Video – Page 24 – Journeys of a Hybrid

March 18, 2010March 18, 2010

Sustaining the Human Spirit

It’s been a tough year for a lot of people. It hasn’t been all that great for me but I’m thankful that I’m still able to make a living doing what I love – telling stories through still imagery and video. But it hasn’t been easy and this month in particular has truly taxed my spirit.

So how does one keep going when faced with the frustration of not getting “the job” and all the rest of the feelings that come with that – feelings of insecurity or hopelessness or worse? What does one do to rise above the negative feelings that will only lead to more negativity, anger and despair?

Yesterday was one of those days for me. Got a couple of emails that didn’t destroy me but left me pretty well bruised. For me many times my hurt manifests itself as anger – at least at first – which only makes things worse. So I try to put things in perspective and also try to understand. I try to understand why I didn’t get “the job” and use this knowledge to raise my own bar, so the next time I will land the job.
And if I’m feeling rejected on a personal level – I try to get outside myself and understand how my actions or words have affected someone else.

Sounds easy – but it’s easier said than done. Sometimes I don’t want to “understand” but rather I want to be understood. And when that doesn’t happen, I put up walls – barriers meant to protect me from being hurt again. That ends up doing more harm than good because it also prevents any positive things from entering my life. And many times those barriers that I erect give me a temporary safe haven – but end up being an empty place to be.

I am a passionate person and many times people are drawn to me because of that. I open myself up to people giving too much – too soon. People are drawn to my spirit and my strength and my ability to face my fears. They also know I’m the type of person who is there for them – they just know. A friend recently told me that during a difficult time – he knew I was there. Even though there was nothing I could do to make things right – he knew I was there and that was a comfort.

I think that pretty much sums up a basic need in all of us – to have someone we know who is there for us during the rough patches of life. I think we all need that and we all need a little understanding. If we know that or even sense that – we can get through difficult times.

Photographers are more vulnerable to bad times than most I think, because they are such independent creatures. They are usually out there doing a solo act. If they don’t have a support system in place with friends and family – they generally have a real hard time dealing with slumps.

One thing I love about working in video production is that it is a collaborative effort. You work with others and draw from their strengths. When working with the “right” group of people – it’s a wonderful thing. Even if you’re in charge and the buck stops with you – you know you have people who you can count on. That’s so important and basic to human happiness.

So when I have a bad day and I feel like my support system is non-existent – what do I do? I try to dig deep and find that inner strength in myself that others seem to find appealing and even take comfort in. And I hope I find it.

March 15, 2010

Tips for Getting Good Video Interviews

More and more still photographers are getting into video because of the appeal of the hybrid still cameras that also shoot video. Photographers love the visual coming out of these big chip cameras – what’s not to love? But they quickly find out that if they aren’t just going to be laying visuals down to a music track, they will need to start thinking about their audio – specifically a narrative track or one driven by sound bites from interviews. I work in the corporate sector, as well as create documentaries, so I do a lot of interviews. The interviews, along with a scripted voiceover comprise my audio track and drive the story.

I love doing interviews. That’s because I’ve always been a curious person and like to ask questions. I enjoy the “conversation”. I don’t want to become part of the video, even though I am usually the one asking the subject questions. My voice and my questions will not be heard in the final video, so I need to coach my subjects to paraphrase the question when they relay their answers. But before I get to the interview, I research my subject and come up with a good solid list of questions to ask in advance.

Here are some tips for getting good interviews:
1. Ask leading questions – not yes or no questions. Example: Instead of asking where do you work? Ask: Tell me about where you work.
2. Ask subject to paraphrase the question if you don’t want the interviewer to be part of the video.
3. Don’t step on your subject’s lines. Instruct your subject to pause before answering the question. In addition, make sure that you pause after your subject answers the question. Many times someone will add more insightful information to fill in that pause.
4. Ask the question more than once.
5. If your subject rambles – ask them to summarize their thoughts.
6. Use gestures to encourage and guide subjects – remember you don’t want to hear your comments.
7. Be a good listener – many times my best questions are follow up questions to something that the interviewee just said.
8. Pay attention to your subject’s answers because you’ll need to illustrate what the subject is talking about with B-roll.
9. Pick a suitable location for sound. Find a quiet environment and turn off all fans, motors, radios etc.
10. Record room tone – you’ll need it when you edit the sound bites

