Project V

The Evolution of a Business Idea: The Motives Behind Business Decisions and The People That Make Them

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 07:22:00 +0000

Recently, I’ve watched a number of films that have lead me to question the future of a project that I have been working on for the past two years. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room got me thinking about where I want to be in five and ten years. Up until this recent viewing, I hadn’t really put too much thought into it. I figured I would be travelling the world on an assignment for the company that I am going to launch within the next year.

I’m thirty-two years old and about to graduate from the Entertainment Business Master of Science program at Full Sail University. What a road it has been.

I grew up the class clown. I attribute my young behavior to an insecurity of who I was. My twin sister and I were raised by our single mother in Essex, Connecticut. My father was never in the picture. I think, for the longest time, I was trying to fill a void that was never there. Confused and unsure of so much, I remember being quiet in many social settings. In school I always tested well and did well in class, but rarely did homework and got bored easily when I wasn’t challenged in high school. I dropped out at seventeen years old. I was a junior/senior and frustrated with the faculty and curriculum provided by the school.

The following is the story of the summer before I left high school.

My story begins in the summer of '97. I had just turned 17, just gotten my license and school had just gotten out for the summer. It was great. The first few weeks of my summer would be spent in Europe. Sweden and Denmark to be specific. I had played soccer for more than 10 years up until that point and this was the pinnacle of my sporting career. Two teams were taken across the pond. A boy's and a girl's team both made up of some of the best players from the state.

So off I went. Two weeks of world class soccer. I couldn't ask for anything more. And when I got home… I had a car, a girlfriend and the rest of the summer to look forward to. Or so I thought.

It wasn't long when I got home from the largest soccer tournament in the world, next to the World Cup of course, that my dear mother informed me that I would not be enjoying the rest of my summer in my car with my girlfriend driving to party's and the beach everyday. Instead, I would be leaving in two days for a 28 day "wilderness adventure." Right. Needless to say I was not very happy. And that's an understatement. My true feelings, at the time, pushed closer to utter vexation. I was upset beyond upset. Devastated, for a 17 year old, anyway. What did I know? In the following 30 I would find out. What I did know... and more so, what I didn't know. I was in for, what I call now, the experience of a lifetime.

So there I was at home, with no intention of making the flight to the Denver airport. I don't recall so vividly now, but just so you understand how much I DIDN'T want to go on this trip; it probably took me a half hour just to get a pair of socks into my new hiking backpack.

Barely catching my flight, I took my seat between two of the oldest women I had ever met. Well, that's not true. One was probably in her eighties and the other probably hovered somewhere in her 60s. I just say that they were old for dramatic effect. Anyhoo, picture me sitting between these two old goons for 12 some-odd hours. Not cool, especially for an exceptionally cool 17 year old with much better things to do that summer. So not cool.

Moving on, I sat there between the loudest snorer to ever walk the earth and a woman who felt that the coolest kid on the plane actually wanted listen to her blab for a good 10 of the 12+ hour flight to Denver. Cursing my mother and wishing I was on some beach back home, I listened to this lady tell me her whole life story. It seemed as if she told it 10 times. "What a nightmare" I thought to myself.

12 hours later puts me in Denver. Trying to find the 9 other suckers that had obviously been forced by their parents as well to take part in this 28 day nightmare in the woods of Colorado. As I located this group of unfortunate not as cool as I, of course, kids, I remember telling myself "myself. You are going to need more than some beef jerky to keep you entertained on this trip." So I grabbed a book. A BOOK! What had the world come to? The world, my life and more importantly my SUMMER was falling apart. The book, books being on the banned paraphernalia list, turned out to be one of my favorite books ever.

After joining the death camp we were unsuccessfully searched for banned paraphernalia. No disc-men. No magazines and books. I was one for one. I'm smooth. What can I say?

The next two days were mostly spent driving. Yeah. You read it right. D.R.I.V.I.N.G. The afternoon of day two was spent hiking 6 miles to the base of some random 12k ft mountain. Yup. Ooooooo. Ahhhhhh. Riiiiight. Yeah. The scenery was beautiful and I was around some good people. Whatever. All I could think about was my car that I wasn't driving, my girlfriend that I wasn't holding and the rest of the summer that I would not be enjoying. Those were my thoughts as I went to bed that night under the stars. The shooting stars I might add: 27 of them... and 6 satellites. A truly incredible sight.

