Y-NEX Training of Trainers in Dublin
Categories: English, Photo, Text, Y-NEX blogDublin – The Y-NEX Training of Trainers workshop on ‘Mobile Journalism Technology (MoJo)’ took place in Dublin on June 29 to July 1, 2016 inclusive. The venue was the The National Film School of Ireland (NFS) which is hosted on campus at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT).
Jessica Fuller IADT’s newly appointed head of the Directorate of Creativity Innovation and Research opened the workshop with a comprehensive introduction to IADT, its programmes and the Creative Industries landscape in Ireland.
With a typical Y-NEX end user in mind (unemployed youth for example) we endeavoured to strike a training balance between a beginners approach to MoJo and at the same time reveal the real world of a MoJo professional linked to meaningful employment possibilities.
Philip Penny IADT, Darko Flajpan HRT and Dara McKeagney NFS outlined the background and history of MoJo. This was followed by an overview of MoJo operating systems with a focus on Android and iOS. Darko’s input here was deemed to be particularly relevant as HRT’s module 4 Mojo production is very closely linked to IADT’s module 2 MoJo technology. This tight cross collaboration between HRT and IADT will ensure continuity and coherence in the final technology training workshop in Zagreb.
The second part of the first morning session was dedicated to filming and taking photographs using tripods and various MoJo accessories. Phone holders, stabilisers and handheld gimbals etc. After these initial introductions groups assignments were organised and finalised. Each group was tasked with producing a short 3 to 5 minute multimedia production to demonstrate their MoJo competencies for peer reviewed evaluation and showcasing on the final day of the workshop.
In the afternoon Carol Cassidy a lecturer in Journalism and Media Studies from Rutgers University in New York USA (via Skype) gave an inspirational talk on the ‘The Hero Cycle’ developed by Joseph Campbell an approach she uses when planning an assignment. Carol is a multi-media director, producer, writer and editor who specializes in international human rights. She has worked in war zones, refugee camps and disaster areas in more than 35 countries, including Burma, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Bolivia and Peru. Cassidy has worked with the United Nations, BBC, PBS, CNN, Human Rights Watch, and many others. Her work has screened at art museums, film festivals and on international television.
The following day there was more hands-on technology training surrounding the importance of ‘good audio’ in MoJo examining different devices, sound check tasks were set and results examined and discussed across all groups.
The groups were each assigned a company in the Media Cube (a technology incubation centre) on IADT’s campus to carry out MoJo interviews to test their learning and new found MoJo skills. The final outputs of this work can be found on the Y-NEX project website.