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.

We’ve added a Canon EOS 7D to our production equipment inventory. Already, I’ve found multiple occasions to use it during the first week we’ve had it. It is a fabulous production tool. It also represents a major breakthrough in some respects, but it is not, as some would tell you, a fix-all for video production.

First of all, a few initial comments for anyone not familiar with the Canon EOS 7D, or why we’d write about it. This is a digital SLR (D-SLR) still camera that also happens to record lovely 1080p video images. It is one notch below the Canon 5D MKII, and is competitive with a number of other DSLRs on the market.

As a still camera, it offers a new 18 megapixel sensor, a fantastic three inch viewfinder that displays 100% of the frame (many cameras show 90 or 95% of the frame). It includes a flexible AF system with a dedicated processor for focusing – so it’s fast. The shutter system is also new, permitting an impressive 8 frames per second (in still mode). As with other Canon products, it features the EF / EF-S lens mount system. Sensitivity is also terrific, with Auto ISO (100 – 3200) or manual ISO from 100 – 6400 in 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments. It offers nearly all of the professional features you could imagine for a camera of this type, and a great place to see a review of its still capabilities is at dpreview.

As a video camera, it’s also pretty amazing. It has standard video outputs in both NTSC and PAL, plus HDMI output for HD video. It includes a built-in microphone and has an input for an external mic as well (mini plug). The camera will shoot 1920×1080 at 29.97, 25, or 23fps. It will shoot 1280×720 at 59.94, 50fps or even (but why?) 6340×480 at 59.94, 50fps. It records using H.264 in a QuickTime .Mov wrapper. Note however, that the QuickTime wrapper does not mean any NLE will recognize the footage. More on video reviews in a bit.

There are three ways to use this camera: As a still camera. As a video camera. As a film-style camera.

Image shot with EOS 7D - Battalion Chief Kawai

When using this as a still camera, it’s a joy. Many people wrestle with the Nikon vs. Canon brand issue. In my experience, I see both everywhere. However, it does seem that when you’re a portrait photographer, there are reasons to use Nikon products, and if you’re a journalist or sports photographer, Canon offers some benefits.

This camera is easy to hold. It’s easy to read. The menu system is a snap, and you can pre-set commonly used menu elements. As a result, getting high-quality stills is literally a snap. As a photographer, you can really focus (sorry!) on the image to be captured – framing, lighting, depth, etc. A fantastic review of the camera can be found at Rob Galbraith’s blog. Additional reviews for photographers can be found at Alexa.

As a video camera, this is a bit of a different animal. You can’t (obviously) shoot with a vertical orientation, as you can with stills. The camera is heavy to hold for video motion, and a tripod or camera rig is an absolute requirement over the long term. However, this doesn’t make it unusable in “camera format.” Some things work differently, but it is still quite capable with just Canon lens and related support gear. Simply put, you can point and shoot and get really nice images.

There are some things you can do to improve the immediate video capabilities of the camera. One is to add a proper microphone. Rode makes a stereo mic that mounts to the shoe and plugs into the body. We purchased a Rode with the camera and it has been fantastic. Philip Bloom, the noted British DP has recently produced a really nice video package with the 7D and the Rode mic – right here in California at Venice Beach. It’s a really nice video story and highlights the EOS 7D.

It’s when you think of the 7D as a film camera that it really changes the landscape (again, sorry!) for producers. This is a camera that starts at perhaps $2,000 with a nice lens. You can start to add various bits and pieces to it, including a mic, follow-focus, matte box, remote trigger, etc. Suddenly, it’s a complete motion picture camera rig – for less than $5,000. And the images it creates are full-on cinematic quality – no “cinema mode” crap either. To see a great example of the camera rigged for news video, check out this Matt Jasper 7D video clip.

The difference is the glass. This is a camera that allows total control over the Z-axis as well as the overall frame. As such, you can dial in a lovely depth of field that permits you to shoot video with a realistic, natural, film look. You can add a prime lens to the Canon. In fact, there are a few firms already making PL mount conversions. While that may only be useful to anyone who already owns a suite of PL glass, the knowledge that you can pick a lens for any specific shot is a breakthrough event for most videographers. In fact, if Panavision rented glass without a camera, you could really lose your mind. Check this out.

