Finally going to make another post on my site here. Jeez, I’m a terrible blogger. I took an extended break in an effort to make myself more positive. I tend to use writing to vent and complain. I was tired of being a little whiner.
But I stopped writing, which is never good. It collapses your mind. I forgot. So, I return to discuss TV versus the Internet.
“Well, it’s good enough for Internet.”
I cannot tell you how annoyed I am by this statement. Can you believe people actually believe that? It’s the Internet, so I don’t have to try as hard. The quality doesn’t have to be as good because it is on the Internet. TV still reigns in the quality department…
That mentality could not be farther from the truth. What do you think the Internet is? Where do you think the Internet is going? You think it is just going to sit around and be something that exists in this world? That we casually look at from time to time?
Of course not! I don’t think anyone would agree to that. The Internet dominates our society. You think it is big now, just wait until it absolutely controls this world. Just a matter of time.
More than 2 billion people use the Internet. That’s 30% of the world. 78% of North Americans are actively involved in the Internet. Worldwide users have jumped by 480% in the last 10 years.*
To say it is a phenomenon is an understatement. What kind of content are these people viewing? Anything and everything! Including “television” programming. And now they are watching the Internet on their televisions! Many people turn to the web to catch up on their shows. Or see what they missed. Why? Because the Internet is on demand and instant, which is something television can never be (because it is “televised”).
People want control. They cannot control what comes on TV and at what time, but they can control the Internet. They select what they want to watch, when they want to watch it. Instantly. In a world spinning this fast, that means everything. We want it now and do not stop us. Not to mention, our ever-shortening attention span (which is either because of the Internet or meant for the Internet). Change it now, please.
There are countless channels of entertainment to keep us busy. There is way too much content. People have to be selective in what they want to watch. The Internet is flooded with video content. This is why “good enough for internet” is such a terrible idea. Your quality has to be even better on the Internet than TV.
If it is not good, people can change to the competition. We can easily watch something else on demand. Sure, if something is bad on TV, you can change the channel. But you are still limited and have no control!
Why do you think so many companies are putting big money into the production of web-based media? They understand this. They understand that the Internet is the future and television is dying. They understand that the quality has to be better than ever. That broadcast quality doesn’t apply anymore. That the window to a person’s mind is even narrower.
So, the challenge is creating well-produced, high quality, stimulating entertainment in a very short period of time. Attention spans last about two minutes. That’s all the time you have. Yes, this is expensive (in time and money), but that is all we have.
The best example of this is an online-only ad for Philips televisions. It was featured as part of an interactive Philips web site. The spot is a very complicated frozen time bank robbery involving clowns and police. The time and resources spent were incredible (read about it here). It truly is a well-made film, and it won the Cannes Film Grand Prix. All for the Internet!
So, please do not make your web productions shotty claiming that it will be “good enough for the internet.” That idea is total bollocks. Your production needs to be even better. Or I’m changing the channel. As a former coworker once told me, “If you want to watch bad videos, you can go to YouTube.”
I could not agree more. With so much content out there, you need to be the best if you want people to care.
I do not think television is dead or will die soon. It will probably always exist as a medium. Someday, it will all be web-based and broadcast will die. The Internet is no different than any other form of media meant to captivate. Content is king and quality is always better than quantity.
My lastest video comes from the most exotic natural location in the world: the Grand Canyon. It is a long drive from Oklahoma. We passed through blizzards and closed highways but eventually made it.
I really wanted to take some sweet sunrise, sunset and star time lapse photos. I didn’t really accomplish any of that but did take some sweet pictures. I took the Canon 7D and my new toy, the Go Pro HD. My time lapses were mediocre at best. I novelly screwed some stuff up (shot one in aperture priority, pointed the camera in the wrong direction, shutter speed, Go Pro problems, etc.). I was disappointed, but that wasn’t the reason we went.
We went to get away from here, to take a break. And it was a good one. Also, a cold one. We camped in the snow with 4 layers and 800 blankets. But it was so beautiful! How awesome is God? The Grand Canyon is a wonderful example of His majesty.
Oh, and we went to the four corners (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado) on the way home, and it was closed! How is that even possible? I’ve got a short video I need to edit about the whole thing. Coming soon!
Last week, I decided to edit my footage to (always epic) Moby’s “Wait for Me” for his contest on genero.tv. I uploaded it in the nick of time, but they still haven’t processed it yet. Hopefully, it gets through, though I have no chance of winning. There are some terrific videos on there (more than 400 of them!)