March 12, 2010March 12, 2010

Frozen Waves and Instincts

A couple of weeks ago I stood on top of a 10 foot frozen wave on Lake Superior. I was in an amazing place, both physically and spiritually. The next day, we had an 8-hour drive from the Upper Peninsula to Detroit. I pulled out my computer and I wrote a blog about my experience on the ice, the day before. I really didn’t think much of it at the time – I just jotted down my thoughts.

When I got to Detroit, I uploaded the blog to my wordpress site and didn’t check my email or look at any social media sites until very late the next evening. When I did, I saw that the hits on my blog had gone through the roof – over 2000! When I checked my email, I noticed there was one from a wordpress editor telling me that my blog had landed on their home page. No wonder. Judging by the dozens of comments people had written – I realized the blog has resonated with people. Not just the icy image, but my thoughts and feelings that I had shared. I had written from my instincts.

I’ve lived my life taking chances and trusting my instincts. You kind of have to trust your instincts when you take chances – that comes with the territory. If you don’t – most likely you won’t be putting yourself out there. I honed my instincts in my early years, when I was a 19 year old woman hitchhiking around the world. I had to make snap judgments about people when they pulled over and offered me a ride. Should I or shouldn’t I get in that car? I developed a sixth sense if you will – and to this day I go where my gut is telling me to go.

The funny thing is my instincts aren’t always right – not 100% anyway. Maybe only 70% or 80% of the time. So that means that 20-30% of the time – my instincts are wrong. When that happens – I fail. And when I fail – it’s really hard to trust my instincts again. But if I question myself (and I do) and I talk myself out of doing something – I know – I’ve guaranteed – that “something” has absolutely no chance of happening.

Sooner or later, I usually get another idea to pursue or an opportunity presents itself and I have to make a decision on which path to follow. And once again I need to trust my instincts. It’s scary – it’s always been scary. That’s why it’s called risk.

I’m pushing myself in a lot of new directions at this point in my life. I’m not going to pretend that I don’t get afraid – because I do. So I need to dig down deep inside myself and trust my most basic instincts and hope they serve me right.

March 8, 2010March 8, 2010

Funding A Personal Project

I have learned from past experience with other personal projects that getting funding for an idea is no easy task. But I have also found that with a lot of careful planning, saving and budgeting I have been able to self fund my projects and have been compensated on many levels later on – after the projects are underway or near completion. As I continue to blog and to talk to people about Opening Our Eyes, the documentary my daughter and I are creating which involves us traveling around the world, I get asked a lot of questions. One question that is asked quite frequently is “who is funding your project?” The short answer is – we are self-funding our trip and our documentary.

I had managed to save up about 330,000 miles with Continental Airlines and another 329,000 points with American Express over the years. I was saving them for something, just didn’t know what until a few months ago when I decided to cash all my points and miles in to subsidize our journey around the world.

So far, I have exhausted all but 4,000 Continental miles in ticketing my Round The World plane ticket as well as getting my daughter and I to, from and around South America. My husband Tom donated his Continental miles to my daughter Erin for her Round The World fare. I will still need to pay for airplane tickets to Iquitos, Peru from Lima as well as for flights to Nepal from Delhi, India. That still leaves picking up the costs of air or train tickets from Istanbul to Warsaw and Moscow. I will use about a third of my Amex points to pay for the flights from Lima to Iquitos, Peru because those tickets are costly.

I’ll use the rest of my American Express points to fund some of our accommodations, along with any hotel points that I have. We’ll be staying at guesthouses, people’s homes and budget hotels whenever possible. We’ll use public transportation for getting us around once we get to our destinations because renting a car isn’t in our budget.

Of course there’s food and miscellaneous expenses on the road like Internet and admission fees. The vaccinations for the two of us have cost more than $1500 and the visa costs may reach $1000. And we’ll both need backpacks and other personal needs for the trip.

