In my never ending quest to redefine what it is I do and why, it occurred to me that as a solovj, I feel most compelled to tell a story that has personal meaning.  At the same time, that story should reflect to the viewer, a sense of their humanity, to let them know that we are not alone, that we are a part of something greater than ourselves.

How does one do that given the imposed limitations that currently exist in broadcast news, newspaper video, etc?
I believe it requires a conscious choice to take a stand and stand for what you believe in.

One of the things we as visual journalists have in common is our interest, our sensitivity to telling stories that touch on topics that are outside what the pablum generating corporate lamestream news media would have spoon fed to us.  That is, finding a story that may somehow right an injustice, to bring to the light that which isn’t fair or respectful to others of the family of man.

Documentary film making has been an avenue to speak on various topics that have brought about change at many times in our society.

So now we come to the gist of this posting:  What does shooting as a backpack journalist or solo video journalist have to do with documentary film making?

I say it has much to do with it – and I’ve coined a new term around it that may help to shed light on yet another facet of working self contained, telling stories with video, stills and audio.

The Micro Documentary as a story telling medium.

I have been thinking on how to define this term and it has forced em to to realize that maybe working as a solovj or backpack journalist could be interchanged with micro documentary film maker.

The differences of course require a shift in how the story is told.  It’s going to require more pre-planning on the topic. Thus the research aspect of the craft begins to play a bigger role.   IN addition, one also needs to go in without expectations on how the story will unfold, as many documentary film makers will attest – the premise of the story can deviate from the initial concept and as a self contained production entity we have the ability to be more agile and adapt accordingly as needed.

I’m going to be delving more into this paradigm.  With the ability of content distribution via the internet, social networking such as Twitter to create viral marketing interest in finished projects, it seems that creating good stories is now up to the ability of the shooter themselves.

The gatekeepers no longer have a hold on showing those stories we feel need to be told – just because said gatekeeper says so.

Welcome to the Micro Documentary Film Maker.

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