To get this working, you’ll need to buy ($5.99) and install Snatch (link to iTunes store). Then, you’ll need to download the Snatch Server on your computer here. Snatch uses bonjour, making it pretty simple to set up and use (and can also be used without bounjour). It has cursor control, scrolling, an app switcher and a keyboard with customizable screen. The latest release made it possible to easily share screens. So once you have it set up, you can install a screen I quick threw together just for you . You can download FCP Control 1.0 here (right click, and save as).

On your iPhone, launch Snatch, and go to the “Keys” tab, and hit “Edit”, and then “Load Screen,” making sure that you are connected to your computer. On your computer, navigate to where you saved fcpcontrol1-0.remote and select it. You’ll be prompted to overwrite the current screen. Say yes, and Wa-la! You can easily control Final Cut now.

I’ve decided that playback is probably the most useful thing, so you won’t be able to do any actual editing. Features I’ve included are:

• Go to previous marker
• Add a marker
• Go to next marker
• Play in to out
• Play to out
• Go to in
• Set in point
• Set out point
• Go to out point
• Rewind
• Reverse
• Pause
• Play
• Fast forward
• Toggle play/pause

The buttons simply send a keystroke to the computer, which will act as shortcuts in Final Cut, so you’ll have to have the keyboard set up to the default. If you don’t, you can simply change the keystrokes on this screen to whatever you wish.

If anyone is a GUI designer, let me know- I’d love to make this look a bit less, well, utilitarian.

Hope you get good use out of this, and let me know if you have any questions in the comments.

Synopsis: The fight for control of carnival land will pit clowns against mimes in a musical standoff that will tickle the funny bone and excite the senses. The Ben-Hur of single shot musicals.

A couple weekends back, I helped out on a film shoot as part of the Internation 48 Hour ShootOut. I had worked with the same group of people in November on Quillions, and had a blast again. During production, I was a Production Assistant, helping by controlling music for lipsyncing (I used Remote on my iPod Touch), burning CD’s for practice, taping a mock up of the set on the floor as we only had access to the space for 4 hours, and whatever else needed it. I also worked on Visual Effects, making the mime disappear at the very end. A good, yet busy weekend.
On a different note, I will be starting full time as assistant editor at Idea Spring Editing tomorrow. More on that later.

Sadly, this method only works after you have bought that stack, but at least you can tell whether to get the same kind again.

First, you’ll need to insert your blank media into your Mac (this method only works on Macs, and I can only say that it works on Leopard). Open up the System Profiler by choosing “About the Mac” from the Apple Menu, then hitting the “More Info” button. Then, choose “Disc Burning” under “Hardware”. This will bring up something like this:

What you’re looking for is the Media ID, which is highlighted in orange above. Take that code, and go to http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm. Search for the ID on the page (you may need to remove spaces), and see if it comes up under 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class media. Hopefully it’ll be under 1st class.

Download the script

This is Mac only. The script will open in Script Editor, and hit CMD-R to run the script. It’ll prompt you for your username and password. It will then retrieve all your followers (not just the first 100), then retrieve all your friends (not just the first 100), and send a follow twitter message to all your followers who aren’t your friends.

Feel free to mess around with the script (but be careful- if you change the wrong thing, you can end up like me with a whole lot of messages accidently showing up on my timeline).

If you find this useful, especially if you use Twitter for business purposes, feel free to send me a few bucks through PayPal.

When I learned Photoshop, I did it through tutorials that I found through one site. I couldn’t find a similar site for Final Cut, so I decided to make it.

If you have any interest in Final Cut, it’s a great site for picking up little tidbits and project savers.

Check it out at http://www.fcptutorials.com.

Quillions from Alan Dague-Greene on Vimeo.

This last weekend, I worked with a great group of people to create this entry into the Panasonic HD Filmmaker Showdown, a 48 Hour Film Fest. 5 groups across the US received a phrase, character, and item to be included, as well as a HPX500 camera. I joined late in the game, and worked as a P.A. It’s an amazing feat- 5 minutes, 1 shot that moves from stairs to courtyard, across a street, into a train station. The guy controlling the iris had a big job, and pulled it off well.

