An editor on lessons learned from producing his own videos - part 2

One of the things I'm doing on my "sabbatical" from the working world is trying to learn new skills. As an editor, I never had the time to shoot and produce my own videos. The experience of doing so definitely builds an appreciation for the work of others. It also puts me in touch with what got me into journalism in the first place. While the technical aspect of video can sometimes seem overwhelming, the pleasure of working with sound and motion outweighs any frustration I've experienced. One thing that's become very clear to me is that any news organization doing video should establish very clear standards, practices and procedures that a person can follow to make the process as simple as possible.

Here's my latest video, "Dave Barber: Peaches and Opals," the story of a fixture at Denver's farmers markets with his great peaches and his opals. Click here to read my previous installment about this topic and see an earlier video.

What I'm doing on my sabbatical - perhaps a lesson for other editors

I remember hearing retired people saying they couldn't believe how busy they were. I never really understood. Until now, that is. Now that I'm taking a sabbatical - writing a blog, learning about video and multimedia, exploring the future, talking with other journalists and journalism organizations, doing things I'm interested in - I think I'm starting to understand.

When I was editor of the Rocky, I didn't have the time to immerse myself in learning about video equipment and how to shoot and edit stories. I worked with others who could do it way better than I'll ever be able to. But I was able to bring my sense of story and my experience as an editor to help with their work. Now, it's different.

I started by using a flip cam. To anybody who hasn't tried one, I recommend that you do. I bought mine for $80 on Woot. It's not HD. But it's fun to play with. And it gave me a sense of what's possible. I edited with iMovie. But I knew I wanted to do more. I want to be able to use video, audio, still photography and text to tell any story.

So I bought my own video kit and after attending a multimedia workshop with MediaStorm (I actually wanted to begin before then, but circumstances prevented it) I started working with Sonya Doctorian as a coach. It's been such a pleasure. There's nothing like hands on work. It's both fulfilling and startling, because you more easily see the possibilities.

Here's my first video using my new Canon HV30 video camera and Final Cut Express. It's called Judith's hallah. Judith is my wife. She bakes hallah for most Shabbat dinners for our family and friends. I thought it was going to be a how-to video, but it turned into more of a story about a family tradition and Judith. By the way, I attached the recipe for this bread to the video on my youtube page. I hope some of you try it.




I've already got another video planned for next week. I encourage anybody in a leadership position in a news department to try to get the same kind of experience. It will deepen your understanding of what's possible and build your appreciation of what some who work for you have to go through to produce and distribute a story. Valuable lessons come from giving up your secure position as a leader and being open to learning new things. It's also rejuvenating. So much to do...