My biggest expense will be for photo/video gear but that is the purpose of the trip. I have pretty much figured out the gear that I’ll need: read my blog entry Putting Together a DSLR Video Kit. When all is said and done, including buying an additional laptop as a backup, I’ll have spent about $12,000 on equipment needs.

So, how will I pay for it? When my mother died about six years ago she left me a little money. I never really wanted to spend it and was fortunate that I never had to – so I will use it for this project and this trip. Somehow, I think she would love the idea of what her daughter and granddaughter were doing. And if she were still here she might very well have wanted to join us.

I’ll be reaching out to Canon, Apple and others as potential sponsors. I’m also reaching out to my friends and connections that I have made over the years for donations in kind. If you have any hotel points that you may not be using and would like to donate those points to our trip it would be greatly appreciated. Or any other type of “in kind” donations you may provide.

Please email: gail@kellymooney.com or call 973-543-6868

March 5, 2010March 30, 2010

Putting Together a DSLR Video Kit – And Why

I was in Chicago a couple of weeks ago and stopped by Zacuto. Zacuto is a business that has made outfitting DSLR cameras for video a specialty. They have cleverly engineered an assortment of their 3rd party add-ons that take these cameras to a higher level. They have also provided solutions to overcome some of these cameras shortcomings. Depending on the genre you are working in, documentary work, corporate, indie films or photojournalism will ultimately determine which way you’ll need to “trick” these cameras out.

I was looking for products that were designed to help with camera stability, focus aids and audio when using the Canon 5D or 7D which I will soon be purchasing. My motivation for buying these cameras wasn’t because I was moving to video for the first time, because I’ve been shooting video for 11 years and already have a high-end HD camera – the Sony EX-1. The main reason that I will be buying these hybrid cameras is that I am undertaking a global project where I will be shooting both still images and video where I will literally be traveling around the world for a three month period and I can only bring what I can carry on my back. So taking two camera systems was out of the question.

I tested quite a few items at Zacuto but finally settled on the following solutions. For my audio needs I will use my existing Sennheiser shot gun mic and lav/transmitter/receiver kit. But I decided to capture my audio independently using the Samson H4 Zoom digital audio recorder and will sync it later in post. I also opted for the EZ-Finder that is an eyepiece that snaps on over the monitor. This not only makes it easier to focus in the sunlight, but provides a point of stabilization as well. Speaking of stabilization, I have also opted for the DSLR Sharp Shooter rig that comes with a shoulder mount, Zgrip Z-mount and mini baseplate with quick release adaptor. I supplemented that rig with a FLEX-DSLR remote trigger and a 3.4 lb. counterbalance weight.

I’m glad that I personally visited Zacuto and tried out the rig – fitted to me. It felt right and fit with the way I am accustomed to shooting. A hybrid solution that bridges the still photo and video worlds. I’ll need a lighter weight tripod and am hoping to keep my Manfrotto fluid head. I’ll need to purchase a backup MacBook Pro and portable hard drives because my workflow will be tapeless and therefore redundant.

That’s going to be a lot of gear on my back. Guess I’ll be packing light when it comes to my personal needs.

February 22, 2010February 22, 2010

Standing on a 10 Foot Frozen Wave

Yesterday I stood on top of a 10 foot frozen wave looking out over the vast icy seascape of Lake Superior. I was shooting footage of this endless field of frozen waves as the setting sun turned them every shade of blue, purple and orange. It was quiet – incredibly quiet – no car or airplane noise, no voices, and no sound of splashing water, not even the sound of a bird. The audiometers on my camera barely registered a blip and yet there was audio. Even dead silence has a sound.

I’ve been on the Upper Peninsula in the far northern reaches of Michigan, shooting footage for a family biography that I’m working on. I had recorded interviews with my mother’s siblings this past summer while attending a family reunion and I had been planning on returning to capture some winter footage to illustrate the stories they told during the interviews. My mother, her siblings and her parents grew up in northern Michigan during the Depression, farming, lumbering, and fishing – pretty much doing whatever they could to survive. Times were hard and living in such a remote, harsh climate didn’t make it any easier. Everyone did what he or she had to do.