Day 3 consisted of climbing my first mountain. Like I said. 12000 feet. Give 'er take. Probably give. Like 400 feet or so. I have to over embellish for the story a little right?

So there I was. Just above the tree line on a 13k ft mountain. Eating ritz crackers, tuna and an apple for lunch. Surrounded by the Colorado Rockies…. And I was miserable. After eating we continued our ascent to the peak.

"A long 25 days" I thought to myself. "A long 25 days is right Jon." Evidently I had said it out loud because one of the trip leaders responded with agreement. And as I dragged my soccer worn body up the mountain all I could think was… was… "this sucks." And after a few hours of a combined hiking/stripping just about every piece of clothing that weighed me down, my bag and my hat, I made it to the peak. It wasn't long before I collapsed on a boulder, a boulder that looked like a Sealy Posturpedic, if you can imagine that. "You don't look so good" said Chris, the captain obvious of trip leaders. It wasn't but a moment later that the term projectile vomiting was coined… or displayed, but coined sounds better. That's what it was in my life. And out came the, close your eyes for this one: Ritz, tuna and an apple. (Picture that with a… Canon. Oh no. I think it's a Kodak. Either way. ) "Everybody down. Down off the mountain NOW!" screamed Chris and Emily simultaneously. Emily was the other trip leader. So as everyone grabbed their things and started heading down… I slowly sat up… and took a look around. I, figuratively, took a step back, and smelled the roses. Noticing that I was, and had been, surrounded by the Colorado Rockies, I was blown away. It was beautiful. Even my words would do it no justice. It was a special moment for me. It was humbling moment; a moment that I will never forget. This is where you get goose bumps and feel like you just might get a little teary-eyed.

Sitting there on that Sealy Posturpedic, wiping off leftover tuna/ritz/apple off my face, I realized that I had been wrong… about Colorado, about how awful my summer was going to be… and about myself. I thought that I knew a lot, a lot about life and people and myself. At that moment I learned that I knew very little about all three.

Life is like a peanut. Uh. No. I take that back. I can't think of a good way to relate life to a peanut. Life is like… baseball. In baseball you'll strike out. And you'll have another at-bat. Another try. Another opportunity. Such is life. A challenge if you let it be. Take risks. Enjoy the moment. And be open to what life, and this world, has to offer. Those are but a few of the things that I learned up there on that 18000 ft mountain. Lessons that I will carry with me always.

I eventually got my G.E.D. and then worked full time for a few years. At twenty-three, I went back to school with the goal of becoming a corporate attorney. This idea popped into my head while I was doing masonry work for the then President of America Online. The story goes that he was retiring because his wife made more money than he did and he wanted to spend more time at home with her and their kids. I found out that she was a corporate attorney making a ridiculous salary.

So off to college I went. It was a small private school about a half hour south of Boston. Finally being away from home was a welcomed change in my life. I loved dorm life and looked forward to learning about business and law and economics and accounting. I was no longer the class clown. I loved being in school.

Things changed quickly when I couldn’t afford room and board and had to commute my second semester. I managed to fit my schedule into three days a week. Every Tuesday through Thursday I would drive an hour and a half up to Franklin, Massachusetts and back. After a long semester of commuting I found myself living in a hotel off campus because the school “overbooked” the dorms. That was a pretty sweet semester.

I earned my associates degree the following year. It was a long two years in which the most prevalent lesson was that “it is was you make of it.” This lesson wouldn’t really sink in until years later.

I went back home and started a roofing company with my cousin. It was tough work that I only miss in fleeting moments. Being on a roof with my cousin… we had some good times. But, after about a year of that I needed a change and did some landscaping for a year. At twenty-seven, I got involved in a local television studio. I helped produce a show with a few other kids.

In the spring of 2008 I received a call from my younger cousin asking me to check out a school down in Florida. I did, and in July of that year I entered the Film program at Full Sail University. I could write pages and pages on my experiences in the Film program, but for the sake of this post, I’ll cut it short. After the Film program I entered the Master’s program.

I started the program with the business idea for a magazine that photographers could submit photographs to with articles that told the story. I wanted the magazine to be a monthly hard cover bad ass publication that everyone would want to be a part of. I envisioned a picture of the Colorado Rocky Mountains on the first cover and my article being the first story. I wanted to provide a publication that would encourage artists to submit their work and tell their stories. It was to be a community of creative people supporting one another as they grew as artists.

