R|com Creative Blog

The introduction this week of the new NXCAM format is really great news for anyone producing a wide array of professional video product, and notably for documentary producers. The camera combines capabilities found in other manufacturer’s (often more expensive) products and the result is a flexible, high-performance full HD camera. When I started blathering on about how thrilled I was that Sony had taken this step, peers and staff asked the same question over and over again – “Why?”

The initial model (unnamed as of this date) in the NXCAM series does a number of really important things: It records AVCHD full HD 1920×1080 material (in all variations of resolutions) and as such, is easily compatible with other cameras, including as one example, the Canon 7D hybrid still/video camera. It utilizes a relatively new type of glass, and although fixed to the camera, this lens, called a G-Lens, delivers excellent optics, no doubt a result of Sony’s purchase of Minolta. And, the camera is ideal for the wide variety of production requirements a documentary requires.

In our situation, we’re interested in the best tool for a variety of situations. That means we’ll shoot portrait interviews, mount a camera on a moving vehicle, hang from a helicopter, and so on. And, if we’re doing all of these things, it also means we’re shooting a lot of material (hours vs. minutes). If you’re making a film, you’ll work from a shot list, and the shooting ratio may be 3:1. In our documentary work, we’re going to capture reality as it occurs, and then weed out the footage that isn’t essential to telling the story. The result is often 30:1 or higher. That’s right, we may shoot 30 hours of video to get a one hour show. In fact, for a documentary we did in Australia that covered two weeks of a cross-country race, we shot more than 100 hours of video. The final product was a broadcast-ready 44 minutes.

The AVCHD format is ideal for this type of work. And, being able to record to a flash drive that mounts into the camera is fantastic. There’s no box attached to a shoe that gets in the way of moving the camera about. It snaps into place. You can record literally hours of material, and then, using USB connectors, transfer the files directly to your PC or Mac.

There’s more to like as well. The imagers in the camera are native 1920 x 1080. The imagers in other cameras in this class are typically 720p and upscale to 1080p. This is really important and becomes even more so when you discover that the camera will output a full HD 4:2:2 signal via the built-in HD-SDI port while shooting. That type of flexibility allows us to integrate this camera with other, far more expensive cameras.

It’s difficult to capture a strong, clear image if you can’t see what you’re doing. The NXCAM shown off by Sony offers a 1.2 million pixel 16×9 display using backlit LED technology. The Panasonic HMC-150, by comparison (same compression system, similar price, etc.) has a display with approximately 210,000 pixels in a 4×3 display that is letter-boxed. What? To use the Panny (which has great images), you really need to add an external monitor, or you’re going to be disappointed with the results. Sony avoids that extra complication. Add-on monitors are terrific if you’re on a tripod and locked off. They don’t work if you’re jumping off a fire engine and following firefighters into a smokey building. Sony resolves that problem with not only the flip-up external monitor, but the built-in viewfinder as well. You can learn more by watching the intro video produced by Sony.

So, as we envision some of the production work we’re scheduled to produce this year, the Sony NXCAM fits in really well. We can shoot portrait interviews using prime glass on our Canon 7D. We can match that (remember, same codec) with footage captured “in the field” with the Sony NXCAM. And, we can edit in both PC and Mac NLE solutions without drama. No tape. No fuss. Oh, by the way – there’s more to like as well. Because we shoot on location, as documentary producers, we are careful to log everything we shoot. Now, with the NXCAM, there is GPS data added to the metadata of each file. Whoo hoo! So, the next time we travel 2,000 miles across the Stewart Highway in Australia, we’ll know where each shot was captured. And, if we decide to shoot in a studio, we can lock multiple NXCAMs together, thanks to the new (if proprietary) timecode in and out connectors.

The only bad news is that the camera isn’t available yet. Hey Sony – want some remarkable footage of firefighters saving lives? How about the California coast and wine country? Or, how about some footage of the latest sports cars being testing on windy country roads at speed? If so, get us an NXCAM ASAP. We aren’t asking for a freebie. We’ll own it. Love it. And we’ll tell the world.

