Spectacle’s Online Training for Oxford COMPAS Researchers

How Universities Researchers are Adapting Online 

Imagine: you’re running an international research network and suddenly – a pandemic hits! All international travel is on hold for up to two years! It’s your worst nightmare. You’ve got researchers who are supposed to be flying in from all over the globe for a week-long retreat or training workshop! What can you do? 

This was the predicament numerous Universities found themselves in, but they found ways to adapt and continue projects – many turned to Spectacle’s Bespoke Training Workshops to help them creatively solve problems. 

Through 2020, video conferencing has become the norm and many researchers are now imagining how important and useful video making or remote online participatory video research could be for communicating their research or archive-based workshops going forward. Maybe we can help you too.  

Oxford COMPAS

This week Spectacle kicks off a bespoke training course for The Oxford Centre on Migration, Policy, and Society (COMPAS). Since 2003, COMPAS has established an international reputation for original research and policy relevance. 

The training we will provide is for the researchers focusing on sustainable cities. Researchers will join online from cities around the world including Oxford, Beijing, Bangalore, Cape Town and Medellin. 

Spectacle’s training will give these researchers the skills to film with a more professional production quality and edit with an eye for narrative flow. Going forward, this will enable them to make short videos to effectively communicate their research to a larger audience. 

Does this sound like the kind of training you or your organisation might benefit from?  

Bespoke Training for Academics

When it comes to making videos, the just ‘point and shoot’ method only works if you are extremely lucky. From inaudible audio, to interviewees that clam up as soon as they see a camera, to takes ruined by continuous autofocusing – the pitfalls are innumerable. 

Spectacle online video training

When looking to make video, academics have unique needs. They aren’t looking to become documentary filmmakers. They aren’t looking to invest in overly expensive filming equipment. They won’t have a large support crew to help with filming. And the need to make a final project where the medium (and mistakes) don’t distract from the message.

About Spectacle

Spectacle is an award-winning independent media company that specialises in documentary, community-led investigative journalism, and participatory media.

We have been leaders in Participatory Video (PV) practice and community engagement for more than thirty years, and offer training and workshops in every aspect of digital filmmaking.

We offer affordable, accessible, and enjoyable film, media, and video training. No prior knowledge needed! Learn what you really need to know to make quality videos with us

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Bespoke Group Video Training for Anthropologists at Edinburgh University

Sorry for the long silence: Spectacle’s video training team has been extremely busy over the past few months!
Alongside our usual sessions in London, we recently ran an extremely successful video production course for anthropologists and social researchers at the University of Edinburgh – and then another session shortly afterwards for media students at Birkbeck, University of London.

The good news is, we are now taking bookings again for the new academic year!

We can run bespoke short courses for academics (students and staff) on location at universities and institutes anywhere in the country, where a group of between 4 and 20 people want to learn how to use video for fieldwork.

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Over the years, we have trained hundreds of students and we continue to receive excellent feedback after every session.

Our hands on approach equips students with the ability and confidence to go out and shoot on their own after our training.

Our courses are flexible and can be easily tailored to your needs. We can arrange anything from a one day introduction to video production or editing techniques, to a full three or four days of training covering the entire filmmaking process from start to finish.

We can schedule the course across consecutive days or leave intervals between sessions.
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We can also offer training in participatory video techniques.

More information on our bespoke courses can be found here: www.spectacle.co.uk/training/bespoke-group

We also run weekend courses for individuals at our premises in London, with the next one scheduled for 23-24 September.

Many academics have taken and enjoyed our courses, and you can see feedback here: http://www.spectacle.co.uk/training/testimonials/

7 (More) Reasons Why Video is Important for Business

Using video on your website can help to boost business, here are 7 reasons why.

1. A study by Aim clear shows that search results with video have a ‘41% higher click through rate than plain text’.

2. Video marketing is 53 more times likely than plain text to rank on the first page of googles search results.

3. Video can transform your website by being visually appealing. When visitors to your site are given the choice of whether to watch a video or read a piece of text, the majority will choose to watch a video.

5. Marketing Sherpa discovered individuals spent 100% more time on pages with videos on them.

6. “A video is worth 1.8 million words” – (James Mcquivey – Forrester)
The average web attention span is 5 minutes, meaning video is an effective way of getting information across to the audience quickly.

7. Visuals are transmitted to the brain 60, 000 times faster than text.

There is a growing demand for websites to include video . Our courses are short and affordable compared to others around, and it is cheaper to train employees to use video than hiring a film crew. Recently, Spectacle have provided training courses in video production for Cambridge University Press and several Borough Councils.

If you are interested in booking the course visit the How to Book page.

For information on other Spectacle training courses

Or contact training@spectacle.co.uk

If you would like more information on future training opportunities at Spectacle sign up for the Training Newsletter – tick the box if you would also like Spectacle’s general newsletter.




 


 

Training: Digital Video Production for the Web

Our Digital VWEB4ideo Production for the Web course is aimed at NGOs, SMEs, charities, social enterprises and small businesses who want to produce their own online video content. There is an ever-increasing demand for high quality online video to get your message across and to reach audiences.

DIY film making and successful use of no/low budget techniques can slash your production costs and actually improve the content you produce. Training existing staff or volunteers in the techniques of high quality digital film making is far more cost effective than hiring a film crew. But in addition to this, when people working on the ground record their own activities and events, capture client testimonials and document their work you can often get better results than with a hired film crew of strangers. Where your staff have built relationships and trust with your clients they can film more relaxed and interpersonal moments – moments that might elude an external film crew, making for a more direct and powerful film.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

This practical hands-on course aims to give you the “future proof” information you really need to know to produce high quality videos by concentrating on the techniques and skills that stay constant, regardless of passing developments in software, technologies and formats.

The training is not technology specific but gives you the knowledge and attitude to get the best out of whatever equipment is to hand, to navigate your way around the complexity of codecs and formats, to identify and solve technical problems, techniques and methods, to speedily pass on knowledge and expertise to other members of your organisation and client base.

ABOUT THE TUTOR

Mark Saunders is an award-winning independent film-maker, media activist and writer. His expertise in the field spans over two decades.

He is currently running Spectacle Productions, a company which he founded in 1990. Clients have included Amnesty International, Channel 4, the Rowntree Foundation, the Howard League for Penal Reform, Council of Europe, Groundwork, the London Health Commission, and many others.

His films have been broadcast internationally and exhibited at galleries, including Tate Britain, the National Film Theatre, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Musee des Beaux-Arts,  the National Media Museum and the Photographers Gallery.

Alongside production work, in 1990 he was a founding member of INURA (International Network for Urban Research and Action). Mark has also been teaching for over 15 years, and has been a visiting lecturer at a number of institutions, including London School of Economics, the Royal College of Art, the London College of Communications, Bournemouth, Florence, and Coventry Universities. He is currently teaching at Birkbeck College.

DATES AND COSTS

Our London based Digital Video Production for the Web training course is suitable for beginners and up. At just £600 per person it is excellent value and we offer a 20% discount to groups of more than four booking together. If you are a group we can bring our training to your premises and tailor it to your needs.  We have a course scheduled for next week, and another set to run in December (3rd-5th). We will arrange more courses for individuals if there is demand so please enquire if you are interested. If you are a group of more than four, please contact us and we can run a course especially for you.

For more information on prices, booking and course content, please see the training page on our website.  

If you are interested in booking this course visit the How to Book page.

For information on other Spectacle training courses

Or contact training@spectacle.co.uk

If you would like more information on future training opportunities at Spectacle sign up for the Training Newsletter.