Clip Kino
= Self-organised screening events of short video clips & documentaries found online
Description
Andrew Paterson:
"Clip Kino Guidelines for Organizing Screening Events
Over the years I have been organizing and facilitating Clip Kino events in Finland, the roles, relationships, responsibilities and expectations have evolved, but have also become clearer and more solid over time. To summarize some of the points made so far, there are four key constituents involved in the ‘single screening’ event process: the host venue; the organizer or facilitator; the guest-host(s) or curator(s) of the screening; and the audience.
The host venue is the physical location of the event. The venue may have the equipment necessary for a screening event, which includes a projector/LCD TV, laptop, adaptors, audio speakers or sound system if necessary, and ideally an internet connection. In addition, the host venue’s network for publicity can make a big difference to the outcome of the event, depending on the match between the topic of the screening, and the members of this network.
The Clip Kino organizer, producer or facilitator (a role I have largely taken, even when taking other roles as well) arranges and secures the host venue, and ensures that the necessary equipment to make a screening event is available. Of course, this is achieved in negotiation and cooperation with the host venue. The organizer also manages general communications for Clip Kino publicity, including sharing login details for the website archive and administration or posting rights (for example, to Facebook) where appropriate. The organizer helps the guest-host or curator with skills and techniques for presenting, and raises the issue of the legal ‘grey-zone’ that exists in relation to common video sharing platforms. Lastly, the organizer may introduce and contextualize the event itself, take responsibility for gathering the list of clips to be screened, and make this available on the relevant Clip Kino archive within a week of the event.
The Clip Kino guest-host(s) or curator(s) of an event is responsible for sourcing 40-60 minutes of video from the internet, based on a theme or subject of their choice. Based on this theme, they then provide text and images to be used in publicity for the event one week in advance of the event taking place. If the event is a workshop, however, this will probably be arranged by the event organizer or facilitator. However, in selecting the clips for screening, the guest-host/curator agrees that if the video clips used are not already online, they will upload them before the event takes place. They should agree not to show materials which are illegal, such as racist images or hardcore pornography, or which violate human or animal rights. Thus far, due to the involvement of the facilitator with the guest-host as the event takes shape, it has not been necessary to make this requirement explicit. On some occasions, however, it has been useful to give advance warning if materials are unsuitable for underage audiences, or if they may shock or disgust audience members. It is worth reminding the curator to respect the audience, who have turned up without knowing exactly what they are about to see. On the day of the event, the screening list is shared with the organizer so that it can be archived and published after the event has taken place.
Lastly, but no less importantly, is the Clip Kino audience. Because of variable guest-host/curator(s) of the screening event, the audience will be different at each event. Sometimes, the audience will vary greatly, according to the theme, the guest-curator, the venue, the person’s social network, the level of publicity for the event, and even the season and the weather. It is vital to keep in mind that the audience is attending the event for reasons that may in part be unknown, but usually also on the basis of trust, interest, enthusiasm, friendship, good will, open-mindedness, and curiosity." (http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/videovortex/vv-reader)