Naked Lens: Video Blogging & Video Journaling to Reclaim the YOU in YouTube [Paperback]

Michael Sean Kaminsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0981318800 | ISBN-13: 978-0981318806

Online video is the powerful expressive tool that transforms the way we communicate. Journaling is the time-proven practice that ignites creativity and inspires change. Naked Lens combines both and offers an exciting new experience of video...and life. 

Are you ready?

Grab your mobile phone, camcorder, or whatever shoots video, and get ready to reclaim the YOU in YouTube.

Naked Lens guides you through a unique eight-week work shop where you will learn how to:

• Become comfortable on camera
• Develop presence...on camera and off
• Deeply connect to your audience
• Use video journaling to heal and change yourself and others
• Develop your authentic video voice and increase self-expression
• Use online video to enhance business and career growth
• Use camera framing and angles confidently and creatively
• Create your own authentic on-camera style
• Jump ahead of the online video revolution and become part of its evolution

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Original, informative and brilliant! An indispensable guide for anyone who wishes to seize the day by keeping a video diary for self-awareness and healing. Kaminsky has absorbed the wisdom accumulated by centuries of written journal keeping and brought it to the cutting edge mediums of digital video and the Internet." --Tristine Rainer, Director, Center for Autobiographic Studies, Author of "The New Diary, How to use a Journal for Self-guidance and Expanded Creativity" and "Your Life as Story"

"Yes! The author does a masterful job getting you in the right headspace to be both authentic and creative when you video blog. Can't wait to see how this book affects the online video world." --Jay Dedman, Author of "Videoblogging"

"This book takes the practice of journaling to a whole new level integrating high tech with high touch. Written in a compelling and easy to understand style that can inspire even the most nontechnical readers to grab a video camera, camcorder or cell phone and begin the eight-week workshop that can change their lives." --Barbara Ganim and Susan Fox, Authors of "Visual Journaling: Going Deeper than Words"

"I'm a confessed technophobe. Yet this book has me ready to set up my tripod!" --Kathleen Adams LPC, Director, Center for Journal Therapy, Author of, "Journal to the Self"

Kaminsky takes the fear out of video journaling and self-expression. This wonderful book proves that it's not the tools we use, but the way we use them." --Linda Woods and Karen Dinino, Authors of "Journal Revolution" and "Visual Chronicles"

"Kaminsky brings the art of storytelling into the sacred technology of our times. He reminds us of the many ways we can creatively connect through soulful journaling and self-expression." --Jyoti, convener of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, and Spiritual Director of the Center for Sacred Studies

"This book is exactly what you need to transform your video presence or wanna-be blog into a truly unique, creative form of self-expression. With Kaminsky as your guide, you can mine the treasures of your unconscious and ignite the muse within, delighting both Jung and Truffaut!" --Diana Weynand, Author of "The Secrets of Video Blogging"

"Excellent and timely! This book will change the way you think, not only about video, but also about yourself." --Gerald McCullouch, Filmmaker and Actor, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"

"This first-hand, therapeutic approach to video journaling presents an engaging treatise on using a video camera and sites like YouTube as a means for effective self-expression." --Chad Fahs, Author of, "How to Do Everything With YouTube"

I haven't found any book on video blogging that provides so many practical suggestions and insights. --Artyom Shamtsyan, Founder of Youtego.com

About the Author

Michael Sean Kaminsky is a writer, video blogger and award-winning documentary filmmaker who has produced work for HBO, Sundance Channel and MTV's LOGO among others. He has a B.A. in Film and TV from the University of British Columbia and a M.A. in Media and Communications from the European Graduate School. He recorded his first video journal in 1996.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Organik Media, Inc. (January 7, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981318800
• ISBN-13: 978-0981318806
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.5 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,331,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Sean Kaminsky is a Brooklyn based writer, video blogger and filmmaker. Sean, as he is more often known, has his B.A. in Film & Television from the University of British Columbia in Canada and his M.A. in Media and Communications from the European Graduate School in Switzerland. He has produced and/or directed documentary projects for networks ranging from HBO to Sundance Channel to MTV's LOGO.

Sean's passion for filmmaking was born when his grandfather - a filmmaker and photographer - screened a collection of his Super 8 films that spanned over fifty years of family history. Soon enough, his grandfather gave him an old camera and Sean was making his own experimental films in his back yard in Winnipeg, Canada.

