Filmmaking Criminology: a New Language for Justice Professionals

• In Event: Posters II

Abstract

Technology has made professional video production a powerful alternative for educating students, professionals, and the public about pressing justice issues. Broadcast-quality equipment is now affordable and broadly available to most professionals; home computers now offer the necessary platforms for this work; and professional editing software is more powerful and less cumbersome than ever.

Unfortunately, this revolution has barely touched the academy, and the academy is suffering for it. Video production enables justice professionals to communicate to massive audiences who are uninterested in academic messaging and beyond the reach of traditional outlets; yet important reforms can often be effected only through broad public engagement.

The good news is that criminal justice professors, practitioners, and policy makers now have the economic and technical wherewithal to produce high-quality, critically important--even life-changing--material as easily as families produce home movies. As substantive experts in criminal justice begin to exploit this technology, they will be able to enlighten and expand the discussion well beyond current boundaries. Indeed, with free and/or inexpensive distribution and mass-marketing platforms like Facebook, Youtube, Vimeo, and Createspace, the reach of newly engaged justice professionals is virtually unlimited.

Author

• Paul Sutton, San Diego State University