I wanted to create something that was all welcoming, a business that supported people that have never been supported. After months of development I revised the plan and considered the logistics of what I wanted to accomplish.

The publication has gone from a monthly hard cover magazine to a monthly online magazine that people will subscribe to. This choice was one of financials. It’s ridiculously expensive to print a magazine and distribute it. Project Vision The Magazine will be a website that encourages photographers and writers to tell their stories the best way they know how. Photographers and writers will receive professional feedback on their work and have their works published by a global publication. I plan on printing a special edition quarterly hard cover magazine by the second year.

Now, I started this post talking about Enron and motives. In the documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room there is a test done based on Milgram’s Theory. The theory is that people will make decisions that have an adverse effect on others as long as they are not held responsible. The test showed that half of the people would cause harm to others as long as the responsibility for that harm caused was not their own. This test, by Stanley Milgram, was likened to the executives at Enron and all of the people involved that never stopped the fraudulent activity.

I also mentioned that I had recently watched a number of films. Bush’s War is another film that got me thinking about corporate greed and how people come to decide certain things. The Corporation sheds some light on some of the motives that drive people to completely disregard the welfare of others in the interest of making more money.

Finally, The Book of Eli sparked a discussion that I had with a close friend of mine. The conversation went from a review of the film to a talk brief talk about religion, an even more brief talk about politics that somehow segued to an intense discussion about the Star Wars films and George Lucas. We talked mostly about what Lucas’ motivations may have been for making Episode 1,2 & 3 as well as the purpose and questionable use of the character Jar Jar Binks.

At the end of the day I don’t want to question what is really important. For me, I think it’s my duty to help others. I’ve been so fortunate in my life to have had the experiences that I have had. From growing up without a father to climbing fourteen thousand foot mountains and spending a month in the woods. From dropping out of high school to cracking jokes and talking in an Irish accent with my cousin while roofing. I’ve been to Sweden and Denmark and Ireland and Montreal. I’ve lived with a drug dealer and broken my arm. I have earned a film degree and next week I will walk across a stage and receive a master’s degree.

And all moments have their respective stories attached to them. Stories like mine where I found myself surrounded by the Colorado Rockies and humbled by their beauty. This post has actually been a series of articles/stories. My company is based on people submitting their stories, sharing their experiences and lessons learned.

I want to help give people a voice. I want to give people an opportunity to tell their stories. I want to create a community of creative people that inspire each other to do great things that they never thought possible otherwise.

If you’ve read this far, I thank you. I ask that you take a moment and think about how far you’ve come in your life and where you would like to be tomorrow… where you would like to be a year from now. Write your story. Share your story. You never know who might read it and who might be able to help you. This is not a normal blog post, but then again, I guess I’m not a normal blogger. Inspire vision.

Mobile Apps: Mobile Applications. A Convenient Technology Tool To Stay Or Just A Phase In Decline?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:41:00 +0000

Mobile apps. The popularity of mobile applications is staggering. But, I find myself thinking are these mobile applications a convenient technology tool that will be around for years to come or is this just a tech phase that is in its decline. At this point, it is really hard to tell. One would think, with more than 400,000 apps created last year alone, that apps are here to stay. But, I can’t say that anyone could have predicted the life of the compact disc in the music industry. Digital is in. People are flocking by the masses from the tangible tools that they’ve known all of their lives to their digital counterparts in the form of mobile applications.

In 2011 there were nearly 1 billion mobile app subscriptions (http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/a#subscribers) The sales of smart phones and tablets/readers are growing at a dizzying rate. An estimated 34.4% of mobile users in the United States accessed an application on their smart phone in the last quarter of 2011. By the end of 2011, Apple led the way in the mobile app market with more than 300,000 applications. The Android smart phones have 25,000 apps and growing. Recent studies have found that nearly 25% of all applications downloaded are opened and rarely used more than once. Those 25% are usually uninstalled or never used again.

The most popular mobile applications (in the United States) across all mobile devices and service providers are Facebook and GoogleMaps. Rounding off the top three, a possible surprise until you think about it, is The Weather Channel.

It does not look like the mobile application market is going to die out any time soon. As long as there are mobile devices there will be mobile applications.

