Author Archives: Katherine Turner

Lebron James isn’t a great basketball player because he wears Nikes. And just like the shoes don’t make the player, the equipment doesn’t necessarily make the storyteller. Sure, I like nice equipment as much as anyone but a camera is just a tool.

The UW Pocketmedia Film Festival was born out of a conversation between Hanson Hosein, director of the MCDM program, and Harry Hayward, MCDM alum and Director of Electronic Media at UW. A few years back, both had just discovered the Flip video camera and thought, “wouldn’t it be great to create a festival using only these small cameras?” It was as simple as that.

Video capture technology has become smaller, better, and cheaper to the point that you can buy an HD camera that fits in your pocket for under $200. This has opened doors for the citizen journalist, the home-movie maker, the aspiring videographer, and many more. With a small investment almost anyone who wants to can have access to a powerful storytelling tool. It’s leveled the playing field for multimedia content creators. The barrier to entry is very, very low. Continue reading