Little Spark Media

New Stories 2012!

2012-03-02T15:37:00.001-08:00

Things are pretty exciting these days - whether it's checking out new technology, meeting beautiful families, or observing amazing animals, there always seem to be things to record and convey. This is something we put together to showcase some of our work in early 2012. The first sequence is from a story on twins based on a CDC report showing that they have become a lot more common over the last 30 years, both because of women delaying childbirth and because of fertility treatments. The second sequence is from a story on wearable devices, which are being touted as a hot new smart device category. Why pull out your smart phone to check your email or calendar when you can view it easily on your watch? After that are some shots of the 22nd anniversary of the sea lions that make their home at Pier 39 in San Francisco. We're now working on a story on seal pups being rescued and taken to the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, so there will be more wildlife coming soon...

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

Coming Home Takes Time

2012-02-29T16:00:00.004-08:00

Over the last week I've been working on a project on women combat veterans. A new study by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and UCSF shows that women coming back from US Army service in Iraq and Afghanistan are witnessing and participating in violence at higher rates than in previous conflicts and are suffering from PTSD at the same rate as men.

Researchers surveyed 7,251 soldiers who served in the two current conflicts, asking if they had killed, had witnessed killing, had been exposed to death or were injured in the war zone. Four percent of women reported killing, compared to 1 percent in the Gulf War of 1990-1, and 7 percent reported injuries in the war zone, compared with 2 percent in the first Gulf War.

For this story, I went to the VA Medical Center in Palo Alto and interviewed two doctors involved with combat veterans and met Major Doral Gonzales, who served as a Registered Nurse Practitioner in Iraq and Afghanistan. When I met Doral in Palo Alto, I saw a mixture of sadness and fatigue combined with a determination to speak out about the topic of PTSD and women in combat. She talked a lot about what it's like in the field - picture working in temperatures above 120 degrees Farenheit, wearing 70 pounds of gear on your back and a bullet proof vest under heavy military clothing. A few days later I went to Doral's home in the Central Valley, in a small town surrounded by crop with low hills in the distance. Here she was all smiles, surrounded by family and friends in her beautiful home.

When I arrived, I was greeted by Omar, whom Doral introduces as her adopted Iraqi son. He is actually 32 and was adopted as an adult - after studying computer science at the University of Baghdad, he worked in IT for a contractor in Iraq, then worked with Doral as an interpreter. He now lives across the street from her with another son and works for a catering company. Sgt. Rocelle Feria worked as an Army medic in Iraq, and returned home just two weeks before our meeting. She said that she "still" feels very conscious of things around her, and is very careful in all situations. She also realizes that she's just at the beginning of her adjustment to being home. Doral said she's encouraging her younger colleagues to reach out and seek help with the transition.

Another thing I realized when I talked to Doral and her colleagues was that, though this is no Vietnam, veterans coming home today don't feel appreciated and are hurt by the lack of awareness of what is going on in the war zone. Adjusting back to life here is not just environmental, it's also coming back to an alternate universe where if you weren't in the army and you didn't listen to the news, you would never know there is a war going on. And while it's rare that soldiers are blamed for unpopular government actions these days, a lot of people don't see the point of what they are doing. That makes coming home even harder for people who have lost friends, witnessed horrible scenes and perhaps been injured themselves a world away.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

See the UCSF press release and a link to the study here.

Green Screen Basics

2012-02-16T11:05:00.002-08:00

Can't get the perfect background? That's what computers are for!

Maybe you've seen it on the behind-the-scenes clips of a major motion picture - actors dressed all in green, standing in for an otherworldly creature, which when animated looks almost impossibly lifelike. The concept is to cover unwanted elements of a video with a color that is easily removed with editing software. Primary colors are best for this, but green trumps blue and red because it overlaps the least with skin tones. One common technique is to shoot a video against a green background, then remove and replace it with something more fun, like a grand desert scene, snow-covered mountains, or a cityscape like Times Square.

Setup:

There are a lot of ways to set up a green screen, varying in cost, quality and setup time.

You can use a cloth background, but you need to make sure it doesn't have wrinkles or spots and is evenly lit. The thicker the cloth, the better.
You can paint a wall green, which will provide a smooth, even background. It may fade over time but you can wash and/or repaint it to keep it fresh and even.
You can use a large green poster board. This will be flat and uniform but you may have trouble finding one that is large enough without piecing several together and creating seams.
You can buy a collapsible cloth background that expands onto a frame that stretches it out and minimizes wrinkles. This is a good portable option.
You can use a seamless paper background clipped to a bar or other type of stand. Paper can get folded, wrinkled, ripped and stained, but if you have a big roll you can just use a new section when this happens.

Lighting:

When you're ready to light the backdrop, it's important to make sure there are no wrinkles in your fabric or paper background, and that you have a smooth curve where the paper hits the ground to minimize shadows and cover the area under your subject's feet. The light must be very even on the background so as not to create hotspots, which will make it more difficult to spearate out the green when you are ready to do so. Two soft boxes on either side at about the same distance from the backdrop will do the trick. Once you've lit the backdrop, the subject has to be lit with a key light in a way that will blend in with the background that you will be putting in. He or she should stand far enough away from the background so as not to make a shadow on the green screen; 6-8 feet away is a good metric. Once the key light is set on the subject, turn on the background lights and begin your shoot.

Editing:

When you're ready to edit, bring your footage into your editing program. In Final Cut Pro, drag your clip into the sequence viewer on top of your chosen background footage. Go into Effects --> Video Filters --> Key --> Chroma Keyer, and drag this filter onto your footage in the Viewer. Double click your clip, then click on the chroma key tab. Here's where a little bit of art comes in - you can adjust the color, saturation and luma, along with edge thickness and softening until the outline on your subject looks just the way you want it to.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

Sources: Videomaker.com
How to Use a Green Screen
Green Screen Post-Production

Video Nitty Gritty

2012-02-03T15:06:00.001-08:00

When you get into the nitty gritty of video production, there's a lot to be gained by knowing your camera well. I'm going to go through a few of the menu functions on the Panasonic HMC-150 that are likely to be found on professional or semi-pro cameras. These adjustments affect how the original picture is recorded and can affect the detail, color, brightness, saturation and contrast of your image. All of these things can be adjusted in post-production, but it's wise to start as close as possible to the type of image you'd like to end with, or to gather the visual information you will need to get there successfully in post.

Chroma Level:
A higher chroma level result in a more saturated image, with very bright colors. A lower chroma level will produce a more muted image, closer to black-and-white.

Chroma Phase:
This adjustment allows you to bring the picture toward the green/yellow hues or back toward purple/magenta hues.

Color Temp:
This allows the picture to shift between blue and orange hues, complementing the adjustments of Chroma Phase. This is equivalent to "warming" or "cooling" the image.

Master Pedestal:
This controls the brightness and detail level in the darker sections of an image. A low Master Pedestal saturates blacks and may result in loss of detail, raising the Master Pedestal will bring out some detail in the black areas, and a very high level will wash out the image.

A. Iris Level:
This allows you to shift the brightness of the automatic exposure setting to make your image darker or lighter based on the opening of the iris.

DRS:
With Dynamic Range Stretching, the camera incrementally boosts the darker areas of the picture and mutes the highlights. It's convenient but also can increase noise in the shadows.

Gamma:
Adjusts the brightness of different levels of the picture using the following settings:
- HDNORM: This setting has average HD video settings with a medium noise level.
- SDNORM: Similar to HDNORM, but slightly brighter and noisier.
- LOW: This brightens darker areas and darkens medium and light areas.
- HIGH: Brightens dark areas and leaves bright areas the same. A bit noisier than HDNORM.
- B.PRESS: Brightens midtones and darkens darks for increased contrast and low noise.
- CINE-LIKE D: Flattens contrast to provide more room at brighter end of the scale. Higher dynamic range but no overexposure protection. Better for film than TV.
- CINE-LIKE V: Stretches spectrum to accentuate range and contrast. Sharper for television.

Knee:
Smooths out highlights to limit overexposure at specified level.

It's a good idea to try out these different settings in order to decide what you need for the type of video you'd like to gather. Are you shooting a film, a TV show, or a webisode? Your final medium will affect how you choose to gather the original material, so the more you understand it, the better.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

Twins!

2012-01-24T15:06:00.000-08:00

Cuteness alert!!!
I'm doing a new story on twins...

A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a 76 percent rise in the twin birth rate from 1980 to 2009. Over this time the twin birth rate rose by 100 percent for women aged 35-39 and by more than 200 percent among women 40 and over. For this story I'm interviewing cute families with cute twins, so I can't complain. The family pictured above has three-week old twins and they were still generous (and calm) enough to grant me an interview and let me record some video in their home. Luckily the grandparents on both sides are in the area and come over to help a lot, and both parents work from home. Pretty impressive nonetheless!

I also went over to UCSF and interviewed Dr. Larry Rand, a perinatologist who specializes in high-risk pregnancy and maternal-fetal medicine. He also has a special interest in monochorionic twin pregnancies, in which two babies share one placenta. These pregnancies are much higher risk than twins with two placentas, as whatever happens to one can affect the other more easily. One of the reasons for higher rates of multiple pregnancies is that more women are having children in their 30's, which raises the rate on its own. But many cases are caused by fertility treatments in which more than one embryo is fertilized.

While most parents are overjoyed to have two babies instead of just one, both the pregnancy and the costs of raising another child are significant. Doctors are working to fine-tune fertility treatments, which might help prevent more multiple pregnancies, but Dr. Rand says twins are here to stay.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

7x7 Award Nomination

2012-01-24T14:29:00.000-08:00

This blog has been nominated for a 7×7 Link Award (unrelated to 7×7 Magazine).
Thank you, Flying Yenta, for this exciting nomination!
I've just got three questions to answer:

I. Share something about yourself that others don’t know.

I used to live on a blueberry farm.

II. Link seven posts from your blog that you think are worthy.

1. Keys to a Great Interview
2. Fall in San Francisco
3. New Shoot, New Camera
4. More 5D Adventures
5. Bay Area Biographies
6. Final Cut Pro X
7. Camcorder Adjustments for Better Video

III. Nominate seven other bloggers that deserve the award and haven’t received it yet.

1. The Flying Yenta
2. Engadget
3. Eddie.com
4. DP Review
5. CoffeePencilKnife
6. girlwonder
7. Revelation by ME

Why I Want a Nikon D4

2012-01-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

Nikon's new D4 is receiving a lot of attention, mainly for the advancements it makes in the professional video realm. At about $6000, the camera will cost about twice as much as the Canon 5D Mark II, but it has several features that are new to DSLRs that will hopefully make their way into other models.

Some notable features are:

- Pro audio recording with stereo input, audio monitoring and levels on LCD screen

- Autofocus during video capture with facial detection and subject detection

- Two memory slots, one for Compact Flash and one for XQD cards.

- Built-in time lapse recording with dedicated menu
- FX/DX and 2.7 crop mode in full 1080p video mode
- Remote control and focusing via iPhone or iPad
- HDMI output for live transmission

In short, it looks awesome and I want one! Now for Canon to come out with a new model with these features.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

Winter Light

2012-01-04T15:12:00.000-08:00

Lighting can make or break an image, whether in photography or video production. It defines the mood, sharpens or softens, reveals or conceals. Studio shoots offer control over the quality, color and quantity of light, but the right outdoor setting can be magical. A lot depends on the time of day, time of year, and weather, so it's worth giving each some thought and observation before scheduling a shoot. Serendipity often works too. This portrait (and the one of me in the last entry) was shot in mid-afternoon on a sunny but slightly hazy winter day. It's normally a good idea to avoid both direct sunlight and backlight, but there are times when it can add drama and sophistication to a photo. Here the model's hair is backlit, showing an auburn element, and the background is bright without losing detail in the trees and sky beyond the softening that occurs at f/1.2. We may have sacrificed cloud definition to lighten up the subject, but it worked just right for this image. This San Francisco alley and its afternoon light would also offer a great setting for video and it's on my list of potential locations for an urban backdrop.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

Wishing you a Sparkling 2012!

