Documenting Life Studios

She is no push over

2011-08-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

This is a video promoting our Brazilian Jiu Jitsu teams Mixed Martial Arts program for kids. My daughter Logan is being put through the paces by our coach Marcelo.

Notice how I use a shooting technique called WALLDO. Wide shot, Angle shot, Low shot, Linking shot, Depth of Field Shot and Opposite. It is a great acronym to remember for shooting video or photography. The wide shot can be used to establish the scene. An angled shot is more interesting than a straight forward view. Low shot gives a unique perspective while the linking shots establish your local and prevents jump cuts during editing. Depth of field is shooting with an opject in the foreground such as the fence in this video. Opposite would be used to provide the subjects point of view. Example, while shooting a concert that focuses on the stage, also grab shots from the bands perspective looking into the audience.

Back From Hiatus

2011-08-25T20:57:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I last posted here. I recently terminated my website where I hosted my blog. I decided to keep the url and use this blog as my new vehicle to discuss all things video related. New content is coming and I hope to cross promote my families Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blog and how our BJJ school has used video to help market our team. I also plan to make more tutorials to help you create your own video productions for fun and profit.

Thanks for visiting,

Tom

The Real Batman

2011-08-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

Today I attended a Get Motivated Seminar in Fort Lauderdale. The speakers were Rudy Giuliani, Zig Ziglar, Gen. Colin Powell, DR. Robert Schuller, Dwyane Wade, Dan Marino and John Walsh. They were all great motivators but the one who I connected with the best was John Walsh from the TV show “America’s Most Wanted”. John has always been a personal hero of mine. I always tell my kids that he is the real life version of Batman. In 1981, John’s six year old son was abducted and murdered by a drifter in Hollywood, Florida. His son Adam was in the Sear’s toy department watching some older boys play Colecovision and Atari video games. A teenage security guard kicked the rowdy boys out of the store along the six year old Adam who was waiting for his mom while she picked out a lamp. That was the moment that serial killer Ottis Toole capitalized on. No one knew that Adam was thrown out of the store. That was information that was just released last year by the Hollywood Police Dept. At the time there was no system in place to help locate missing children. No tracking system of known pedophiles or communications between police organizations and morgues. John and his wife Reve fought to change that. They helped bring about the Missing Children’s Assistance Act and help form the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. John was approached by the newly created Fox Network to host a reality show AMW that would track down criminals. He reluctantly agreed to host the Pilot since it’s focus was a child serial killer.

I have always felt a connection to this case. As a twelve year old boy, I played the video games daily at the Sears Mall where Adam was abducted. Except that day. I was even on the local News playing the very same games the next day. I thought that carrying a pocket knife would protect me from any one who would want to harm me. I remember the posters for Adam all over Hollywood. The freedom to go out and play was lost. Parents were terrified that their kids would be next. How a once vibrant neighborhood became almost vacant around Halloween. Everyone was scared, it took awhile before the murderer was caught. John is one guy who turned a horrible situation into an opportunity to make the world a better place to live. He has helped capture over 1000 fugitives…and that was done with video.

Reenactments to tell a story, that is how America’s Most Wanted is able to relay the information in a gripping format that requires a call to action from it’s viewers. You too can use reenactments in your own video biographies to tell a visual story. Stock footage is readily available on the Internet and entire low cost libraries can be purchased off websites like www.digitaljuice.com. Old historical film can be downloaded for free from www.archive.org. These clips can help move along a narration and help illustrate the subjects recollections of their lives.

Social Networking Hero

2011-08-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

Faster than a speeding…facebook? On February 27, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Chile. Amy Morgan, a 23 year old American was visiting Santiago and on her way to see friends in Concepcion. Amy is my wife’s, cousin’s daughter. Her parents feared the worst, they could not get in touch with her for days and she was smack in the middle of the area of the earthquake. They registered her name with the Red Cross and the State department but the time started to pass with out any indication that she was ok. My Brother in Law started contacting Rotary Clubs in Chile and digging up information on the web. He emailed all of her facebook friends her picture and asked if they knew any information. Within a few hours, they received this:
Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

Paulina sent you a message.

