Brush up on your video skills at free outdoor boot camp

The Nunavut Film and Development Corporation is offering a four-day camp next week for anyone in Iqaluit who wants to learn or brush up on basic video skills.

Three instructors will teach students during the Under the Midnight Sun Video Boot Camp: Sim Knickelbein, Lisa Milosavljevic and Mark Aspland.

They’ll teach people about their cameras, how to take care of them, and how to shoot and edit, said Cheryl Ashton, the training coordinator for Nunavut Film, during a phone interview.

While Nunavut Film does have equipment available for use, Ashton encourages people to bring what they use on a day-to-day basis to shoot simple videos with—either a phone with a camera in it, or a camera.

The classes will run from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. from Monday, July 20, to Friday, July 24.

They’ll be very “hands on,” Ashton said.

Students will learn about framing videos and camera angles. They’ll practise shooting each other and talk about interview skills and how to make people feel comfortable in front of the camera.

Instructors will help them edit videos, and they’ll watch and critique them together. Students will also learn about how to take care of their equipment.

The idea is to teach students how to use the cameras they have to tell stories, Ashton said.

“It’s a great form of literacy … telling a story through visual techniques is very effective,” she said.

Especially now that Inuit TV announced its launch with funding help from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Ashton said, “there will be lots of opportunities to develop projects and have them screened in the territory.”

Nunavut Film got funding for the boot camp from the Makigiaqta Training Corporation, allowing it to offer the workshops for free.

People of all ages are welcome to sign up by Friday, July 17. You can sign up either by emailing training@nunavutfilm.ca or by calling 979-3012.

The Qajuqturvik Food Centre is the meeting place each evening, and if the weather is bad classes will be held indoors.