Hello from Prague!

We just wrapped up our first full day in the Czech Republic, and what a day it was. We had our first official production meeting with Markus and Martin of Creovision, the exceptional Czech production company that is hosting our first international Canon Boot Camp. We were having weekly Skype meetings, but today was the first time we could look at each other, and not stare at our computer screen. The planning of the Prague Canon camera classes started over a year ago, and now, here we are, ready to train European’s best in the Canon DSLR 5D and 7D.

Markus, Fletch, and Tom

We started at 9 AM to go over the schedule for our 10-day stay. We got to Day 3 and ran out of time…so I’m still not sure what will happen day 4-10, but maybe it’s for the best. Based on the schedule for Day 3, which is the day of our first boot camp, it’s going to be hectic. We’ll be meeting at the studio that day at 5 AM and won’t wrap until 9 PM. Do they make a 10-hour energy drink? Because I’ll be needing that. Please mail some to the Courtyard Marriott in Prague…

Next, we went on our first location scout at the gorgeous Prague train station, where most of our shoot will take place. We blocked out the shots and became even more confident that we were going to have a beautiful and successful shoot. We were so engrossed in the lively train station that Markus had a hard time pulling us away to have lunch.

The old Prague Train Station

Tom acting as the janitor, and Fetch acting as the frustrated male lead.

I came to Prague to mug people with my partner-in-crime, Tom Myrdahl.

After a very filling Czech lunch, we met a few of the other video production crew members as well as the main actors for our short film. Irena and Vojat have been good friends for 10 years, let’s see if they can play lovers. After a very convincing mock fight, where the room went silent with tension, I’m sure they will pull it off.

Tomorrow, we return to the train station with a more complete storyboard and shot list. Then, while Fletch, Tom, and Nancy play with the new Canon DSLR 5D Mark III (yes, we somehow got our hands on it), I will be going to the prop house to look at Czechoslovakian military costumes from the 1910 era and Gibson girl style wardrobe.

I am impressed by how organized Markus, Martin, and the whole Creovision crew is. They are able to get everything we ask for, and more. And that includes the Canon C300 and the Canon 5D Mark III.

Sometimes we get so busy producing our boot camps and handling productions that we forget how much talent we have coursing through the veins of The Association. For the benefit of those meeting us for the first time, perhaps through this blog, an introduction is in order for a couple of “The Boys.”

First up, Paul Fletcher Murray, or “Fletch” as we call him, our multi-Emmy award-winning director of photography. Fletch has shot over 200 films in 25 countries. Having been in the video production business for decades, there isn’t much he doesn’t know about production, filming and cameras. Getting his start producing local shorts for a TV news station in Tulsa, OK, he moved on to start his own production company in Los Angeles. For nearly 30 years (an impressive length of time for a private production company to be in business) The Association of Film and Video Producers has produced everything from commercials for Coors, Kawasaki, Alpine, Universal Studios Jaws Lagoon etc. to 90-minute documentaries.

Although Fletch is getting a reputation for knowing Canon DSLR cameras from our Canon camera classes, he has shot with a number of cameras: VistaVision, Panavision, Mitchell, Cinemascope, and Arriflex. Of his eighteen documentaries, the first won the Chicago Film Festival, his last documentary, ‘Google Me the Movie’, was spotlighted on ‘Oprah.’ An excellent story teller, Fletch’s scriptwriting skills once earned him a personal request from the now late J. Paul Getty to conduct an interview at his estate in England, as part of a docuseries Fletch created on Oil Tycoons, Getty being the last remaining living tycoon of his time.

Having shot hand-held, car-to-car, and helicopter, aerial shots in his award-winning career, there isn’t much he hasn’t mastered, and there’s even less he’s afraid of.

So for those who want to shoot with the pros, Fletch has forgotten more than many filmmakers will ever master. He continues to be on the cutting edge of technology, constantly studying new cameras like Canon’s C300 and the newly released Canon 5D Mark III. We’ll be hearing more about these cameras in upcoming blog posts and our newsletter, so keep up to date by clicking on the event RSS Feed on this blog page or email us to be added to our newsletter.

It appears we are getting social on the go. What’s interesting to me is the age group that has expanded the most is the one stereotyped as “not social” or at least not that savvy with social media. Still, as tools and the social networks themselves become simplified, and perhaps because mobile phones are practically the only way to actually get through to anyone under the age of 25, the 55+ crowd is apparently getting better at navigating tiny keyboards

The statistics above don’t show how engaged this older market is in actually sharing, however. I suspect that the younger set is much more active and less inclined to filter what they say online. So even though the 55+ market is rapidly expanding as far as mobile and social use go, the effect on business remains to be seen.  Or I should say that it’s not represented in the graph above. From my experience, the 55+ and older crowd is willing enough to be social on channels like Facebook, but often lack the understanding to be effective. I know this because I often coach these more experience business owners on the use of social tools and blogging.

