The Way We Watch

Please Don't Make Yourself At Home

2009-11-08T18:22:41-05:00

Last night I was stuck at 42nd Street and the West Side Highway and needed to stay put in the neighborhood for 90 minutes while my son was a bowling party. I ambled into the nearest food establishment.

Seemed kind of welcoming to me from the outside.

After I bought my slice and soda at the counter I sat down and saw four signs:

The sign to the right says, "Is not permitted food or beverage from outside."

Luckily, my slice and soda were $5.00 (over the minimum). I didn't plug my phone in to charge it and I didn't bring any food from the outside in with me.

Syntax aside, rules are necessary, for sure. But when you want repeat customers to your blog or service, figure out ways to keep the conversation going. If you don't want repeat customers do what this restaurant does - bombard us with rules.

It's like putting up a sign in the window that says, "We don't want you here for very long."

If I'm stuck at 42nd Street and the West Side Highway again. I'll walk to tenth ave.

What Do Chris Brogan and Michael Caine Have In Common?

2009-11-02T06:30:00-05:00

The answer is Chris Brogan* and Michael Caine both know how to relate to the camera.

Both see the camera as their best friend.

I've been enjoying Brogan's series because he's been doing a great job of speaking candidly about what it takes to be success. I feel like he's talking to me. Can't see the clip, click here.

As someone who works with non professionals, talking into a camera can be daunting because it's so easy to forget that you're talking to someone behind that cold piece of glass in the camera. (He could have adjusted for the sun coming in through the window - but that's a different post).

Brogan is a great communicator. I like that he doesn't shout like Gary Vaynerchuk (yes, Gary's a passionate fellow, http://tv.winelibrary.com/). But Brogan is just as passionate and more effective, I think, because he reveals to us who he is.

We all can be good communicators on camera if we follow some simple rules that I've gleaned from Michael Cain's Acting in Film DVD (there's a book too but the DVD actully shows Caine and some students in action).

From Caine's Video:

Don't Move. Tics, winking, big gestures. You don't need them. Your best friend is two inches away.
Confide. If the camera is your best friend, treat him like your best friend.
And here's a funny one. Eyes are the most important thing. Make sure the camera can see yours. "If you have blond eyelashes and you're in a movie you might as well be in a radio play," says Caine who wears mascara when he performs on camera. Here's a clip from the DVD.

If you want to see more, get the video at workingartsvideo.com/sales.php. There's a 30% off coupon code available. Disclosure: I've helped the publisher of Working Arts Library post on YouTube and was paid earlier this year to direct market these titles to Theater Professors and University libraries.

*Chris Brogan is the co-writer of Trust Agents (a current NY Times bestseller) and his blog, chrisbrogan.com is ranked #1 by Advertising Age's list of most influential marketing blogs.

What do you think of Brogan's communication skills?

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The Most Fun iPhone App Around...

2009-10-28T11:26:23-04:00

I'm not a professional photographer - nor do I ever aim to be one - but I sure feel like one since I've been using Chase Jarvis' Best Camera App for the iPhone. He's created an easy three button app that simulates his editorial photo work. The full story on Chase and the app is here

I wanted to quickly show you some before and after shots using the app so I made this simple iMovie. Take a look. You'll be surprised to know the composer of the music is the marketing blogger Adam Singer who makes his electronic music available to everyone at his site: adamsinger.org.

Also via the app, Jarvis has created a very easy way to share your pictures with Facebook, Twitter, the best camera app community and your own iphone photo library. My pictures can be seen at http://bestc.am/photographers/7921. What is neat is seeing how other people are using the particular filters. If you click on http://www.thebestcamera.com/ and double click any photo you can see what filters and what order they were used.

I've always wanted to be Duane Michaels and now I can be (in my own mind)!

A PR Person's Guide: How To Maximize Your Video Edit Time

2009-10-12T06:30:00-04:00

I'm talking to PR people in this post.

You're busy. You always have more than one client or one job that is taking up your day. You want a video so you're calling on a trusted video producer. And, your budgets are always tight.

With the explosion of web video, I've been getting calls from PR folk, asking me to edit together a 2-3 minute video story for a website about an event, an opening, a party, a gala. You get the drill. As much as PR people want to make the video, cost is their over riding concern. Many times footage comes from another source and I have no control on what it is or how it's shot. (That's the topic for another soon to written post).

I thought I would share some tips to make your dollar go as far as it can when working with video professionals.

Before the job, negotiate the schedule and billing. For smaller budget shows, the post process happens in four phases.

Phase 1: Loading footage, creating show titles, lower third supers (id's), choosing music, slugging together the sound bites and selecting the best b-roll shots.
Phase 2: Editing the show flow, whittling down sound bites, cutting to music, laying in titles.
Phase 3: Review with Client
Phase 4: Tweaks, audio mix, color correct, Upload final, create master and web files.

In order for this to run smoothly you, the PR person, should do the following:

Have all names and titles spell checked and have ready before Phase 1.
If you want to use your client's font, make sure you have a mac version of it to share with the Producer.
Determine any show open titles, show ending titles, urls that have to be flashed, logos, or bugs that have to be shown. Again, make sure the Producer has them before Phase 1.
Determine the genre of music that you want. Give examples to the producer of stuff that you've heard that you like. Music is the easiest thing in a video not to like. But if you only have 20 hours of editing, killing the music cut - after 15 hours of editing has elapsed - can kill a project's budget.
Make sure you have your client's time booked to see the rough cut and finished versions. You don't want your video post crew waiting around and billing you.
Where are you uploading this? Let the producer know whether this is being streamed on a client's server, YouTube or other social media platform for distribution.
Content. The more you can share about what your client wants to see in the finished version - the easier it will be to hit the ground running on that first few hours of editing. At the very least, tell the Producer the two essential pieces of information that have to be communicated and what emotion you want viewers to feel after they have watched it.

Image Credit: Matt Gibson

What are your experiences in making video for your clients?

Makes Me Want To Watch - Makes Me Want To Share

2009-10-06T20:46:52-04:00

Awesomeness. My impulse upon seeing this was to spread it.

The stuff that cuts through the clutter gets shared.

Would I buy the camera? Not so sure. Will I remember the brand? You bet.

Do you want to share this?

Can't see the video. Click here.