Sony's extraordinary EX3

The DV Expo was really small this year. We ripped through the tiny section of the Pasadena Convention Center set aside for the likes of Panasonic, Sony and JVC, in about three hours, and that included saying hi to nearly every person working every booth. My cranky left knee and I like small shows.

Of course, we’re looking for our next tapeless camera purchase, and it didn’t take long to be neck deep in options. We want something that will shoot a picture that will knock your socks off, we want it to be relatively light weight and tough, we don’t want it to cost too much money and we want the recordable media to be affordable. Also, if it would open the garage door and cook dinner every now and then, we’d like that too.

Sony's EX1 - the travel-sized version of the EX3.

Most expensive on our list are the Sony EX3 and EX1. It’s hard for me to turn my back on a Sony, even when they tell me the media will costs ten billion times what compact flash and SDS cards cost. I’ve fallen asleep with my Sony Z1U cradled in my arms in a tent in the Outback of Australia, on a night train between Hamburg, Germany and Paris, and after a very strange night of drinking some neon green liquor in Lyon, France. It’s been in dozens of fire engines and ambulances with me, not to mention smoke filled houses and burning hillsides. But it’s getting tired. I can’t blame it. And that whole recording to tape nonsense is getting really tired. So soon, I’m going in to have it surgically removed from my right hand.

JVC's HM100U - looks just like a camcorder, only smaller!

Do I want to replace it with another Sony? Yes. Do I want to pay Sony SxS card prices? Um, no. Is the EX1 and the EX3 worth the price? Probably.

But I thought I should look around, and there was something about the GY-HM100U that really drew me over to the JVC booth. I loved the view finder – BIG! I loved the size of the camera – small! I loved that it stored files on the cheapo SDHC memory cards. I loved that the entire XLR shotgun mic assembly (which comes along for no extra charge) popped off with the turn of a nob, making the camera positively minute. I swear that camera could fit into a pocket on my shooters’ vest without the mic. It weighed a little more than the competition across the show floor – the Panasonic AG-HMC40, but it was much smaller, and the view finder was higher resolution and the XLR shotgun mic came with it. I thought this was an awesome, itty, bitty little camera that I could add to our Sony line up, that would be inexpensive enough to abuse and replace as needed.

I expected the price to be right around that of the HMC40 – list $2,295. Then they told me the bad news. The HM100U lists at $3,995. I waited for the guy in the JVC booth to start laughing. Give me an elbow in the ribs and say, just kidding. And I waited a little more. He seemed mesmerized by how my mouth was gaping opened. He seemed disturbed when I finally gathered myself enough to ask “Whaaa?”

Anyway, that happened.

from the Flip website, the Flip Ultra HD, their top-of-the-line camera.

We’ve recently started principal photography on a new documentary called Harmony: The Story of Rock Our World. I could go on and on about how wonderful this program is and how exceptional the teacher is who started it five years ago, but I think it’s probably better if I just let you hear directly from her in this short we produced last spring about the program.

Yeah, she’s amazing, isn’t she?

This production is going to take us around the world interacting with teachers and classrooms that are lucky to have one computer and a dial up connection, let alone high tech digital tools in each students’ hands. However, in order to produce a feature-length documentary about the program, we need each classroom to videotape their Rock Our World efforts. And since we’re making a film in 1080i, it would be really nice if they were videotaping their efforts in HD. Hence, our conundrum. Well, one of our conundrums.

from their website, the Kodak Zi8, which shoots 1080p.

What small camera should we get into the hands of the Rock Our World classes around the world, that’s easy to use, that allows for VERY SIMPLE file upload to iDisks, but that still produces a picture we can use in post production? Oh yeah, and it has to be INCREDIBLY CHEAP.

You’re thinking Flip, aren’t you? We were too. The best Flip out there shoots “Video: 16:9 widescreen, HD 720p (1280 x 720) at 30 frames per second (fps) progressive scan; recorded as MP4 files,” according to their website, and that will work just fine with our production. It won’t be great, since we’re shooting 1080i and the Flip shoots 720p, but I’m willing to convert in Final Cut Pro, even though I rage at the conversion time each time I hit the render button.