2011-12-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

2011 was a stellar year for Little Spark Media, full of ideas, adventures and new friends. Our documentary-style video production continued to develop, with projects for clients including the Lawyer Referral and Information Service, Nano-Tex and the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center. We streamed technology events at the Plug and Play Tech Center and told the stories of a dozen small businesses through photography.

Broadcast media assignments brought us to the Lassen National Forest in Northern California to film radio telescopes searching for extraterrestrials, to a unique solar project next to aging Southern California oilfields, and twenty miles out into the Pacific to film blue and humpback whales. We learned how to kitesurf with Silicon Valley movers and shakers, interviewed the Hague judge who indicted a Serbian war criminal, profiled San Francisco drag queens and documented an innovative urban park project.

In an effort to give back, we held the Little Spark Social Venture Challenge 2011, with winners LoudSauce and Cloud Currencies the proud recipients of one-minute videos and finalists awarded professional headshots. We used YouNoodle Podium to create a structured judging process, with seasoned business and communication leaders kindly offering their time to guide the competition process and to judge the participants.

Looking back, it's been a year of creativity and momentum that will only continue to grow with the online video wave. We'd like to send our deepest thanks to all who have offered their guidance, skills and support to Little Spark Media this year. Best wishes to you and yours in the year ahead and here's to our continued partnership.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

Video Tips for 2012

2011-12-29T15:46:00.000-08:00

The most important thing to keep in mind when shaping your video strategy for 2012 is simple: more is more! Frequent clips that include the essential triad of personality, creativity and information will delight a public that increasingly prefers to click "Play" than read an, ahem, email newsletter. So fire up that camcorder, webcam or iPhone and start keeping in touch with your audience on a more regular basis with easy-to-produce videos like company updates and how-to's.

In addition to these brief updates, some tried-and-true formats for more carefully produced videos include the customer testimonial, the case study, the executive profile and the company overview. If you have a little extra time and resources, consider interviewing an ecstatic customer, documenting how you helped another business succeed, profiling your key executives or giving an overview of what you do.

As cameras and video distribution systems improve, there are multiple channels for getting more client contact via video, and the key is to get your story out using the technology that best meets your needs and skill level. Programs like iMovie, Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premiere Elements make editing your own video easier than ever. And if you decide you need some help, Little Spark will be there to support you in 2012!

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

Keys to a Great Interview

2011-11-29T20:44:00.001-08:00

I've been interviewing people for about ten years, both for the media and for corporate communications, and it's a lot of fun every time. Still, some interviews are better than others. I've tried to identify what makes an interview go well, and how to put a person at ease when they know you are recording and may repeat everything they say. This post deals with your relationship with the person across from you, and a later post will address the issue of a camera and lighting if you're working with video.

An interview is a relationship with another person, however fleeting, and people should always be treated with care. A good conversation happens when there is goodwill and respect between two people. It's important to be truly interested in what your interviewee has to say and to show them that you appreciate the time they are taking out of their schedule to speak with you.

There are different schools of thought about preparation: you can go into an interview knowing all there is to know and anticipating the person's answers, or you can go in with lighter preparation - not to the point of being disrespectful, but in a way that encourages them to explain things the way they would to a person who had never heard of the topic before. You can also prepare like the former and act like the latter. It's your choice, and good results can come from all of the above approaches.

Whatever your level of preparation, show a degree of interest that gets your subject talking. It's possible that most people think what they do is boring. Maybe their significant other and kids don't really ask them about what they are building at work. Maybe they don't get recognition that often, or feel that others really want to hear what they have to say. That covers a lot of people, no matter how famous or accomplished they may be. You should be able to feel that need for recognition, or that hope for a connection, when you meet someone. As the interviewer, their need is your opening. Be that person who comes into their day like a breathe of fresh air.

On the other end of the spectrum, many people won't have time for you and won't be that excited about the interview, so in this case make it fast and painless. Get the comments you need and get gone.

Always be humble. We all want to look smart - in a way, every interviewer wants to ingratiate themselves to the interviewee, because for a moment, in our imaginations, we are a scientist, a politician, or an entrepreneur or a pop star, just like them.... but we're not, and usually the person you interview will be light years ahead of where you will ever be. That's why they are getting interviewed - because they're special. So stay in your place, because really, all you're doing is taking notes and pressing Record. You didn't fill that stadium or engineer that rocket; they did.

Sometimes an interview even benefits from a willingness to make yourself vulnerable. Some of my best icebreakers have actually come out of innocent gaffes. In Mexico, once I was attempting to ask a member of a wildly popular teen rock band when he played bass guitar for the first time. I asked, "When was the first time that you did it?" He looked puzzled for a second, then the whole room broke out in laughter. "I meant play bass, when was the first time that you played bass!" I was red as a beet at that point, but the whole band, three guys and a girl who were becoming known throughout Latin America for their music, was definitely into the interview. Instead of being interrogated by someone who could potentially help them sell more albums if the article turned out well, they were sharing a laugh with a girl who was still learning Spanish. Afterwards they took an interest in me, too. They wanted to know how I got to Mexico, how I got interested in journalism, things like that. So the sharing went both ways. It was a lot of fun and the photographer I was working with never quite let me live it down.

At the end of an interview, it's a good idea to ask if there is anything else the interviewee would like to add. Some people will say no, you've covered everything, but many people will add a golden point just as you are preparing to leave. Don't be afraid to take out your notebook and ask them to repeat it, or fire up the camera again. Don't miss this final thought - now that the subject feels more comfortable and they see that you are about to leave, they will often share something important.

Once you really are done, don't forget to say thank you! Whether it's for the media or corporate communications, show your appreciation. Send an email or a handwritten note to thank them for their time.

Just remember, a great interview comes from a place of caring, and a true connection with the person across from you. Be interested and interesting. Be open while minimizing your own presence. This is your interviewee's moment to shine.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

Telling a Success Story With Video

2011-11-21T19:13:00.001-08:00

Most businesses have something great to offer the world. Years of effort go into creating the perfect product, the ultimate app, the best service in the world. But how will people find out about it? Potential customers need to understand the experience of using your product or receiving your service.What’s it like? What type of person will like it the most? How will what you have to offer make their lives better or more productive? How will your invention help them provide better healthcare, make better fabric, or find a parking space on Saturday night? How will your service help them to feel better, look better, be more productive or reach their goals? Not only do they need to understand what you can do for them, but they need to understand who you are. Who’s the genius behind the technology, the leader who motivates the entire group, the spirit who gives life to the organization?

Here’s where a great video comes to the rescue. At Little Spark Media, we’ll prepare you to tell your story, then ask the right questions so that you’ll be at your most articulate when the red light’s on. Just like on your favorite interview show, our conversation will bring out the answers to the questions your clients didn’t know they had about you. And as we get to know you, we’ll get to know your story. How did it all happen? Did you have a hyperactive dog that then motivated you to invent a new model for a dog walking service that would revolutionize petcare in your city? Did a particular patient inspire you to invent new way to predict disease? Is there a struggle you went through that made you want to help others? Were you a lifelong volunteer for the homeless before building and running the country’s best program for underprivileged kids? We want to spend time with you, get to know you, so that people you want to reach can get to know the person behind the superstar.

In the editing process we'll select the clips that will tell your story to perfection. We’ll weave your narrative together with carefully selected music and sound tracks in order to create a textured story that will draw in your viewers and make them want to know more. By telling your story, you show potential customers that you want to relate - and as you are humanized, they will be too. By revealing who you are, you’ll create trust in the viewer, who will feel less like a credit card number and more like a friend. This will yield not just sales, but loyal customers who know who you are and value their relationship with you.

Fall in San Francisco

2011-11-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

Fall is here in San Francisco ... this means a very quick shift from a late summer in September and October into what will soon be a mess of wind and rain.

The end of the year is a great time to tell stories - family will soon gather for the holidays, and we'll all have a chance to catch up on what we missed in each other's lives over the course of the year. For many families, this is the only time to connect. Others won't even have this once-a-year opportunity to share their news face-to-face. But fortunately, these days, they have other options.

While many of use it all day, everyday, this is a time when many of us will be thankful that we can connect with each other via digital communication. With connectivity expanding to new locations and bandwidth increasing, more of us can share an email, a call on Skype or a video chat. That way even if you couldn't be there, you can read, hear or see what your loved ones are experiencing far away.

I'm excited to hear about the things I'm missing - my nephew's stories about karate class, my sister's call about an icy east coast storm, my friends experiences at work and in relationships. It's personal, of course, and that's why I care. But I also hope to bring a sense of the person-to-person connections in my life into the work that I do at Little Spark Media.

I'd like professional communication to have access to the storytelling that we practice with our families and friends, so that we can connect as people while we relate in business matters. Maybe it's a tall order, but when you tell the stories of what people care about them, what motivates them, in some sense, on some level, you as a viewer become a friend.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

Energy creates energy: My Introduction to Little Spark Media

2011-10-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

"Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich."
— Sarah Bernhardt

I’m starting today as Little Spark Media’s Associate Producer and I could not be more excited to work with Kimberly telling compelling stories about local innovators. One of the things I love most in the world is learning about interesting people and problems, and sharing what I learn with others. It’s exciting to meet passionate people and find out where their inspiration comes from and why they do what they do. What drives you? What change do you wish to see in the world? And what are you doing about it?

As Bernhardt’s quote says, “Energy creates energy,” and I believe creativity begets creativity. Other people’s inspiration leads to my inspiration. So what is my inspiration?

My interest in using media for story telling began when I was 16. I’d become fascinated with Haitian history after I wrote a research paper on the country’s colonization for Mrs. Hanson’s World History class my sophomore year. As the first independent black republic in the world, Haiti has a unique history, and I wanted to understand how the country became what it is today. I began choosing Haiti as the topic for every paper I could and soon found myself on my way to Haiti for the summer to see the country for myself. I grew up speaking French, so I picked up Haitian Creole easily, and was quickly talking to Haitians about their daily lives.

Long story short, I feel in love- with the country, with the language, with the people. I started going to Haiti every summer and living with a family in the remote rural area of Latournelle. I took pictures of my travels, as anyone would do, but when I got home and showed them to friends and family, the reaction was overwhelming. People were deely moved by my photos. I started using them to spread the word and raise money for health and educations projects in Latournelle, and when that was successful, I returned the following year with a video camera. The result is my first film, My Mountain, which I completed in 2003. The process of interviewing Haitians about their struggles and editing those together to tell a story that would ignite viewers to action was completely absorbing. I knew at that point that photography and film were media I wanted to use for the rest of my life.

I pursued a major in Communication at Stanford to learn the journalism practices I needed to create strong narratives, and graduated in 2007. Kimberly’s thesis advisor was actually my undergraduate advisor. I’ve since been involved in film and media in various capacities, including working at a film festival, a video production internship, and staff support for a production company. I’ve worked on several films since My Mountain, and most recently told the stories of two Code for America Fellows, Karla and Mjumbe, to highlight the work that the young non-profit is doing to bring the innovation of the tech industry to local government.

I am looking forward to bringing my experience and expertise to strengthen Little Spark Media’s already dynamic work. If you or your company have a story that needs to be told, let us know. I would thrilled to feed my own creativity with yours, and then return the favor by providing you with engaging materials you can use to spread the word about what inspires you. Energy creates energy. Inspiration begets inspiration. Let’s get the ball rolling on this virtuous circle.

By MJ Mont-Reynaud of Little Spark Media.

Soul Food Farm

2011-10-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

We just finished a project on the Slow Money Movement, which brought us to a little chicken farm in Vacaville called Soul Food Farm. Chickens roamed the length of their large pens and around the grounds of the farm, with some free to lounge on lawn furniture and peck around the garden for food. Soul Food Farm has gotten some help from an organization called Slow Money, which is rethinking investing and bringing more money into local food systems.

According to Woody Tasch, founder of Slow Money, investors need to start redirecting their money out of traditional investing models and toward a model that is more sustainable. Building on mission-related investing, Slow Money emphasizes proximity, with the idea that investors placing their money in businesses close to them will make more responsible choices that take into account the environment and the food system rather than maintaining a strict focus on returns.

For Soul Food Farm, a loan from Slow Money offered help with operational costs to get going this year. The farm sells high quality eggs and chickens to local restaurants and to neighbors via a refrigerator in the driveway and the honor system. If you had to be a chicken, this would be the place to be.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

Healthier Eats...

