I have to start this by saying how proud I am of all of the writers that contributed to this story. Not only was it so much fun to watch, but we did something that would not be possible in the lifetimes before us.

Individuals from all different backgrounds, from every corner of the United States, in different time zones contributed one sentences (some two) to a story they did not know. Once the line was submitted, it could not be taken back, it could not be changed, and the next line was different because of it. Our story is a bizarre story, but a beautiful one nonetheless.

My goal in doing this was primarily just for fun. But also, I think it helps to show why it is so important for each and every writer to bring an authentic voice, thought, and creative passion to a body of work that may or may not be in a format they are familiar with. Every single line in this story mattered.

Think of this when you write. As Demand Studios writers, you are challenged to maintain your voice within a very structured template. When your voice is absent in a How to or an About, it may not seem like a big deal, but it's missed. Just like every sentence of this story, the collective voice that was created out of each one of you bringing your own to the table made this crazy, Alfinian, speed dating experiment just brilliant.

Remi and I were able to watch this unfold carefully, and every once in a while we jumped in to help "steer the ship" but this was all you. This story had a life and an energy to it that came from you. I was floored to see that.

Thank you all and here it is. Enjoy!

 

A Day in the Life of Another World

I woke up, my head fogged, my eyes unfocused. Something familiar about the people in the room, but I couldn’t put names to any of them. I couldn't understand why they were all wearing blue or how come all their nametags said, "Hello. My name is Alf;" even the women. Lost in the low hum of conversation, I was startled when from behind me she said "Hello, I'm Alf."

Where was I?

Think!

Her warm smile greeted me harshly. I was instantly reminded of where I was; a place with no windows, a door and a stage ready for me. Outside, 3,000 suns whirled in a fuchsia sky. Had the Planet Alf speed date convened, yet again, in the Andromeda Galaxy?

The concept of a planet-wide speed date was staggering, but on Alf, it was only sensible. After all, the planet's inhabitants were just waiting for something new to happen. Their lives lacked the friendship connection. Hopefully, maybe today...  there would be a sign, they hoped.

I knew the speed date event was concocted to make sure all gathered in one place. I had to speak up.

"Why are you all here?" I asked, looking for verification of my speed date theory.

One of the inhabitants sent me a sharp glare. They didn't understand my part in all of this and neither did I. But I knew that I had to get through to them and make them listen.

"And why," I couldn’t help adding, "do all your nametags say Alf?"

It was the sort of mystery that could get very distracting, see.  Unfortunately, they had no ears, which explained the piercing looks the crowd was shooting my way every time I opened my mouth. Were the missing ears a human adaptation that occurred during my cryogenic sleep? No matter. I knew 200 different types of sign language from back in the day when I was a universal interpreter. Or so I thought.

What could they possibly have thought I was trying to say? Then, I heard, “You, with the ears," a woman said without opening her mouth and holding a gun, "are you a mute?”  Will she hear? Where was she coming from?

Just then 2 women emerged from backstage, rolling a small table toward me. On top, 2 metallic briefcases labeled "A.L.F: TOP SECRET." I couldn't help but notice one of the women bore a terrible resemblance to my college roommate, who had broken my heart and turned me into an alcoholic.

The drink divine - the alcohol burns my throat.

 I try to lick my lips - only to find them gone. I cannot scream. I definitely need a drink to put this chaotic play in full perspective as it unravels before me. I reached for a shot of vodka. Desperate to communicate I began speaking in the Alfian way. I pulled up my shirt carefully articulating words with my navel, but the women with the briefcase on stage quickly stole the show.

The A.L.F briefcase was opening and silenced the room. Inside was a plain white envelope, two gold earrings, and something else I couldn't quite identify. But suddenly I knew it was a bomb, and it was set to go off in a matter of minutes. I opened the envelope hoping for instructions, but instead I learned I could fly.

Nobody was happy about that -- especially me! I started to float up and was no longer in control. The Alfs clapped with each tick of the bomb, and I went higher and higher until my mind began to feel fuzzy, my ears started ringing and everything started to go dark.

I was blacking out and I could only pray that this would make sense. The clapping stopped & the bomb rang.

 

 

It wasn't a bomb at all, but the start of the planet-wide speed date. They were looking for something in their lives that had been missing, but why was I there?

 My mind flashed back to my first blind date, I wasn't comfortable then and I certainly wasn't comfortable with speed dating A.L.F.’s.