In recent weeks I have seen a few mobile apps that have impressed me with their implementation and use with current tools. More specifically, cameras and the tools that photographers and film-makers use for their projects. Radian is a new device that allows anyone with a camera to create calculated time lapse videos segments. The creators of the Radian device have included an app that allows users to connect the Radian to their phone, set up the configuration of the shot, and be done. Simple. Creative. Brilliant.
In other news, I read an article on Inc.com that explained the troubles of the mobile game app creator Zynga. The article talks about it's beginnings and factors that have lead to its current state.

Mobile applications have become a part of most of our lives. Whether you use them to check the weather or if they are a vital part of your every day life at home or work, applications can be tools used to help creative people stay creative. Check out the article on technology and innovation to learn more about creative technologies and where those technologies may lead us in the future.

Media Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Villanueva) — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 13:08:00 +0000

Over the past year, I have been doing extensive research into media technology. In the post An Age of Technology and Innovation I talked about the evolution of technology. Over the past few months, there have been new innovations in the technology industry.

Google is at the forefront of these new innovations with their Google Glass Project developed by the Google X Lab. An augmented head display is embedded into a pair of custom glasses. The glass has the ability to display images at the users command. Maps for directions, a camera for taking pictures, the ability to make video calls and setting your schedule through a calendar are just a few things that the Google Glasses will be able to do.

These glasses have the ability to play music, voice recognition and can update the wearer with relevant alerts based on location. One of the first questions that can be asked would be how long does the battery last? Another question would be how much do they cost? The answer for the first question is yet to be answered. The second question has been answered by Google. The first developer's release of the glasses in the spring of 2013 will run about $1,500. The consumer release is scheduled for some time in 2014 and does not have a projected price tag yet.

Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how this technology develops and if it will flood our mainstream society and day to day lives. I can't see these glasses replacing smart phones, but you never know.

Project Vision: A Documentary Magazine for Photographers and Writers

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Villanueva) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 13:13:00 +0000

Project Vision, also known as Project V., is a documentary magazine for photographers and writers that want to be published and grow as an artist. It is an idea that I came up with as I entered the Entertainment Business Master’s Program (EBMS) at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The program guides students in the business practices of the entertainment industry and prepares them in how to create, develop and present a professional business plan.

The business that I have developed over the past year is Project V. The V. is for Vision. The slogan for the company is Inspire Vision. The idea is to build a community of artists that inspire one another to create their work at a higher standard and to have each other, and the staff at Project V., for professional feedback. It helps teach photographers how to become a better photographer and writers how to become better writers.

With tools like Adobe Illustrator, the turn.js JQuery plug-in, Rockethub and an array of Apple products I now have the foundation for an online magazine like no other. The Issuu platform will prove to be a pivotal part of the Project V. success.

Over the next three months I will be polishing the Project Vision business plan. I look to launch the Project V. website by the Fall of 2012.

Canon’s new 5D Mark III will be the camera of choice for the Project V. staff members. With a full frame censor and 22.3 mega-pixels, the photographers will have some of the best technology available at their fingertips. The camera won't tell us how to become a better photographer, but it will allow us to learn more about photography and hopefully help us teach others how to become a better photographer.

Figure 1 - Canon's new 5D Mark III (http://www.usa.canon.com)

Recently, I was asked if the EBMS program was worth it. I fell back on a lesson that I learned while at Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts. “You get what you put into it.” The EBMS program at Full Sail University provides students and aspiring entrepreneurs with a solid foundation of entertainment business knowledge.

Please comment and let me know what you think of this idea. Tell me what you like about it and what you don't like about it. How can I improve upon what I have? This is the question that will constantly be asked at Project Vision.

An Age of Technology And Innovation

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Villanueva) — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:04:00 +0000

We live in an age of technology and innovation. It has become apparent to me that the society we live in, globally, is becoming more and more tech-savvy and tech-friendly. Over the past few decades I’ve watched as everyone around me got a cell phone and eventually a computer. Some people now have these Apple iPads (over 55 million sold in the past 2 years) or other notebook at the ready. Digital technology is more common and used than a healthy diet. Than again, digital technology is the moneymaker.

I began my research with digital technology in the hopes of finding information that would show how dependant our society has become on it. I soon found that in order to tell about the current technology I would have to, at least briefly, explain the history of digital technology in order to set up the foundation for where we are now. After finding that digital technology stems from ancient times and doesn’t necessarily require electricity (some forms of ancient digital technology include Morse Code, Braille, a beacon and an abacus; which is an old but accurate form of a calculator.) I decided to take another route.