2011-10-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

Jill Escher's message is simple but clear: stay away from sugar! It wreaks havoc on our bodies, confusing our systems into thinking we need to keep eating and leading us into an endless cycle of energy highs and lows. As I contemplate visiting the vending machine for a pack of M&Ms, I remember her advice for people trying to kick the sugar habit - it's tough at first, but by starting the day with a breakfast high in healthy fats and allowing yourself the comfort food that can give you the feeling you may associate with sugar, you can make it through the first few weeks without candy and cakes. Jill advocates celebrating Halloween without sugar, and emphasizes the addictive cycle into which this highly refined ingredient pulls the human body.

As our new show, Bay Area Bios, takes shape, Jill Escher is already seeing results from her interviews, which have enabled more people to find her online. Not only that - these videos offer people interested in her book a way to get to know the woman behind the ideas.

Like Agatha Hoff's book introduction, these videos are prototypes for what we will be doing with Bay Area Bios, an interview show in which we bring in fantastic local people to talk about what they are up to. And in the San Francisco Bay Area, it's not hard to find fantastic people doing remarkable things.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

More 5D Adventures...

2011-10-10T12:14:00.000-07:00

The footage from the 5D looks amazing, and I can't wait to get out and shoot more. Satellite dishes in the middle of the Lassen National Forest were a perfect subject to start with, and being able to switch seamlessly between videos and stills is really a dream come true for someone with roots in photography.

Importing the files into FCP is a little complicated, so it's worth discussing. It's possible to edit the camera's footage straight from the camera in the H.264 codec, but it requires a lot of rendering and isn't very stable. One good approach is to use MPEG Streamclip, which is a free download and is easy to use.

In MPEG Streamclip, either drag a single file into the program or use List-->Batch List-->Add Files, and choose your .mov files from your card. To convert, choose to export the files to Quicktime. You will have many options for codecs, but an XDCAM codec like Apple XDCAM HD 1080p24 or p30 codec with a variable bit rate (VBR) is a good option for FCP. Save the files on your computer or wherever you want them.

When you are ready to import, the files to FCP, use Easy Setup, then select HD and your chosen codec to set the timeline so that the settings in FCP are the same as the clips you are importing. Create a new project, save it, go to File-->Import-->Files, and import the clips that you have converted. Then you'll have your video files in the FCP Browser.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

New shoot, new camera....

2011-10-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

I finally inaugurated the Canon 5D Mark II on a shoot at the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array in Hat Creek, California. Hat Creek is pretty far from San Francisco, but it is even farther if you follow your GPS after it stops working and miss your exit off of I-5. If you go that way, you get to see Lake Shasta and you get a really good view of Mt. Shasta as well. It's beautiful country and I highly recommend the detour.

After a while of my GPS continuing to say that I was 14 miles away from Hat Creek for a little too long, I decided to get off the highway and fill the tank. I asked directions to the Hat Creek Radio Observatory and the woman at the gas station said "Well, it's probably in Hat Creek." I still thought I was only 14 miles away and I found her comment a little alarming. She then said it was "really far" and that I should continue north and get off at a certain highway and that it would take about two hours. I decided to turn back and check out Lake Shasta again, then get off at the correct exit. You never know when you will need B-roll of Lake Shasta, right? Good thing I passed it in such a way as to get a good look off both the east and the west sides of the bridge that goes over the lake. I called the observatory and said I was a little off course but would be there mid-afternoon. I got the feeling I wasn't the first person to get lost up there. I asked if Hat Creek was a big town, in the sense that if I used the GPS (as a backup) to get there, would it be possible to end up very far from my destination. The woman at the observatory said that if you blink, you will pass Hat Creek, so I figured it would be a good point of reference if the GPS started working again.

One of the reasons why the Allen Telescope Array is where it is is because there isn't very much going on in the way of electromagnetic radiation out there. The ATA is located in a basin that is far enough form civilization to be quiet, but close enough to the Bay Area for scientists living there to come up for a few days a week, with a couple of them on site at a time. My cell phone wasn't worth much when I got close, and you have to turn off all wireless devices when you enter the property anyway. Something like a cell phone can throw off the whole array, which is sensitive to most minute signal, even one coming from outer space.

Once I got to the facility and met my host, I decided that a good way to test out the 5D would be to do a shoot with my Panasonic HMC-150 and then redo a lot of the same shots with the 5D, just in case something went wrong. What ended up happening was that my previously described detour took the shoot into the late afternoon and the light was just gorgeous as I finished up with the Panasonic and started to work with the 5D. I have only just started going over the footage but it looks amazing, just like a photograph in motion.

I tried out the H4N Zoom recorder and I'm not sure yet how it turned out, but the 5D internal audio wasn't actually as bad as I had expected based on the reviews I had read. Not that it's good, but I would say that in emergency situations, if you had no other choice, it could potentially be usable for a news piece.

That night I stayed in Burney, Calif., which was small and quiet, as you might expect. When I walked in to my hotel, the slightly disoriented-looking hostess said "It gets dark so early these days, it's kind of creepy. Did you see that black cat outside?" The place was fine, as it turned out, but I was happy to get in the car and head west, then south the following day. On the way to Redding, where I'd meet I-5 again, I stopped for breakfast at a cafe that advertised lattes on its signage. It turned out that the cappuccino machine was broken, but it was made up for with bottomless coffee, a good sausage and eggs breakfast and a chatty host and clientele. I found out that the owner was pretty upset about a cougar killing 20 of his 35 or so chickens, and was considering shooting the offending animal before it got to his goats. When I asked if that was regulated, he said something about the local Fish and Game authorities telling him to shoot and bury it if it was killing his chickens. Then he said he'd probably just trap it and let it go far enough away that it wouldn't come back.

After meeting a woman who had just moved there from San Diego and was still making the adjustment to minimal amenities and the occasional scorpion encounter, another breakfaster asked where I was coming from, and I said San Francisco. "You'd admit that?" he responded. It was fun but I was ready to go home, and I was looking forward to checking out my footage when I got back.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

Water in the Central Valley

2011-09-27T16:28:00.001-07:00

The last adventure I had was an amazing trip to the Central Valley. For a native Californian that will sound like a sarcastic joke, but it's not - being from the East Coast, specifically the tree-covered suburbs of Boston, the plains and vast expanses of agricultural fields here still take my breath away, especially when you can see the mountains in the distance. Some may mutter remarks about monoculture and water, but I think it's pretty. It's also very hot and dry this time of year.

I was actually going down there to do a story on water, specifically on groundwater banking. The idea is that irrigation district or water rights holders can, with permission, store water that they have allotted to them in underground aquifers. This will normally happen when there is a water surplus, which tends to happen two or three years for every 10 in California. As long as water rights holders downstream are also getting what they are entitled to in times of surplus, farmers can now keep their surplus and pump it out later.

This isn't exactly high tech, so one might ask why it hasn't been done as much in the past. One reason might be that in the past, people would just pump groundwater in times of drought and they didn't really have to get permission to do it because in most cases groundwater isn't regulated in California. But after so many people doing it for so long, the aquifers have been depleted and the mineral and chemical content in the remaining water is often so high as to make it unusable. So it makes sense for environmental reasons to pump water back in, although there are some potential sources of complication.

First, it's not quite like putting a cup of water into a closed plastic container for later use. While many aquifers are well mapped out, they are, well, underground, and we don't know exactly where they go. Water can leak out of them, and in most cases it will. A neighboring farm or irrigation district could also pump it out, thinking it was their own groundwater, because it would be. While chances are that the remaining groundwater is full of impurities, the new water could be polluted as well and introduce new problems to the groundwater resource. Complications could arise with competing rights holders over who gets the surplus water when it's not needed that year, but being stored for drought several years ahead. When this water starts getting sold to new housing developments for high prices, my guess is that it will get even more complicated, because who's to say that the surplus water was being stored for use in drought years, which is legal, versus investment and resale, which is not, as far as I can tell.

California still has plenty of water, but we will probably dive into drought again in the next few years. Those who are saving their water now will reap the benefits then, but chances are that controversy will arise as well.

By Kimberly Chase of Little Spark Media.

Bay Area Biographies

2011-09-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

Julie Thompson and I are working on a new project called Bay Area Biographies. We intend to do interviews in a studio setting for a talk show in the style of Charlie Rose focusing on influential or otherwise fascinating people in the San Francisco Bay Area. We've already done our first couple of interviews and based on that I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

The only problem is that I have to be on camera. Minor issue.

As I was starting out in broadcast journalism, I had fleeting dreams of being on camera. "This is Kimberly Chase..." People advised me to try it - "You would be so great!" "You'd be a natural!" they said. I could totally picture it - so glamorous! I'd look smart and be perfectly made up with flawless hair and fancy outfits on a daily basis! Then I tried to do it, little snippets at a time while I was recording pieces meant for another reporter to voice over using my script. "Look happy, like the girl who does that show with the puppies on Channel 11!" my cameraman said. This was in Mexico City and I was trying to look cool speaking Spanish. I even did a shot while sitting on a giant bull at a community fair. I tried to look happy, like the girl with the puppies. The cameraman told me about an episode where she had gone skydiving - more energy, he said, like you're about to jump out of a plane! That's when I realized I can barely memorize a single sentence and I get really nervous talking into the camera.

After conducting hundreds and hundreds of interviews over the years, however, I realized I was pretty decent at talking to people and asking them about themselves. Fortunately that is what I'll have to do on this show - zero memorization except a brief into, which we'll probably end up doing as a voiceover during the intro animation. The main thing I have to do is ask good questions and listen to the answers. Yes! This will be a perfect fit!

By Kimberly Chase

Ice Cream!

2011-08-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

Little Spark Media is producing a video profiling each of the winners of the Renaissance Center's annual entrepreneurship awards, and that means visiting each business and spending a couple of hours recording the unique aspects of what they do.

On Friday I spent the morning in Petaluma, where I visited the Three Twins Organic Ice Cream Factory. If only every day were so much fun! Neal Gottlieb, who won the Entrepreneur of the Year award, took Paul Terry's business planning course several years ago and went on to found a multi-million dollar business that sells organic ice cream both retail and wholesale. He's one of the Renaissance Center's favorite success stories, and it's easy to see why - the former Peace Corps volunteer has combined his inner do-gooder with his inner capitalist to form a unique, progressive and successful enterprise.

Friday at Three Twins was a great experience. I spent about an hour recording b-roll around the factory, then interviewed Neal in the courtyard outside their office. I was really impressed with the location they've chosen in Petaluma. Part industrial zone, part office park and park residential area, it's got a peaceful feel and lots of sun. After the shoot at the factory I went to the Three Twins scoop shop in Terra Linda to get some footage of the retail side of the business.

Next week I'll be visiting the Liba Falafel food truck and caterer Maritza Hurtado. I'll make sure to save plenty of room for tasting!

By Kimberly Chase

Outfitting my 5D Mark II

2011-08-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

I just got a new Canon 5D Mark II, and I'm outfitting it with all the things I think I will need for video. I have the body and I'm now using it with an 28-70 Canon L-Series lens.

Audio has been the biggest sticking point for me as I decided to get into DSLR video. I've been using a Panasonic HMC 150 for the last year and I'm still extremely happy with it. The Leica lens and AVCHD format have come through really well for both news and corporate work.

For audio, after looking at the Beachtek unit that allows multi-channel recording onto the camera itself, I chose the Zoom H4n recorder, which can be mounted on top of the camera. The Zoom H4n records onto a separate card, so audio will need to be synced separately, but I'm planning on using this mainly for interviews so it shouldn't cost too much extra time. The recorder has stereo inputs on the front and two XLR inputs on the back, so it will offer plenty of recording options.

I'll also be getting a Canon 16-35mm lens to have a wider angle option for both photos and video. I've been wanting to get this for a while and it should be a real treat.

Snuffed Out

2011-08-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

I am working on a new story on smoking for AP Television, a feature based on the news that California has brought its smoking rate to below 12 percent of the population.

Yesterday brought me to two wildly opposed spots - the Occidental Cigar Club on Pine Street and the Department of Public Health on Van Ness. At the Club I chatted with Curtis Post, the founding member of the LLC, and he told me about his passion for fine cigars and need for smokers to have a place where they could feel comfortable and free from judgment. The club provided me with some great scenes to record on video - Curtis lighting up an imported cigar, the dark wooden counter, and the bottles of liquor that lined the wall behind the bar.