While I’ve been in the UP, I’ve met a lot of people who are doing all types of things to survive during this lousy economy. Most I’ve met have several part time jobs. A couple of times I stopped to eat at a restaurant, there would be one woman tending the bar, waiting on tables and cooking the food. Because of it’s geographic location and its sparse population, the Upper Peninsula is kind of like a frontier and the people who live here, have the spirit to go with it.

As I stood on the top of this frozen wave in absolute silence I contemplated resiliency of the human spirit in the context of my own world. Certainly my business has changed – due to technology and the lousy economy. Because of technology, I am able to do more things than I could ten years ago. Because of the poor economy, I’ve had to do more things. Most other photographers I have talked to this past year have diversified their businesses – some shooting weddings, some shooting video and some working in other retail markets. I suppose we’re all just doing what we can to get through these changing times.

So I looked out over the endless view of frozen waves and into the orange glow of the setting sun. For an instant I became fearful of where I was when I looked behind me and saw a deep crevice that I could easily fall into if I lost my footing. But then I looked ahead to the orange glow on the horizon and I felt hope and with that a sense of security because I knew where I came from and I have the heart and spirit to survive.

February 15, 2010February 15, 2010

Booking a Round the World Airline Ticket

I am embarking on a personal project with my daughter this summer. Our goal is to create a feature length documentary on “people who are making a difference”. Ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things. Ultimately we will end up with 7 stories on 7 continents – each story standing on its own as a 10 minute web video and becoming a part of the whole – a feature length film. I’ve set up a website just for the project: Opening Our Eyes. But I’ll probably talk about parts of this project on this blog as I proceed with the logistics – certainly the photographic/video filming logistics.

I spent the better part of last week on the phone with the airlines creating our round the world itinerary and ticket which wasn’t all that easy given the fact that there were two of us traveling and we were using airline miles – 160,000 miles each to be exact. As a side note – the fact that I had so many miles piled up is one small thing that prompted this trip, and when Erin became a part of this – Tom gave her his miles so she could come. That should tell you something about Tom – that he would do that for his wife and daughter.

Our initial plan was to depart from the US in mid-June, heading first to Namibia to visit a friend and then on to Uganda for our first story. Our first hurdle was that the Star Alliance airline partner that went from the US to Africa was South African Air and there were no award seats into or out of Johannesburg for the entire month of June – Johannesburg is hosting the World Cup and everything is sold out. I was told that we couldn’t connect through Europe on another carrier like Lufthansa because that would mean going back thru Europe after leaving Uganda and the rules didn’t allow this. I’m broken hearted that we can’t get to Namibia because it means that another opportunity is lost in connecting with my friend while she is living there – but it wasn’t meant to be.

The airline agent could get us to Entebbe, Uganda but in order to make that work, we had to move up our departure date to May 25th giving me a slight panic attack knowing how much I still needed to do before leaving for this journey – vaccinations, visas, lodging arrangements, not to mention getting my gear ready for filming. I’ll talk about my gear in another blog, but essentially since I want to shoot both stills and video – I’m opting to use a hybrid DSLR system because I need to pack light and can only bring one camera format. If it doesn’t fit on our backs – it’s not coming. But I digress.

Our next challenge in ticketing was going from Uganda to our next destination on the European continent. I was aiming for Warsaw or Moscow but we settled on flying from Entebbe, Uganda to Istanbul, Turkey. We’ll figure out how to go to Warsaw and Moscow on our own – that will be a piece of cake. Incidentally, there are a lot of rules on these round the world award tickets – you must keep going in the same direction (can’t backtrack) and you’re only allowed so many segments – I got answers anywhere from 12 to 16. And you can’t go back to a continent more than once – that came in handy going to Istanbul when the airline agent and I had a lively debate as to which continent Istanbul was on. I think the agent liked my creative way of solving the problem and gave me a little leeway.