But this lovely teacher who runs Rock Our World, told me about the new Kodak competition to the Flip. Have you heard about the Kodak Zi8? It shoots in 1080p and is $20/unit cheaper.

I need to get to a local Best Buy and check these two little darlings out. I also plan to steal Carol Anne’s Kodak and my sister’s Flip at an event in Nebraska the weekend of October 16th. I hope have more for you when I return.

Burned Hills in the Station Fire

During the past week, the northern end of Los Angeles County has been burning. The Station Fire, which to-date is the biggest wildfire in the history of LA County, has swept from the hillside communities above Pasadena and Duarte into the Angeles National Forest. Unburned for more than 60 years, the thick, deep brush provided ample fuel for a monster fire.

In addition to spending time at base camp working on several assignments, Cameron Barrett shot quite a bit of HD video, and the images will be remarkable. I took a few photographs of aftermath, and even those (you can see a few here) images are striking.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this was not the drama of billowing smoke and fire, but the stark emptiness of the “morning after,” so to speak. Hillsides and canyons looked like they had been sculpted by a model railroader, then painted black and some flour dusted here and there to represent ash. And the same image goes on and on – we drove up several canyon roads for mile after mile and the only thing we saw besides burned out hills were smoldering tree stumps, and wisps of smoke drifting up from the rubble that wildfire can create.

Cameron Barrett capturing destroyed home footage

And, several miles up Big Tujunga Canyon, we came across several burned out cottages. As the sun set, the only things left standing were chimneys and black tree trunks. Destroyed cars remained parked in driveways, never to wheel along a highway again. At one home, we found nearly a dozen dead cats – and an angry group of people (ourselves and several network photographers) who couldn’t believe these animals were just left behind. Still, Cameron, who is an animal advocate, captured the scene, all in High-Def.

Another interesting aspect of the aftermath is the sound. It’s really quiet. There are no leaves to rustle in the breeze. No squirrels to scamper through the underbrush. Just dead sound. At least until you hear the rumble of a fire engine, or the thump, thump, thump of a helicopter overhead.

Spot fires continue to threaten the containment lines.

And the fires continue to burn as I type this. Although nearly 50% contained, there is ongoing risk and danger. And thankfully, most residents took the advice of law enforcement and fire officials and evacuated when asked. Two LA County firefighters lost their lives in the midst of this arson-generated wildfire. Perhaps the only good news relates to weather: This fire took place in August, with little or no wind. If the same thing had occurred in November, when the Santa Ana winds sweep through the canyons, it’s really unimaginable to think what might have happened.

As this is part of our job, we’ve become familiar with these types of situations in general. Yet this particular incident will remain etched in our memories for quite awhile. We can only hope it will be at least another 60 years before anything like this happens again – and never would be a much better option.

R|com Creative is working with the Los Angeles Fire Department to create a new series of education materials based around an important initiative called Ready, Set, Go! Essentially, there has been some ongoing debate about the value of staying at your residence, as opposed to evacuating. In Southern California, we live in not only earthquake country, but wildfire country as well. And when they strike, people often prefer to stay and protect their property.

The initiative for not leaving, often referred to as “Stay and Defend,” was gaining ground earlier this year with several departments, as there have been some stories of people who have elected to ignore officials and as a result, participated in saving their structures. It’s important to remember that many homes don’t burn as a result of the fire front in a wildfire. They burn because of spot fires that start as the fire moves through, and without resources to suppress those spot fires, the home burns.

Just as this “Stay and Defend” option began to get people’s attention, Australia suffered through a terrible wildfire incident and many lives were lost. Australia has been known for its serious wildfire devastation, including Hobart in 1967 (1400 homes lost, 62 dead); Victoria in 1983 (2400 homes lost, 71 dead), Canberra in 2003 (500 homes lost, 5 dead), and Victoria in 2009 (3000 homes lost, 173 dead). Many of the victims in the Victoria fires this year elected to stay behind, and then attempted to evacuate, but too late. They were caught on the road and died.

