We brought the iOgrapher out again today for a great Facebook Live chat with Georgia-Pacific CEO Christian Fischer hosting Major Bob Parker and wife Captain Kathy Parker from The Salvation Army Metro Atlanta's Angel Tree Program.
Taking the Dixie brand to VR by Working Backwards
Filming in the woods of North Georgia
In order to sell a product well, you need to understand the manufacturing process. The entire manufacturing process. GP Studios was tasked with creating an immersive experience to showcase how Dixie products are made to the internal sales teams. Originally it was planned to start with the papermaking process, however I proposed starting at the very beginning, in the forest. That segment introduced a vital message to the sales team, the sustainability of forests is first and foremost in everything Georgia-Pacific does. Sustainability is a buzzword that can be tossed around, but to visually be reminded that this is more than just a word, turned out to be a key takeaway from the presentation.
Video Producer course now available from Lynda.com / LinkedIn Learning
I take you on set of "Water Science with Wade" to show you what a Producer does.
What exactly does a video producer do? Understanding the role of the modern video producer will help you recognize if you have the skills and the mindset to take on the job. A good producer not only knows video inside and out, but also can manage time and money effectively, resolve conflict, maintain morale, and plan logistics. Above all else, a video producer has to be flexible and able to make decisions quickly, on the fly.
In this course, I take you on set and show you how production decisions unfold in real time, whether you're scripting, scheduling, directing crew members, or providing feedback to post. Follow along and explore the responsibilities of a producer in all stages, including pre-production (planning), production (running a set), and post-production (editing and delivery). By the end, you'll have a better understanding of skills and techniques it takes to run a smooth and successful video production. Topics include:
- Scripting and storyboarding
- Casting
- Scheduling
- Running a set
- Paying your crew
- Working with post
- Providing constructive feedback
- Mastering
This course is available through Lynda.com and LinkedIn Learning.
Sustainable Wood Forestry Messaging with Snake Chaps
“Folks, here’s the snake chaps, be sure to put them on so the rattlers don’t get you.” Now THERE’s a phrase I’ve never heard in my 25+ years of storytelling. And let me tell you, that phrase wakes you up in a hurry. Of course my response was, “I make these look good, don’t I?”
Trint: Transcriptions Redefined
A friend pointed me to Trint transcription services. They claim to have redefined transcriptions by creating a superior software algorithm to quickly and pretty accurately turn around transcriptions from audio and video files. I was very skeptical having tried software like this in the past. Well, after trying them out, I am quite impressed.
Get A Life!: Make Fun Over the Holidays!
The older we get, the more the Holidays seem to get stressful. Doesn't matter which Holiday you celebrate this time of year, there's so much pressure to have the "perfect party," get the "perfect gift(s)," "get everything done" and of course get stuck in traffic, especially on weekends near a shopping center. The Holidays are supposed to be a break from the stress of our "real work." So do something different and fun, like build your own gingerbread house.
I Can Do That! (How am I going to do that?)
I've been working on a new e-Learning proposal for the past few weeks. Didn't know I could do that? Well, I can and can't.
See it's a video centric learning program but just showing videos and scenarios isn't enough. We really need to test the employees at each step along the way to ensure they're getting the material. Years ago I established a relationship with a really good e-Learning partner for these very situations. For this project we're going to work together with them taking point on the educational design and me on the video production. We'll work together on the overall project management and development.
Moral of the story? Work on your network of connections for really good and really honest partners you can bring in so when you get a call that says, "Can you do that?" your answer can be "Absolutely!"
My "Video Budgeting" course is now available on Lynda.com
I'm proud to announce my first training product from Lynda.com (and LinkedIn Learning) Video Budgeting.
Whether you own a production company or you’re a freelancer, we’re all independent contractors and it’s important to understand and document the full scope of work and fees to be charged for a project. In other words, creating an accurate budget.
Why I use Rampant Design Tools
No, I’m not a paid spokesperson for Rampant Design Tools. I just love their products and when they asked if I would create a video telling folks why I use them, well of course I said yes. Beyond the awesomeness of the products, there the awesomeness of Sean and Stefani Mullen. Real creatives who make wonderful tools for the rest of us.
Sailing and Filming a Cruise with an iPhone and iOgrapher
The view looking forward from our cabin balcony.
While on vacation recently, I was able to combine two of his passions. Video production and cruising. Just before sailing on the Celebrity Cruises “Silhouette,” to the Caribbean, I picked up an iOgrapher which makes a very useful camera platform for the iPhone and iPad. Featuring interchangeable lenses, cold shoe mounts and tripod mounting points the iOgrapher essentially turns the iPhone into a professional camera giving the videographer great camera stability.
The cruise was the perfect testing platform as I'm looking for new ways to work with video, especially in social media. We’re also testing some new ideas for the upcoming Contemporary Living Network and we can see the benefits of creating original content with this setup.
The one thing I didn’t have on this trip was a shotgun microphone. Since the phone is mounted sideways on the iOgrapher, the microphone on the phone is not great for picking up natural sound and spoken word. Before the next vacation, I’ll be adding a shotgun mic.
I also didn’t know about some additional apps for the iPhone that allow for manual Iris and Color Balance controls on the phone. You’ll see the auto-iris kick in quick in quite a bit with all the bright / dark areas. And the color balance does change from time to time. I'll add those apps before the next vacation as well.
All in all, very impressive to see the picture quality and especially the stability of the images. This entire project was filmed with the iPhone 6. Absolutely NO camera stabilization was added to any of these images in the video below.
Also VERY impressed with Celebrity Cruises and their Silhouette. This was our first time on Celebrity and we were so impressed with the ship, the crew and of course, the food that we booked another cruise on the Celebrity Reflection. Celebrity is just top notch, white glove treatment but without the stuffy attitude. Beautiful ship, wonderful people and a great time.
To read more on the iOgrapher: http://www.iographer.com
To read more on Celebrity Cruises: http://www.celebritycruises.com/
To find those light leaks and many other effects: http://rampantdesigntools.com
If you like the music, that's from The License Lab: https://licenselab.com/
Editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5: Day Three
It’s Day Three of my “real world” editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5 and this is going to be the longest blog yet as I want to show you guys a lot of the “little things” that are making editing in Resolve a pleasure. I know there are a lot of questions still out there whether this is really a professional editor. For me it’s the small things that separate the applications making life efficient and fun for the the editor. I also had a pleasant surprise today. Alexis Van Hurkman, the man who literally wrote the manual on Resolve, called to point out some of the editing specific features that I might not be aware were there.
Editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5: Day Two
Ok, if I’m being honest about this, Day Two was really a continuation of a very LONG day one. Some updates on the issues from Day One.
The need to Transcode to ProRes. Paul Saccone from Blackmagic Design reached out to me and told me I didn’t need to transcode the 4k H264 to ProRes to get better performance. I can use “Generate Optimized Media” instead.
Editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5: Day One
At the recently completed NAB Show in Las Vegas, Blackmagic Design took the wraps off DaVinci Resolve 12.5. It really could be a Resolve 13 but they probably wanted to avoid that unlucky number. I’ve been predicting for over a year now that NAB 2016 would be the year this tool became a full fledged non-linear editing system and sure enough, it’s a solid editing platform.