Re: Amy Morgan & Jose Mario Basulto Coll

“They are all fine in Concepcion, without water and electricity but they are ok!”

Imagine the relief her parents must have had when they got the news. My Brother in Law David Erickson said it best “Social networking is the bomb. I am hooked on it. Especially when you can use it for something meaningful.”

How does this relate to video? It is all about the power of networking. I attended the South Florida Videographers Association meeting last week, which was on Social Networking. Some of the older guys scoffed at the idea of using facebook, twitter, linked in and YouTube to drum up business. They could not grasp the power of these sites to reach potential customers. Say you are a wedding videographer and you post a clip of a recent wedding you shot on your facebook. You share the link with the bride who in turns posts it on her page. Her friends and family share the link with others. Now a lot of potential customers get to see your work without ever stepping foot in the studio. There is a good chance the bride’s friends will be shopping for their own wedding videographer soon. She will remember seeing the clip of her friends wedding on her facebook, hopefully, she will inquire about your services.

Quality or convenience

2011-08-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

Today my family and friends went on a bike tour of Shark Valley in the Everglades. The seven and half mile paved trail runs alongside a canal littered with alligators. I really wanted to take my professional video camera and gather some footage of the gators, but I opted for the small consumer video camera called the flip. The flip can fit in my back pocket and I would not have to worry about protecting it from the elements if a thunderstorm occurred (South Florida is known for sudden down pours).

Unfortunately, the trade off resulted in some ugly video. The flip is an auto focus fixed lens camera with digital zoom. The flip is great for close static shots with out a lot of movement. Once you add distance and movement, the video get very pixilated. The reason is a combination of auto focus and the digital zoom. First, the auto focus gets confused in an environment that has a lot of movement. I was trying to shoot video of a swimming alligator while saw grass and tree braches in the foreground and the background blew in the wind. The autofocus does not know on which subject it should focus, therefore, the camera attempts to focus on all of these moving elements resulting in blurry video. The second factor that can ruin good video shots is digital zoom. Let me explain the difference between optical zoom and digital zoom. Optical zoom uses the lens to bring the subject closer without a loss in quality, digital zoom simulates optical zoom by cropping the image and enlarging it electronically. This is just like zooming in on a picture in an image-editing program; the image gets pixilated the larger you make it.

The solution is to use a camera that has manual focus and optical zoom. Most consumer DV cameras allow you to focus manually. Here is how to focus correctly, first get as close as you can to your subject without losing the composition of your shot. Next zoom into the subject and adjust the lens until the object is in focus. Then zoom back out to where you framed your shot. I also could have moved closer to my subject, but alligators can run very fast for a short distance. In one of the shots, you can clearly hear my wife shouting at me as the alligator swam directly towards me only a few feet away.

Making a Difference

2011-08-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

When our six year old son Hunter heard about the earthquake in Haiti he wanted to help. Hunter asked if we could set up a lemonade stand to raise for the people of Haiti. My wife Jennifer and I wanted to encourage this compassionate behavior and planned a yard sale with a lemonade and cookie booth with all the proceeds going to Haiti. Like most parents, I shoot alot of video of the kids. The problem is, most of the video tapes end up in a drawer and we never look at them. This was a defining moment in my son’s life and I was not about to let it slip away with out documenting the day. I encourage you to dust off your collection of tapes and suprise your family with a short video of a special occasion. I will give you one editing tip since this blog is about documenting your life with video. Pick one scene and let the second scenes audio be heard over the video from scene one before you cut to scene number two. You can see an example of it in this video as the scene of Jon hanging the sign transitions to the customers from the yard sale. This technique helps bring together a cut that would otherwise be too abrupt. Most nonlinear editors can perform this by unlinking the audio and video tracks which allows you to trim them individually.