Ready, Set, Go! as an initiative is being supported by a wide array of Southern California emergency services agencies. The Los Angeles Fire Department’s position is clear: If there is a wildfire, prepare your home and family, get set to evacuate if required, and when asked, or even before that, leave the area. Your home can be saved. Once you die, coming back is apparently problematic.

Our program will include a series of components – and it will highlight the use of digital technology and Web 2.0 capabilities. A video/DVD will tell the story of why its important to leave and how to prepare. A brochure will be available to schools, senior centers, council district offices, and LA City Fire Stations. Separately, a digital magazine will be created and it will be available to anyone who is interested in the Ready, Set, Go initiative. And finally, information will be available via the MySafe:LA public education website.

We’re enthused about the project, and once complete, are committed to seeing it reach as many people as possible, so the citizens of Los Angeles can be properly prepared.

Cameron Barrett, James Kwok, and David Barrett on the magic carpet at the All Sports Los Angeles film Festival

When Cameron Barrett learned our documentary film, Continuum, Against All Odds, had been accepted into the All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival, she was so excited. There are a wide array of awards programs these days – so many that they may become all too common and lose their unique value. But, such is not the case with a film festival, and certainly not one that has a niche – in this case, sports.

Typically, we produce films as a team, and in many ways this one was no different. What was different was that Cameron had led her production team to Australia, on her own, and directed this show from start to finish. As such, it had her stamp, her storyline, and her blood and sweat all over it. So, to be accepted into any festival is a good feeling.

Showing up at such events is often overly “Hollywood” for me. I am not easily impressed with the glitter and so on. What made this festival so much fun was that it didn’t have any of that pretentious glitter to it – and it was in Hollywood! The event was held at the Raliegh Studios, next door to Paramount. We invited friends and peers, and it was just what you might expect at such an event – a combination of fun, dialog, and a bit of nervousness.

Our guests were terrific and very supportive. Cameron and I had never seen this particular film on the “big screen,” so it was fun to see it in a theater setting. And when the showing was complete, everyone was very kind, and they left. We took some of our team to dinner.

But we came back…

The evening was filled with other films to see – and Cameron really enjoyed a documentary about women’s six on six basketball, called Iowa Girls. It’s important to know that throughout this entire series of films and activities, Cameron never gave a moment’s thought to actually winning an award. It was enough to be in the competition.

So, when the awards were being handed out, she clapped and cheered for each additional trophy, but never showed any nerves or emotion related to Continuum. Finally, the last two awards were all that remained. Best short doc and best feature doc. Continuum made it into the short category, by perhaps one minute. And, as the award description was being read, Cameron was smiling and saying, “Iowa Girls. Iowa Girls.” I, on the other hand, was thinking of another film. Our film.

And so, when the words, “and the winner is… Continuum, Against All Odds,” were announced, I smiled. And, then, I laughed out loud, as Cameron’s amazed and perplexed expression peered at me with a look that defies description. “Go on! Get up there,” I said, laughing. So, it was fun. And I’m really proud of Cameron. And our Team. And everyone on the solar car team at the University of Michigan. Those guys and girls rock. Big time.

The 30th Annual Telly Awards have been announced and R|com Creative has earned three separate awards in this year’s competition. We are honored that the Telly Awards have seen fit to honor us for our film and video endeavors.

Earthquake 9-1-1 earned awards in the Charitable and Public Safety categories.

Firing Up Our Future, the DVD produced to support the 2008 Greater Alarm Gala for the LAFD Museum and Memorial earned an award for fund-raising.

“These awards are really for our clients, and for our crew, as they are the ones we endeavor to please,” David Barrett, managing director for R|com Creative said. Producer and Director Cameron Barrett added, “we are thrilled that our peers find quality in our work, and adding these new awards to our long list of past achievements is an honor.”

For three decades, the Telly statuette has been a symbol of creative excellence. Each statuette is hand-crafted by the same firm that produces the Oscar® and Emmy® Awards.