After that, I headed over to the Department of Public Health, where I met with Alyonik Hrushow, Director of the city's Tobacco Free Program. I apologized for the smell of smoke on my clothes and I think I was forgiven but I'm not sure. Ms. Hrushow outlined the successive tightening of laws restricting smoking in public places over the years, and she said that the less socially acceptable it is to smoke, the fewer people will do it.

On the way back to the office, I kept noticing people huddled into hollows in the sides of buildings as they sneaked a cigarette outside of work. I'm not a smoker myself, but I kind of felt bad for them. Hopefully we will work it out over time and fewer kids will take up the habit.

Now I just have to edit the story and write the script to narrate it.

Whales etc.

2011-08-03T16:09:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, someone asks me why I keep doing journalism. It's hard, it doesn't pay very much, and no one thinks much of reporters these days. Still, I can't think of a good enough argument to make me let it go, especially on the days when I have to wake up at 5am to get out on a boat to watch marine life all day, freezing underneath two coats and three sweaters and trying not to vomit over the rail. I've spent three days in the last two weeks out on boats in Monterey Bay and off the coast of San Francisco toward the Farallones, and it's been a huge treat. I loved meeting the passionate ship captains and naturalists, who seemed to live a life a little like mine. The occasional shout of "There's a blue whale!" made all the seasickness and sleep deprivation overwhelmingly worth it.

Journalism has taken me out whale watching and lobstering, into airplanes and dance halls, through ghost towns and metropolises.

Taken with the romance of newspapers, I started out as a writer and moved into broadcast work about five years ago while living in Mexico City. I first hired cameramen, and eventually realized that it would make sense to do my own filming since I had a background in photography. After picking up my new camera and getting an hour-long lesson from a friend in California, a story on the Seri people in northwest Mexico started me on a journey into video. Now what was once a passion for the still but latent image has become an obsession for how the subject moves across the screen. The grace of composition took on new dimensions, literally and figuratively, as motion was introduced.

Now I wish I had enough arms to do it all - to shoot stills and video and take notes, all at the same time. I have to resign myself to the fact that much of it will only remain in the dusty filing cabinet of my mind, then fade away too fast. The sad truth is that I didn't become obsessed with recording things because I had a good memory - it was quite the opposite. I chase the moments, knowing that most of them will be gone from the art gallery in my head by the end of the day. A few will remain and be special to me forever: a sunset, a wild animal, a kind smile.

And I'm hungry for the experiences to come.

Another whale watch is on the calendar for Saturday, and I can only imagine what I'll see when we head west of the Farallones.

By Kimberly Chase.

FCP X - Baby with the bathwater, or time for a new kid?

2011-07-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

Final Cut Pro's new release has a lot of video editors up in arms over changes that they feel are too extreme. The program looks like a more sophisticated version of iMovie, and some of the more advanced features of FCP, like multicamera editing and exporting individual audio tracks, are only available with add-ons or work-arounds. Some features have been moved and have seasoned pros confused as they adjust. But proponents say that the program's new features will revolutionize video editing, and while change can be hard, it's worth it in the long run.

Here are some of the new features that can be found in FCP X.

- Color and sound editing are done directly in FCP X.
- Complex sequences of clips can be merged together into a compound clip.
- You can see available footage around a shot easily by clicking on a clip.
- Rendering happens in the background so that you can keep working.
- The Magnetic Timeline slides footage over to make space for a new clip.
- Media can be organized based on keywords, shot type, or favorites.
- Scratch disks and project files are automatically saved in the same place.

This new kid isn't exactly friendly to the old ways - an additional program is needed to output to tape, and files from older versions can't be opened in FCP X. For now it brings the novice into the professional world, but it may take a few updates for the professionals to feel that everything from the older program has been accounted for. Change can be tough, it's true, but this is indeed a new paradigm for video editing.

Let's keep a lookout for what happens next!

By Little Spark Media

Integrate your online content

2011-06-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

These days, content is king, at least in the world of internet marketing.

As we write, shoot, produce, edit, and do all of the things that lead to great content, we also need to think about where we're going to put it. Fortunately, in the digital world, compelling content can take on a life of its own - we just need to put in the right spot to start with and give it a little push as it goes on its way.

One of the greatest things about the social media landscape is that whatever you create can be used multiple times for multiple outlets. In addition, social media channels can be linked so that they lead to and from one another. This interconnection, if used in moderation, allows you to create an ecosystem for your brand where the curious can find you in multiple ways.

We've kept that in mind with our own posts. As we close in on the June 30 deadline for the Little Spark Social Venture Challenge, our competition for social ventures to win more than $5,000 in media prizes, we're using multiple outlets to get the word out. Tom Temprano, our social media guru, tackled the challenge of reaching out to potential contestants with Facebook and Twitter, tapping into groups he thought might be interested in the event. Trying to generate enthusiasm without overwhelming fans, he posted tweets on industry topics interspersed with news about the contest, and tried to keep LSM's Facebook and Twitter feeds connected without being redundant. As a result of the campaign we've connected with a whole new realm of like-minded organizations and we're looking forward to finding the perfect LSM Social Venture Champ.

As you create your content, think big and small, general and specific, at the same time. Who are you trying to reach on each of your networks? That said, what is the common thread among all of your different followers and fans? Keep the big picture in mind as you create an image of your business that is both tailored to your various audiences and fits together as a whole.

Promote Your Event with a Webcast

2011-05-31T13:46:00.001-07:00

You've got an event coming up, and it's going to be great. You've got speakers coming in from all corners of the universe. Every seat in the audience is already accounted for. Your organization has global reach, and you know that there are hundreds of people, maybe more, who would have loved to come if they could have. But plane tickets are expensive, and many of your fans are too busy to come to California for a day or two.

The good thing is that there is an easy way to reach these people and make them feel included: webcasting your event and putting it online for later viewing. Webcasting is the live online broadcasting of an event using the Internet. Simple tools like UStream, Livestream and Justin.tv make it easy to record the event and clip it into shorter videos that people can access later via YouTube, your website or the streaming tool's site.

One thing that's important to keep in mind when you're planning a live online broadcast is that to get high viewership you'll need to plan around the time zones of your target audience, promote the heck out of the event beforehand, and encourage attendees to tweet about the link of the webcast as the event begins. If you do this correctly for a major brand, you'll have thousands online at the time of the event and clicks in the millions later on.

Good luck and have fun!

By Little Spark Media

Camcorder Adjustments for Better Video

2011-05-23T17:28:00.000-07:00

Since so many people are shooting on very sophisticated camcorders these days, it's good to review what some of their many settings indicate. Each camcorder is slightly different, but here are some settings you may see on yours.

Audio

Many camcorders will have two audio channels, which can be adjusted to give the appropriate sound levels for the environment or interviewee with dials on the side of the camcorder. If your camcorder has a Level Meter on its display, you will probably see two horizontal rows of white dots corresponding to the sound level that each microphone is receiving, with a white line showing a good audio level for dialogue, typically -12dB, and a red line beyond that showing peak audio, 0dB, which could cause distortion of the audio signal. Adjust the dials so that the average sound hits below the white line, with room for louder sounds to hit below the red line.

Zebras

Many camcorders have a button labeled "Zebra," with two settings that show a series of parallel lines over any area that is exposed beyond the specified level. The two buttons can typically be adjusted, but with a common setting of Zebra 1 at 70% and Zebra 2 at 100%, this tool will show you two helpful levels. 70% is generally a limit for the exposure of faces, and 100% indicates bright white, which is generally to be avoided except on things like reflections of sunlight or light bulbs that are intended to look very bright. If Zebra 2 is set to 105%, it indicates levels that are near the top of the IRE (Institute of Radio Engineers) scale, which tops out at 109 with pure white.

Gain

Raising the gain on a video signal brightens the image by amplification, which also increases noise. Adding 6 dB of gain doubles the brightness of the image, which is the equivalent of brightening by one f-stop, so that 12 dB would be four times brighter than 0 dB. If your camcorder has the option to increase gain, it may also have a menu option that allows you to denote how much each setting (Low, Medium and High) increases it. Since raising the gain is an artificial method of brightening that will result in lost image detail, it is wise to try other options first, like opening the iris, removing neutral density filters from the lens, lowering the shutter speed or adding light to the scene.

These are just a few of the little adjustments you may see on your camcorder. Stay tuned for more info on how to adjust them for the best results!

By Little Spark Media

How to Webcast Your Book Tour

2011-05-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

So you've written a book. People like it and now your agent says it's time to get out on the road to speak to readers.

Book signings are wonderful events that give you a chance to share your experiences with readers who are eager to connect with who you are in person. But not everyone can make it to the bookstore at 2pm on a Wednesday. So why not put a video of the event online that people can watch live from their computer screens or later on at a more convenient time?

Streaming an event online isn't as hard as it sounds. If you're willing to put up with ads on your broadcast, you can use UStream for free. Download their Producer software for more options. This allows you to switch between several shots, images or prerecorded videos during your webcast.

If you have a camera and tripod, you can connect the camera to the laptop in order to input live video. This will give you better quality than the webcam and if you have someone helping you they can film the event with some variations in the shots. If you are using UStream Producer they can switch between the camera, webcam, images and recorded videos, including a picture-in-picture option. Cameras vary so make sure you have the right cable and that your camera's format is compatible with streaming.

You'll be asked to create a profile on UStream and you can tell people your username so that they can find the broadcast. While you are streaming the event, make sure to record it as well so that you can post it to your blog, Facebook profile and website.

Remember, practice makes perfect - have fun and good luck!

By Little Spark Media

More Screenwriting Tips That Improve Business Writing

2011-04-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

This is a new post by Julie Thompson of a A Book in the Hand.

My last post about translating screenwriting skills to business writing focused on engaging readers right away and clearly stating how your products benefit them. This post hones in on two specific ways to make your writing lean, efficient and emotionally satisfying.

Use an active voice

I’ll never forget one of my first lessons in humility during a screenwriting workshop. I had written, “She began to walk down the street.” When my instructor read it he asked, “How does someone begin to walk down the street?” I stammered trying to picture it, before he waved his hand and said, “She walked down the street.”

Even those of use who use the keyboard every day to pay the rent have to continually scour our work for flabby language in need of tightening. Here’s an example going from weak to strong:

“We can help you prepare your manuscript for possible submission,” versus, “We prepare your manuscript for submission.”

Don’t write wishy-washy sentences that imply, “We can probably help you.” Use strong language to inspire confidence without needing to revert to hyperbole.

Every word counts

My sons have had to write numerous essays over the years and invariably ask me what else they can add to reach a certain page limit. It’s unfortunate so many of our early writing lessons focus on length instead of content. When words don’t flow effortlessly to fill the requirement, it becomes a chore about word count instead of a way to express what we want to say.

Conversely, people who write volumes assume it’s great simply because it’s long. It’s not. In fact, in today’s business environment, writing without getting to the point is a sure way to lose readers and potential customers.

Figure out what you want to say and who you want to say it to. Write as though you’re talking to your best customer. Then go back and get rid of the words and sentences that don’t need to be there. A screenwriter looks at every sentence and scene with the question, “Does this move the story forward?” Business writers must edit with the goal of keeping the reader engaged with valuable content. If not, no matter how interesting or clever, hit delete. It’s painful but gets easier when you admire your writing’s new lean shape and clear focus.

By Little Spark Media

Video Blogging to Promote Your Book

2011-04-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

If you're promoting a book, you may already have a blog. But what about a vlog? A video blog is an excellent way to connect with people who would like to follow your progress and keep up with your ideas. Similar to blogging, a vlog allows you to connect with an audience of followers through frequent updates. Here's how to do it.

1. Decide on a topic. It's a good idea to choose a theme for your vlog, and if you're an author it'll probably have to do with your book. You can focus on the process of promotion and talk about each step of the way, so that people interested in your work can connect with your experience. If you're doing a book tour, video is a perfect way to capture each of the talks you do as you promote the your work.

