Ipswich, Queensland

[Richard Cavell]

Hi everyone.

I'm employed at the Cerebral Palsy League of Queensland - there's a day centre where disabled people can hang out. They engage in all sorts of activities - they've been to a political rally, done painting and sculpture, cooking, sailing, etc.

The centre bought a Sony EX1, an iMac and some accessories 2 years ago but haven't known how to use them. So they employed me 6 weeks ago, and I'm trying to put together a number of videos as well as a community access television show.

It's really tough. Nearly all of the clients are in wheelchairs, and they bump their wheelchairs into my tripod, can't hold the mic properly, etc. Also, they are all intellectually disabled so they can't perform very well in an interview. I have gigabytes of footage of people just sitting in their wheelchairs. Of course, it's not their fault and I don't mean to sound critical. Editing suite to the rescue.

Richard

[Chris Soucy]

Wow, Richard, you seem to have pulled a tough gig there.

I take my hat off to you, Sir, for what must be an incredibly difficult job.

Think you're going to have a lot of lateral thinking to do, to get anything that makes sense, is appropriate, and worth watching.

Certainly don't envy you.

Welcome to DVinfo and it's infinite resources.

If you can't find it here, I don't think it can be found.

Enjoy!


CS

[Scott Taylor]

Looks like a bit of an Aussie invasion lately.

As a side note my 3yo son Alex has CP. I should point out that not ALL Cerebral Palsey sufferers are intellectually disabled. In many cases they are as smart as you and I but little to no crontrol over their muscles or speech.

In my son's case it was an issue with oxygen loss at birth. We're not sure what happened exactly but he wasn't breathing long enough to cause permanent damage. He's an extremely happy kid but unable to walk or talk yet.

[Richard Cavell]

It's true that not all people who have cerebral palsy are intellectually disabled. Not all neurological disabilities cause intellectual disability. But at this particular day centre, all of the clients are intellectually disabled. Some of them, profoundly so.

It changes fundamentally how videos should be produced.

For example, yesterday I told the salesperson that I want the heaviest tripod he can sell us - not the lightest - to withstand wheelchair collisions. And we'll buy some GoPro cameras to attach them to wheelchairs, with the understanding that they might be driven into walls or have drinks spilled on them etc.

Richard

[Scott Taylor]

Ah okay, that's going to be a challenging job.

Go Pro cameras should give you some good material (go for the new HD Hero 2 it's excellent). I'm wondering if a wheeled dolly might be an advantage at all?

[Richard Cavell]

We have a wheeled dolly. I'd like to have a steadicam or motion rig of some sort. Even just some sort of maneuvrable arm that can be stuck onto a wheelchair to hold a camera would be great.

Richard