permaculture

[Russ Grayson <pacedge@magna.com.au>]

Thanks, I was just about to mention the source of the material.

There have been frequent mention of Bill's video material on this listserv but we should keep in mind the fact that Mollison's videos will soon be unavailable. This will mean that all there are are those in circulation. 

The use of videotape and VCR machines is declining rapidly in Australia and, to make matters worse, videotape has a limited life, bringing closer the time when the videos will be unobtainable. In part, this is due to DVD fast replacing videotape as the preferred medium for the storage of video information. 


The ABC - to my knowledge anyway - has no plans to re-issue Global Gardener or any other Mollison videotape or to put them into DVD format. Of course, you might be able to duplicate the videotape editions, but the quality will decline after a few copies. You could also put the tape onto DVD through an analogue to digital converter, of which several are available. You might even find a commercial provider prepared to do this for you and risk copyright infringement.

Video is expensive and time consuming media to shoot and produce (compared to stills photography and print media) and, while there have been a couple proposals to produce successors to Global Gardener, none have eventuated. My guess at the reasons for this has to do with production costs and small market. It is like other independent productions people I know have made. They make them with a view to sales to ABC or SBS television, but this does not always eventuate. 

But while feature producers might find it difficult to finance a new permaculture video, it is possible on a personal basis once the producer has acquired shooting and editing skills. Handicams are all over the place now; there is even a US-based organisation distributing them to people in developing countries to shoot their own politically-sensitive material (www.witness.org). 

What you need is a digital camera recording onto digital tape, a machine with three CCDs (charge-coupled devices, which record the image). Most consumer cameras have only a single CCD and so lack the near-broadcast quality imaging and resolution of the 3CCD types. Canon and Sony make 3CCD cameras. You also need a quality shotgun microphone that attaches to the camera. The built-in types that come with the cameras are not suitable.

Then you need a computer with a copy of quality editing software such as Adobe Final Cut Pro (or the new cut-down version) and a sizable hard drive (min 80 MB). A producer I know shot in the Solomon Islands and edited the digital tape on a Mac titanium laptop using such software. Important is developing a tight script and retaining only concise images that stick to the point and are of short duration. Then you need access to a DVD burner. 

Maybe competent producers can sell DVD's of their videos on a one-off basis. I have seen a number of permaculture-themed amateur videos but they have been disappointing in terms of production quality - poor camera work, poor script. If you have a friend competent in video-journalism, maybe you can get production advice.

Best of luck.
..........................................................................................................
Russ Grayson
Media services:  journalism-print/ online/ photo
pacedge@magna.com.au  Phone/ fax: 02 9588 6931
PO Box 446 Kogarah NSW 2217 Australia

On Tuesday, June 10, 2003, at 08:12  AM, ERDA Institute wrote:

> John, I think the segment you're referring to is in the first Mollison video
> originally titled "In Grave Danger of Falling Food", later distributed as
> "The Permaculture Concept". I actually made this balcony garden for the
> video at the film producers apartment in Sydney. Lots of pots and containers
> with herbs and vegies and a 'square-foot-aquaculture' aquarium with taro and
> watercress and a goldfish to eat the mozzie wrigglers.
> There's a great rooftop garden in "The Global Gardener" in Hyderabad, India
> on the roof of one of the participants from the first Indian PDC - i stayed
> there after the course and gave them some design ideas - was a real buzz to
> see what they'd done in the video
> Robyn Francis
>
>
> on 9/6/03 3:07 AM, Vint Lawrence at vlawrence@nets.com wrote:
>
> > John Schinnerer wrote:
> > > Aloha,
> > >
> > > There is a segment on exactly this (pre-existing typical apartment) in one
> > > of Mollison's videos (don't recall which) - mostly about food - he sets up
> > > some aquarium aquaculture, trellises up and overhead for vines and
> > > climbers and so on out on the balcony, grown in containers, maybe a worm
> > > bin composter, can't recall all the details.
> >
> > The segment is on "Global Gardener", the Aussie ABC series. There is an
> > entire section (1/2 hour) on urban permaculture with many great design
> > elements relevant to "apartment" PC. Probably was never aired in US
> > since Bill said "NYC has two major exports, garbage and sewage sludge".
> > Oh well.....
> > Vint Lawrence