2. Decide on a filming method. For video blogging you can use everything from a professional grade camera to a webcam. If you'd like to capture other people and scenes, it's best to work with a camera that you can handle easily. If you'd like to talk to the audience face to face, the webcam option could be the way to go. You can also mix these approaches.

3. Set up the vlog. Video is easy to integrate into free blogging tools like Blogger. You'll need to upload a video from your computer, which in the case of Blogger is hosted on Google Video. The video will show up as a still frame on the blog with a play button. You can post a description to the video or alternate your videos with full article posts.

Vlogging is a great way to get comfortable with video in an informal way. A vlog doesn't have to be perfect, and you'll get better at it the more you do. Good luck!

By Little Spark Media

Screenwriting Tips That Improve Business Writing

2011-04-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Julie Thompson of A Book in the Hand for following post...

I started writing screenplays several years ago and am continually challenged by, and drawn to, the delicate mix of telling a story in a highly visual yet lean and structured format. The average feature-length script is 90 to 120 pages, and within those pages, certain storytelling “beats” must be hit to keep an audience engaged.

On page one, there better be a good indication of what the story is about and why we care, or there’s little chance the script will be read and the movie made.

This style of writing feeds both sides of my brain and has made me a better writer on all fronts. When I translate screenwriting skills to business writing, certain parallels emerge. It’s not enough to simply state “what this story is about” (your products and features). You have to get to the “why we care” part of the equation, which is how your products benefit customers.

On a Web site, this means a home page that gets to the point and clearly states, not only what you do, but how it will make my life better. Here’s a basic example for a landscape architecture firm:

“We create beautiful, custom residential landscapes.”

When I read this, the words, “blah, blah, blah” come to mind, and I’m certainly not tempted to keep reading. It’s a statement of what you do, but it doesn’t create a positive emotional response in me.

Contrast this with, “Transform your yard into a personal retreat, where you relax with family and entertain friends.”

This sentence paints a picture of a stress-free oasis and more quality time with the people I love. Suddenly I see myself pouring wine and laughing with friends under fragrant magnolia trees. You’ve started telling a story that I want to be part of.

Most customers don’t care all that much about what you do or how you do it. They care about what it means to the quality of their lives, and if it’s worth the money. This emotional resonance is what makes one movie more successful than another with the same basic plot. It’s also why some Web sites are more effective converting browsers to buyers.

Lots of factors contribute to business success, but you’ll stack the odds in your favor with copy that paints an emotionally satisfying picture and outlines customer benefits. When writing about your business and its products, complete the thought prospects will be asking… “why does it matter to me?”

By Julie Thompson of A Book in the Hand

How To Illustrate Your Book Through Video

2011-04-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

In the process of writing your book, you may have found ways to illustrate it with photos or drawings. But with so many readers looking for ways to connect with your writing online in addition to the printed page, video is a wonderful way to make it come alive. You can give another dimension to the people, places or things you have written about by showing them on video, either retracing the details of your work or complementing what you have written. Here are some ideas for a few different genres.

How To

Video is an excellent way to teach, and can be used to show examples of actions that you outline in the book. For a weight-loss book, for example, you could post videos showing how to shop for and prepare healthy food. A book that teaches sales tactics could be complemented by a video that models how to make the perfect sales call. A book on dog training offers the perfect opportunity for you to model how to
train a pooch.

Memoir

If you’ve written a memoir, one way to use video to interest readers in your story is to revisit some of the locations you bring up in the memoir in the form of a video blog, retracing select steps that you made in the memoir or key locations that came up. Act as a tour guide to your own life, and consider interviewing people who are important to your story.

Biography

A biography is a fantastic opportunity to use video to mirror the content of the book in a different type of detail than one would find on the written page. If you have written about a person who is still living, go interview him or her. Meet at a place that is meaningful to your subject, and show him or her going about the activities that you have profiled in the book. Interview other people who know or knew the subject, whether or not they were included in the book – they may
offer a complementary angle.

Fiction

It’s more difficult to follow the path of a novel or story through video, but you can certainly film places that are evocative of the scenes you have written about. You can appear yourself, explaining some of the themes in the book and the inspiration that brought you to write about them. It may be a good idea to have someone interview you in order to structure the video and give an extra visual element in the absence of actual scenes from the book.

Most of all, be creative! This is a great chance to give another dimension to your narrative and connect with more potential readers through your website or social media channels.

By Little Spark Media.

Interviewing techniques for any medium

2011-03-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

Interviewers are all over the map, ranging from those who prepare little in favor of spontaneity to those who script both questions and answers ahead of time.

In my view, plenty of preparation makes for a more comfortable interview where the subject feels respected and motivated to speak about a topic that is important to them. From there, the approach depends on the audience and the types of answers you are seeking.

If your audience is a group of tech specialists who will know the basics of the topic and is looking for details, keep that in mind. Prepare particularly well for the interview and ask questions that you think are on the upper edge of their knowledge to keep them interested.

But if your audience is new to the topic, keep your questions very simple. Minimize your own knowledge of the topic to the interviewee and have them explain it to you in a way that your viewers or readers will understand. You may need to remind the interviewee, especially if he or she is a science or technical type, to speak as if the target audience were his or her grandmother or someone with zero exposure to the topic.

Keep interviews short and to the point, especially if you are recording - remember that someone is opening his or her schedule to you. On the flip side, don't let the interviewee ramble on or get off topic unless you have unlimited time to chat and edit. Be punctual - arrive ten minutes early to all interviews so you have time to set up and get situated.

Once this is all under control, relax and enjoy yourself! Getting to know someone new is the best part of conducting an interview.

By Little Spark Media

How to create and use an editorial calendar

2011-03-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to guest blogger Julie Thompson of A Book in the Hand for this post on how to organize and schedule your blog and social media entries.

Two of the questions I get asked most from marketing clients are, “Do I need a blog?” and “If I create a blog, what should I write about?”

A blog will definitely give you a way to reach a wider audience and connect with them on a more personal level. So while you can do business without a blog, I highly recommend that you maintain one.

In terms of what to write about, even professional writers often get stuck when trying to come up with topics for blogs, Facebook, Twitter, articles and all the other places they need content. Take a page from the publishing industry and create an editorial calendar to provide a framework and motivate you to keep writing.

* Set up a calendar for the next 6 to 12 months, using Google docs, iCal, your office calendar system or a large paper version if you’re working solo and prefer a visual reminder.

* Give each week a writing theme, keeping in mind activities in your business, holidays and other timely topics. An example would be using the theme, ‘graduation,’ during June and writing articles, blogs and posts about taking your business to the next level.

* Editorial calendars are a useful tool to ignite ideas and keep teams who write content on the same page.

* This is a working document, so review regularly and be willing to change if a better topic comes up, like your business being mentioned in the media or a new product release.

Writing, like everything else, gets easier with practice. An editorial calendar helps get you through the tough times when you don’t know what to write about or are too busy to have a brainstorming session. Use this tool to log ideas for your blog, social media channels and even articles, and before you know it, your content library shelves will have lots for your customers to check out.

The DSLR Debate

2011-03-03T11:26:00.000-08:00

It's a hot topic among videographers these days - should we all be shooting on DSLRs? Many filmmakers and videographers are already doing it - they can be seen on the streets of San Francisco and LA, carefully holding the camera with an additional rig and often an assistant alongside them recording audio on a boom mic. The results are often stunning - the combination of the lenses made for the SLR and the 1080p video first offered on the Canon 5d Mark II have been jaw-dropping for people doing video outside of the cinema camera market, and particularly tempting for those of us with photo backgrounds. Now many qualities of the cinema camera, which can cost about $20K and up, are available for under $5K. But if you are used to shooting on pro video cameras, there are some things to consider.

Audio

Just as in filmmaking, audio for DSLR cameras must be recorded separately for professional results. This may change in the future and it's something that people are watching for as the DSLR market evolves. Some options for on and off-camera audio units include the Samson Zoom H4N, the M-Audio Microtrack II, the BeachTek DXA-5D and the juicedLink CX231. These allow you to attach and external mic with an XLR cable as you would do with a pro video camera.

Accessories

There are many add-ons you can choose to make the DSLR experience more like a video camera one. But it seems like a lot of the convenience, not to mention the cost advantage, of the smaller camera size is lost once we put together a rig and all the little tweaks that aren't yet available on cameras meant to transition between photo and video use.

A DSLR kit can include many of these items. 16x9 Inc, for example, offers a tool to reverse the direction of the focus ring to mimic that of a video camera, a fluid zoom control drive for cine-style focus, and matte boxes for filters.

Which camera to choose

The favorite these days seems to be the Canon 5D Mark II, a full-frame camera that offers 1080p recording. Its successor, the 7D, has many of the same qualities but has a smaller sensor. Nikon is also in the DSLR market, and many other cameras are sure to follow.

The audio question seems to be one of the biggest problems to be resolved as still photography, video and filmmaking collide. And as you can see, when you combine the rigs, lenses, accessories and audio outfits necessary to attain the capabilities of the pro video camera, the price tag can rise significantly. But it's an exciting time - we'll be keeping an eye on where the manufacturers go next.

By Little Spark Media

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Mix and Match!

2011-02-09T16:23:00.000-08:00

There are a million ways to make video work these days, and it's important to stay free and creative. We are just now discovering the amazing capacity for this medium to help us connect, learn and communicate, and one great way to find the best production method is to experiment. That means that, just as you can combine a Versace dress with costume jewelry and your best friend's shoes (no one has to know!) to make a killer outfit, you can post a high production value video on your website and combine it with iPhone videos on Facebook and Webcam interviews on your blog. Be bold - accessorize!

There are also lots of formats to get your information across, and you can approach them successfully with a variety of production values.

The how-to video: People love to learn, and if you can make it fun and also peripherally related to your product, you are sure to draw attention to your brand without really having to sell it. If you make chocolate chips, you could show how to make great cookies with them.

Opening the box: If you've got a product, get someone objective (but friendly) to review it in a video that shows them opening the box and figuring out how it works. That'll spark curiosity among your viewers - we all love opening presents!

The testimonial: Let your most satisfied customers rave about your product or service while making them look great at the same time. They can show how your company helped them to do what they love, get more business, feel happier or live better.

The event: Show how much fun you and your coworkers had at the latest company hike or social event to make your brand more approachable. If it's something where your customers might wish they could be there, consider streaming live it on a service like Livestream or UStream.

Combine formal with informal, and you're on your way to a video marketing strategy that keeps people interested. The bottom line is that they want to see you at your best, but they also want a glimpse of who you are and what you're about. Put it out there!

By Little Spark Media

Better than real...

2011-01-28T17:24:00.000-08:00

A friend just turned me on to a technique called High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. With photographs you can combine several images shot at different exposures in order to get a greater range than would be possible with one shot. This results in photos that look almost surreal, or in some cases more like paintings than photographs. But they may look that way only because we have become so used to the limitations of photography. While the human eye can see detail in a wide range of light and shadow (even if we need some time to adjust between a brightly lit room and a starry night), the camera has to choose which area it's going to expose correctly. Techniques like "pulling" black and white film can increase the range, in that case by overexposing and under-developing. But where the difference between light and dark is too extreme, combining a range of exposures that get each part of the scene just right can provide images that preserve wonderful detail in every corner of the shot.

I immediately wondered if this can be used in video production, and it can -

Here is a beautiful YouTube clip showing how HDR can be used in video. It seems they've shot it using two Canon 5D Mark II's with a beam splitter that allows both cameras to shoot exactly the same image. But if you put them side by side, would it give you the fixins for a 3-D shot with a high dynamic range, kind of like being in the forest of Lord of the Rings?

There is definitely more to be explored...

By Little Spark Media

Using the Vectorscope to Check Chrominance and Saturation

2011-01-21T14:01:00.000-08:00

First of all, a vectorscope is meant neither to monitor you brainwaves nor to detect your motion as you move through outer space.

It's actually a camera thing. This probably isn't something you'll use all the time, but the vectorscope offers a good way of checking if the colors you are viewing are true to life and at the intensity you are looking for. It's also a good tool to use to calibrate two cameras shooting the same scene so that they will come up with the same color values.

Rather than just looking at levels on the grayscale from black to white like the waveform monitor, the vectorscope allows you to check the prominence of each color. The vectorscope does this by plotting red on the vertical y-axis and blue on the horizontal x-axis of the screen. By drawing vectors between the two axes it interprets the whole color wheel into a bunch of dots on a black screen.