But really, I think it was a brilliant example of the power of story. Obama took the personal stories of 4 families (from swing states, of course) to illustrate concretely what his policies will mean for them.

And it worked so much better than just a list of of what his policies will do. Much better. Story allows a personal connection, and reminds us of our human connection.

When working on the preproduction promotional video for Church Community Services, they asked me what the key thing was to create a connection with the viewers. I immediately replied- story. Personal stories. The writer was able to include many stories, which personalized an undermarketed organization.

It’s not just Obama who is using stories to create connections. Joe the Plumber is a powerful personal connection coming from the McCain campaign.

Oh- and vote.

Poster Turn Example

Check out the tutorial here.

This documentary, which was developed as a curriculum for churches, took a much different approach than what we took in Fuerza. Most of the voices heard in the video were from “experts” – professors, mainly – who looked at the issue from the standpoint of theology. It worked to engage the head, whereas Fuerza worked more on telling personal stories, which engages more of the heart.

After the showing, there was a panel of people who had been involved in the making of the video. Two were professors at a theological seminary with very different approaches to educating the public. One was very soft spoken, and when talking about immigration made sure it was very palatable. He made sure to that his words would not push people away from becoming interested in immigration issues.

The other professor was much more inflammatory. He spoke what he considered the truth, things that are not easy to hear. That US foreign policy has often served to destabilize countries, often deposing democratically elected leaders and putting in dictators. That this policy is more concerned about US business interests than the people. That people immigrate to the US because they are following the trail of money that was stolen from them. That US policy encourages people to cross a dangerous desert, so that they die and discourage future migrants.

That isn’t pleasant to hear, and can serve to further alienate people from the human rights issues around immigration.

However, as someone there pointed out, there need to be a variety of approaches to spreading the message. Some people will react positively to the soft spoken professor. Some will react positively to the more inflammatory one. Some will connect with a deep theological debate. Others will connect through stories of immigrants. Others will connect through a numbers heavy, fact driven video like this one.

So while I continue to favor story-driven video, I also realize the need for a wide range of approaches to get across a message. But be careful about this- you still need to define an audience for each project. Stick to one approach per project- otherwise the message will get muddled.

I’ve found that many people get into media because they want to make the world a better place. And the media does have that power. We can create change, and do on a daily basis. Yet creating change and making the world a better place can be two completely different things. Yes, you have the power to change things for the worse. And it’s happened. I think I can safely say that media around the world has encouraged – both implicitly and explicitly – racial and gender injustice, for instance. Yet in those same areas, there has been a lot of positive change brought about by media.

An example: Today I met with a woman who I first met July 2007, at a conference in California where we showed “Fuerza”. Ben (the director) and I had a Q&A session afterwards. This woman asked what she could do about immigration. We gave some generic answers, as well as an idea to work with the Mexican economy to decrease the “push” factor of immigration.

Fast forward a year: this woman has led a discussion group on immigration at her church, traveled to the border to explore sustainable economics with Mexicans, visits undocumented immigrants at the local detention center weekly, meets with an immigrant rights group weekly, and more. And she still isn’t satisfied.

Okay, at this point, I think I must change my mind on an earlier point. The media has little to no power to make actual change. It does, however, have the power to encourage others to work for change. “Fuerza” will not change policy, comfort a mother torn from her family, or create a sustainable local economy. But its viewers can.

Now, media has a strange relationship with poverty, one unlike other genres of social injustice. Making media takes money. In general, creating media is getting cheaper, but it’s still expensive to make a movie, publish a newsletter, or even a blog.

Now, it is wrong to jump in and say, “Oh! I have a voice! I will speak for the poor!” The impoverished have a voice. They know how to speak. They simply don’t have access to the same equipment, connections, etc., that we have due to our privileges. They’re not being heard.

So you’re not a “voice for the voiceless.” Your job as a socially aware media creator is to allow the people who aren’t being heard or are being silenced to speak to those who weren’t listening. These people may be inspired by the new voice to make change.

When dealing with poverty, or any other issue of injustice, you must take into consideration the imbalance. You must realize that perhaps your video has only men, because you only interviewed politicians and other people in positions of power. Recognize the systems at work, and always look on the low side of the power totem pole for your best stories, the other side, and potential to make the world a better place.