In my initial shoots with the 7D, I found the camera to be very balanced. The image was crisp and as with any HD camera, the critical issue was and is focus. But the ability to shoot with such a nice depth of field is eye-opening (I’m so sorry!). Even in the first day of shooting, I was thinking, “oh this is sweet!” as I was rolling chip. That’s another thing: no tape. The EOS 7D uses CF cards (UDMA only, type 6 or faster). And with a 32GB card, I can capture more than 80 minutes at the highest resolution.

We have been really busy with production the past few weeks, so publishing our own 7D clips will have to wait for a few weeks. Rest assured, however, that we will publish a variety of 7D clips. We’ll also share opinion regarding the workflow overall and our use with editing software.

In the meanwhile, here are some fantastic examples of the 7D at work:

Canon EOS 7D at 30p – by Philip Bloom

Dublin’s People – by Philip Bloom

Around Rome – by Shawn Landersz

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.

Canon HV20 handheld HDV camcorder

There is an interesting balance when it comes to gathering material for any project. The time you spend translates into expense. Even if it’s just your time, wear and tear on the gear, and the cost of media, there is a cost. At the same time, it’s important that you give yourself the best chance to be prepared to take advantage of any situation.

In this case, I’ll refer to video/film. Our team is working on developing a documentary about the history of the Los Angeles Fire Department. It is centered in the present, with flashbacks through history. We must cost every hour of production. So, we typically are careful about how and when we’re spending time or money.

At the same time, I always keep a camera with me. This past Friday, I was in Los Angeles, attending several meetings, including one at a fire station. In the car, I had my firefighter protective gear and a small Canon HV-20 HDV consumer camera. The last thing I was planning on was needing to use it. That alone should be a clue.

During my meeting at Fire Station 76 in the Cahuenga Pass, the Captain noted it was starting to look foggy outside, and it was a sunny day. We opened the front door, and across the Hollywood Fwy, the shoulder of the freeway was ablaze. The Captain picked up the mic on the PA and told his crew, “still alarm, guys. We’ve got a grass fire across the freeway!” I grabbed my gear and as I climbed into my seat on the fire engine, I was thinking, “why am I stuck with this little camera?”

I started rolling tape before we rolled out of quarters, and as we made the turn down Cahuenga Blvd., you could see what looked to be a “nothing fire” across the way. 75 seconds later, as we spotted the rig to block the road and protect the firefighters, the wind was whipping the flames up and potentially threatening brush and homes nearby. This spot was less than a mile from the origin of the large and dangerous Hollywood/Barham fire from March of 2007.

David Barrett gets a muddy face, and camera, while shooting on-scene at a small grass fire in Hollywood.

Because I had a small camera, I felt I was going to be limited in what I could capture. While the camera does shoot HD quality material, it uses a single 1/2-inch CMOS sensor, and the camera itself weighs less than two pounds. So, I decided to focus on POV material, getting tight on firefighters as they attacked this small fire that was trying to become a big fire. I even got directly into the spray from a 1.5 inch line and had to stop for a minute to clean the camera, which was completely covered with mud.

The overall results ended up pleasing me very much. I got some great shots of a firefighter using his line to work through thick smoke to get to the base of the fire. And, as the incident unfolded, I began to test the camera’s capabilities – and while movement is something to be careful with, I was consistently surprised by the image quality.

While still not my first choice for a primary camera, the reason our team has kept it was for this exact purpose – when not expecting something, be prepared to get the unexpected. So, at the end of the day, I got some big shots from a small camera. Watch the video clip below:

Even the Canon HV20 can be built-up into a full cinema rig. But Why?

The footage above was imported into Final Cut Pro, and compressed in HD using Compressor. It was not color graded, so what you see is what the camera delivered.

Now, before signing off, note that the Canon HV20 is a highly regarded little camera. We acquired it for use in our production of a cross-country racing documentary in the fall of 2007. We used the camera as an in-vehicle mount, while our larger cameras captured the majority of the action.

As camera technology improves, people are beginning to use these little cameras more and more. In fact, if you want, you can totally lose your mind with these little cameras. The camera rig shown is using a Canon HV20, and includes railing, a matte box, follow focus and even a Marshall monitor for preview and monitoring. The rig costs three times what the camera does, and the 35mm lens conversion device close to double the cost. Imagine that.