Black, white and gray are signaled in the center, and colors are indicated by different boxes on the screen. Red is at the upper left, yellow is at the left, green is at the lower left, blue is to the right, and magenta is to the upper right. The strength of any color is denoted by the distance from the center of that color. A saturated color will appear toward the edge of the vectorscope and a color that is going to appear over saturated will go beyond the edge of the circle.

You can also check white balance with the vectorscope by opening up the iris all the way so that the LCD screen is white and there is a line at the top of the waveform monitor. An all-white picture should make the signal retreat into a white dot in the center. Putting on the lens cap for a black image should create the same effect.

The goal of using the vectorscope is to make sure that the primary colors are as close as possible to the corresponding boxes on the screen. With this information, you can adjust your lighting or camera settings to improve the color balance.

Stay tuned for more tips from Little Spark Media!

An Explanation of White Balance

2011-01-15T21:27:00.000-08:00

Ever taken a photo or video that looks too orange or too blue, when it looked just fine to your eye at the time?

This can indicate a mistake in white balance. Understanding this concept, and knowing how to get it right on your camera, can help your shots look crisp and professional in a variety of lighting scenarios.

Our eyes adjust to a large range of lighting so that what is white in daylight will also look white under artificial lamps. But the camera is not so forgiving, especially when we are changing location or working in an environment that combines different types of light.

Like still cameras, most video cameras have presets for indoor lighting, often both fluorescent and tungsten, and natural light, sometimes differentiating between a cloudy and a sunny day. This is how the camera makes adjustments for differences in the color of light that is hitting your subject.

The color of light is measured in degrees Kelvin. This convention comes from the color of iron when it is heated - at 3200 degrees Kelvin it will glow orange-red, and at 5600K it will take on a bluish-white tint. Camera presets work well, with settings for indoor tungsten lighting around 3200K and for daylight at about 5600K. But daylight can range from about 3000K at sunrise or sunset to 10,000K if it's cloudy out, and artificial lights can range from very orange at 2700K to about 3200K.

That's why it makes sense to learn to set your white balance manually. Put a white card in front of your subject, with same light hitting the card as will hit your subject. Zoom in so that the white card fills the screen, and press the white balance button on your camera (controls vary) in order to calibrate this card as pure white.

Once you do this, you'll notice a truer color scheme in your image that will mean less work when the time comes for editing.

By Little Spark Media

How to find the right exposure for your shots

2011-01-11T16:13:00.000-08:00

Correct exposure is at the heart of good video production. If your shot is too dark, your subject will get lost in the shadows. If it's too bright, the lighter sections will be "blown out" with detail lost where white replaces color. At either extreme, the quality of your image is likely to fail to communicate what you see. But if your image is perfectly exposed, the detail and colors that you capture will have a better chance of being true to the scene.

There are several ways to control the brightness of your picture - the iris, the shutter speed, and neutral density filters. The iris, also known as the aperture or f-stop, is the opening through which light makes its way to your camera's sensors. A very small opening corresponds to a high f-stop, like f/16, which lets in very little light but provides a high depth of field. A larger opening corresponds to a low f-stop, like f/1.8, which lets in more light and provides a smaller depth of field.

Shutter speed is the amount of time that that the shutter remains open as it captures each frame. A longer shutter speed captures more light, whereas a shorter speed will give a darker image. Leave the shutter open too long and it could cause motion blur, so it's often best to choose the speed appropriate to the scene you are shooting and use the iris and neutral density filters to adjust for brightness.

Neutral Density (ND) filters are often described as sunglasses for your camera. In very bright settings you will want to used the strongest filter you have, but indoors you usually don't need one at all. Some cameras have built-in ND filters, and for others you can use an exterior mount for the filter.

Another way to control the brightness of your image is by using Gain, which is an electronic amplification of the signal your camera receives from a scene. Gain is measured using decibels, with 0dB signifying zero gain, or no amplification. Each 6dB corresponds to a doubling of the brightness of the image, just as if you had opened the lens one f-stop. But while increasing the f-stop reduces the depth of field with the area of focus remaining sharp, increasing the gain reduces detail over the entire image as the camera interpolates a scene.

Most modern video cameras have an automatic setting for exposure, which is a great help when you are moving the camera around or experiencing varying lighting conditions without the time to make manual adjustments. But you may find that manual exposure will give you more precise results. Many cameras can be thrown off by backlight, as from a window in the background, or will incorrectly expose very light or very dark skin tones. So it's in your interest to use some of the tools your camera may offer to check exposure on your own.

On a professional or semipro camera, you'll often have several tools to work with. The LCD monitor will be the first thing you see, but beware - the lighting in the room or the environment and the calibration of the screen can affect what you see. An external monitor, if it's calibrated to the lighting conditions you are in, will give you a clearer view of the picture than an LCD screen.

The "zebra" function will give you the option of seeing stripes in the areas that are either 70% or 100% white, depending on how you set it up. If you use this, keep in mind that it's fine to have a tiny bit of absolute white in your picture. But if you see a lot of it you are losing detail that you will not be able to regain in the editing room.

In judging brightness, your camera may provide you with IRE (Institute of Radio Engineers) levels in the area of detail. On this scale, 0 is pure black, 109 is pure white, and 50-55 would be medium gray. Anything below 5 is going to be black, and anything above 100 will appear white.

If your camera offers a waveform monitor option, this is a great way to analyze the image you are seeing on the LCD screen. It might seem complicated at first, but it's worth learning how to use this monitor. It will produce a graph with levels of white that correspond to the x-axis of your 2-dimensional image. If you see a lot of white crowded at the top of the screen, something in that vertical strip of your image is overexposed.

The tools that you choose to use of course depend on what your camera has to offer, but most cameras will provide a manual option if you are interested in determining your own exposure. One option would be to shoot a scene using automatic settings, then try using manual settings to make a comparison.

It's all about learning - give it a try!

By Little Spark Media

The Right Format for Your Project

2010-12-06T16:45:00.001-08:00

As companies like Microsoft, Adobe and Apple fight for online dominance, a proliferation of file formats have become available for online video.

As you capture footage for editing, you’ll need to keep in mind what formats you editing software can handle. In many cases the raw footage can be converted to fit the editing program’s requirements, but it’s something to consider when you are locating the source for your edited footage. In general you’ll want to start with the highest quality video possible, as long as you’ve got space for it on your computer’s hard drive or alternative scratch disks. If your are editing someone else’s footage, try to get your hands on the original video, whether it’s on a hard drive, a memory card or a dusty set of tapes that you’ll need to find a way to capture.

When thinking about how to compress an edited video, the choices are basically along a continuum of resolution versus file size, with higher resolution leading to a higher file size and vice-versa. It’s best to consider the forum in which your videos will be viewed before you make this choice. Do you want to email low-res videos, or do you want to impress clients with crystal clear imagery of a product to be viewed on your web site's home page? How fast do you want people to be able to download or stream your work? Will your target audience have fast connections? Are they Mac users, PC users, or a mix? There are options for all of these possibilities, it just might take some consideration and groundwork before you start.

There may seem to be countless video formats, but if you know just a few of them you’ll be all set. Here is a list of some popular formats and file types:

AVCHD
This is a high definition format that is growing popularity because of it’s clarity and cost-effectiveness compared to the higher-level P2 format, which is extremely expensive to store.

P2
This is a high definition recording format released by Panasonic in 2004. Quality is excelled but storage for this format is very expensive. For example, a 16G P2 card costs about $400 and records between16 and 64 minutes of footage.

Apple Prores
this is an intermediate codec for use during editing. It is an Apple product developed to use with Final Cut Pro.

.avi
This is a container format used to bundle the elements of audio and video files. These are larger files which can be used in the early stages of production but they aren’t great for sharing a final product.

.wmv
These files are so small that they are convenient for email but the appearance is very rough. If you want to send a draft of a video or if you simply need to get the information across with little finesse, then this could be a good option. Wmv files require a software like Flip4Mac to make them readable on a Mac.

.mov
This Apple format is high enough quality to serve as both a source and a final format. The file sizes are often to big for easy sharing, however.

.flv
The Flash video format is viewable by more computers and browsers than any other format. YouTube and other players create .flv files from a variety of formats supplied by the user.

mpeg4
This is a preferred format for sharing video, with quality nearly comparable to .mov files but much smaller in size.

There is plenty of information on these and other formats available online. Good luck and happy compressing!

By Little Spark Media

Reaching Around the World

2010-11-24T03:27:00.000-08:00

The experience of the last month working on a video for a Bay Area technology company with a mainland Chinese audience has been a groundbreaking one for Little Spark Media. We are near the end of the project, which has involved a team working in China, India and three US states. This is the start of a new era for Little Spark, and it's been wonderful to see our multilingual team come together and communicate quickly and effectively across time zones and national borders.

This comes at a time when we've already been exploring ways to work with both clients and service providers abroad. While in India for much of November and December, I've been meeting with a variety of people from the marketing and advertising realms who are generously helping me to learn about how companies are serving the rapidly expanding Indian market.

Here are some examples of the wonderful business ventures I've come across:

- Malli.in, a website that outlines dining options in Chennai and will soon be launching a magazine.
- Out of Home Media, a company that places video ads on monitors in spaces like elevators and building lobbies.
- Hey Math, an e-learning company that improves math instruction and reduces the burden of textbook purchases for students.

As commerce takes off, the Indian news media is also thriving. In contrast with the shrinking US media, The Hindu, The Times of India and other papers offer pages full of diverse and lively articles, with a mixture of both national and local stories that meet the needs of India's diverse cultures and language groups.

This is a fascinating time to be in India!

By Little Spark Media

So many ways to use video...

2010-10-20T11:41:00.000-07:00

In Little Spark Media's second year, it's been fascinating to see the world of video not just ignite, but practically explode with possibilities. It's become so easy to create and share video that the moving picture has become all but a necessity for companies to show how they work, who they are and what drives them. For the everyday person too, it's been a great time to explore new possibilities for communication. You can now easily do video chats on your computer, post home movies taken on your camera or phone, and even teleconference via your television set.

Since Little Spark Media focuses on the business uses of video, I'd like to outline several ideas for how it can be done. The right approach for your company or nonprofit can range from homemade charm to glamorous production and razor-sharp editing, with plenty of possibilities for combining different production levels depending on the platforms you are using to share your videos.

Here are a few ideas:

1. Start a weekly video blog

This is a great option for companies who need a way to share news or keep in touch with a group of customers, followers or fans. You can share these videos via YouTube, Facebook, or your own website. This is a great place to be yourself - talk about what's happening, but make sure you keep the humor and enthusiasm that makes you who you are and drives your passion for what you do.

2. Stream events for live viewing

One great service that has emerged in video sharing is the ability to easily transmit live video over the Internet. It's similar to a video chat, but can be done with a high-quality camera that transmits the image to any number of viewers. This is a great way to let people be remotely present at your events.

3. Start a Talk Show

Combine the video blog with live streaming in a weekly talk show where you discuss issues related to your business. Change up the guests each time while keeping the same host or two, and invite industry experts to lend their expertise on your field. This will position you as a hub of information for what you do as well as a fun person to follow.

4. Create a short commercial for your business

If you want something you can use for your landing page to describe your product or service, a well-produced online commercial is a great way to go. A production company can help you to create a product that conveys your message in under a minute and sparks interest in the rest of your site.

Wherever you choose to host your video, all these options can be linked to your social media channels and distributed to current clients, people interested in your topic or field, and friends of theirs who stumble upon the link. If what you have to say is fun, approachable, visual and relevant, then it will increase the visibility and likability of your organization and lead to what you need - sales, donations or investments.

By Little Spark Media

Online Video Trends and Tips

2010-10-15T15:00:00.001-07:00

After a boom in online video viewing over the last few years, some interesting trends are indicating that people are becoming more selective about what they watch.

ComScore's data from August 2010 to September 2010 show that the number of unique viewers went down slightly, while number of views per person and time spent viewing went up slightly. But online video ads are on the rise - they accounted for a larger percentage of all videos viewed, shifting from 10.7 to 12.3 percent, with their total reach extending from 45.1 to 45.4 percent of the US population. Still, they've got to be brief - the average length for online content was 4.9 minutes (up from 4.8 minutes in 2009), while the average online ad lasted only 0.4 minutes, flat from last year.