With artificial intelligence, we are now on the verge of a new era, a time where our computers can adapt and think for themselves. One should be concerned when the dependence on a single device is so great that without it all forms of communication cease to exist. At what point does our technology and innovation go too far? At what point do our innovations become more valuable than the innovators themselves? At what point is our dependence on the abilities of these new devices greater than the abilities that we ourselves possess?

About seventy percent, approximately five billion people, of the world’s population own a cell phone. More recent statistics show that the number is closer to ninety percent and almost six billion people. Communication is on the rise, but the form of that communication is ever evolving. There was no such thing as texting on a cell phone twenty years ago. Today, on average, there are more than two hundred trillion text messages received by mobile phone users in the United States alone. That is more than the amount of emails that are received in a whole year in the U.S. In 2010 Americans spent almost fifty million dollars on mobile devices. That number is projected to skyrocket to almost two billion by the year 2015.

In an age of technology and innovation, media is finding its way on to anything with a screen. Books are now being converted to digital formats to take advantage of the rise and popularity of the personal tablet. Publishing has taken a new face in the world of personal computing. More and more authors are taking advantage of self-publishing deals that allow them to profit like never before. Traditional forms of publishing are quickly fading in every industry. Music has been at the forefront of digital exposure since Napster crashed on the map in 1999. It’s no secret that iTunes leads the market with the ninety-nine cent per song standard. Now films and television are adapting to the demand of streaming accessibility with companies like Netflix and Hulu. HBO is getting in on the evolution with its HBO GO service.

And I could go on. All of these statistics and information is to show how dependant we have become on the technology that we have created. Granted it is a wonderful time to live in with innovations thought impossible only twenty years ago, it is frightening to think that all it would take to induce chaos would be the flick of a switch. One accident of melt down or power failure that caused the whole network to fail could potentially be catastrophic. If there were a power failure that stretched down the entire East coast, the madness that ensued would be unimaginable. I don’t know anyone, outside of an office, that owns a landline telephone. When Playstation’s network is shut down because of hacking or maintenance, there is a huge uproar in the gaming community. Television has yet to see an instance like this, but I believe it is only a matter of time. If the plug were pulled on any technology that we are all now so very dependent on, where would that leave us. The debate over print vs. digital is a scary one to me. The information in digital form is only valuable if you have the power to access it. A book is a book is a book. If you have the book, that is all you need. If you have the newspaper, that is all you need. If the battery in your phone or tablet runs out, or if the electricity that powers your television and cable runs out… there is no information. History has proven how important information is. Generations of information were lost when Conquistadors and monks burned countless books of the Mayan civilization. What little information that is left of the Mayans has proven to be of stunning accuracy and relevance to our culture and society. The interpretations and explanations of the information has been the subject of many a debate.

How we move forward with the use of technology will be vital in our survival as a society. I can’t help but think of films like iRobot and Minority Report or THX 1138. Even Moon and 2001 Space Odyssey can be troubling. Technology is an amazing thing that we should not take advantage of. The publishing of books in a digital form and the breakthrough in film quality digital cameras give an amazing opportunity to artists all over the world. Access to arts that were not there only a few decades ago. My worry is that, although old and traditional, film and print are permanent and non-dependant on outside factors. As long as they are protected they will last ages into the foreseeable future. I support the innovation of technology and it’s use by the masses. I just worry that the dependence of these innovations can spell disaster for an age that doesn’t know how to survive without them.

http://business.time.com

http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/mobile-statistics-2011-growth-of-mobile/

http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats

http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats#subscribers

http://www.griffintechnology.com/blog/2011/mind-blowing-cellphone-statistics

http://www.businessweek.com/archives/2000/b3679133.arc.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_codices

ESPN

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Villanueva) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:37:00 +0000