Throughout his life, Sean has kept a written journal and in 1996 began experimenting with video journaling as a way to increase creativity and engage in self-exploration. This practice, combined with experiences he had videoing documentary subjects and the YouTube phenomenon, ultimately coalesced to inspire his M.A. Thesis, the development of the 'Video Regeneration' workshop and ultimately the writing of 'Naked Lens', his first book.

Kaminsky is currently launching an intensive version of the 'Video Regeneration' workshop as well as starting a new documentary project. He began using 'Sean' as a nickname while living in an artist's collective in the Mission district of San Francisco in the mid-nineties...there were four other Michaels.

http://www.videoregeneration.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Video journaling has changed my life...and I've only been doing it for two days! March 15, 2012

By Daniel Bean

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I seriously feel that this is one of the most groundbreaking books I've read. I say that as an artist and a person. Video journaling is perhaps one of the best ways to explore our own personalities, become better people, and foster creativity. I never would have guessed.

I bought the book because I felt it would help me to video blog better. I didn't realize how regenerative, therapeutic, and educational of an experience it would be to video journal. I say this now, and I just started two days ago. Can't wait to see how video journaling will affect my life over the next 8-weeks as I go through the workshop detailed in Naked Lens.

I got so excited about this whole concept that I wrote about it on my blog. Check out my post on this book here:
[...]

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars is this thing on? February 14, 2010

By lenny williams

Format:Paperback

we all know the horror of hearing our own recorded voice.

it's always the same--"do i really sound like THAT?"

for those brave souls willing to explore themselves via video journal, the resultant exclamation is the the same--"do i really act like THAT?"

video journaling really amps up the process of honest self-exploration--there is no escape, no denying. lying to the camera is lying to yourself. and unless you are one seriously messed up individual, your truth is hard to deny.

kaminsky's eight week workshop will help you find the courage to explore, transform & heal. much like the artist way or any other tool for self-exploration, if done authentically, a greater life awaits you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Find your Voice through this Comprehensive & Inspiring "how to" book July 28, 2010

By Susan Schenck TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Naked Lens is a book that is sure to inspire you to not only produce videos, but also find your authentic voice along the way. The book is a delightful, easy read with short chapters, plenty of bullet points, and inspirational quotes on virtually every page. Author Michael Kaminsky is himself an award-winning documentary filmmaker who has produced work for HBO, Sundance Channel and MTV's LOGO among others.

Kaminsky points out the major shift going on in communications, and since only about 1% of Youtube viewers also post, there is plenty of room to be on the ground floor of this revolution. He cites people that are even in their 80s who created popular video blogs, making authentic communication with younger generations.

In part I Kaminsky gives us sheer inspiration to video blog, citing studies about the benefits of journaling. An entire chapter is devoted to the history of traditional journaling and we learn that 400 years ago Samuel Pepys was the father of journaling, documenting the Great Plague and The Great Fire of London. (Also included, of course, are Anne Frank and Carl Jung.) The chapter ends with the history of video blogging, which began in 2000. We learn how the 2008 presidential campaign was influenced by videos. (I will always recall those Ron Paul videos that contained so much substance compared to others, which often relied on sexual images or rhetoric...)

The author warns us that videos will soon no longer be an option and may be mandatory for job interviews or university applications. "The ability to address a camera with heart and authenticity is an extremely valuable skill to possess. Eventually, those who communicate well on-camera will have a definite advantage over those who do not. It may happen sooner than you think."

Part II tells us how to get started, discussing tools. A simple cell phone is enough for beginners. Since technology is always changing, the author directs us to his site [...] for updates.

Part III guides us through an 8-week workshop as the author insists we make at least one short video every day. He gives us warm up exercises, addresses stage fright, insists that the lens will not judge us, and shows us how to review our videos. We are taught to be mindfully present, deal with the inner critic, imagine and create our audience, and much more. Each chapter has at least one "shoot" section with details on what to do for our video, and a "replay" section that helps us introspect and reflect on our work.

We learn to "live cinematically," viewing ordinary moments in life as an opportunity to video. We gain awareness of our camera presence, including gestures, voice and angles. We learn how to blog our personal and family history. We get inspiration for creating video art and poetry. One section warns us that videos can attract "haters," but this only happens when you hit the big time and get noticed. (Don't worry, most people don't take these critics seriously.) There is even a section on how to make a video that could go viral so we can get our "15 minutes of fame."

Part IV deals with editing, video blogging for cash (when you hit the big time, advertisers will pay you to put an ad before your video!), the future of video blogging, video therapy and support groups, and how to store your videos so they'll last longer.

This book is a must-read for anyone serious about making videos--it has something for those who have already started as well as the novice!