 I asked the Alf to go away; he would not listen. I grabbed his hair and he pulled away so fast that is came out. The woman I correctly recognized as my former college flame floated quickly to my said and said, “Alf 3.14, that’s no way to treat… the mother of your son! You’re going back into the hypnosis tank for aberrant behavior. Again.”

Fascinated by her crisp navel articulation, I didn’t notice the briefcase that had been set down near my feet. It was an odd, blue color; maybe teal.  Is that the same? Nonetheless, I knew I was the chosen one.   The name tags meant: Aware Life Form. Pushing LSD-like thoughts into our heads was part of their psychic experiment.

But the experiment failed.

Producing great video is tough, especially when you're the one doing all the work, from preproduction to delivering the final cut. If you're working on a freelance project, there may not be another editor to make suggestions for changes, or to notice glitches and spelling errors before delivery. Self-editing then becomes imperative. And as the volume and demand for your work increases, so does the importance of developing great postproduction workflow habits. 

Editing video is a lot like editing for any other rhetorical medium. After sitting with your nose to the screen for 3 hours, it's difficult to achieve an objective angle on the details. Is it funny anymore? Is it compelling enough? I recently saw an interview with Ira Glass of the public radio show This American Life, talking about producing good video in which he said, "All video production is trying to be crap. It's like the laws of entropy... Anything you put on tape, from the moment you try to put it on tape... it's trying to be really bad. You have to be ruthless if anything is going to be really good." His point is that great video production requires an attentive orchestrator to make all the elements support the final edit.
 
Often, I've found taking a break from the details in which I'm immersed will allow for mistakes to emerge from the video when I come back to it later. Viewing the work within the context of its larger story will also help to gain a more editorial 3rd-person perspective. I'll watch the entire video from beginning to end and look for distractions or interruptions. You may want to break up your revision process into several steps. View the video once after a rough cut for major revisions, and then again as a sort of proofread for minor fixes like misspellings.

Every one of our filmmakers will have a different process for ingesting files or capturing tapes, but taking a moment to document or tweak your organizational scheme will give you the confidence to predict and manage your time expenditure. Clean organization clears the path for a successful edit by eliminating distracting clutter and providing easy access to media when you need it. Whether creating backups of media in intuitive directories or labeling footage in appropriate bins, defined workflow tasks will ensure that your focus is where it needs to be, on the timeline.

In this week's Video Spotlight we are featuring the work of Lisa Fenderson, one of our talented filmmakers located in the Pacific Northwest. Click the image below to take a look at some of Lisa's recent work.

 

How long have you been a DS filmmaker? I have been shooting videos for DS since late 2006.

Shooting at a golf course can be difficult. You have tree shadows and the changing sun conditions to deal with. How did you set up your camera workflow to get the best image for each segment? I set my camera to "Manual" and manually adjusted the iris depending on when it became sunny or got cloudy. This happened constantly, so it was a challenge.  It doesn't help when your "monitor" is your small screen on your camera. It can be hard to see in that thing when it is really sunny. Of course, some editing tricks always help too!  I used a Canon XH-A1, and Sennheiser Wireless Mic System on the shoot.

What is your favorite part of the production process, and why? My favorite part of production is the shooting and producing/directing. I really enjoy the creative aspect of the shoots. Some assignments are better and easier than others. My favorite lately though has been the golfing assignments. Conan Elliott is so good on camera and knows his subject matter so well, that usually it is done in one take. LOVE THAT! Easy in and out and done!!! Of course, then there is the editing….

What was your first filmmaking job? Not sure if you want to call it "filmmaking", but I started shooting about 20 years ago at a local news station back home in Virginia. Started in studio production, then shooting stories with 3/4 tape and then Beta, as well as reporting and weather anchoring.

What attracts you to filmmaking? The ability to tell stories through video and convey a message. The fact that people can walk away with some kind of message, whether it is learning how to do something, of just being able to say "Wow, I didn't know that".              

Lisa Fenderson is a Producer, Director, Talent, Videographer, Editor and Writer with 20 years of experience. She began her career as a Weather Anchor/Report and moved into freelancing as Producer/Director/Talent.

 

Hello everyone,

We recently did a quality audit of the List articles we've received for eHow so far and discovered some things that needed to be clarified before we add more List titles to the Studio.

We compiled a list of tips that tells you how to solve the main problems we encountered in our audit. These tips apply for all sites and we'd like you to keep them in mind while working with this article format.

We will post this as a PDF in the Resource Center as well so you can easily download it.

