Weekend Project- Videoblogging Biography

June 2, 2007 · Comments

Computer Family This weekend, get out your videocamera or your digital camera with movie setting, or heck, just your still camera, and interview someone. Pick a family member, maybe two. Would it be cool to interview the oldest person you could visit this weekend, and then the youngest? Is there a character in the neighborhood who’d be interesting to ask a few questions? Go get ‘em, Tiger.

Some Questions

The beauty of an interview is in the questions and how they empower your subject to answer. Here are some starter ideas for questions that might be fun to ask the person or people you interview:

  • Talk about a moment in your life where you felt proud.

  • Who’s someone you looked up to growing up (or look up to now)?
  • What’s something that gets you angry?
  • What kind of work do you think needs more doing in this world today?
  • What was it like where you grew up?
  • If you had to tell people a hundred years from now something about the life you lived, or the world you lived in, what would it be?

(I bet you’ve got some great questions to add to the comments.)

Make it Fun

Have fun with the interview. Can you do something to make it different? What would happen if you handed your subject the camera for a moment to shoot you? What would the film look like? Can you shoot a little bit of the surroundings of where you’re doing the interview? What kind of podsafe music do you want to consider adding to the interview? (If this is too tricky, skip it).

Edit and Post

If you’ve got a PC, use Windows Movie Maker. If you’re on a Mac, use iMovie. Not sure how? There are tutorials out there. Just google. But if you want, try it first.

Post it to Blip.tv or YouTube, or one of several other great services out there.

And then, post a link to your movie in the comments. We’d love to check out your interview, right guys?

Due Before Monday

If you get something done before Monday, that’d be rockstar cool. If not, see if you can do it over the coming week.

What do you think? Are you in?

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  • Well, I got one-half of the assignment correct - I made a video.

    http://www.mobasoft.com/wordpress/?p=118
  • I was thinking about something like that for my blog - an intro about who am I, what is of interest for me, what is the blog about and such.
  • I'm not sure you remember me....but. Don't you love starting a conversation with that??
    I am from writercise, a land long, long ago!
    See, there was the arts fest thing here in Beverly, my place of residence and I passed a booth called....Brogan (Art) not sure if that was the name, but you would know. And I saw the man sitting there in that art booth that is in this photo with your kids. I am no math wiz, but I can put 2 and 2 together and this is Chris Brogan's father. I spoke to him and told him that I "know" you from a writing group.
    Small world, isn't it?
    :D
  • Hi Chris,

    This is really fun, a great creativity exercise as well as a way to make a family essay or memoir, or a business memoir. I've done teamwork exercises like this, using digital cameras or polaroids, as well as video, where a team goes out and shoots images they discuss together that illustrate or are a metaphor for an issue they are working on, connected to innovation. Cool!

    I'm housesitting this weekend and do not have my video cam with me, unfortunately, but I'll do this another weekend with my peeps!

    Cheers,

    Cathryn Hrudicka
    Chief Imagination Officer
    Creative Sageā„¢/Cathryn Hrudicka & Associates
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