Multimedia Bootcamp

Several weeks ago I attended UNC’s Multimedia Bootcamp. As the most fantastic business trip I could have imagined, I spent five intensive days talking about video, shooting video and editing video. Basically, it was a magical vacation.

UNC has a fantastic reputation in the world of multimedia. As a recent grad of OU that might pain me to say, but after almost a year in Marketing & Communications this was a refreshing kick in the butt.

The staff reminded me that all stories are character-driven, but that not all characters are people. As viewers we remember (anecdotally) 25% of what we see, 50% of what we hear, and 100% of what we feel. In Marketing, I often forget about emotion; experience with a product can be more important than ROI.

We learned primarily about storytelling, rounding that information out with presentations on interactive web habits, eye track & usability, and more storytelling. I highly recommend the week-long bootcamp to any working professional looking to gain or increase their multimedia skillset.

Our multimedia assignment for the week was to profile a business near campus and give viewers a sort of behind-the-scenes access they couldn’t experience on their own. We got together in pairs to find a story Monday evening and shoot said story Tuesday afternoon. Julie and I spent four hours on Rosemary St at the cash-only parking garage talking with Delano, the parking attendant. During the remainder of the week we edited (in FCP7, how strange was that coming back from Premiere!?) our footage individually without seeing the other’s work.

In this edit, I think my OU training is still painfully obvious. When I showed both versions to my Marketing colleagues they spoke to my story arc and character development, but never mentioned whether it was something they’d watch on their own…

Enjoy.