KAPOW! Become a superhero by giving back.

2010-01-21T20:53:00.000-08:00

St. Francis of Assisi said "For it is in giving that we receive." I am a firm believer in this quote. I give back by using video to help others convey their messages. When a local nonprofit called KAPOW asked for a volunteer videographer, I leapt at the opportunity. I love kids and enjoy helping small nonprofits perform their missions. KAPOW (Kids And The Power Of Work) recruits local professionals to share their expertise and to help educate the children about the character traits necessary to be successful in a career. The professionals visit the children's classroom over the span of the school year and culminate the program with a field trip to the volunteer's workplace. The KAPOW visit I captured was at the Martin Luther King Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Dinah Stephenson of Dwight Stephenson Construction (NFL Hall of Famer) and Angela Jones from the Jones Company of South Florida, were the professionals presenting the educational program. For more information on KAPOW, check out their webpage at: http://www.kapowlfs.org/1/Home.html

I thought it was important to blog about this particular visit in honor of the Martin Luther King holiday. Mrs Williams, the 2nd grade teacher said it best;"When I was growing up we didn't have role models like Mrs Jones and Mrs Stephenson, there was not even a black YWCA, not even black fireman. All we had was the teachers, doctors and a few postman."

I urge you to find a way to contribute. We all have something of value that we can use to help others. In these challenging times, we need to turn our attention off ourselves and focus on how we can make a difference. KAPOW!

If the video below says it is unavailable (a technical issue with blogger), check it out on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H2tdUvbFg4

Perseverance, Surviving the Winter

2009-11-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

Perseverance, it is all I have left. Six months ago I got laid off from a good paying job that I had no passion for. I was a broadcast engineer, for ten years I did a job that left me numb inside. I am a creative person that was shoved into a very technical discipline. I saw the lay off as an opportunity to do what I really enjoy, creating videos that help others. I am not the best at what I do, but I continue to learn.

I am an avid martial artist, I do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and used to do a Chinese style called Wing Chun. The most practical lesson I ever learned from my Sifu (teacher) was perseverance. He used to say the most important thing was consistency...just keep showing up. It was more important that strength, speed or other natural talents. I just competed in a Jiu Jitsu tournament, I ended up fighting three times. I lost every fight, I could have easily skipped out on my last fight which was in the absolute (no weight limit) division fighting a guy who out weighed me by forty pounds. If I beat him, I would have to fight a guy who was about 6 foot 5 and looked like Herman Munster. I am a lightweight, I had the disadvantage being the smallest guy in the division. I will tell you, I did not want to fight...but I also do not give up (perseverance). I would not have forgiven myself if I skipped out on that match.

Sifu also said that life is like the seasons, there is a springtime when everything is plentiful and things are going your way, and there is a winter when things are scarce and you have to struggle to survive. I am definitely in my winter, but it is the struggle that makes you a better human being. The struggle is what defines you as a person and determines what truly matters most. Perseverance will get you through the winter months and onto spring. To illustrate this and show you how this applies to videography, photography or any other discipline...watch this video. It is slow in the beginning but really hits home half way through. By the way, this guy used a crappy flip video camera to make this, but you would never have known that if i did not tell you. It is excellent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZYlQ4Wv8lE

Using video testimonials for your business

2009-10-21T22:04:00.000-07:00

I just finished a contract job as an A/V technician at the South Florida chapter of NACE (National Association of Catering Executives). The seminar was presented by marketing expert Andy Ebon who is featured in the book "The Power of the Platform: Speakers On Success." Andy also writes the popular wedding marketing blog (weddingmarketing.net/blog). The subject of the presentation was how to use Facebook and LinkedIn to increase your business. One tip that Andy provided the audience was to use "video testimonials" to qualify your product or service. Video testimonials are short clips of your clients providing real feedback about your product, customer service, value etc... These video clips help potential customers make an educated decision about using your business based on the experience of your existing clientele. His suggestion was to purchase a FLIP video camera (which is small enough to carry in your pocket and stores an hour or two of web ready video), and after an event grab some impromptu interviews with your client. These interviews can be posted via Facebook, YouTube or your website. You might consider picking up the new Ipod Nano which is smaller than the flip and includes a built in video camera that holds up to 8 hours of video. I coincidentally had just finished producing a video testimonial for my own videography business. You can see my testimonial video here:

WEVA Expo 2009

2009-09-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I began listening to a podcast I found on http://www.wedvidtalk.com/ that discusses wedding videography. I had no interest in wedding video but I was intriqued by some of the subject matter that covered basic videography principles and equipment reviews. At the time, my commute to work was about an hour and a half drive which I spent listening to podcasts on my ipod. This show became my favorite podcast and was so inspiring that it had me constantly pulling over to write down notes.

The hosts are a married couple from New Jersey named Al and Kathy Ritondo. Al is the technical guru and Kathy is the marketing pro. I learned more about running a video company from this show than I did from college. They always spoke about a trade show called the WEVA (Wedding and Event Videographers Association) EXPO and what a creative experience it was. I just joined WEVA and attended the 2009 Expo in Orlando which is a few hundred miles north of me. WOW! I spent 4 days surrounded by creative and inspirational film makers sharing their secrets and knowledge. Classes ran from 8 AM to 9:30 PM on all sorts of topics including biography and memorial videos. I have never been so charged about the videography industry than I am now. I sought out Kathy and AL while I was there just to let them know what an influence their show has been to me. I will be sharing some of the information I gleemed from the show in this blog over the next few weeks.

Memorial Videos

2009-06-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

The memorial video is one of the most powerful productions you can create. The memorial is a tribute to a person who has passed away. The memorial is often displayed at the funeral home during the viewing, service or wake. Even a very simple production can evoke deep emotions in family and friends. I just finished such a project for a client, I had never met the deceased or his family before but by the end of the production I felt I knew them. Their life captured in photographs mirrored my own. The connection felt between the father and daughter was evident in the photos. Their life was celebrated in my own backyard, pictures of restaurants I eat in, fairs I take my kids to, and neighborhoods I routinely drive through. The hand written letters from his grandchildren wishing him peace in heaven reminded me of my own Daughter's letter left in my Father's casket.

From the technical standpoint, the memorial video should not be flashy. In my productions I tend to use only slow dissolves and fades for the transition between pictures. Avoid transitions that use diamonds, waves, puzzles, explosions, flips, rotations or similar cheesy effects. A well placed heart transition might work once in the entire production. Too many of these effects in any production steal the focus off the pictures and diminish the flow of the visual story. There are exceptions to this. One of my good friends "Bubba" passed away in the prime of his life. Bubba was a fun guy, youthful and passionate about his work at the radio station. I created a memorial for him while I was at the radio station using crude software and limited resources. Using some of those unorthodox transitions helped convey the youthfulness and fun loving attitude Bubba was famous for. His memorial can be seen on my website http://www.documenting-life.com/main/page_demos.html

The powerful effects you can use are video clips of clouds, sunsets, flowers or other peaceful elements of nature. Some memorials can have an underlying theme, example for a veteran you can incorporate the use of flags, eagles, or shadow boxes. Poems, quotes and bible verses can also be powerful additions to the memorial. I tend to use white writing on a black background for these. Keep the phrases short and make sure you leave the caption on the screen long enough for the audience to read it, 6 to 10 seconds should be long enough. Check out my YouTube sight for a sample memorial using these techniques. http://www.youtube.com/DocumentingLife

Letting the moment slip by

2009-06-18T19:21:00.000-07:00

In my first post I described how I procrastinated making a video biography of my Father. I promised myself I would help others not make the same mistake I did. My Mom is always asking me if I have any video with my Dad talking. She longs to hear his voice since he passed away 6 years ago. Unfortunately, I have found very little footage of him speaking.