In the end after many hours on the phone – we created an itinerary: NY > Entebbe, Uganda > Entebbe connecting in Cairo to Istanbul, Turkey > Istanbul connecting thru Frankfurt, Germany to Delhi, India (somehow that was ok) > Delhi to Bangkok, Thailand > Bangkok to Melbourne, Australia > Sydney connecting thru LAX to NY. The agent told me to call back the following day because all the carriers needed to make confirmations. She also told me our reservations would only be held for 48 hrs till they needed to be ticketed.

The next day, I called the airline and was told that there was a leg missing on Erin’s itinerary – Istanbul to Delhi – she corrected it and told me everything looked in order but to check back that afternoon. I did and found out that we were still waiting on Thai Air to confirm our flights from Delhi to Bangkok and then on to Australia. The agent said, “don’t worry – Thai Air is slow – call back tomorrow”. Being the worrier I am, I knew that “tomorrow” was the day the tickets needed to be purchased or our reservations would be dropped, so if there was a problem I needed at least to know about a plan B. So I asked what other airlines flew that route – Delhi>Bangkok>Melbourne. I was told that Singapore Air flew that route but connected through Singapore.

The next morning – the day the tickets needed to be purchased – I called the airlines and was told that all my Thai Air flights had been canceled but Erin’s had been confirmed. I didn’t freak out – instead I suggested that the agent route us using Singapore Air – which he did. He put a rush on the confirmation process and told me to call back that evening.

To cut to the end of the story – I literally purchased the tickets right down to the deadline hour. I didn’t get everything I wanted – but I did get what I needed. We’ll be leaving May 25th and returning August 3rd. We’ll have to purchase separate tickets to get us to and from our destination in South America sometime in August and we are still trying to nail down those story ideas and dates.

People ask me why I didn’t use a travel agent. I have been handling my travel logistics for over 30 years and my answer is – I’m the one who will be doing the flying and I want to have control over that. Even if it looks doable on paper to have a one-hour connection in Frankfurt when flying from NY to Lagos, Nigeria – even for an optimist like me – I know better than to tempt fate like that.

All total – flying 7 different airlines, 12 flight segments and traveling across 5 continents I managed to get us 2 tickets for $263.44 each – that’s for the taxes. Now I need to look into vaccinations and visas. Yesterday I discovered that my passport, which is still good for another 4 years, has only two pages left in it for visas – and India requires that you have two empty pages for their visa. Another thing to add to my “to do” list.

February 8, 2010February 8, 2010

Fear, Blame and Responsibility

The title of this entry alone will probably stop most people from reading on, but for those of you who’ve continued, be prepared for some cold harsh comments.

I had a lousy weekend – one of those weekends where everything went wrong – first the power steering went on my car while I was driving, then my printer broke – I got a message saying something like it was past it’s life – and then I fell halfway down the basement steps and landed hard on my elbow. My elbow is still throbbing but as long as I can move my arm, I think I’ll opt out of a trip to the emergency room because I can’t afford the medical bills – I’m already strapped by paying an annual premium of $18,000 with a $7500 deductible on each occurrence. What’s wrong with that scenario? But I’ll rant about that another time.

What really bothered me most this weekend – even with all the crap above – were some comments made in response to an entry I wrote as a contributor on the blog of my trade association. My entry was about “The Business of Video Production” and it was the last post of the week in a series of posts about video. The person writing the comments was clearly upset that his photographic trade association had been blogging about video. He was angry that so called “experts” who had themselves just recently gotten into video by buying a DSLR were claiming to be “god’s gift to video production” and encouraging members to move into video which he was sure was a terrible business move. I took offense with his words. I have been involved in video production for over 11 years and not new to the game as he implied and I don’t shoot with a DSLR but a “real” video camera and even if I did – the tool in itself doesn’t define my skills as a motion shooter. But what bothered me was the fact that he took his time to complain about a blog entry that I wrote, in my own free time with the good intentions of “sharing” my knowledge with my peers. No good deed goes unpunished.

After thinking about it, I realized that I had written something that he didn’t want to hear. He wanted to hear that the photography business will go back to the way it used to be. He was angry and he took it out on me. He needed someone to point the finger at – to blame for the poor economy and its effect on the photo business. This morning Seth Godin wrote a blog entitled “Frightened, clueless or uniformed” where he writes “In the face of significant change and opportunity, people are often one of the three.” And this was a perfect example where this person was all three.

