When we as solovj’s, backpack journalists, digital correspondents and/or documentary film makers talk about producing content for broadcast, in the past it was a clearly defined paradigm meant for traditional broadcast venues ie; television.

Today, the broadcast spectrum is much wider – entailing not only television, but also internet content distribution to multiple platforms including portable devices.

Traditional post production environments are locked in a rigid methodology about delivering to broadcast and as such, require alot of hoop jumping to get from point A to point B when delivering to alternative content distribution platforms.

What’s required to stay agile and deliver to multiple distribution platforms is a new way of thinking around post production that isn’t locked in that narrow world view.

With the development of post environments such as SONY Creative Suite and Adobe Creative Suite, the confines of what it means to deliver to the Broadcast Spectrum has shifted.

As opposed to rigid post production environments such as AVID’s Media Composer and Apple’s Final Cut Suite – and even to a certain extend Adobe’s Creative Suite – which still have their workflow methodologies rooted in film post production, the third party applications required to go outside this culture of film production only entails moving from the editing suite to encoding apps in order to get things done. Don’t get me wrong – these suites provide a high level of professional post produciton environments for film – but at a cost of productivity to one man army film production entities like myself.

I may sound like a broken record, but until one has actually edited in SONY Vegas Pro, as well as the rest of the Sony Creative Software applications, you know not what you’re missing. The ability to manage virtually all typical aspects of post production inside of Vegas Pro or the rest of the Master Suite rubs against the very culture of post production – ie; separate applications utilized by separate post production editors for sound, color grading, cutting , etc. There will be those who say projects edited in Vegas Pro don’t meet broadcast specification such as certain technical requirements, but in my research and discussion privately with those who have experience in this area, broadcasters have begun to relax some of those standards somewhat due to the pervasiveness of content that’s now available.

The skills of being a “jack of all trades, master of many” in the 21st century requires a new mindset around the complete project – not just shooting a story. It requires the ability to move into the post production environment almost seamlessly, and assembling that story into a cohesive project – without having to learn separate applications – which can only add to the confusion of the post production process.  Specialization has its place, but the sheer volume of content being produced now requires having more than just the skill of shooting or editing – it now requires both and the ability to tell a story while doing both – and doing it well.

I’m sure there will be those who will vehemently disagree with my perspective on this issue.  I’ve tested just about every post environment to some degree. I have both experienced myself and read from others about the hoop jumping to get from point A to Point B with the other options and I can attest that for the most part that SONY’s Vegas Pro – and the rest of their Master Suite, can accomplish more in a shorter period of time than anything else available at the present time.  Is it a perfect solution?  If it were, everyone would be using it.  Just as there are no perfect cameras, there are no perfect post production applications.  Choose one, and discover for yourself what suits your style.

Could my perspective change on my post production choice? Perhaps.

But I have my doubts it will.

“Why I’m glad I made the transition from ABC News off-air producer to New York Times videojournalist.”

That’s the introductory statement NYTimes VJ Erik Olsen made in an article posted on Digital Journalist – and one I feel speaks loudly above the cacophony of the detractors of self contained shooter/producers.

The changing landscape of creating video content is creating a wave of hostility around the massive paradigm shift that continues to take place – diverging away from multiperson news video production crews to self contained “Digital Journalists” or as I like to say – being a “One Man Army”.

As visual content creators, we need to reinvent what we do and how we do it.

Ive begun to edit another shooters work, who comes from the old style of shooting.  This has shown me just how threatening it can be to those who are use to shooting with several people while trying to manage all that is entailed when beginning to work in a self contained paradigm.

The quality of the work as I edit speaks for itself.  And I’ve begun to realize that for my professional colleagues, the ability to manage wearing several hats at the same time – and do it well, may end up pushing them over the edge.  Others – like myself, actually thrive on the challenge and I have found through trial and error that I actually become a better shooter/producer in the process.

Back to the article, Olsen goes on to say that:

Like any photographer, as a shooter/producer, you ultimately develop your own specific techniques, and you’re learning new ones all the time by watching others’ work…

Being a VJ means that you are totally responsible for what the viewer sees. These are your images, your words, your edits. You are usually alone in the field. And since you are working out in the real world (and not, say, a studio) where things don’t always go according to plan, you have to think on your feet.”

I have learned that this is very much the case – at least in my work.  The agility of being self contained has its rewards – but in many respects – can be more difficult and there are limitations to what you can produce.  I don’t see these as limitations as much as parameters in which I can operate effectively.

The ability to go out on my own, find a story, research it, shoot it – while not only having to maintain all that is entailed with the technical aspects of shooting a story, but shoot a COMPELLING story is the stuff that gets my juices flowing.  I know that what I shoot, how I shoot it and edit the piece, is my vision – no matter what tool I use to capture the content.

“I think we have one of the best jobs in journalism. Video is exploding online, and there is a great deal of experimentation going on with new tools and narrative forms.” says Olsen.

I think he’s absolutely correct in this statement.  The playing field has been leveled, the gatekeepers have been fired, and it is upon us to utilize this opportunity and make sure the high standard of quality is maintained, while competing in this field since many will make the assumption that they will automatically become pro’s just because of the tools they use – without the necessary skills needed to be considered a working professional solo vj.

Olsen concludes with this:  “Being a one-man band…  allows us remarkable editorial and creative control over our work. It is a real thrill to not only define and develop the narrative for a story, but also to choose the images that will go along with it, and then be able to come back and assemble them according to your own vision. Having come from network television news, where we had cameramen and soundmen and producers and editors and so on, I know that this is a rarity. But this is obviously the direction that much of the industry is going. That’s why being a digital journalist today, despite the troubles the industry as a whole is facing, is one of the most exciting and interesting occupations around.”

I couldn’t agree more

I just came across an interview with Travis Fox on the USC Annenberg School for Communication.

Although the interview is a couple of years old, I have admired Travis’s work since I began shooting as a solo video journalist and feel he’s the finest solo video journalist currently producing web video journalism content.

NPPA is reporting that in TV news departments around the country there are layoffs, or rumors of layoffs, taking place in cities like Minneapolis, Miami, Cleveland, and Denver.

The answer is something I and others who ascribe to the backpack or Solo Video Journalist paradigm have been extolling quite a bit over the course of the past year.

According to the posting on the NPPA’s website,

“…there’s a slow but noticeably steady influx of “backpack photojournalists,” the “one-man-band” (solo video journalists) that’s been talked about for so long. And in a reverse of tradition, at least two newspapers have hired veteran broadcast television photojournalists to leave television news behind to come over to “the other side” to shoot video for the newspaper’s Web sites…”

Michael Rosenblum has been at the very forefront of what he likes to term “Burning down all the tv stations” and replace the archaic staffing with agile, mobile solo vj’s. As much as I hate to see anyone laid off – especially if they are award winners in their craft, the realities of the profession that I and others of similar world view have been talking about for the past year are beginning to come to pass.

Detractors lament that the small compact cameras and their operators are diminishing the craft of video journalism. It isn’t the equipment, it’s the operator. The newly emerging profession of web video journalism is going to make changes in how news, short and long form video projects are produced and distributed.

Adapt or perish – either way, the changes to this profession are happening.