Where are you based?
Near Southwell - but we run courses around the country.
Tell us more about what you do
After a long spell as a presenter/producer at the BBC, I set up on my own as a video journalist. I still help organisations communicate using video, but over the past few years I've grown increasingly interested in helping people create engaging video for themselves.
How long have you been involved in video...and running workshops?
I became BBC East Midlands Today's weather presenter over 20 years ago. Back then, if you wanted to make a video, you really needed to be lucky enough to work in the industry. About ten years ago, I sensed that people were naturally wanting to create videos for themselves. I began to see a lot of video on YouTube and it got me thinking about why some videos were more engaging than others. This dichotomy was something I'd found in my work and I'd assumed it was impossible to judge. But then I realised all you have to do is tell stories! I started running workshops about six years ago along these lines, but the cameras were too expensive and the computer editing software was too complicated. It was only when the iPad came along with its amazing camera and ludicrously simple editing app (not iMovie) that the whole thing became possible. And now of course the video quality on the web often eclipses TV. How times change!
Rob Glass
How can video benefit small businesses and entrepreneurs?
Video is clearly popular. Cisco are predicting that in four years, 82% of internet traffic will be video. So if businesses want to be current, they have to communicate using video. They could pay others like me to make it for them, for as long as their budget lasts, but what then? The power lies in being able to make video whenever you want about whatever you want. Video has great power to engage emotionally too - much more than any PowerPoint presentation. And when people engage emotionally they buy in to who you are, what you do and what you stand for.
Your workshops focus on video as an inclusive art - is it important to you that anyone can create videos?
Most of us are lucky enough to read and write. Again most of us watch video, but traditionally, making it has been the preserve of the privileged few. This seems wrong. In this day and age, everyone who wants to should be able to make video. The challenge comes in making video that people actually want to watch.
Technology has made video ultra accessible - do you think the same will happen with new tech like virtual reality (VR)?
So much has changed over the last 20 years. Who knows where we'll be in the next 20. 360 degree immersive video is on our doorstep now and I can't wait to see where this takes us. I wonder when we'll be watching football matches happening as holograms on our kitchen tables?
What are your top tips for making a great video?
Film in a way we're familiar with and just tell stories.
Which filmmakers/video practitioners do you most admire?
I admire any filmmaker who holds my attention so that the idea of pressing the off button never crosses my mind. Somebody who springs to mind is Fergal Keane, foreign correspondent with BBC News.
How can people find out more/join a workshop?
Drop me a line at rob@flotillavideotraining.co.uk
What are your plans for 2017?
I'd really love to see self-authored video stories become de-rigeur. People sometimes worry that their videos won't be 'up to scratch'. I don't give a hoot! So long as they tell a story and keep things steady I really don't think it matters - no one really worries about the quality of the ink when they get a postcard! But I'm still searching for a phrase for this new genre of self-authored video. 'Raw' or 'Quick' and 'Honest' have been suggested, but they don't really do this brave new world of video justice. Hmmm. 'Brave New Video' works. What do you think?