I was so consumed with my Vimeo Application that I decided to take a little break last week. And I was grossly sick.
Anyway, my application began for Community Apprentice began weeks before it was finished. An email from Vimeo said there were jobs available. How cool would it be to work for Vimeo? I was only qualified for one position, and I thought I would make a video to make myself standout. It wasn’t until later that I found out that was one of the requirements for applying. And the gig is a six month paid internship.
For my video, I really wanted to try to key a blue/green screen. As I had never done this, I thought it would be a great learning experience (as I try to do with everything). My station luckily has a blue wall. So, I lit it up like Christmas and set up the Canon 7D. I shot everything (had some ridiculous problems with the audio – I didn’t turn the mic on!) and got into the editing.
I found out how to key in After Effects (FCP’s keying is weak). Then, I exported over to FCP because that’s how I edit best. All this was pretty easy. It wasn’t until my massive multi-frame edit that I ran into some time-consuming problems. That montage probably took 8 hours to edit.
Another thing I wanted to try was kinetic typography. I watched a tutorial awhile ago (AE Tuts) and just remembered the general idea. Turns out, it’s pretty easy. Cannot wait to do more with this. Next, I added a sweet song and an ending.
That was the long process (which turned out to be one of the longest, most involved projects I’ve done – hopefully, it shows). I wanted a quality product for Vimeo to draw on, and I learned some great stuff along the way. As always, cannot wait to do more! Hopefully, Vimeo hires me. If so, six months in New York!!!!
Sifting through some of my favorite Web sites on Monday, I came across a blog post on vimeo.com about a Weekend Project. The project was to make a video that incorporates multiple frames of action within a single frame.
Oddly, I had been thinking about this the week before. I think it’s an awesome technique that I had never tried. So, I was planning on trying it out for a recent personal project in the next couple weeks.
This was perfect timing. So, I sat down Monday evening and started. I found a sweet rights-free song and went to work. I didn’t know much about this technique other than that you really want to see varying motion in different frames (preferably two split horizontally, in my opinion).
I always think it’s a great idea to edit to sound, so I started my campaign. The first 12 seconds of video took probably three hours to edit. It took me a while to get a hang of it, but eventually I did.
I finished it Tuesday afternoon and was a little pleased with the result. I think there was enough mix-up to make for an interesting piece. The stripes at the end were rather difficult to position. Other than that, it was quite easy to do within Final Cut Pro.
As for the footage, I just unrolled some of my first shots with the Canon 7D that I had stored up. Turned out to work pretty well. I think so anyway.
I uploaded it Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon I found out that I had won! They upgraded my account from basic to pro (something I’ve always wanted). More awesomely, they featured my video in their staff picks (something I’ve always wanted more)!
So, this video scored more views, likes and comments in a single day than any of my videos ever: combined. I actually thought it was a joke when I saw that it had been viewed a thousand times (this was before I checked my email).
I wasn’t too pleased with my output and think there are a lot better ones out there. It was definitely fun and interesting and a great learning experience. Well done all who participated. Second place was easily twenty times cooler than mine.
I spent the last week and a half fashioning two PSAs for the City of Stillwater as part of my job at TV23. My boss always comes to me yelling that we have a week to make PSAs. I hear about them for the first time, and then I have a week to make something.
So, the City of Stillwater is rolling out new trash carts in April to all citizens for weekly pickup. I had to find a way to portray these carts. We had some old footage but it’s mostly a corrupt FLV file (why FLV I’ll never understand). I shot some new footage of the different sizes with the Canon 7D and 10-22mm wide-angle lens. We had terrible ice outside, so I had to shoot inside the studio (please don’t blame me for this, it has to better than nasty ice).
I got both scripts approved and editing began. I voiced the size PSA, added a color filter and be doned with it. Problem I still cannot figure out: the horizontal line that stutters during a pan of the carts. Help.
For the second PSA (Park It, Point It, Space It), I drew up some sweet graphics in After Effects and motioned them the best way I knew how. I was actually pretty pleased with the outcome. I’m starting to get a hang of this. I had my girlfriend voice this one (she was happy to do so). The script changed after we had finished it, so I had to re-record one line of audio with different last-minute equipment (so the sound isn’t as good).
I finished these suckers up, got approval and sent them to Suddenlink to nab some regional airtime on all channels. Pretty sweet exposure!
