Recently 55degrees give a brief talk at a JISC conference. The theme of the conference was Enhancing Business Performance: The Role of Technology in Developing Skills and Knowledge. We spoke about VOXUR, we explained some of the thinking and philosophy behind VOXUR. Titled “Significant Stories” it looked at how the development of VOXUR fits with 55degrees’ aim to make digital story capture, creation and sharing available to everyone ... anywhere. We also talked about one of a key case study with NESTA which has influenced the development for VOXUR. Our talk looked at some future developments with VOXUR which will enable the capture, edit and sharing of stories using video, data and other media. We made this presentation into a pdf, which you can view here. Click on the menu option to watch in full screen.

1. VOXUR
Significant Stories: The Roots of VOXUR
55degrees.co.uk
1 | VOXUR: Significant Stories
April 2011

2. Significant Stories
Sometimes soundbites are not enough
Recently 55degrees give a brief talk at a JISC conference. The
55 believe that people and organisations should be able to tell
theme of the conference was Enhancing Business Performance:
their own stories using video, stills and other media and they
The Role of Technology in Developing Skills and Knowledge.
should be able to do that well without the need to resort to
professionals.
We spoke about VOXUR, the tool created by 55degrees that enables
people and organisations to capture, edit and share their own Video (in all its forms) is a very powerful way to tell stories, to share
stories using video, data and other media. It is available as a knowledge, to consult, to record progress and gather insight. But
portable device, and we are developing mobile, browser and kiosk for many stories soundbites are not enough, they need a richer and
versions. It is used through out the UK by the public sector,
more in depth approach. As a media company some would say
educational and research establishments, health organisations and
devising tools for people to make their own stories is shooting
business.
ourselves in the foot, but we believe that there will always been a
We explained some of the thinking and philosophy behind VOXUR. need for different story tellers and there is no reason why people
We think this helps highlights why it is such a useful tool. A product and organisation themselves shouldn’t be one of them. Video is too
built on a strong philosophy has a good foundation that feeds into
powerful a communication tool to be in the hands of relatively few
its development. Apple’s desire to make products and software that
professionals and if organisations want to truly own their own
are user friendly and well designed can be seen today in the iPhone
and iPad, Facebook’s desire to digitise peoples real social stories need to master this medium.
experience has led to it being responsible for 25% of all web traffic And the appetite for rich stories and ideas delivered on video is
and Microsofts intention to put a computer into every home and growing and shown by the popularly of TED talks and RSA. It is one
that computer to run Windows ... they have done quiet well. You can
of 55degrees aims of VOXUR that the using video to communicate
tell a lot about a company and its products from its ethos. With
complex ideas should be an option available to everyone.
VOXUR, 55degrees aim to make digital story capture, creation
and sharing available to everyone ... anywhere.
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3. NESTA and VOXUR
Like a lot of good ideas VOXUR was
developed out of a need.
In 2003 55degrees was commissioned by NESTA (National
Endowment for Science and the Arts) to produce a series of
video reports on projects they had funded.
These reports where to be filmed in location with the awardee. They
would feature video interviews with the person and documentation
of their work and practice.
The stories varied ranging from the development of new surgical
techniques to film making, from inventors and artists to boat
builders.
What they had in common was that they were rich stories that
couldn’t be told in a few sound bites.
The challenge was that the projects were spread throughout the UK
and there wasn’t the budget to send a film crew around the country.
So 55degrees devised a plan to courier a kit around the country that
would enable people to capture their own story.
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4. What would we put in the kit?
Kit contents
As film makers what would we put in the kit to help people
remotely capture films?
In 2003 55degrees was a small innovate video production company
specialising in documentary, as we grew we added software and
design to our services. In the early days many of us had been
involved in community video, helping non-professionals to make
films using broadcast video facilities so we were very aware of the
challenges faced in enabling the public to produce films.
We ask our selves two questions:
“If we were capturing these stories ourselves using a traditional
film crew, what would we want to capture?”
“What approaches do we use to ensure that we capture the
material required to tell a good story?”.
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5. What did we want to capture? D - Data
We need to be sure that we are getting the information that we need
to deliver the story that we are communicating. So if the film is
The HARDE Index about the stages involved in a surgical procedure, then we should
ensure that we captured the relevant elements of that procedure.
As film makers there are certain qualities and attributes that we
require from of content we capture in order to build an engaging
story. Whatever went in the kit would have to help our users to E - Engagement
capture this type of content. The HARDE index brings together We want material that is engaging. What is engaging is difficult to
some of the key attributes of good content. put your finger on, but passionate, lively and truthful interviews
help, along with well made succinct points.
H- Human
The Human element. Research says that in terms of trust and
engagement humans take very little from the actual words people
say and a lot more from who is saying it and how they are saying it.