This is the final cut for the short film about Carol Anne McGuire and her program of music and education: Rock Our World.

If you are a positive person, you might say the U.S. auto industry is reinventing itself right now. With GM and Chrysler both looking to start anew, Ford has been able to stay clear of shrapnel, although it too has suffered substantially as a result of the overall economic situation in the United States, not to mention the rest of the world.

But Ford is truly using the downturn in the economy and the drama with its Detroit cousins to get up and deliver. While quality may have been their long-term mantra, Social Media may now be at the top of their marketing agenda.

Scott Monty is the head of Social Media for Ford. He clearly gets it. On a daily basis, Monty is working to let people know that Ford is not a building, not a car, but a company that is made up of people. Not only does Scott understand Social Media as a marketing tool, he understands the audience. GM and Chrysler both use the typical Social Media mechanisms, including FaceBook and Twitter, but just like their current overall situation, the effectiveness of their use of these tools leaves something to be desired.

According to Trendrr, a Social Media trending firm, in May of 2009, Chrysler had approximately 850 Twitter followers, while GM blew past them with more than 5,000 followers. On the other hand, Monty’s Twitter audience jumped to 20,000 people. That’s not even in the same solar system.

Ford created an effective and useful promotion using YouTube to market the introduction of the new Ford Fiesta. By creating a series of contests, Ford drew thousands of submissions, created a steady stream of Twitter “tweets,” and got substantial blog and news coverage. The bottom line: Ford reached a broad audience, interacted with them, and saved literally millions of dollars in advertising.

We like to collaborate with our clients to ensure they understand both the commitment that is required when diving into the Social Media pool, and the rewards for a job well done. It isn’t a mysterious endeavor, but it does require care, focus, and a strong understanding of whom the customer is, what they expect to see, hear, and read – and how to share things that will generate a response.

If you’re interested in how Social Media can work for you, please give us a shout. We’d love to hear from you.

Our team has recently completed production of a short mini-documentary project.  It has been one of the most delightful experiences we’ve had in the production space. The film is called “Harmony” and is about a remarkable teacher, Carol Anne McGuire, and her education program, Rock Our World. This is a “fine cut” of the project – a final cut will be completed shortly.

We first met Carol Anne five years ago. The Apple Distinguished Educator was part of a group of teachers we were videotaping for Apple. When we learned about Carol Anne and her interest in changing the world, we were smitten. At the time, Carol Anne was teaching at a school in Orange County, CA. She had just made a video film, using her students. The film was about themselves. All of the students were (and are) blind. But, that’s Carol Anne for you.

More recently (as discussed in a recent blog entry), Carol Anne has been working with the New Village Leadership Academy in Calabasas. She has been sharing her ongoing core curriculum teaching program that is founded on an international collaboration of music. The program is called “Rock Our World.” It is one of the most amazing methods of delivering education I’ve ever seen.

As Carol says, “when I was a kid, if I wanted to learn about Japan, I’d pick up a book and read it, and that book might have been ten, twenty, or even fifty years old.” Today, when Carol Anne’s students want to know something about Japan, they place a video chat call. Literally. By building musical scores with schools from around the world, and injecting core curriculum (math, science, social studies, etc.), Carol Anne’s children discover a bigger world. And by becoming part of it, they make it theirs – and perhaps a bit smaller, too.

This short video is hopefully a preview of a full-length documentary on the subject. The fine cut process is important, as it gives the filmmakers (us!) the chance to step back from the project for a few days. We can look at the film and evaluate little changes or updates that will help increase the end-result.

As we produce projects, we’ll share elements of those projects with you. The enclosed sample is from an upcoming mini-documentary called Rock Our World.

Carol Anne McGuire has been doing amazing things with kids for years. Her Rock Our World project is perhaps the most remarkable, as she brings schools together from around the world to collaborate on core curriculum, using music as the foundation for that interactive learning experience.

We were engaged to produce this short piece by William Rolland, the founder of the William Rolland Firefighters Foundation and a former Los Angeles City Firefighter. He met Carol Anne and was immediately taken with the effect her skills had on her students.