I recently attended an event at the Full Sail Live venue which is where I had the pleasure of seeing David Saphirestein. David is the Director of Creative Technology at Full Sail University. Prior to working at Full Sail, David was the Creative Director at the ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, CT.
It was quite an event as while eager spectators waited for the presentation to begin, on huge screens played old commercials from the ESPN vault. Easily over 60 commercials ran back to back. It was great.
To the stage first was Josh Mora, the Program Director for Sports Marketing and Media at Full Sail. He quickly introduced himself and what we were in for and then handed the stage over to David. With a great sense of humor and controlled charisma, David gave all in attendance a behind the scenes look at what goes in to some of the details at ESPN. From how a brand is created to how it's nurtured and matures. He talked about how ideas are formulated and brought to the screen at the ESPN studios. David also shared experiences that he's had over the years and gave some insight to why certain things are done a certain way, Ex: Logo creation and continuity. At the end of the show he gave everyone a list of ways to get the creative juices flowing. He and Josh then took quite a few questions from the audience via flying paper balls.
All in all I thought it was a great talk. Both Josh and David were very informative and willing to share their personal experiences with us. Great event!

New Direction?

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Villanueva) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:53:00 +0000

Since my last post I’ve done a little more research in the online capacity. I’m beginning to thing more and more that I should start the magazine online. Overall, after all is said and done, it looks like it will be a more efficient and more productive way to go. Its hard for me to accept because I’m so attached to the idea of the magazine being a hard cover quarterly and twelve soft cover magazine. As my research has shown, print is dying. Even papers like the New York Times is on it’s way out. And it’s serious enough to make a film about.

Page One is a documentary by Andrew Rossi telling the inside story of The New York Times. Everything from the relationships and changing of the guard to the state of the paper. With a release set for the summer of 2011, Page One is a grim reminder that even the best are having a hard go of it.

The question I have to ask myself as an entrepreneur and as one that wants to publish a magazine is this: “Is the story I have to tell more compelling than the stories of The New York Times?”

I’ve also found a great source in BNET.COM. They provide plenty of daily articles ranging from current events in business to tips on how to get your company funded and how to make your idea successful. Another valuable source has been MSN.COM. One article from BNET.COM is Should You Start A Business Right After College? The article goes over key questions to ask yourself before you make that long term investment in time and most likely money. Articles like this one thoroughly go over everything you need to know and more times than not explains the whys and the why nots. I think it’s important for young entrepreneurs, all entrepreneurs for that matter, to understand their business decisions fully as to learn from each experience and become better business people because of it.

Moving forward, I have a lot more research to do in the web design area. I don’t know the cost on what it would take to develop the website I see my magazine having. I don’t know what it would take to keep the website running and I’m not too sure what avenues I would take to bring in revenue via the website. These are but a few answers that I need to find in my near future research.

Next Blog: Funding avenues and Website details

http://www.bnet.com/

http://www.bnet.com/blog/smb/should-you-start-a-business-right-out-of-college/4825

http://www.msn.com/

Online?

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Villanueva) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 07:48:00 +0000

Recently, I read an article in The New York Times about thriving online shelter magazines. Now the term 'shelter magazine' is fairly new to me. Well, its really new. So I looked it up. The term 'shelter' refers to interior design, home furnishings or architecture. It also can refer to home gardening. The article focused mostly on the success of a fairly new online publication and the keys to it's success.
One feature I took note of was the software that many online publications are using. According to the article, Issuu is a popular software that companies are using online to replicate the familiarity of turning the pages of a magazine.
So... I looked that up. After a quick check I noticed that turning a page was as simple as clicking an arrow that in turn simulated the page turning. This was somewhat of a disappointment as I have been on sites where the user is able to 'grab' the corner of a page and 'turn' it with full control. Minor technicalities maybe, but a feature that I think is worthy of noting for my business.
As far as the financials for incorporating this sort of software in my online publication I have yet to do any thorough research. I really have yet to do any sort of major research in how much it may cost to publish the magazine online. From personal experience, a rough estimate for a site like the one I plan to launch would possibly be 20,000 per year to host and maintain. Most of the costs would be incurred by biweekly or monthly updates. Also, responses to reader feedback/comments could add to the cost.
I did a little research on publishing a hard copy of the magazine recently. Early estimates put production of 50,000 12x12 56 page magazines can cost upwards of $72,000. That puts the cost per unit at $1.44. My early (Additional features were also added to enhance the overall quality and look of the magazine.)
Shipping costs have not yet been estimated, although the magazine printer has a shipping option where they will ship the magazines for their customers, I'm sure at an additional cost tbd. I also have to look into the publication costs for a hard cover magazine. This would only be a quarterly release, but still it would be an added expense to the company. More research needs to be done.

http://www.foliomag.com/2010/shelter-magazines-good-bad-and-survivors
http://www.printpelican.com/

Technology: When buying a camera do you invest in something pricey or just get a good cheap video camera?

