Since I have been a silent blogger and will admit feel a bit behind of other RV grantees who have impressed me with their dedication and great work–I am now taking some time to catch up and report a little on what is going on with the Iran Inside Out project.
One update is that two videos have been made, subtitled and ready to be uploaded and embedded on to the site which I hope will be launched very soon. One of the obstacles in getting the videos up has been that the filmmakers have encountered many problems when trying to compress their files and then upload or email them. The main issue is that they all use different editing software and that a standard mechanism needs to be created and made accessible for the participants to make it smooth and straight-forward. This will encourage more videos to be made and more time spent on the creative side.
I have not been in the country for 6 months now and have been running much of the project remotely. But the good news is that I will be in Iran in one month and am spending a good portion of the summer on solving this problem and making other advances in the project.
What would be useful before then is for me to have a framework prepared and information gathered on various technical issues concerning compression on various editing software, quality control of videos, and upload/email issues using medium to low internet speeds. This is something I am working and if there are any links or relevant material you suggest I read, then please do let me know. Id be glad to learn from your experiences…
Stay tuned for the launch of the site and the presentation of the two videos…
You can’t imagine the wait….(kiddin)
Each time we have a video to load it seems there will be a war going on , no seriously, Madagascar loadshedding is so dramatic we dedicate a special week-end just for the matter. Our first times were so funny it involved CD sent by friends who happenned to travelled in South Africa or Mauritius or even DC (where internet is more 21st century). Then we used networking and friends with a better connection at home but then the loading could last hours (4 hours for a ….4 minute video…..). Finally , 6 months later thanks to the Film Your Issur contest we took the decision to never send more than 2 minutes videos which is easier to load, to translate and to watch ( youtube style).
We’re planning to take a ftp and more storage from Madagascar where everyone will be allowed to upload on a unique site….hurray! WE just have to check for budget, lol.
So where are those videos again?!!
Yes, I encounter the same when coming back and forth from Bolivia. I try to save a lot of the uploading and sending when I am back in the States because I know that it may take ages in Bolivia. Mialy told me some of the obstacles especially on dialup connections.
I’d definitely like to start a discussion on access issues and see how we can lobby for improved services with our home governments or something like that….
Yes, very much looking forward to the videos…
Just saw the Rising Voices Video here at the Budapest conference, really made me looking forward to seeing more of the material from Iran!
I also echo Ben’s comment as I’m really looking forward to seeing the videos! Any update you can give us?
Good luck with the launch 🙂