So, I thought I would shoot out my own attempt at shaving my face. My favorite shot was at the one looking straight at me.
I used the Canon 10-22mm for the intro and outro, and I used the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for the shaving. My roommate, Brad, suggested I use the song “Baby, I Grew You a Beard” by Neil Halstead. So, I edited away and graded it in Magic Bullet Looks.
One of the most cumbersome tasks I knew I had to complete over the Christmas break was my demo reel. I was absolutely dredding it and had been for months. There is just so much footage to sort through. It was absolutely ridiculous. I did not even want to start.
Luckily, I was motivated to finish for a job interview. Had I not had that interview, I don’t think I would have ever finished. The interview was my first for a professional job: a Production Assistant at Ackerman McQueen, an ad agency in Oklahoma City. Too bad they were hiring right then and not in five months.
The biggest problem with this demo reel is that I don’t really know what I’m doing. I’ve seen a handful of reels, so I kind of drew from that. I guess it depends on what you are applying for. I therefore decided to showcase some of my videography, motion graphics and editing skills on various projects.
I chose Coldplay because that is what is on my computer (and mind) right now. I thought this portion of “Death and All His Friends” would be suitable. I did not want it to go on too long as I wanted to make an impression. I do know that you have to WOW people in the first 30 seconds, so I stuck some of my best time lapses at the beginning and kept it short.
I was mostly pleased with it. I do have some stuff I will fix in the future (i.e. HD vs. SD stuff). Most of it looks decent.
A week and a half ago, I landed field passes for the Cotton Bowl to test out some video on the Canon 7D. The problem was that I had no idea what I was doing. I haven’t had this camera long, and I’ve never shot a football game before. I did not know what to expect or what to do, really.
I ended up shooting stuff for the whole first half just trying out different things. My other problem was not having a telephoto lens. My largest focal range was on the Canon 28-135mm stock lens (which actually worked quite well, I’m surprised). It was definitely an interesting experience on the sideline, but I don’t know if I would want to do it again.
Frankly, it was kind of boring. Maybe it was the lack of offense from both sides (7-0 at half). Or maybe it’s just not my calling. My favorite part of the whole thing was the wide angle as the Cowboys entered the field (Canon 10-22mm). It turned out really awesome!
I sat down to this footage the other day and was stumped as to what music to pick. I ended up going with Colplay’s “Fix You,” because I think it’s one of the greatest songs ever made, I was on a huge Coldplay kick after completing my demo reel and I’ve always wanted to edit to it.
The song is simply mesmerizing. Any footage would look awesome and epic with this song. I love when it kicks in on the wide angle player entrance. Beautiful, beautiful song. Can’t say enough about it.
After the edit, I graded the footage using Magic Bullet Looks for the first time. I pretty much stuck with a preset throughout tweaking it on a few shots. (Another problem with my footage is the different light on different shots, something I will get better at recognizing over time). I love this program! Really gives you a whole new feel.
Congratulations to the Cowboys on a hugely successful and fun season. Thanks to all the fans out there and their continued support!
I drove by POPS in Arcadia, Oklahoma, a few nights ago and couldn’t resist shooting some video with the 7D (after all, the POPS bottle was Christmas colors!). I was thinking of ways to shoot it, and finally I resorted to shooting it vertical. Tanner Herriott (tannerherriott.com) did some pretty sweet vertical video tests of some coffee shop performances here.
So, I followed Tanner’s instruction and figured out how to edit and export in Final Cut. Pretty simple if it’s just a one take gig. I just added Lifehouse’s “Silent Night” (no the lights are not on beat with the song, not for this one) and uploaded it. These banner video ads are definitely the future.
For my big, final class project in Advanced Video we had to choose a local business and create an institutional for them. A few of us got really excited about my professor’s mention of Kicker – a local car stereo company that has taken over the world of car audio. Actually, Stillwater Designs manufactures Kicker products.
We spent the better part of a month and a half shooting and editing the video. Of course my trigger happy method of shooting anything and everything made me wanting more during our shoots. We only had a few days to shoot stuff – and only an hour each day. Stillwater Designs had just laid off a bunch of people, so there wasn’t much to shoot. I never felt like we got enough, but I was quite pleased with the edit.
My groupmates edited most of the interviews and story. I worked on the lower third graphics, the After Effects intro and the music. Then, I polished everything up a bit and color corrected a few shots. I was very pleased with the final product – it turned out much better than I thought it would. My professor even liked it…