My first reaction was to question why I should devote my time to writing and sharing with others through social media only to be criticized for it. But I’m not one to retreat and let the whiners of the world win. I was raised by a father who was a city smart kid growing up on Chicago’s West Side and a mother who grew up in the remote reaches of the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. They didn’t tolerate whiners and complainers and people who wouldn’t take responsibility for themselves. They taught me that if I wanted something, it was up to me to make it happen and if I didn’t – I had no one to blame but myself. More importantly they taught me to believe that I could achieve anything I put my mind to. And that is how I try to live my life – in pursuit of my dreams.

So my suggestion to people who don’t happen to like what I’m suggesting or writing about – make some suggestions yourself. Contribute – share – do something positive for yourself and others. Come up with solutions – find opportunities – keep your mind open to possibilities. Stop kicking the dog. Stop being angry that things aren’t the way they used to be and start looking at how things are better because of technology – and start using it to make a positive change in your life.

Life’s too short to spend it complaining.

February 4, 2010March 30, 2010

Telling Stories in Multimedia and Video

Rather than paraphrase here what I have already written, I will simply direct you to an article that I wrote for Adbase that just went online http://tiny.cc/h5kWV

Several tips on how to tell the “story” through the medium of motion to how to size images to achieve that timeless Ken Burns effect.

Bottom line – it’s all about the story.

February 1, 2010March 30, 2010

The DSLR as a Business Model

Sounds silly doesn’t it – “The DSLR as a Business Model”? That’s because it is silly to think that a camera can define or be a business model. But that’s what so many still photographers are doing – thinking that because they buy a DSLR capable of shooting video, they have gotten got into the business of video production.

Let’s start with the fact that in video production, the shoot and the camera is just one part of the process. There’s also sound, script writing, editing and output that one must know how to do or collaborate with people who know how. And if you position yourself as “just” a camera operator, you will quickly find out that not only you will have no ownership and control over the full process – but you will be missing out on making income on other facets of the video production process. For this reason, I position myself as a producer/director.

Even if you want to position yourself as a shooter, you shouldn’t be defining yourself by your tool – but by your vision. If you do define yourself by a camera that is very affordable and that lowers the bar on the entry level into video production – you’ll be competing with everyone else at that bottom level. Not to mention that shooting video is much different than shooting still images. I think and shoot differently when I’m shooting video – keeping my eye on the big picture and how I will get into and out of a shot.

Lastly, there are a lot of things I like about the DSLR’s, namely the extraordinary visual and the fact that I can shoot both mediums with one camera. But there are some shortcomings of these cameras that will keep you out of certain markets in the video arena.

Here are a few disadvantages these hybrid cameras have:

Audio – The built-in mic is not acceptable and the camera doesn’t have a professional XLR input. There is also no way to monitor audio with headphones. Best way to achieve good audio with these cameras is to capture it with a separate digital recorder like the Samson H4 Zoom.

Stability – With video you are shooting time in motion – not moments in time – so it’s critical to hold the camera steady. This is no easy feat when you have no brace points. Because you are shooting with the mirror up – you aren’t looking through the viewfinder and thus bracing your eye against the camera body. There are attachments that go over the LCD monitor and provide an eyepiece like the Zacuto Ez-finder.

Rolling Shutter or Jello Effect – The effect occurs when you quickly pan the camera and causes vertical lines to distort. So don’t do fast pans and eliminate anyone walking into and out of the frame quickly.

Editing – DSLR cameras record in AVCHD format using the H.264 codec. This usually means more time spent converting or rendering the files when you bring them into your editing system.

Frames Rates – 30P vs 24P – Converting your frame rate from 30P to 24P to achieve that film-like look – can be somewhat problematic with audio drifting and getting out of sync. Some cameras now have variable frame rates to choose from.

Bottom line – think beyond the camera if you’re thinking about getting into video production. Define yourself by your vision – not your tool.

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