Eight Tips for Writing Good Lists

 

1.       Consider your own expertise before claiming titles. If you have no knowledge about Austin, Texas you will want to leave a title like “10 Best Barbecue Spots in Austin” to someone who does. See: “10 Best Things to Do in San Francisco”

2.       Call experts in the geographical area that your title deals with for best information. This is not required, but it will save you from searching numerous websites for the same information. An article like “Best Family Restaurants in Portland” could be efficiently researched by calling up a concierge at an established hotel in that city and asking where they usually recommend people to go. Make your article even better, and directly quote that person.

3.       If you are relying on your own expertise, or that of another person, keep in mind that an ideal expert should have 10+ years expertise in his or her field. See: “10 Reasons Why Smoking Is Bad”

4.       If you do not have expertise that is clearly reflected in your bio, you must use multiple sources or an expert on the topic as references for your List articles. Use multiple sources, including magazines, newspapers or credible websites to generate a “best of” list. Cross-check names that pop up frequently with good reviews, make sure the positive marks are coming from a credible source, not an advertorial trade magazine or industry newsletter. See: “Alternatives to Birth Control”

5.       Never use one source for your list. A list taken from another publication or website (this includes just taking the same subheads) will be considered plagiarism.

6.       Create a clear introduction or overview that sets the parameters of your list. If the title is “Parks in London,” make it clear in your intro what type of parks you will write about, and the criteria you used to include them in your list. See: “10 Human Diseases”

7.       Broad titles, such as the one above, needs to cover several aspects. “Parks in London” should include a variety of parks like dog parks, child friendly parks, parks great for picnics and secluded parks that are great for reading a book in peace. If the title is “Hotels in Phoenix,” include budget hotels, luxury hotels, resort hotels and any other type of hotel that would round out a great list. See: “10 Best Things to Do with Kids in London”

8.       Make sure all items in your list are factually correct and not outdated. Calling the business is the fastest and easiest way to do this. Remember, websites often remain online even after the business is closed. See: “10 Best Las Vegas Swimming Pools”

 

Super Silent Reading?

It was an amazing time of day during school, usually after lunch, when teachers in almost every grade required students to sit, quietly, super silently, and read whatever book they wanted. Oh, how I mourn the days of dodgeball, Chinese jump rope and Super Silent Reading.

In memory of SSR, I am going to share my favorite book, that I highly recommend to everyone.

It is by Joseph Mitchell, one of my all time favorite writers. I was introduced to his work when I was still a Journalism student, and I can honestly say he is one of the reasons I do what I do today. During the 40's and 50's Mitchell wrote amazing short pieces for the New Yorker on everyday people living in the world around him. Fantastic writer who has a great voice throughout all of his work.

Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell.

Check it out. Should be at everyone's public library or local bookstore.

Also, here is a really cool glance at some of Mitchell's work published in the New Yorker back in 1939. The New Yorker's website offers an amazing digital glace at old prints of their magazine. Make sure to zoom in so you can read it. I love this and hope you do too. 

Joseph Mitchell, A Reporter at Large, “ALL YOU CAN HOLD FOR FIVE BUCKS.,” The New Yorker, April 15, 1939, p. 40

In this week's Video Spotlight, we're looking at the work of LA-based filmmaker Nathan Boehme, fresh off a shoot for a Demand Studios content partner, ModernMom.com.  Click the image below to take a look at some of Nathan's Modern Mom content.

How long have you been a DS filmmaker? I joined Demand's community of filmmakers in late 2006, so I didn't come in exactly on the "ground floor," but I probably wasn't too many floors above it.
You recently produced videos for a Demand Studios partner, ModernMom.com.  What was it like working with Hollywood-level talent as your Experts? I was pretty nervous on my first day because I knew that I was going to be working with people like Brooke Burke who have established careers in the entertainment industry.  In short, it seemed like I was going to have to work extra hard NOT to make a fool of myself. Fortunately, all of the nervous worrying melted away after spending just two minutes talking with Brooke.  She's easily one of the most kind, easy-going, and accommodating people that I've ever worked with... famous, or otherwise. 

Some of the videos were standard how to style videos, but I also shot some interviews with Brooke and friends of the site.  They were supposed to be sit-down-style, back-and-forth interviews where they'd chat back and forth about their experiences with motherhood.  We all collaborated on the "look" and "feel" of the video, and decided we'd shoot hand-held, and just the let the cameras roll.  One take ended up being over twenty minutes long, and the conversation ended up covering a wide range of topics from the daily struggles of being a single parent, and raising kids after going through a divorce, to the public perception of celebrity moms and dads, and how the kids interpret the sometimes negative "coverage" of their parents.  Really raw, unfiltered stuff.  They also talked about their day-to-day lives as mothers, and joked about more common problems like "lack of sleep," or "time to yourself," or the lack thereof.  The final cut of the video, as it stands, runs about six minutes long, and feels very organic to me... kinda like you're sitting right there in the room with  them, which is what we were all hoping for.

