Tiktok Challenge

So here're some of the examples from TikTik.  We'll seeing if we can make some of this in the workshop.

The jokes

The bison joke: https://vm.tiktok.com/xDXTNC/
Two birds: https://vm.tiktok.com/xDhBhx/

Collective challenge

Eg. https://vm.tiktok.com/xkGxgM/

Eg: https://vm.tiktok.com/xknWMW/

Variations:  https://vm.tiktok.com/xknWMW/

Individual challenge

Someone like you... 

Eg:  https://vm.tiktok.com/xr748Y/

Eg: https://vm.tiktok.com/xhNPQN/

Eg: https://vm.tiktok.com/xD5BKL/

Variations:  https://vm.tiktok.com/xh626b/

Walk on challenge

Eg: https://www.tiktok.com/@djbravo47/video/6766440692777536770
Eg : https://vm.tiktok.com/xrmkty/

Eg : https://vm.tiktok.com/xrUQJ7/

Variations: https://vm.tiktok.com/xhN5Gp/

Hands Challenge

Eg: https://vm.tiktok.com/xhFcME/

Variations: https://vm.tiktok.com/xrn2WQ/

Tutorial: https://vm.tiktok.com/xrxwpK/

Ever been in the back of a cop car

Variations https://vm.tiktok.com/xk3rKT/

Ready..Steady...

Almost there now.  There're still things to line up and the running order to check, but we're in the workshop space now with a couple of hours until everyone's here.  The last few days has been full of preparation.  Talking through sessions, trying things out and seeing if the kit works.  There's also the small matter of jet lag and Gusztav waking up at 4.30am, ready for dinner.  It's just as important to prepare ourselves and get in the right frame of mind for doing workshops.

My preparation started last week with a three day stopover in Hong Kong and a day at the spa while I waited for my friend to come home from work and let me in.  That and the extra time here last week for a conference has taken the edge of the jetlag and given me some space away from work to sort things out and potter a bit. 
This morning the game was a bit of stretching and meditation, breakfast and coffee, and then walking over to Yourtown with all the kit.  We're setting up the tables, making sure the projectors and the wifi works and so on.  I've just remembered that I need to link the ipads up to Box so we can share media easily.  It's quite calming, and soon it'll be time to talk through the schedule one more time, and then print it out, and that's what we're doing.

Pre-workshop Meeting Media

We're holding a pre-workshop meeting online today, and one of the things I want to sound out is what people are particularly interested in getting experience of.  Everyone will get a chance to experience a taste of everything, but in terms of making media, we're going to split participants into 2 groups.  One focusing on participatory video (PV), and one on digital storytelling.  It's going to have to be a negotiation, because we need the groups to be balanced in terms of numbers and capacity.  To give an idea of the choices involved, here's a selection of examples of different kinds of films.

Araby Youth Matters:  Student Project Video Documentation.
Omid's story Digital Story about an asylum seeker in Sweden.
Saada's story - Digital story about an immigrant in Sweden.
Social Innovation - Short film made in 20 minutes in a PV workshop.
We are Teachers: PV project film in Malawi, short excerpt.  Took 3 weeks to do.
Sumeg behind the scenes - Video documentation about a PV pilot project.

Social Media and the Tik-Tok Film School

One the really interesting impacts of social media is how it's changing us as an audience.  YouTube now has an incredible 500 hours of content uploaded every minute, which doesn't even count what goes on other platforms (Facebook, Vimeo and so on).  This has worked as a distribution channel for media in shapes that we're used to: drama, comedy, news, documentaries, music videos and so on, but it has also created new genres and reshaped what we perceive as acceptable.

Like what Chris?  Well, like jump cuts. When two successive clips have the same camera angle and shot, we usually see a sudden transition.  In traditional video editing,  jump cuts are usually avoided by switching camera angles and covering the transitions with other images - known as cutaways.  Vlogging, on the other hand has embraced jump cuts, and it's become much more normal, building an audience tolerance and even expectation for something that used to be quite weird because we hardly ever saw it.

About a year ago I signed up to new social media platform Tik Tok, after deciding it was time to explore something new.   I missed out on Vine, which also focused on short form videos, so it's been a real education.  Tik Tok films are generally around 10 seconds or so, and can be shot and edited directly from the mobile app.  There're a bunch of filters and special effects, and a host of existing audio tracks - earlier versions platform focused on lip syncing.  The result is kind of nuts, and with plenty of song and dance and a bunch of memes that spread really easily because one the things that people on the platform do is make their own versions of each others films, as well as a really nice response feature which shows the original and a response together side by side.It's literally a young platform as most users are teenagers - though that's changing fast and there're definitely more adults visible than a year ago.   Like any social media, there's content that makes me uncomfortable, but in general I like the spirit.  There's a nice mix of popular stars and total beginners, with work ranging from totally professional to first tries. 

All of which makes it a really good site to look at lots of films in a short time, and see how different film elements (action, photos, text, soundtrack etc) are used to tell stories and show off talents.  It's like a very high speed film school. Here's a small selection from my favourite's list:

Memes

Door banging 1

Door banging 2

Jokes

Tuna sandwich
Every girl's purse

Dances

Danca

You can really dance

Advocacy

Dying earth

How to make..

Play soccer with your phone

Gravity is working

Using text on screen

Cutest person in the world

Soccer girls

Pianists and racists

Beautiful person detector

As for anything else, there's a bunch of YouTube videos that demonstrate how to do particular things.  For example this tutorial on how to add text when making a Tik Tok video.

Packing

Deciding what to take for a workshop on the other side of the world isn't always easy, especially when it's not totally clear what you'll need or not.  For this workshop I've compromised a bit on the high end kit (which we're not going to emphasize), and tried to build in flexibility. The cat is staying behind.

The novelty this time is much more focus on mobile film-making, aided by some new microphones.    I'd have liked to have a video light or two, but I'm flying via Hong Kong, so there's a chance to look around and maybe pick  up a bargain.  It'd also be nice to have some kind of frame or grip to hold my mobile with space for a mic.  I'll also look for an adapter or two on the way, as the Australian plug is different.

I've cut back on clothes because it's going to be warm in Brisbane, and I can manage with a light jacket and sandals for the transfers.  The total weight came in at 18 kg, which is awesome, though don't ask about my hand luggage.  It's where I carry all the delicate stuff, and I always have two goes at security while they make sense of all the circuitry and funny shapes.  It helps to know that the metal tube they're interested in is a microphone, though it doesn't help to say "That's my shotgun".

Now it's the point where all the decisions are made and we just have to solve things with what we have. 

Beginnings

The way I remember it is something like "I'm sorry, but there's no way I'm going to Australia for 3 days.   It's just too far.  I'd love to come to the symposium, but I'll have to find something else to do". 

Something else turned out to be really cool - four and a half days of workshops, hosted by yourtown, YMCA and University of Queensland, looking at how participatory media production, evaluation and research fit together - https://www.yourtown.com.au/participatory-visual-methods-workshop.  I'm working with some really cool individuals.  

So welcome aboard the blog of the project.  Its been months in the making, with a dream team to work with, drama (visas), excitement and head scratching all fitted around already busy schedules. Early morning meetings have become normal (We're 9 hours behind now in Europe, which means 7am is 4pm in Brisbane).

It means leaving my forest and garden behind to the deer and the wind, but I think it's going to be worth it.  I've been thinking about these things for nearly 20 years now, trying out parts of them and testing and refining others in conferences and in teaching.  It's time to put it together and share it.  Turns out that "No, but..." is a doorway to adventure.