Shout For – discusses issues about and for queer folks. Check out Bisexuality

 

Do’s & Don’t’s of Vlogging

This list of do’s and don’t’s was collectively brainstormed in the videoblogging session

Bechdel Test for Women in Movies by Feminist Frequency

• Used Humour
• Not ranty
• Not angry/not accusational
• Use of examples
• Focused on one clear point
• Backdrop with clean focus/uncluttered
• made use of the visual medium

How to Tell People They Sound Racist by IllDoctrine

• Jump cuts were smooth and camera angle changed
• A story arc/structure – beginning/middle/end
• Music, helped give the video rhythm
• Engaged with the audience directly
• Changed style while talking, between academic/theoretical and used humor, metaphorical
• Black and white filter didn’t distract from the video

Grrl Vlog #1: Bristol Palin’s New PSA by Reel Grrls

Do’s

• – Used clips to illustrate point
• – two points of view with two vloggers
• – clear point and narrative arc
• – timely and relevant
• – nuanced analysis
• – resources at the end

Don’t’s

• looked awkward when not talking
• if having a conversation, look at each other
• enunciation and delivery
• hot pink was distracting – colour scheme was distracting from the content
• music could barely be heard and was distracting when heard, should be used to pace video sliding transitions were distracting
• announcing that its the first video
• was about the event but didn’t have the hook that makes it timeless (could focus on the larger issue)
• lighting was different on each vlogger
• too long
• comments that were stream of consciousness could have been cut out when not relevant