Enjoy!

I once got an email from an aquaintance that went something like this.

"Hey Kath, How can I upload my videos to Youtube and make them so that they don't look so shitty?"

Believe it or not, ladies and gents, there is over 4 hours of valuable lessons on how to make beautiful web videos.  Nothing is worse than waiting for a vid to load, right?  Well, these days it would help to know the best way to crunch your material down to a small size, so that you can upload it to the web and have it look fantastic, but also play instantly.

Major kudos must go to Aharon Rabinowitz, at Creative Cow.  I purchased his DVD-Rom called "Internet Killed the Video Star: A Guide to Creating Video for the Web" for $50.00, and it was well worth it.  I have learned so much about compression techniques and software, in Part 1 alone!  If you can squeeze your videos small enough to work on Vimeo or YouTube and still maintain decent picture quality, you'll impress audiences.  And after working so hard on making your movies, isn't it worth it to know how to put them online without jitters or that icky grain?

Jen is the author of "one plus two", found here:  http://droolstreet.blogspot.com/

Her life, as it unfolds, is my new addiction.  I'd like to think that I'm an evolved, caring human being.  Hardly.  This woman - like me, a mom - seems to be drinking in the authenticity of life in "the jungle", as she calls it.  Her reasons for moving away from the United States to experience poverty firsthand, seem simple.  She and her family did it just because they thought it would be enriching and adventurous.  Her blog is almost devoid of photos, which makes it even more splendid!  It's amazing that the internet allows us to keep in touch with someone who has kerplunked herself in such a remote part of the world.

...with a four-year-old daughter in tow.

What does your location say about you?

The   daily   login   to   Facebook.

Suddenly it's not so much an addiction is it?

Facebook is now a prevalent way to touch base with family, coworkers, old school chaps, former glee club fellows, and even your babysitter. Yes, these are just a sampling of who I'm connected with in my cloud of "friends". But what does your facebook page say about you in a split second?
 
If you are an actor or musician, your presence on Facebook can have a positive effect on ALL of the "friends of friends" who login as frequently as you do. If you pay close attention to your Settings, you can make sure that every new photo album and video you create pops up in the News Feed of potential new fans. Just make sure you tag your friends accurately, do clever status updates, and leave comments that are sincere and jovial.  Okay, it sounds a bit like the mayhem over at myspace, yet more subtle. 
 
Don't underestimate the tiny square avatar that shows up each time you leave your mark on another man's wall! What does this chosen picture say about you? Is it just your happy face? Is it your dog or a cool picture of your favorite car or coffee mug? Social networking sites have the power to be a FREE branding opportunity for an artist. Right now. What does your page say about you?

For a really informative article on Facebook's Privacy Settings, click here.  Thanks, Mashable.  You're my favorite resource!!

I came upon this webisode online entitled "Cast This: The Reality", and I found it lacked some Ha Ha.

One of the things I enjoy creating for my clients is a custom photo montage.  These are often screened at wedding receptions, birthday parties, etc.  I create slideshows with motion and sound using Final Cut Pro on my mac.  They are a great way to show a personal history and celebrate family -- and on a very current medium, DVD!

Mac owner?  You can dabble in custom slideshows yourself using iMovie.  Here is a tutorial from Knight Digital Media Center explaining how to recreate the "Ken Burns Effect" with your family photos.  Ken Burns is a documentary filmmaker who often uses still shots in motion.  His latest film, The War, can be seen on PBS as a seven-part series.

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/filmmakers/

About five years ago, I was listening to playwright Paula Vogel being interviewed by the American Theater Wing via their podcast (find it here). I had never read any of her plays, but she struck me as brilliant. A Pulitzer Prize winner. I ran out and bought a collection of some of her work that same day. This included The Baltimore Waltz, among others. Her work is not the easiest to understand, but I was an instant fan. When, during her interview, she said, "Art is meant to be public discourse", I was inspired by those words. I shall never forget, for as long as I live, rolling that sentence over and over in my mouth, in my brain. Whenever I get foggy I go back to this idea. Our freedom of expression in this country is marvelous, isn't it? We are encouraged to discuss and to analyze the world surrounding. Whenever I watch Bill Maher's show on HBO, I am grateful for our freedoms of expression. He gets away with quite a lot!

Click over to Toyota’s youtube channel, and you’ll find their latest commericals.  Best of all, there's an interesting making-of video for the new Prius ads which have my 10-month old son enraptured every time he hears the female a cappella voices. You know the ones? The 2010 hybrid car goes driving through a magical world of “nature” that is literally hundreds of silly people in bright colors, dancing, jumping and waving.

The tagline reads “Harmony between man, nature, and machine”.

I am fascinated by this campaign, but more-so, I am impressed that the making-of video is readily available to curious web surfers like myself.

Sometimes, disclosing your methods can further entice your audience. Sometimes something this new and cool has to be explained, like a magic trick that is spoiled the second time around for the audience’s benefit, making us chuckle at how it’s really done. Show us the invisible wires! Show us the green screen. We want to say, ‘I know how they did that!’ What once was movie magic is now more of a network of afficionados who have computer skills. The more one knows, the more included one feels. Indeed, I find myself wanting to explore who came up with the concept for the Prius campaign, who directed the commercials (he’s Japanese?), who produced the web videos and who sang the song.

And so, of course, the Toyota brand sticks in my mind all afternoon. Way to go, them.

This is a rhetorical question.

First, what is the difference between 16×9 video and 4×3 video?
These numbers describe Aspect Ratio, the horizontal length of your video (or television) in relation to its vertical hight. The TV you grew up watching Sesame Street on was 4×3. The new monolith you probably shelled out for just before Circuit City went out of business (you, meaning you and I) is 16×9. You may have noticed that YouTube is now streaming all its videos in 16×9. Why did they make this change?

Probably due to all the new films, videos, games, DVDs, and such which are now being released widescreen. The simple answer is that consumers are quickly thinking 16×9 is what looks cool. Why should hip new videomakers be constrained to 4×3 aspect ratio when it could cut off the sides of their image OR worse, squish the image so that it looks “tall”? YouTube has accommodated those who know what is current, else users decide to jump ship to other video hosting sites.

Check out Spunkeez YouTube Widescreen Tutorial. He’s a surly fellow who discusses how to update your videos so they look correct on today’s YouTube. And he uses rock n roll background music. Clever stuff.

If you have a consumer camcorder, look for the 16×9 setting and give it a whirl. Your actors reels and family videos will better fit on tomorrow’s televisions, iPods and computer screens.