A few months ago I was cleaning out my storage shed and stumbled across an old radio shack micro cassette recorder. I was ready to toss the thing in the trash but for some reason I pressed the play button first. To my surprise this piece of antiquated equipment worked. The batteries must have been energizer batteries because this thing was stored for years in my garden shed in the hot and humid environment of South Florida. What surprised me even more was my Dad's voice was coming from this ancient device. I instantly got chills, it had been over six years since I heard him talking. Evidently he carried this little recorder and would make notes to himself about his business competitors. After he retired, he bought a coin laundry and would drive around to other laundries in the area and comment on their price, cleanliness, amount of customers etc.. It was not the most earth shaking commentary, but it was my Dad.

The point I want to make is this: Do not let the moment slip by!!! If you do not have a video camera, dig out an old cassette recorder or hook up a cheap computer microphone to your computer and get the interview with your loved ones. Afterwards you can save the audio as an mp3 and mix it into a slide show. In future posts, I will show you how. Suddenly, a little piece of crap recorder becomes a priceless treasure.

Episode 2: Creating Title Slides

2009-06-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

This is episode 2: Creating Title Slides. We will show you how to create interesting title slides for your slide show or video biography. Use a little imagination and the free Picasa 3 to take your shows to the next level.

Episode 1: Creating Cool Visual Effects

2009-06-17T04:25:00.000-07:00

This is episode 1 of our free video tutorials. We will use a photo editing and slide show software called Picasa 3 that is a FREE download from Google. With a little imagination, this free software can take your slide shows and biographies to the next level.

Welcome

2009-06-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

Video Biographies are a collection of video interviews mixed with multimedia to tell the story of an individuals life. The art of digital story telling uses strategically placed photographs, film, video, graphics, documents, sound and music to bring the viewer into the subjects world.

I fell in love with the idea of using these mediums years ago after watching A&E's Biography television show. I did not think you had to be a famous person to have an interesting life story. I thought the average person had just as much to share. I thought of the stories I saw by Charles Kuralt's "On the Road" and CBS newsman Steve Hartman's "Everybody has a story". They interviewed normal everyday folk and found a wonderful story hidden inside all of them. Borrowing a similar technique from Kuralt, Steve Hartman would throw a dart over his shoulder at a map of the United States. He would travel to the town where the dart landed and find a telephone booth, open the phone book and randomly pick a name. Steve would interview that random person from the phone book and find their special story. That story from an average everyday person in the middle of nowhere, would be broadcast during primetime on CBS.

The reason I make biographies is simple. I missed the chance to shoot a biography of my father. He passed away from lung cancer in 2003. My dad was a very interesting guy, he had worked his way up the ladder at Shell's City from bag boy to company president. He had owned businesses and he was born and raised in Miami, Florida long before it had become a major metropoliton area. I had talked to him about doing a biography, I even shot some footage of where he grew up and went to school. But I never got the interview. I do not have his voice, his face, his opinions, his philosophy or his stories. I will never be able to ask him how he felt when his first child was born, what my mother looked like on their wedding day, or what lessons he would leave for his grandchildren. My son never even got the chance to meet his grandfather, yet I had adequate technology and the skill neccessary to capture his essence. I procrastinated. I kept thinking I would have more time. I thought I needed a higher end camera and a more sophisticated editing system. I made sure to not make the same mistake with my mother. I filmed a beautiful life story of her that captured who she is and what she believes in. Check out my demo page to see a sample of my Mom's biography http://www.documenting-life.com/main/page_demos.html

I fell in love with the process of creating and editing such meaningful material. I want to ensure others do not make the same mistake I made. I have made it my mission to educate others about the importance of filming their loved ones. That is what this blog is for, I will share my techniques and experience to help you preserve your families legacy.