Call for community-generated videos for CTV’s weekly environmental programme

Cape Town TV (CTV) is calling on all environmental and social justice organisations, activists, school groups, academics, government bodies etc. to submit video material for inclusion in CTV’s proposed weekly environmental magazine programme entitled “Bright Green".

The weekly programme will be co-produced by Neil Frye - who has a background in marketing and is passionate about environmental issues and the challenges facing living with dignity, peace and prosperity in Cape Town - and Liane Greeff, who has campaigned for environmental and social justice in South Africa for the past two decades.

The programme aims to highlight environmental issues and to showcase different approaches to environmental solutions - from engineering to art to activism to getting your hands dirty whilst planting the seeds of our future. Our primary focus is on what organisations and individuals in Cape Town are doing to lighten our ecological footprint.

The programme will complement and work in collaboration with Muna Lakhani’s studio programme entitled “People and Planet” as part of CTV’s objective of strengthening its environmental portfolio and contributing to genuine and people-friendly solutions to our environmental problems in Cape Town. The environment desk is also working in close collaboration with CTV News to provide up-to-date environmental news clips.

You are invited to contribute your community generated content. Additionally, send information on interesting environmental events or eco-art exhibitions and the crew may turn up with cameras and record your event.To this end the following contributions are wanted:

1. Ideas for the name of our weekly environmental magazine programme

Our favourite name so far is “Bright Green” or alternatively “A Lighter Footprint”, but we are still open to new ideas so let us know your suggestions.

2. Environmental video content

Contributions of existing environmental videos and clips, preferably edited, that we can include in our programme. Inserts need to be recent or current and should be no longer than 8 minutes in length.  Contributions can be in almost any format - usually AVI, MPEG4, or MOV files - which are then converted by CTV to our broadcast specifications. The video material can be submitted to CTV on a DVD, a portable hard drive or a flash drive.

Video material can be shot on cell phones and small consumer digital cameras, as well as more professional cameras. However, the better the quality of your camera, the better the quality of the final product will be. Be aware that if your video is in a format size smaller than our broadcast resolution of 720 x 576 pixels, it is likely to pixelate and to look digitally distorted when the size is increased for broadcast.

For your information, CTV’s broadcast specifications are as follows:

• Resolution: 720 x 576 pixels
• Frame rate: 25 frames per second
• Video system: PAL
• Aspect ratio: 4:3 (other formats such as HD formats are “letterboxed” to fit the 4:3 screen ratio)
• Display mode: Interlaced (top field first)
• Bitrate: 6000 Kbps

Guidelines for community-generated content:

• When you submit your content to CTV you will be required to sign a license agreement which gives CTV permission to broadcast the content. You can get a form via email by sending a request to the programme producers (see contact details below).
• Material must not contain any commercial content - i.e. which promotes products, businesses or other commercial ventures.
• No commercial music may be used (i.e. from popular artists who you hear on radio or see on TV). However CTV is registered with Norm and SAMRO and you can use what is called "library music", that is music that has been specially recorded for use in broadcast programmes. You can also use royalty-free music that is available on the internet.
• You will be required to fill in a music cue sheet that gives the title of the track, the name of the artist, the title of the album it appears on and the name of the music publisher who distributed the album.
• All content should be delivered to CTV at our offices: 6 Observatory Business Park, 18 Lower Scott Road, Observatory for attention Neil Frye.
• Please note that CTV is not in a position to pay for content as we are working with a very limited budget. This may change in the future.

3. Need some training in community journalism?

If you have a camera but are not very confident that your camera skills are up to scratch for broadcast purposes, why not sign up for the CTV civic journalism programme. Contact Lisa at  lisa.bluett@gmail.com

4. Your suggestions re topics, current events key calendar dates for inclusion

“Bright Green” is envisaged as an environmental magazine programme and therefore each week will include a variety of topics as well as interviews, music, art and an eco-diary. The tone is light and upbeat but this does not mean we will shy away from heavy topics, and each week at least one in depth story on a current hot topic will be included.

5. Keeping us up to date with important environmental calendar events

CTV's work is to profile your work, so letting us know what is happening, where and when will help us to do our work properly. Cape Town TV is your community TV channel. Use it!

Working together to create the future we want!

Neil Frye                                 &
Producer
neil@capetowntv.org
072 075 3978

Liane Greeff
Co-producer / Director
liane@kingsley.co.za
021 709 0864 or 083 415 2365