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.

I’ve come across a really cool gadget that is really awesome for anyone using an HD camera these days. But, before I can explain it, some background is really in order…

One of the things that most video cameras don’t do is deliver the kind of imagery film cameras provide. Or, more accurately, the kind of imagery film lenses deliver. The cocktail of performance, durability, cost, and longevity conspire to create products that deliver crystal clear pictures, but without some of the key capabilities more expensive product provide. As one example, a Prime lens on an Aaton camera will allow you to create a visual image that draws the viewer to a specific spot in the frame – based on something called “depth of field.” In a typical high-quality HD video camera, the entire frame will look almost real. The difference, however, is that when telling a story, you might not want the viewer to take in the entire screen.

Imagine a couple discussing a plan to rob a bank. They’re sitting at a coffee table in the foreground of the scene you’re shooting. In the background, a woman is applying makeup before leaving her table. She’s busty, dressed in red, and is wearing lots of jewlery. So, what is the audience supposed to look at?

If you can shorten the depth of field of the shot, you can help the audience focus in on the subject you want them to pay attention to. The couple are discussing robbing a bank. When the partner on the left is speaking, she is perfectly in focus. Her partner on the right is slightly soft, while the background is a colorful blur. When the partner on the right speaks, he is perfectly in focus, and she is slightly soft. It may be very subtle, but it really helps the audience follow the story. And, if you shoot with video, you have had limited options without spending significant money on add-on gear.

Enter JAG35. The company’s primary products are adapters for video cameras that permit the use of 35mm still camera lenses. Once installed, these lenses create the same effect as a very expensive motion picture lens – i.e. highly controllable depth of field. Because still camera lenses are very fine quality, adding them to an adapter will not create a poor quality image. In fact, in reality, if you use one of these products, your video camera will essentially be taping a projection of the image the still camera captures on a highly ground bit of glass. It may sound like hocus pocus, but it’s effin’ fantastic. Take a look at this video clip to see how the Jag35 helps the audience focus in on a single element of the screen…

What makes this even cooler is the price. There are some cool 35mm adapters out there, and I’ll even chat up about one or two in the coming few weeks, but they are typically more expensive than the HD camera to properly kit out. The JAG35 products are typically under $500. That’s really fantastic. And, it means none of us have an excuse any longer to not control the look of our images. One note about this – the use of these adapters is based on shots that are deliberately set up and arranged. The run and gun “cinema vérité” style of shooting is not what these lenses were designed for. But, combine one of these devices with some other cool stuff and your shows will be really fantastic. In fact, our shows will be really fantastic. Even better than our old shows. And those were pretty good, too.

Oh, and one other thing… the JAG35 products will make even a small HD camera, like the CanonHV30 (street price is about $780) shown above, look like a totally pro rig. So, now you don’t have to get a lot of big cameras with bad output and weak chips. Get a cool small camera and a JAG35 bit of kit and you’ll be putting a block on your phone with all the calls coming in.

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.

The back end of this blog entry

This is a question that comes up more often these days. Several years ago, when blogging was becoming popular, most blogs were just that: personal web journals, or web logs (hence blog). People would share their thoughts with friends and as that led to politics, religion, sex, automobiles, etc, a marketing medium was born.

Today, many personal blogs are now tweets. Twitter is today’s quickie blog. And, there’s a reason, too. Blogging has become time consuming. And, if you’re successful, it can be a lot of work. Of course, many people want to make money from their blog. That’s a different story, but one we’ll cover soon.

Setting up a blog can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days, depending on the software used, the design implemented, plug-in support, and so on. But, once the blog is in place, content is king.

The act of creating a blog entry is pretty simple. This blog, for example took 27 minutes to create. Here’s the breakdown:

• authoring: 15 minutes
• tagging: 1 minute
• adding links: 5 minutes
• editing: 5 minutes
• publishing: 1 minute

What took time for this blog was the research and “thinking” part of the entry. And, come to think of it, the many conversations that led up to the writing of this entry. So, maybe this entry had a day of my time invested in it. And that has nothing to do with managing the site. Oh, and when you’re busy creating an entry, time flies. I really thought this took me ten minutes. Ack!

