[spectre] sample image workshop

[florian schneider]

[pls fwd to whom it may concern /fls]

SAMPLE IMAGE

Invitation to a 5-day workshop about editing, encoding, streaming and
distributing audio-visual content across borders and networks

October 1-5, 2003, in Rome

SAMPLE IMAGE is the second of a series of workshops D-A-S-H is
organizing on a europe wide level. In a five-day seminar in Weimar,
last May, we discussed what the actual impact of open source and open
publishing concepts could be for grassroots activism and the fight
against racism and exclusion.

During this workshop the idea of an exchange network for effective
sharing of high-bandwith material was presented. Video material, in
particular, should be distributed widely under a creative commons
license that explitely enables the use and the re-use of the offered
content.

But this network, which was later dubbed V2V, could serve a wide range
of purposes: from a clearing house that researches and presents open
standards for the encoding, sharing and meta-tagging of audiovisuals
to a distributed content provider which provides unfettered access to
a collaboratively curated as well as automatically updated and
archived film programme.

The workshop in Weimar has been characterized by a broad and general
debate about openness. This has set off the conceptual design of a
couple of new common projects. In Rome now, the goal is to pick up the
ideas of blurring borders between producing and distributing, creating
and curating, screening and viewing, and do a reality-check.

- How can we realize the potential of a foreseeable technological
development, and what are the past and current obstacles?

- What issues of authorship and copyright or -left need to be
addressed and challenged?

- How can we make the tools of image-production available for those
who are systematically excluded or confined to the role of passive
consumers?

We are fully aware, that the real impact of images with open sources
will be revealed neither on technological nor juridical, but content
level. It is about nothing less than the creation and dissemination of
virtual images that everyone can read, write and execute.

Virtual images that may constitute a digital commons: Visualizing the
narratives of a movement of movements that run through the local and
become global, reaccessing the cinematic heritage of other
generations, empowering colaborative story-telling, propagating fast
sharing of content, skills and ressources, enabling multiple
connections between creative nodes and networks.

SAMPLE IMAGE is the title of the workshop, taking place in Rome, in
the first days of october. First of all, SAMPLE IMAGE will be
generously hosted and co-produced by one of the most proactive and
lively environments for contemporary video production: Candida TV and
the self-managed cultural center Forte Prenestino are offering their
facilities for a comprehensive 5-day working session on editing,
encoding, streaming screening and distributing audio-visual content
across borders and networks.

The workshop takes place in a media-landscape plotted by an enormous
degree of monopolization and private control. In response to that a
spontaneous movement of micro-tv-stations also known as tele street
broadcasting either terrestrial or via satellite has emerged within
the last few months. So the Roma workshop may turn out as an excellent
opportunity to get in touch with a wide range of italian media
activists and exchange first-hand information.

The conceptual design of the workshop tries to hold the balance
between an engaging structure and open spaces for spontaneous
teamwork. The aim is to make each session as interactive as possible,
but at the same time to provide well-engineered basic information.

To accomplish this the workshop will run on four different tracks:

1. MORNING SESSIONS:

The first half of each day will be devoted to in-depth presentations
of cutting-edge projects. These presentations are designed to look
behind the curtain of the user interface, in order to discuss the
directions of code development and to understand the tactical and
strategical context of each project.

Invited Projects include: Telestreet, Tapestry, Frequency Clock, Pure
Data, Cinerella, Engage TV, European Newsreel, Sub TV, Hybrid
Videotracks, New global Vision, Candida TV, Bignoisefilms, Community
Edit, Wastun, V2V - Video Syndication and others

2. AFTERNOON SESSIONS:

In small workgroups we will work on the practical challenges of
audio-visual content production and distribution. The worksgroups are
meant to meet the needs of both self-assigned newbies and expert
producers. The goal is to kickstart skill-sharing on various levels.

These workgroups follow three tracks:

A -- EDITING

A critical reflection of the processes of assembling, mixing and
editing audio-visual content

What aesthetic strategies do we employ in independent and political
video? Where are they appropriate?  What connection can our work have
to real communities or territories? What creative ways are there of
involving communities and making room for collective or multiple
authorship? What other mediums do we involve in creating and editing
video? What are the experiences with cross-medium deployments blurring
the lines between mediums, images and objects?  What potentials exist
beyond the restrictions of proprietary software and commercial
environments? Is there such a thing as a special way of editing for
streaming in networking environment in relation to traditional tape
distribution offline?

B -- ENCODING

A valuable commitment to a collaborative approach on encoding

What really happens when content is compressed? What are the
advantages of the different exchange formats? Is there a need for a
common standard and what could be the criteria? How to keep up to date
with the rapid development of ever new codecs and containers? How to
document and exchange experiences with the various encoding standards?

C -- DISTRIBUTING

A shared vision of how to organize sustainable networks for
distribution

How to effectively use the net as a distribution channel for
high-quality audio and video material? How do we syndicate content
between independent and autonomous nodes? What kind of meta-data have
to be provided and how to diffuse them? What is the future meaning of
push- and pull-concepts, on- and offline screenings, broad- and
narrowcasting, live and on demand? Where is the impact of video felt?
What creative strategies have we and can we employ to bring video into
effective and perhaps unusual situations? What current networks of
distribution exist and how have they worked?

3. EXPERIMENTAL SESSIONS:

A collective effort to get some practical work done

 From setting up a streaming video studio with consumer electronics to
collaborative writing on manuals and how-to's. From configuring a
server as a node in the V2V network to setting up a livestream. From
using wireless networks for the transmission of video-signals to
ultra-quick presentations of useful tips and hints in the beginning
and the end of each session.

4. LATE NIGHT SHOWS:

The output of the experimental sessions will be seemlessly directed
into showcasing the creative potential of the participating groups and
media centers: Each night parties, VJing sessions or Live streams are
prepared or may break out at any moment.


HOW TO PARTICIPATE?

SAMPLE IMAGE is organized by D-A-S-H -- networking against racsim and
exclusion <http://www.d-a-s-h.org> in cooperation with CANDIDA TV.

D-A-S-H offers reimbursement of the travel expanses to a limited
number of participants and accomodation.

Please register online at: <http://idash.org> or write a message to
<mailto:admin at d-a-s-h.org>

We also encourage remote participation and contributions. Please get
in touch with: <roma-l at emdash.org>


SPONSORS

D-A-S-H has been funded with support from the European Comission.
D-A-S-H is sponsored by the Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren,
Frauen und Jugend (BMFSFJ) (Federal Ministry for Family Affairs,
Seniors, Women and Youth), Sonderprogramm Jugend für Toleranz und
Demokratie, gegen Rechtsextremismus, Fremdenfeindlichkeit und
Antisemitismus.