I shot all of these videos on my trusty Canon XH-A1, recorded the audio with an Azden SGM-2X shotgun mic, and edited them using Final Cut Studio.

What is your favorite part of the production process, and why? There are things that I love about every aspect, from the writing all the way through to the final cut... and I suppose that all of those things really boil down to ONE thing, which is crafting the "story."  I love getting lost on the creative side of the fence.  I love being a part of that process from beginning to end.  This goes hand-in-hand with my second favorite part of the production process, which is collaborating with people who feel the same way.

What was your first filmmaking job? My first "professional" shoot ever was a music video for my brother's band.  We wanted to shoot in a coffee shop, but there weren't any in town that would allow a bunch of kids to use their place of business as a set.  So, I ended up using the fellowship hall of our old church as a soundstage, and built a full-scale, semi-functioning coffee shop set (complete with movable "wild" walls) right in the middle of it.  The end result was amateur at best, but I don't think I've ever felt more proud in my life.

What attracts you to filmmaking? That's a difficult one to answer.  Reminds me of that scene at the end of "Almost Famous" where William asks Russell, the guitarist, "What do you love about music?"  Russell repositions himself in his chair, looks William in the eye, and replies, "To begin with.....everything."  

Nathan Boehme is a Los Angeles based writer, director and editor.  As a tenured Demand Studios creator, he now spends the bulk of his production time creating premium content for Demand Studios partners and advertisers.

I have, for as long as I have known how to hold a pencil, considered myself a writer. As a child, I kept journals and wrote pseudo “novels.” English was my favorite class—the only one I actually looked forward to. Needless to say, writing was at the core of my being. I was good at it, and no one questioned that …

… until one day when I was 18. I was a freshman in college and enrolled in, what appeared to me as, a fluke of an writing class. I hated the professor; she seemed incompetent, and let’s just face it, she was mean. I loathed her assignments but usually excelled in them. Everything was fine, until one fateful spring afternoon. It was a Friday, and I was eager to find out what I scored on an assigned article. It wasn’t a topic I particularly liked but one in which I thought I did well. So, you can imagine that I, the student that always did well and prided herself in writing, was shocked when I discovered I got less than a stellar grade, along with a note that read “Are you sure you want to be a journalist?” I couldn’t believe it. I walked the half a mile from her classroom to my dorm room, fists clenched, face red, body tense. As soon as I got back to my dorm room, I examined the article. There it was, this brilliant piece of word art (or so I thought), saturated with her violent red pen marks: misuse of a comma here, wrong descriptive phrase there, unnecessary paragraph over here, extraneous verbiage over there—the list went on and on. I must admit I felt like Ralphie on “The Christmas Story.” He was so eager to turn in that paper, proud of what he had written and so disappointed when he got it back. I started crying, cussing, yelling and even stomping. Yes, I stomped. My behavior immediately reverted to that of a 4 year old, and I had a pretty self-indulgent temper tantrum. And after I calmed down, I did what any logical, passionate, aspiring journalist would do: I called my professor and asked her to sit down with me and explain my errors. Don’t get me wrong, her condescending remarks were a big slap in the face, but I was determined to find out where I went wrong. 

When I met with her a few days later, she admitted the journalist comment was uncalled for, but she stuck to her guns in shredding my article apart. It was a tough pill to swallow, to say the least, but in hindsight, I really appreciate that day. It was the first time I was surged into the real world of writers. I experienced what every writer experiences: those horrific moments of rejection, or worse, failure. Writers can be prideful, yes, but there will always be an editor that is going to rip your words apart. And there will always be that one you never forget, that one editor that really gets under your skin until the epic “aha” moment when you realize that she was actually right.

You see, this is how mediocre writers become great writers. It usually takes someone to point out your flaws before you can fix them. Sometimes, it’s from a respected editor and you professionally say “thank you” and comply. And then sometimes it’s from a callous professor, and you shamefully channel the outbursts of a toddler. Eventually though, you learn to take these moments of rejection with a grain of salt and move on. As a writer, we have no choice but to build some pretty thick skin.