Aside from writing and publishing, we do a lot of other things related to the blogs we work on. For this blog, here are a few of the things I do each day that I work on this blog:

• read related blogs: 1 hours
• manage our stats: 10 minutes
• respond to comments, questions: 20 minutes
• research content, photos, etc.: 15 minutes
• discuss blog content with team: 10 minutes

So, not including the authoring part, I personally spend at least nearly two hours a day on this blog alone. Thankfully, I don’t personally work on a lot of blogs, but just this one requires a lot of attention, which is why I don’t post every day. There are just so many hours in the day.

And, this is not a high-traffic blog (yet) either. As your blog becomes more popular, the need to post daily and even more than daily will increase as well. As you begin to add Google ads, other resources, and art to your blog, your day will disappear before you realize it. Wham. It’s dinner time. Or worse, it’s Letterman time (for you oldsters). For me, I often forget to go to sleep and it’s almost time to get up. Whoops!

If your blog is to become successful, there is a lot more than just creating entries. Tags are hugely important. And, it’s not just the tags themselves, it’s knowing (and learning) what people will type into search engines.

Titles are also huge. We’ve done a lot of experiments with titles and not only does that affect the amount of traffic your post gets, it impacts the overal popularity of the blog. Titles must describe the content of your post, and in such a way as to answer the question: do I want to read this?

And, a good blog entry won’t be too long. So, I’ll wrap this entry up with a reference to another blog story that’s related, and although it’s two years old, it’s still valuable. Read on.

The inauguration of Barack Obama earlier today was a milestone in the history of this country. While we like to keep politics out of our business communications, there were some notable things in play that are worth mentioning, as the peaceful transfer of power was not the only thing evident on this crisp Washington D.C day.

Our world is much smaller now. Smaller than ever before. It is so because of technology, and we must be ever vigilant about it, or it will pass us by. All of those things we’ve talked about in our businesses for the past decade as, “things for the future” are now upon us. And never was it more evident than in the inaugural coverage witnessed by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

CNN invited the world to submit photos. They had cameras across the country and we watched each other watching – in high definition. When the president-elect walked down the steps prior to the swearing in, nearly everyone, his daughter included, was busy snapping digital photos – and in many cases, sending them to family and friends. So much so, that cell service in the Metro DC area was compromised for a time both yesterday and today. People were using flickr, twitter, facebook, myspace, their own blogs, and even CNN. The era of the iReporter is upon us.

CNN also invited people to watch the post-inagural parade and other activities via computer. Literally. “Watch CNN on your computer – www.cnn.com” was displayed on-screen multiple times. And overall, the graphics we see now move, change shape, and are presented in computer-display clarity. The move to push people to watch was most likely a calculated marketing move as well. Once the inauguration was over, people headed to work. By promoting viewership via computer, CNN was essentially encouraging people to watch from work. And, if they watch today, what about tomorrow?

And the technology outreach via the web wasn’t limited to CNN. More than ever before, the use of technology is being used to communicate with everyday people in this country and across the planet. CNN is also partnering with Facebook and users of the system provided real-time impressions of the event. Those impressions appeared in a “facebook” window on the cnn.com website. According to the Los Angeles Times, there were more than 1.3 million concurrent connections via Facebook. By 10AM, CNN reported it has delivered more than 10.7 million video streams this morning, a new record.

CBS and its anchor Katie Couric will host a webcast in which anyone with web access can submit questions. Fox News has decided to use a third-party web service, Hulu to stream the event. Following today’s activities, Hulu will make the entire inaugural and all such speeches an on-demand product.

Even the New York Times, long known for its traditional approach to things, will stream their own or subscribed video via their websites. MSNBC will allow people to embed video streams in their websites, no doubt borrowing a page (literally) from YouTube.

The result is that live television is no longer a couch potato pastime. It is now an interactive, mobile, office, auto, and interactive television experience. These tools are important for promotion. They’re important for research. They’re vital for product marketing. And, they’re good for saying hello and staying in touch, too.

And the White House is now with the program as well. At approximately 12:03PM, once Barack Obama was officially President (but before he completed being sworn in), a completely new White House website was launched. It reflects the “with it” web 2.0 technology awareness that the President is already known for.

This has significant meaning for all of us. It’s now time to evaluate the use of these tools as a component of your 2009 business model. For us, we’re more committed than ever to recognize and help our clients realize the potential of viral and Web 2.0 technologies.