Because of the short turnaround, we decided on a run and gun style of production. We used shotgun mics, rather than lavs or studio mics, a single Sony Z1U camera for the primary shots and a Canon V30 for some of the student shots (everything in this short clip is from the Z1U), and a few stills thrown in for good measure. Editing is being done using Final Cut Pro.

This sample is ungraded direct output from the camera. No audio sweetening has been done yet. The final mini-documentary will be approximately eight minutes long. Our hope is to evolve this into a full-length documentary aimed at the education and festival circuit.

Alternative energy is becoming more of an issue in light of the overall over-the-cliff effect of the U.S. automobile industry. Some universities are working to create concepts related to solar power for a variety of things. While the technology in these cars will not likely replace engines in automobiles, they may take on a supporting role.

This production was created for up to six cameras, four en route, all in HD. Separate teams under the production direction of David Barrett worked to find the lead stories each day, during a 10-day across the US and Canada race. The project was edited using Final Cut Pro, under the supervision of Cameron Barrett. The animation was produced using AfterEffects, and the final project was mastered to HD-CAM for distribution on network and cable television.

One of the more difficult things to do smoothly is to capture rapidly moving aircraft. Our projects with the Los Angeles Fire Department often get us hooked up with the Air Operations Unit at Van Nuys Airport. And, not including air to ground footage, getting the shot of the Bell 412 airships from the ground is not an easy task – not if you want to be smooth and get the right perspective.

These sequences were shot during actual emergency response incidents, or at Van Nuys Airport responding to a call. Sony HD Cameras were used, and all content was edited in Final Cut Pro. This material is not graded, although we may come back and do some color adjustment in the future. These shots should just be considered a montage, as the elements will eventually find their way into our documentary on the history of the department, Smoke Eaters.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs addresses the crowd

This week marks the last MacWorld Expo that will be attended by Apple. Steve Jobs did not deliver the keynote address. For many people, this signals the end of an era, and for them, I guess it is. I would propose, however, that it is merely the end of one chapter and the beginning of another in the ongoing arena of personal computer use.

Apple has evolved. It attracts more people to its stores on a daily basis than dozens of MacWorld Expos. As professionals that rely on the tools that we use to help our clients, isn’t this an opportunity for the MacWorld Expo to evolve as well?

Paul Kent, the GM at IDG who runs the MacWorld Expo is a pretty smart person. Although we haven’t spent any time together during the past two years, I’ve known Paul for more than a decade and he has always been about education, evolution and guitars. In my book, that’s a winning combination! Prior to running the overall show for IDG, he was responsible, via his own company, for the conference and seminars. I would guess that Paul might have a clue about what comes next, and something likely will, even if it is completely remade – new name, new place, etc.

There is a place in the world for a Mac-specific trade show. In fact, there are probably several of them, but in today’s world, the niche value is what’s important to those of us who use the tools. For example, we use Mac technology for our video post production work. So, a show that is specific to the Mac relative to video would be of interest. And even more so because of the Mac itself.

The Mac represents more than a tool, which is why some people don’t care for it. It represents style. Class. Elegance. And, Apple has been smart – they’ve moved away from direct PC comparisons, such as processor performance, to keep the mystique of the Mac in the forefront. And, I think it works.

I was an exhibitor at the very first Macworld, in 1984. It was not at Moscone, as it has been for more than a decade, but at a smaller venue near city hall – and it was underground. Literally. The booths were mostly pipe and drape, with some carpet thrown in. Most were ten by ten or ten by twenty. And the innovations that were being shown were all about things like “desktop publishing.” So, the people who were attending were interested in low-cost productivity tools that related to printing, design, newsletters, etc. Today, my mother-in-law is snapping photos with her digital camera, ingesting them into iPhoto, making books, slideshows, etc. It’s just part of how she communicates with her children and grandchildren.

The last MacWorld I attended was two years ago. In between, I didn’t miss one. As an Apple vendor and developer, we often had software before the public did. We often had the hardware prior to public release, or knew about it. And, in many cases, our input, along with many other Apple vendors, developers, and designers was important to the product that was being created.

