A New Project

There are a lot of reasons for doing this but I am starting a new project a few of you might find interesting. It is a documentary about life in the inner city of Saskatoon (which is now famous as the second most dangerous place to live in Canada). Those that live there, a look at how some of the NGOs and government agencies are doing to help them. Some friends are helping out as well which should be fun and several agencies, elected officials, and others have been quite receptive to it. In some ways, it is Saskatoon's version of a Westside Story.

Doing a project like this involves a lot of decisions. I am shooting it on mini-DV as I needed a camera cheap enough to give up if it avoided a serious conflict but then I needed a external mic, lights, and a external hard drive to store it on. As far as aspect ratio, we are going to distribute it via YouTube but I decided to go 16:9 as I also want to distribute it for computers and for the iPod/PSP.

Why video?

I was torn over this as I am more comfortable writing or even with a still camera but I thought back to a series of columns in the now defunct Saskatoon Free Press about the west side. Stories of prostitutes, homeless people, and addicts and I thought he was making it all up. I am hoping that doing a documentary makes this seem a little more real to people and hopefully change a couple of incorrect stereotypes along the way. If you are interested in helping out, let me know as I will be shooting video over the spring, summer, and fall and there is a lot to get done. I'll keep you posted.

Technorati Tags: Saskatoon,Free Press,poverty