It’s the job of the interviewer to bring the best out the interviewee
to ensure that their performance is engaging and truthful.
A - Aesthetics
As film makers we are very keen on how a shot looks, and that the
sound is good.
R - Relevance
We need to gather content that is relevant, no point getting lots of
shots of apples if we are making a film about monkeys.
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6. The film makers approach
A - Afterwards.
Film makers are aware that they will have to make something from
the material that they have captured. Thats why it is important to
COAST ensure that it is well documented and that you don’t create huge
amounts of useless material that you will have to wade through. So
“COAST” outlines some of the things filmmakers do to gather the capture less but keep it good and document what you have
building blocks to capture a story. Encouraging our kit users to captured.
follow these approaches would help to ensure that their story could
be told. S - Structure.
Even the most basic story has a structure, for example: beginning,
C- Coverage. middle and end. Structure is a set of rules that underpins your story
Film-makers “shoot to edit”, they film knowing that they will chop that help the viewer understand and engage with what they are
up and rearrange the material they capture, so they cover an event watching. There should be changes in tempo, texture, interest
or subject with multiple shots from a variety of positions. This peaks and quieter parts. Having an idea of the structure you are
means it is possible to edit that material together to build up a aiming for helps you define what type of content you are trying to
picture of the scene or event. Its a bit like cooking, when you are capture.
buying ingredients to make a dish you don’t have to buy them in
the order you are going to put them in the pot, you just have to T - Theatre.
make sure you get the right, good quality ingredients. There is a lot of theatre involved in film and video production, the
lights, the cameras and the people involved. Done right it can help
O - Open Questions. interviewees and subjects rise to the occasion.
When interviewing to get the best out of people, one technique is to
ask open questions that don’t have yes/no answers. An example of
a closed question is “Do you feel okay?” the answer would be yes or
no. The open version would be “How do you feel today?”. Questions
like “Why is xxx important to you”, “what first interested you about
XXX?”. Questions that tap into a persons passion for a subject can
illicit engaging responses.
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7. Kit contents
A video camera: We found a small one with a good lens and flip
round viewfinder so people could see themselves for framing and
lighting.
An external microphone: important for capturing good sound.
A little tripod: to put the camera on while they were interviewing
themselves.
A spec cam: To help with coverage and to get a variety of shots,
users could film themselves at work and give us an “inventors eye
view”.
A stills camera: Following action, carrying out pans and zooms
takes a great deal of skill which is an issue with amateur filming.
Using a stills camera means the user focuses on the framing at the We put all of this in a James Bond style case,
moment of taking the shot.
this added to the theatre of the kit, so it was
exciting when it turned up. We we give it a
...... and Guidance
name the “Suitcase Acquisition Kit”. We asked
The physical kit was the easy part, what we wanted was for people
to use that kit well. So we included a short video outlining what we
everyone to take a picture of themselves with
were looking for, with tips on filming locations, framing, lighting the kit and this formed part of the final films.
and sound. Guidance on the type of shots we required for coverage.
Instructions on how we wanted things filmed, eg: we wanted them
to address the camera when answer questions. And we gave them a
pile of open questions and telephone support.
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8. Implementation
The UK tour
We made up 4 kits and we sent them away on an adventure,
couriers transported the kits around the country. To add to the
theatre, before people got their kit, we sent them a pre-arrival pack.
This contained blank video tapes, an instructional video, a printed
list of questions and a combination number for the lock that was on
the case. It was all meant to be a bit “MI5” but this added to the fun
of it.
People got their kits, carried out their filming, took their photos,
and then packaged up their tapes and sent them back to us. The
courier then picked up the kit and transported it onto the next
person.
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9. Implementation
The presentation
55degrees carried out the editing, but because people had followed
their instructions we had the material we required so the process
was fairly straight forward. In the end we made 18 short films.
These films where shown as part of that years NESTA awards.
Interestingly we had gathered so much high quality information and
content that NESTA was able to use quotes and information gleaned
from the video in their company documentation and branding, and
the imagery and ascetic formed the core of that years annual report.
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10. Development
Over the years VOXUR has under gone many changes and
developments, and it is continuing to be developed with iPhone,
iPad, kiosk and browser versions.
VOXUR has developed to combine qualitative and quantitate data to
ensure that people and organisations have even greater control over
shaping their own stories.
But core philosophy remains the same ... that people and
organisations should be able to take control of their own stories,
that they should be able to use digital media to capture, shape and
share those stories, they should be able to tell significant stories
and they should be able to do that very well.
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11. !
55degrees
Ingram House
227 Ingram Street
Glasgow, G1 1DA
T: 0141 222 2855
www.55degrees.co.uk
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