So, why go to the show? There was no way I’d stay away, particularly after Steve Jobs came back to the company. In 1996, Apple was on the verge of dying. Wired put out an issue (I still have it) of an Apple logo (the old multi-colored one) with a thorns around it and the title, “Pray!” The media had written Apple off. Many of my peers as well.

Steve Jobs knew the potential that existed within the company. He was extremely shrewd about it – and that’s something many people forget. And he recognized the evolution of our social environment from an analog world to a digital one. And so, every year, he would propel Apple forward, using MacWorld and special events to generate mystique, hype, and energy around a product line that had been given up for dead. Equally important, he made certain that the products offered worked. They had to work. And, after a bit, they were not only competitive again, they began to chew away and absorb big chuncks of the markets they were sold into.

Each MacWorld Expo was a chance to see Jobs speak, and many of us thought each speech would be the last one. After all, when he returned, he coined the “iCEO” term, meaning he was at that time the interim CEO. He wasn’t planning on staying. In those days, he used to end his presentations with, “oh, and one last thing…” and it would be the show’s bombshell. The big deal. I’ll never forget the 2000 Macworld, when he said, “oh, and one last thing… I like what I’m doing, so I’m going to stay.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. And all of this for the CEO of a computer company. By the way, his salary was $1 per year. That wasn’t his total compensation, but it was his salary.

Imagine taking that type of enthusiasm and energy and applying it to the auto industry. Does any automotive CEO have that panache? Perhaps Dieter Zetsche of Mercedes Benz, but only to the industry – his TV ads never really helped the company move forward, at least in the USA. And it’s a lesson we can all learn from. In these times, we all need to focus on what is possible. What can be done? What will people react to?

We use Macs because they help us get our work done faster, more efficiently, and with better collaboration. We also use PCs for various things, but not for our personal workstations. Hey, I use an iPhone instead of a Mac for a lot of things these days. But, I do enjoy the mystique of the Mac. I hope that sticks around for a bit.

Our team is very excited about a new project that we’re undertaking: A magazine-style documentary on a wonderful education program called Rock Our World. Created by elementary school teacher Carol Anne McGuire, Rock Our World links schools from around the world to collaborate on the creation of music using technologies from Apple Computer. Far from a sales program, Rock Our World has far-reaching effects on communication, collaboration, and the entire education process.

Students from Jamestown Elementary chat with students from Mexico City about their shared music project.

I first met Carol Anne shortly after she was awarded the title of Apple Distinguished Educator. At the time, most ADEs were college professors, so this was a big deal, not only for Carol Anne, but for Apple as well. We produced some short videos for the Apple Education Team and working with Carol Anne was a joy. She is filled with energy, as is her husband Bobby – and together, they could take on (it seems) any project and take it from a glint of an idea, to a polished success story.

The idea behind Rock Our World is simple: Children work together to create original music using personal computers. As an example, let’s say you have ten schools from countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Isreal, Germany, Australia, Japan, etc. Each school begins the project by recording a drum track into an application called GarageBand. The drum track can be recorded using live instruments or sampled sounds.

The recorded percussion tracks are then sent to the “next” school. There, the students add a bass line to the music – and pass it on. By the time the tracks have circled the globe a few times, a complete series of songs will have been created. Along the way, students can speak to each other using iChat, a video conferencing system integrated into the Mac OS. The ability for these schools to see one another, share music, and communicate as they do breaks some important barriers to learning. In today’s world, the need for cross-collaboration between countries, never mind cities, is becoming of increasing importance. Carol Anne and her team are pioneers in this regard. Their program is more than four years old already, while many schools and districts are still in the, “Wouldn’t it be nice if one day…” category. Not only is Carol Anne an Apple ADE, she is also a Google Educator, Disney Educator Award Winner, and the list goes on…

We’re in the pre-production stage now, and expect to have a completed project in time for the CUE conference in March of 2009. We’ll keep you posted! You can also follow Rock Our World via Twitter.