Gearbox: The Free-media Video Toolkit

Go to the Gearbox site here

Gearbox: a toolkit with tricks, hacks and pranks to reinvent the way we consume media and technology.

Gearbox is the outcome of twelve-months development work between the MediaShed and Eyebeam Art and Technology Centre in New York, to create a resource for low-budget filmmaking. Comprised of “how to” step by step examples, Gearbox shows people innovative ways of recording footage using unusual combinations of found resources (such as CCTV Video Sniffin’ or Spy Kiting) and low-budget methods of reproducing professional film making techniques (for example, achieving a crane shot using a fishing pole).

The first project using Gearbox will be the “Dreamlands” film exchange between Coney Island, New York and Southend-on-Sea, Essex where hard-to-reach young people will get a chance to travel and make a film using the toolkit.

This one-stop shop for all your moving image needs places a potent means of expression in the hands of people irrespective of money, status or environment. Building on the core aims of “free-media”, it offers new ways of thinking about and using technology and media available within the environment, of recycling and re-using outdated and junked equipment, and of adapting cheap materials from local DIY and electronic stores. It encourages people to further develop means of expression, equipment and ideas by uploading their work for comment and sharing.

Gearbox invites people and other organisations to become involved with the development of the Gearbox website by developing new film projects and up-loading their own content. This will put filmmaking tools into the hands of more individuals who may have wholly different approaches to using them, creating a sharable, reusable and expandable resource.