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Villanueva) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:42:00 +0000

New new new. There is always something newer. There is always something better and everyone is always looking for a good cheap video camera. But, there are so many options; digital camera vs video camera, just video vs video and still, high megapixels vs lower megapixels, full frame vs cropped and the options pile up.

The other day I came across a video of a graphic artist that has virtually designed computer graphics to look amazingly close to reality. One of the main problems with cgi up until now has been how light plays off of the generated images. Alex Roman seems to have solved this problem.
http://youtu.be/lZOnrN4x0Zk
http://gizmodo.com/5691747/

With the rebirth of 3D, it's explosion back into the film world and now the works of Alex Roman, it will be interesting to see where technology goes in the future.

Arri Alexa (http://www.gizmodo.com.au)

The new thing in the film world now is the advancement of digital video. DSLRs are popping out one after the other trying to capture the best quality video. Cameras dedicated to video, like the Arri Alexa and the RED, are making considerable strides towards reaching, and even surpassing, the quality of film. Film has a dynamic range that hasn’t changed much in the past 100 years. Digital video on the other hand has made leaps and bounds over the past 10 years alone. Each year technology and what people are doing with it are advancing and changing the way we do things. Digital video is relatively new.

RED ONE
(body only - http://tech.nocr.at)

The RED ONE claims to be a digital cinema video camera comparable to the quality of film. “Because the RED ONE is a digital cinema camera (and not an HD video camera), the list of competitors is a short one…… “It is safe to say that RED's biggest competition comes from film, and as the sensor technology continues to improve, while film's days of progress are numbered, the promise of digital acquisition will be realized. The advantage film has currently is one of dynamic range. With each generation of RED sensor development, the gap becomes narrower and narrower.” http://www.red.com/faqs

It will be interesting to see the advancements in technology in the future and what it will add to the film world.

Film noir

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Villanueva) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:39:00 +0000

It wasn’t until I was in my mid teens that I first remember being introduced to film noir. My mother cannot get enough of the old back and white films. And then she showed me The Maltese Falcon. It was an instant love affair. I soon found myself watching more noir films such as Double Indemnity and The Third Man.

It is hard to speak of this genre without explaining why I’m so drawn to it. I found in film noir something that I hadn’t seen in most other films that I had ever watched. Films like An American Tale, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure or Back to The Future were entertaining, but lacked a certain something. Even Oscar winning films including Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption, Rain Man, Amadeus and The Last Emperor lack what a noir film made in the 40’s or 50’s had. I think there is a purity of those old noir films that most films nowadays cannot replicate. The dark and emotional films that draw you in and keep you on the edge of your seat, only to end with a simple answer pertaining to the main character. Most times the audience is left with questions unanswered. The main character has his answer and the film ends. Simple.

Many of the noir films made throughout the forties and fifties were a reflection of the times. WWII had an impact on the world and everything in it including the film world. Simple was good for film and film noir was fresh.

For Me For You

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Villanueva) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 04:00:00 +0000

So I wanted to start a blog that would give me the freedom to share my thoughts on what interests me. As to not be limited by a specific part of film and at the same time not start talking about other interests of mine outside the film industry, I chose to keep it broad and stick to just film.
This blog stems from my love of film. From an early age films were a huge part of my life. I cannot recall how many films I've seen. Maybe I'll look into that.
For now, for the purpose of this assignment, I will talk about a film that I saw recently that I feel is quite thought provoking.
The Social Network is the latest of many films that I've seen throughout my life that made me take a step back and think about the experiences of my past and my thoughts on my future. Inspirational? Maybe. Smart? Most definitely. The characters in the film, accurate to the actual people they portray or not, were captivating.
As an aspiring filmmaker, I saw a young man with a vision and an unwavering drive to see that vision into a reality. The relationships that he had were an instrument to achieve his goal. Wether right or wrong, Mark Zuckerberg's character did what he felt he had to do to get to where he wanted.

Jim Breuer Is So Underrated!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Villanueva) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:48:00 +0000

Jim Breuer had most of his 15 minutes when he starred in Half Baked along side Dave Chappelle. He hasn't really done much since. I've seen his stand up comedy and the guy is hilarious. I think he, unless he's in a drug induced coma, should be in more movies or shows.