There is some suggestion that the tolerance for low-quality video is waning as people hook up their computers to television sets or large monitors, and that if web production is to survive it needs to meet the quality of broadcast. Soon they will be the same thing anyway.

That said, not everyone can afford to get Coppola to shoot their weekly vlog, and there are plenty of ways to get a constant stream of fresh content online. Here are some tips to keep in mind if you are creating your own content.

1. Authenticity Rules

Weekly video entries on your website, blog, or Facebook page don't have to be gorgeous - you can do them yourself on your webcam or using a simple camera setup. Just be yourself - people want to see the beautiful, friendly face associated with your name or business. That's you!

2. Keep it Short and Sweet

Be yourself, but be brief - focus what you are trying to say and get it across with personality. While a vlog for a business is kind of a hybrid of commercial and user-generated content, you're going to want to keep it short unless you are as funny as Woody Allen.

3. Be Informative

Tell us what's going on in your business and your industry. Make yourself an expert in your field and a source of information for the curious. Tell us why what you do - whether it's building robots, making biofuels or knitting cashmere Christmas sweaters - is so special to you. Tell us what type of yarn you use and what are some of the recent trends this season.

Every business has a story, and video is a great way to tell yours. Keep an eye on what lengths/genres people are watching, but in the end keep in mind that what they want to know most is who you are and why you care about what you do.

By Little Spark Media

A room full of people

2010-09-24T12:14:00.001-07:00

A room full of people is very different from a room with one person in it, which is very different from an empty room. But how many people are in my computer? Millions? Billions? Do I count all the people online, or just the ones I have access to at any given moment, or the ones I have emailed that day, or the ones I am currently im-ing? Or maybe I should count the ones who will view the words I write or the images I post after the fact, counting them as they come along to view and interpret my message.

The reason I'm thinking about this is because of how much fun it was to show Little Spark's video about the Renaissance Center's award winners last night. I had originally thought of our products as targeting an online audience, and all our videos do that, but the opportunity to show them in a room full of people adds a whole new facet to what I do. For filmmakers I suppose it's no big deal - after all, the moving image has historically been something to view as part of a group experience. Movies and talkies came way before television, and even the TV used to be something we watched with family before so many of us took to watching it alone for hours and hours. The internet changed video by making it shorter and isolating us even further while we watched. Because even if we saw a TV show alone, we knew everyone else was watching alone in their living rooms or bedrooms at the same time.

I think that's why it was so great to watch people react to our video last night. This was the second time we've had a video for a nonprofit used at their annual benefit - the first was the one we did for the Mary Elizabeth Inn - and both times it was fun to watch people's reactions to the stories we told and hear more about their thoughts afterwards. But this was a bigger room, a bigger screen and a bigger audience, and it kind of made me think of interviews I've heard with filmmakers about how people often react to your work in ways you hadn't predicted. It was fun to hear people clap in places where I hadn't expected it, and to hear their laughter or murmurs as they connected with the people being interviewed. For example everyone clapped after the voiceover section about the Angela Cain award, and if we had known it would hit a chord like that we would have left a few more seconds before starting the section about the winner. They also totally got the part where Brenda, the woman who won as an established entrepreneur for her construction company, said that the most important advice that she can give is that you can do anything, even if you are a woman. I had been worried that it would fall flat because of course women can do anything, and saying it showed a doubt where there needn't be any, but everyone totally got that she was talking about barriers she had experienced in the construction industry. It's not in the video, but she told me after our interview that she felt she had been held to much higher standards than men seeking the same construction licenses and had been made to jump through multiple hoops. She finally started getting contracts when she started sending a male colleague to drop off proposals for her. She only showed up at the signings when the customer was already committed. They were surprised to see the diminutive woman from Guatemala who speaks English with a strong accent, but they signed. She told me that "when they say no, you say yes," followed with a little smile. She held her arms out to the sides and said that people will be putting up barriers to prevent you from passing, but you have to figure out ways to get around them, pointing under one of her outstretched arms and over the opposite shoulder. Brenda's business is now at $700K in revenue and she hopes to eventually reach $5 million.

I found the stories Clifton Burch, Sharon Eisenhauer and April Spears just as inspiring. It's incredibly rewarding to be constantly meeting new people and helping them to explain verbally and visually what matters to them. I guess I will always be a journalist at heart, no matter what form the storytelling takes or who I'm working for. It sounds funny, but even corporate video should have some soul.

By Little Spark Media

Affordable water filter idea uses nanomaterials to shock bacteria

2010-09-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

Last week I did a lot of shooting -- one day I went to a construction site in Daly City for another small business profile, which was a lot of fun, and the next day I went down to Stanford to finish up the video game piece and see a water filter demo at Yi Cui's lab.

I would say the most interesting was interviewing the scientists who have been working on the filter, which shocks bacteria using a combination of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires for a potentially low-cost method of making water safe to drink. The idea is that they can make the pores of the filter a lot larger than those of a size-exclusion filter, which physically blocks bacteria from getting through. A physical filter requires a lot of pressure, either manual or mechanical, to operate, and it can get clogged fairly easily. By shocking bacteria instead and using a more porous filter, actually just cotton coated in carbon and silver nanomaterials, they let the water go through much more easily so that it can run through with gravity alone.

The technology is at a very early stage - it's basically just cotton dipped in the carbon and silver and stuffed into a tube with a low current running through the contraption while they pour water into it. They still need to work out how they would kill 100% of the bacteria in the water (now they are near that, but not quite there), and eventually the whole idea would have to be given to a company to manufacture it. This is primary research, in the sense that the scientists weren't even planning to do a water filter, actually they were working on batteries and decided to play around with using the nanomaterials in a different way. Another researcher from a neighboring lab got involved - Sarah Heilshorn's lab contributed knowledge about the antibacterial use of silver to prevent the filter from getting contaminated with bacteria growing on it (this is called "fouling.") So it was this wonderful combination of serendipity and creativity, inspiration and collaboration, that made a new idea come about. The next step would be for an engineer to make it into an object people can use and an entrepreneur to market and sell that object. It's always fun to see where the ideas are born and think about how many other devices we take for granted probably got produced.

By Little Spark Media

When is a game too real?

2010-09-10T14:56:00.000-07:00

I'm in the middle of a new issue - a 2005 law signed by Governor Schwarzenegger that bans the sale of violent video games to minors. Depending on how you view the whole dichotomy format of American journalism it kind of still makes sense to split it into two sides:

- Child advocates say that violent media encourage violence in children and should only be viewed by them with the permission of parents.

- The video game and by extension the film and music industries along with the ACLU say it's a free speech issue and that creativity shouldn't be limited.

For this story I went to Electronic Arts last week and it was pretty impressive. Seeing the drawings of game characters on the walls as we walked through dark rooms full of cubicles with designers who prefer to work in the dark during their at-times noon-to-midnight shifts, showed me that there was passion and creativity in the room. And a cinema-sized monitor in the entryway showed snippets of plotlines that as a reader, writer and storyteller I longed to follow. The communications guy who took me around said that they hired a lot of people from France, where it's common to have a strong background in both engineering and art. I didn't doubt that, even if it makes billions, I was in a place where art was happening, an art for the new millenium.

But there wasn't too much bloodletting on the lobby monitors. That's good, because I hate blood and violence. Yuck.

I've been covering gaming and other technology a lot lately and I'm surprised by how much I like it. As a girl I remember a total lack of interest in the family Atari and complete incomprehension when we dropped of my little brother at the arcade where he'd entertain himself for hours. But when I went to NVidia a few weeks ago, put on some 3-D glasses and started a car game with three giant monitors around me, it suddenly seemed like a really cool thing to have in the living room. Real driving is dangerous, but in virtual reality you can crash and come back to life! You can go as fast as you want! I haven't gone so far as to be concerned with my score, but the few moments of speed that I got on that amazingly real-looking road made it seem like a fun alternative to Highway 1 in Big Sur that allowed for much higher speeds without courting death.

Car games aren't what this is about. It's about the war and crime games that let you be a part of the action without actually breaking the law. But there is this same sense of being able to do things you would never do in real life because it's just a game. The question then becomes, are all gamers able to keep the wall up between the real world and the game? And when they are younger, under 18 to be exact, is there more of a likelihood that these worlds, with their often diametrically opposed rules and ethics, could become mixed? If there is, can you prove it?

People are easily confused, and these lines get mixed up for adults all the time. We already know that people experience real emotion in online friendships with people they have never met or plan to meet. It's easy to think you know more about someone than you do when all you've met is their virtual identity, which could be as real or unreal as they make it. It's easy to get confused when there is a mixture between fact and fiction.

How does this come into play when it's people fighting on opposite sides of a war field, when fiction that mimicks reality? What happens when we identify with the bad guy in a crime game, or become used to killing enemies as we storm across the front lines? Is there a risk of identifying with the side we're not supposed to? The government thinks so, as indicated by the ban of the sale of "Medal of Honor," an EA game that lets players take the side of the Taliban, on military bases once it's released next month.

[The opposite is also true, in the sense that it's hard to detach from the front lines even when you are viewing a computer interface from thousands of miles away - drone pilots have already been shown to experience PTSD when they have never seen the actual enemy. (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/08/flying-drones-f/) This is real.]

The lines are blurring. Could we get confused and think that we are fighting real people when it's actually just a game, inappropriately taking the game values into real life? When is virtual reality too real? Are kids less likely to know the difference?

There is a whole realm of argument for the protection of children and family values. Next week I'll be going down to Common Sense Media to interview Jim Steyer about gaming so I'll write about that then.

By Little Spark Media

Last week's fun-filled small business interviews

2010-09-07T15:44:00.000-07:00

Very exciting to be doing a new project for the Renaissance Center, interviewing entrepreneurs who won prizes to be given out at the annual benefit this month. I got to work with the amazing program assistant-by-day, dj-by-night Tom Temprano. The day took us to Haiku bags in the East Bay, and later on to Auntie April's Chicken and Waffles in the Bayview.

It was inspiring to see a million-dollar company that started from an idea and a dream combined with excellent planning and great workplace practices including a mom-friendly environment. Sharon Eisenhauer is creating eco-designs with the ideal place to put your phone, makeup, keys, etc. They are cool, creative and functional.

At Auntie April's I got my first taste of chicken and waffles. The legend goes that this combo started with jazz musicians in NYC who got out of work around 4am only to find that while they were very hungry it was too late for dinner and too early for breakfast. The solution? Do both! I had a sample platter with a delicious waffle (I am a pancake fan but this is just like pancakes with a cooler shape so I admit I was kinda sold before we got the food...) and a couple of chicken strips on the side. A fun fact about Auntie April's is that after they got featured on the food show Check Please! on KQED, ladies from Napa and folks from as far as Salinas were coming to the Bayview to try it out. This must have been pretty exciting for an entrepreneur who wanted to share her family's soul food recipes.

My next adventure of last week was at Electronic Arts but I will put the college dorm-slash-high-art-video-game house in another post...

By Little Spark Media

Craziness in the Nevada Desert!

2010-08-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's experience filming a staged explosion with the rapper Snoop Dogg to promote the video game Mafia Wars in the desert outside of Las Vegas was one of the craziest things I've done yet in media work. There were about 500,000 people watching live online through a UStream feed, each with comments about the video, audio, content, etc. Facebook and Twitter updaters were voicing feedback at every step and it was nice to know what people were seeing, but it was a little hard to concentrate - kind of like having half a million directors shouting out a long string of unrelated comments. It was also about 107 degrees out there, and the shade tents, icy facecloths and Gatorade were barely enough to keep us from passing out after a few hours of setting up.

Snoop Dogg arrived in the second of three big SUVs coming down from the highway toward the site. I had never seen him before, and the first things I noticed were his height and the t-shirt he was wearing with the word LOVE in big letters. I decided he was a nice guy. Following the instructions of one of the LA crew members we were working with, I filmed him as he got out of his car, greeted everyone and took the spot we had designated for him so that every camera could get a perfect view of both the star and the explosion.

