Q&A with one of the fathers of Video Blogging!
Photo by Melanie Stetson Freeman
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to interview one of the fathers of video blogging, Steve Garfield, for a final project for one of my college classes. I was surprised of how quick he responded and how approachable he was! Thank you very much Mr. Garfield for this opportunity. Thanks for responding to my emails, I really appreciate it!
Visit his website and get to know him!
1. Why did you decided to start Video Blogging?
I started video blogging as a. technical exercise. There were lots of blogs around, but no blogs with video so I decided to see if I could figure out how to do it.
I like to make a New Year's resolution each year, so this was my four 2004.
Why did you decided to start the The Carol and Steve Show?
the Carol and Steve show was another New Year's resolution. I wanted to get into the regular habit of making videos and figured filming what my wife and I did on the weekends would be good fun, would get her involved in creating videos with me, and share moments of my life with online friends.
2. How did you initially become involved or interested in video blogging? What has kept you involved for so long?
Like I said earlier, it was just a technical exercise to see if I could figure out how to do it. But, once I got involved they were always new things to try, new things to learn, and I was happy to share that knowledge on my blog.
What's kept me involved so long is the satisfaction I get from helping people.
3. What made you start video blogging protest rallies, traffic short-cuts... (citizen journalism)?
I've always been very interested in how news is produced. The New York City video blog rocket boom, asked me to become a correspondent for them. That's what I started doing a lot more videos.
Video blogging is a lot like blogging. It's people sharing knowledge. So I like to record events and things that I learn about and share them with video.
4. Has been a significant person (or persons) in your life that have influenced or stimulated your thinking and attitudes about your work?
When I was a producer on a Boston morning radio show, Kevin Carlson was my mentor. He insisted that all the audio edits I produced were perfect, I love that work environment trying to make the perfect edit.
That audio editing experience related to video editing.
-How did they influence your work?
I also learned how to tell us story in a short period of time, and how to craft a story.
5. Where do the ideas for your work generally come from?
I get ideas for videos from news and events around me.
6. Has there been a particular project or event that has significantly influenced the direction of your career? if so, could you talk a little about it?
For a period of time I was an independent consultant, programming Web user interface. While doing that, I took classes to learn how to edit with Final Cut Pro. Prior to that I worked in public access video for number of years. When the Macintosh laptop came out with Final Cut Pro, along with a consumer video camera, I could bring the whole production studio into my own home. Then, when a long-term programming contract ended, I decided to pursue video production full-time.
7. When you started, did you saw video blogging as a career, or just as an expression?
I've always looked at video blogging as a way to express myself. It's a way to practice with new software and hardware, and learn new techniques. The career comes from the visibility that video blogging gives me. Video blogging has led to consulting contracts with major companies, a book deal, and appearances on many broadcast outlets.
8. Why did you decided to write books on Video Blogging?
David Meerman Scott approached me one day and asked me if I'd ever thought about writing a book. I told him that I hadn't. And he asked me if I wanted to write one, so I agreed. Writing the book was a lot of fun and I'm enjoying all the positive feedback that I'm getting from it.