I’ve worked for various magazines since then, and every time I edit someone’s feature story—or better yet, have someone edit mine—I am always grateful for that horrible, albeit beneficial, day.

In a new weekly feature on the Demand Studios blog, members of the video team will be profiling the work of our talented Demand Studios filmmakers.  This week's edition comes all the way from Nashville, as Dimitri LaBarge discusses producing for DS and some of the challenges he faced on a recent indoor swimming shoot.  Click the still image below to check out his video on Competitive Swimming Techniques and then read his interview for a behind-the-scenes look at the production.


How long have you been a DS filmmaker? I have been shooting videos for DS since November 2007.

What is your favorite part of the production process, and why? My answer to that completely varies on different days. There are days when I love the shoot the most, when I'm working with an expert who doesn't need as much basic coaching for on-camera presence, and is instead a true collaborator, making the video come to life. I once worked with a local TV weatherman who had extreme confidence on camera, and opened the topic up to camera moves, walk-and-talks, and other techniques that aren't usually available in my expert's toolbox.

On the other hand, there are some evenings when I come home and I have an enormous amount of footage, and I lose myself in a sort of puzzle, which is finding the narrative within tons of sometimes very disconnected footage. When I manage to produce a unified, consistent video, that can be the single most satisfying moment of this work.

What challenges did you face shooting at an indoor pool and how did you work around them? The biggest consideration when shooting in an indoor pool is the ridiculous amount of noise echoing around the structure. We considered using my Sennheiser boom mics so we would have flexibility, but they simply picked up too much ambient noise for clear audio. Using my highly directional Sennheiser lav mics mitigated that issue for the most part.

Another issue was determining what we could demonstrate in the water. Showing moves out of the water lacked authenticity; but it would be hard to show clear demonstrations when the expert was submerged. I decided to shoot both ways, so I could have above-water demonstrations showing specific detail as needed, then shot b-roll so viewers could see what those exercises looked like in the pool.

A final issue was the matter of light. I always have at least a Lowel Rifa-Lite handy for indoor lighting situations, and also a Tota-Omni kit for more complex setups. The indoor pool, however, had several big negatives. It was an area with large dark areas that needed some decent fill lighting to be usable; however, the pool area was soaked enough - and conducive to splashes - that I worried about introducing electricity to the situation. The approach I took was to use the best-lit part of the area, which had decent overhead lighting, and then used my standard LitePanels Mini LED light mounted on-camera, just to provide some low-level fill of my expert's face. 

What methods did you use to secure this expert?  This was as basic as it gets. I had originally needed a triathlon expert on another set of videos, and I had no contacts in this subject. I googled for triathlon and fitness experts in the city, and my expert's name came up near the top of the list. I sent him an e-mail through his website, and he responded almost immediately. (This is a good example of trying to find an expert who is good at more than one thing. By finding a great triathlon expert, I also now had an expert for future running, biking, and swimming topics.)

What equipment did you use for this shoot? I used my trusty Canon XL-H1 camera, Sennheiser G2 series wireless lav system, Libec LS-55 tripod, and a LitePanels Mini LED light, mounted in Canon's hot shoe.

What attracts you to filmmaking? I love storytelling. Whether it's writing screenplays or capturing someone's expertise on video, I love communicating a central idea and developing the narrative spine of a fictional or non-fictional project.

Dimiti LaBarge is a Nashville, TN based filmmaker who specializes in instructional, wedding and commercial work.  In addition to being a full-time filmmaker, he also moonlights as a freelance film poster designer.

What challeng

With the rapid growth of new technologies and social media today, it can be difficult to keep up with the facts. How fast are we actually moving? Where are we now compared to where we were yesterday? Where are we going?


One of the most valuable things you can do for yourself as a citizen of the internet is to stay educated.


I recently attended a community meeting for my local public library, and the head librarian closed with this video. It is about five minutes long and shows how fast and in what quantities media is growing and changing online.


I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8


Content by XPLANE, The Economist, Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and Laura Bestler. Design and development by XPLANE, http://www.xplane.com.

"If you use Google to look something up in 10 seconds rather than spend five minutes searching through an encyclopedia, that doesn’t mean you are less patient. It means you are creating more time to focus on other matters. In fact, we’re devoting more effort than ever before to big-picture questions, from the nature of God to the best age for marrying and the future of the U.S. economy..."

The entire essay is interesting, thoughtful, encouraging, and definitely worth a read. Tell me your thoughts, and keep fighting the good fight. Just, you know, make it snappy.

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Image courtesy of xamad