Then came the key moment - the countdown. At the last minute another camera operator with a different frame asked Snoop to move over to the original spot where we had asked him to stand, since he had moved a bit while talking. He ended up moving too far over and past the spot, so that he blocked my camera's view of the explosion just as the fireman was counting five-four-three-two-one, sending the twittersphere, which included people in Australia waking up at 6am to view the whole thing, into a tizzy as we cut from the blocked view to the full-on explosion from another camera about 15 feet away from mine. Viewer after viewer said that the explosion had been faked, and that they had been tricked into watching something that had been prerecorded. That couldn't have been farther from the truth - time and money had been spent on the setup, which involved pyrotechnics and a total crew of 60-100 people, from security guards to the "crafty" assigned to giving people snacks, to the production assistant that helped put sandbags on our tripods when the wind threatened to blow everything away. But the way the cut turned out actually did make it look like it could have been done in a studio, or at least with the help of previous footage from another explosion.

That evening, I went out for a drink with Eddie, the friend who had hired me to come help out with the UStream shoot. He called the organizing agency and the client who had ordered the publicity stunt, and the client was actually really happy with how it went. So ironic - the fact that it happened in an unexpected and controversial way probably made web traffic and comments go up - this was real live broadcasting, where if something goes wrong you see it, and you kind of feel more like you were there!

We explored the huge hotel where we were staying (where incidentally so were all the Miss Universe contestants) and went up to a club on the 64th floor that had some good dance music. So it was a good day. Since sleep deprivation is a theme for me this week, I woke up at 6 the next morning to get to my flight at 8, then got a cab from the SF airport straight to my next shoot Friday morning. Busy is good, but I'm waiting for the weekend!

By Little Spark Media

Harnessing Solar Heat

2010-08-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

Just went down to Stanford this week to interview Nick Melosh, who is developing a new way to use solar energy. His team has developed a device that can convert concentrated heat from photovoltaic mirrored dishes in order to make use of energy that is normally wasted. I love visiting labs, and this was a great one - you go in and there is a lot of noise and a giant piece of machinery wrapped in tinfoil. I am just at the beginning of the story and I can only hope that I'll come to a better understanding of what was going on underneath all that metal by the time it's ready to go. In the meantime, from the interview and walk-through itself I can say that it's exciting to see solar energy being used in a new way. Melosh said that traditional solar cells have used the light, but not the heat generated by the sun, and his device will allow both to be converted into electricity. They aren't there yet, but he hopes to make it more efficient and cost-effective than other devices in the field.

By Little Spark Media

V-LAB Dream Team

2010-07-28T14:09:00.001-07:00

Last night's talk at the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab, or V-LAB, was really interesting. They had a great panel - Marissa Mayer, Vice President for Search Products & User Experience at Google, Tim Brown, CEO and President of the design firm Ideo, and Randy Komisar of Kleiner Perkins. The theme, part of the series "Entrepreneurs Uncensored," was innovation, and how to get to the right product with the least amount of time and expense. Mayer's ideas were great, and I loved her crisp, self-assured manner. She talked about the importance of user testing, giving the example of how Google targets ads based on keywords in emails. She was completely against the idea in the beginning, but when a colleague tried it out it was a huge success and has become a multi-billion dollar contributor to the tech giant's coffers. She gave another example of working on a team that was releasing a news product and when they found they had a few more days to work on it than expected, couldn't decide whether to add search by date or another feature. The team of six was evenly divided and decided to do nothing. The next day they had 300 emails asking for one feature and only three asking for the other, which made a much clearer answer than the team had offered. Mayer advised frequent testing to see what works, rather than working for years on a product that could turn out to be unpopular or outdated by the time it is ready.

Brown added that companies driven by a visionary CEO like Steve Jobs, are a dying breed - people like Jobs, who believes the customer doesn't know what he he or she wants until it is provided to her, and who can be right about it so often, are exceedingly rare, and will be rarer in the rapidly changing marketplace. Brown advised experimenting with the non-obvious. He envisions a world in which designers will get a crack at making new living organisms -- weird!!!

Komisar was just as fascinating as the other two. He spoke from his past experience and knowledge about companies that spent millions pursuing a mistaken path - i.e. Palm and a calendar product - before finding the right product to make and pivoting toward it before the funding ran out. He encouraged focusing on individual features rather than a composite product, encouraging the practice of moving forward quickly rather than dwelling on a long-term plan. He advised getting information from customers whenever you can, and his final message was "Investing in iteration immensely improves innovation." (They were all asked to come up with a six-word message of wisdom).

So combined with a great crowd, this was a pretty fun event. I definitely recommended checking out V-LAB if you want to keep up with what's going on in the valley.

By Little Spark Media

3-D Technology

2010-07-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

We all know that something is happening in Hollywood that makes things jump out of the screen... but how does it work, and what does it mean for the future of image-making?

When I went to see Avatar a few months ago it was in the beginning when they show the logo of the production company and a feather came out on the screen and it looked like it was just a little too close to me. At first 3-D just seemed like a quirky thing James Cameron was into, a gimmick that could make people fall in love with the most mediocre storyline.

Then I wrote an article on California's economy and while other major sectors that have made California one of the world's largest economies - agriculture and technology - were having trouble competing with world markets, Hollywood still dominated, with one of the key reason being - you guessed it - the first-mover placement in a technique that somehow has people happily paying $3 extra to go to the movies.

A couple of months later, I saw an article in the MIT Technology review citing 3-D for mobile phones as one of the ten most important emerging technologies. 3-D for mobile is even weirder than the others because you can achieve it without glasses - it creates separate images for each eye that are able to be projected at the correct angel because the screen is held so close to the viewer. With PCs and larger screens this doesn't quite work. So I started to realize that there a whole bunch of different ways to create 3-D imagery.

My last story was on how companies make laptops and PC's 3-D capable, and I learned a few of the ways it can be done. NVidia uses shutter glasses, which receive a signal from the computer monitor to close the right and left eyes one after the other in sync with a monitor showing images a slightly different angles for the right and left eyes. The monitor's frequency needs to be doubled so that each eye perceives a smooth, flicker-free image. But movies like Avatar and others use polarized glasses that show both images simultaneously. Colored glasses, which we used back in the days of Bambi, shut out parts of the spectrum for each eye. Funky photos where the Mona Lisa's eyes follow you are done with lenticular 3-D, which gives 5-9 different views depending on where you are standing. Others use interlaced images switching back and forth between the right and left images.

This is all just my first stab at understanding 3-D.

It may be one of the ways Hollywood, one of our country's economic drivers, stays strong in a tough time. It also has uses in medicine (ultrasounds and mammograms, for example) and will lead the way toward more intense virtual reality experiences. In a way it makes sense that people will flock to 3-D movies when the economy is down, even though they cost more, and I think it's the same reason you still see long lines at Starbucks - it's an escape, something fun that makes you feel good and takes you somewhere else, if only for a short time.

By Little Spark Media

Golden State Still Brilliant?

2010-07-19T14:54:00.001-07:00

It was exciting to see my article in The Work Style Magazine - they have only been around for a few editions but they have a great layout and a bunch of interesting topics related to the HR industry around the world. They asked me to write an article about the economy of California - is it healthy? What's going on with Silicon Valley, and what are the industries that might be able to bring it back to the glamorous, fast-paced climate of times past? The land of the Gold Rush has definitely been through its booms and busts, but the current trend toward getting out of cash and into gold isn't a good sign. Russell Hancock, chief executive of Joint Venture:Silicon Valley thinks the area that will help us out of the current slump is green technology like solar panels an biofuels. But those require significant investment - with local VC's shrinking and directing more support overseas, and stimulus dollars distributed relatively evenly among US states rather than targeted to high-innovation areas (ahem!), local greentech could use a little more help before Asia kicks its butt. The article also goes into agriculture, which is suffering from water shortages and immigration issues, and Hollywood, which is still dominating world entertainment and leading the way with 3-d movies like Avatar. So maybe it will be fun coming from both Hollywood and Bay Area studios like Pixar and Lucasfilm that gets the Valley going again?
Check out The Work Style Magazine

By Little Spark Media

It's a Beautiful World!

2010-07-16T15:32:00.001-07:00

Just finishing up my story on Beauty, and I'm already looking at the world differently. In addition to "The Beauty Bias," which was really good but more a historical/legal way of understanding lookism, I highly recommend checking out the book "Survival of the Prettiest" to get an idea of why we find certain things attractive. I've been kind of taken aback by a million little things I'm learning about how we react to people based on what we see - I too am so guilty of being easier on cute people!

After weeks of wondering if this story was going to work out because a lot of people were reluctant to talk about why looks were important to their industry, everything came together yesterday. I completed the shooting today with some scenes outside the San Francisco Shopping Center. Man, when you take street shots you realize how very few people actually fit the definition of what we see as attractive! Even so, nearly all of us has a touch of good looks - whether it's great eyes, a great smile, luscious lips, smooth skin or perfect eyebrows - just as we have the ability to shine the light on our best features and show our unique version of beauty.

By Little Spark Media

YouTube's Leanback

2010-07-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

Uniting the TV and the online short - this is intruiging because YouTube will be pushing content based on viewers's preferences rather than waiting for them to click the next thing they want to see. This trend is also coming up in Augmented Reality programs that will integrate all the stuff you indicate you like in various places and suggest things that you might be interested in as you walk down the street. From a communications perspective many worry about the "echo chamber" effect, in terms of people isolating themselves into a world of what they want to hear rather than getting a selection of news and information from areas that they may or may not know to search for. Another choice for viewers is whether they want more produced content or the authentic user-made videos. But as of now it doesn't seem like set programming or professional production is going to go away, just become a smaller percentage of the average person's media diet.

By Little Spark Media

Digital libraries - the new academic experience

2010-07-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

Working on a story on the digitization of existing libraries like the one below. I still don't know if reading on a laptop, kindle or iPad measures up to feeling the texture of the pages of a book and being able to mark up the paper with notes and highlights. Maybe a reading device that mimics the texture of paper? T...hat might be too weird, but these days who knows what will be the new normal for information technology in the next three months, let alone three years? How we like to read has already come up with the question of newspapers, which also differs form online reading in how we enter the medium and access stories. Both online and regular books allow the reader to proceed in a linear fashion or flip through randomly, but the question would be whether we make the same choices about what to read next when we are holding a bundle of paper with multiple surfaces versus a single screen that may not have the space to show a full menu of all the choices. But I think digital books will win out, especially in academics, because of the need in many fields to constantly up date the content. Still feels sad to give up the musty smell of a library full of books and the ability to browse the shelves at random, or nearly so.

By Little Spark Media

Multitasking and our ability to concentrate

2010-07-14T12:57:00.001-07:00

Just interviewed Clifford Nass of Stanford's Department of Communication about the fragmentation of our attention that happens when we multitask, i.e. use multiple media at a time. He thinks that by doing this we may actually be making ourselves less able to pay attention to one thing when it's necessary to do so, and thinks the most at risk may be childen growing up in the current mobile communication culture. He pulled up a test he's using for a new study on how people are affected by having to switch quickly between mobile devices, computers, walking down the street, etc. After I mentioned that I sometimes turned on the tv and the radio at the same time and listened to both, then missed a few answers on his quiz, he and one of his researchers said I'd make a great subject... not quite what I was going for but I guess I am a product of the times! Anyway after the interview I walked out, started to write an email on my phone but was interrupted by a call, then went to a nearby computer console to send the email while talking. I think my brain must be mush by now, but is it possible to resist the perceived need to be "reachable" in multiple formats at all times?

By Little Spark Media

A headset might be safer... better yet a sexy one

2010-07-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

Today I went down to Aliph, which makes Jawbone headsets. It's pretty cool - they make it so you can send a text or an email from your phone with only voice commands. You can also post to Facebook or Twitter in the same way. They explained how it's important to reduce the number of steps it takes to take one of these actions, otherwise people will find it too hard, and actually it's distracting too, which is the point of the story I'm working on. People are apparently having more accidents just while walking in the street. In fact, I think most of us have had a brush with the distracted driver as a pedestrian, but I also think the reverse is true - who hasn't seen (or been) the walker who forgets to look up from his or her mobile device until nearly getting hit by a car?

By Little Spark Media