This graph from my Facebook Page “Really Simple Social Media” shows that the largest audience I have is 55+. Probably because the focus is on keeping social media simple. Younger people don’t need my help in quite the same way as they don’ t have as much trouble navigating through social networking sites.

What’s this mean for companies engaging in corporate social media? Make it easy for Baby Boomers. Hidden menus like the kind found in Facebook (yes, there are navigation tools you can’t see unless you hover your mouse over them) are not exactly 55+ friendly.

Hard working, fast, amiable, and smart are just a few of the adjectives Dana’s colleagues use to describe him. Director of photography on films such as Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1987) and Beasts of War (1988), Dana Christiaansen has been working in the business for eighteen years. A visionary cinematographer and director, Christiaansen is well known for doing car commercials for Nissan, Infinity, BMW, and many others.

Dana came to our Canon Boot Camp to talk to our students about what he does, what he’s learned from his extensive experience, and answered some of our students’ cine questions. He began by showing us “XXIT“, a short film he DP’d that demonstrates the quality of the Canon C300′s performance. Fletch Murray, President of The Association and Chief Instructor of our Canon Boot Camp, interviewed Dana and captured it all on film. We divided the interview into 3 sections so we could release it as it was edited, but we are now putting all three sections together in one blog post.

Enjoy!

In Part 1, Dana gives us a taste of what it was like to work with him on the short film directed by Sam Nicholson, ‘XXIT’, shot with the C300. Basically, you have to be ready to run!

The C300 DPs–Dana Christiaansen Pt. 1 from Fletch/The Association on Vimeo.

In Part 2, Dana puts his techie hat on as we explored the C300 “under the hood.”

The C300 DPs–Dana Christiaansen Pt. 2 from Fletch/The Association on Vimeo.

In Part 3, Dana describes the lighting techniques and custom-built light panels he used to shoot ‘XXIT’, directed by Sam Nicholson.

The C300 DPs–Dana Christiaansen Pt. 3 from Fletch/The Association on Vimeo.

Stay tuned for the Eric Schmidt, DP interview, coming up soon! For more information about our Canon Boot Camp, visit www.canonbootcamp.com or click on any of the upcoming class dates listed along the right of this blog. Generally our Canon camera classes are on the last weekend of the month, except in March (the Boot Camp is traveling to Prague) and there will not be any classes in May.

Take charge of the image you are outputting by downloading Technicolor’s CineStyle. Watch the video below for a step-by-step guide to getting the software onto your Canon DSLR 5D, 7D, and 60D.

What’s so great about CineStyle and why should you bother downloading it? Technicolor created CineStyle to allow you to shoot a flatter picture. This means that you retain more color information in your image so that you can have more control in post-production instead of using a baked-in look Canon created that has lost information. With CineStyle, your dark grays remain dark grey and do not automatically go black, so you have more gradation of tones to work with. CineStyle is as close to shooting “raw” as we can with the Canon 5D and 7D.

CineStyle

Faithful

Canon’s preset look, Faithful, throws away much of the color information to make the image a beautifully colored, contrasted look. Notice that in CineStyle, the blinds in the background retain much of the tone gradation. We can clearly see the lines of the blinds, whereas in Faithful, the blacks of the blinds have been crushed so there is no detail. This means that you could never get the details back after shooting with the Faithful preset. CineStyle, however, gives you the chance to work with these details if you wish. You can also judge the difference in gradation for yourself by looking at the grey scale my reluctant model is holding.

Since you are getting such a flat look from CineStyle, I would recommend using it only if you can spend time on color correction. CineStyle, in its rawness, is not an aesthetic look; some time must be spent to massage it into its full potential. It gives you the opportunity to sculpt the look that you want by retaining details in tone that would have been overridden by Canon’s preset Picture Styles.

To install Technicolor’s CineStyle, first, make sure that you have the latest version of Canon EOS Utility, which you can find here.

You can download CineStyle to your computer by going to Technicolor’s site.

Below is a step-by-step video to help you:

Does Your Website Compete?

There are many websites out there. Only 10-15 websites show up on a Google search page for a given search term. Does your website show up the right search terms? Does it show up for ANY search terms?

Online marketing can be a frustrating experience. Back in the day, when the Internet was just getting started, just having a website (even if it was ugly) was enough. Now the online landscape is littered with websites and even more spam. If online spam could be converted to canned ham, we could feed the world.

Is your website being given the cold shoulder by search sites like Google and Yahoo? Wondering why no one seems to find your site? Well I used to wonder as well. But my analyses over the past few years have turned up an interesting piece of the puzzle. There is a common weakness I have observed for most websites, and if you could turn that weakness into a strength as a solution for the visibility of your own website, you’d have more visitors.

The solution is inexpensive. It can gain momentum as a marketing effort. It can drive up customers over time while driving down advertising costs. Sound good? What is it?

It’s blogging.

Online Journaling

“Blog” is really just slang for an online diary or journal. Ever hear of “World Wide Web?” Of course you have. Also known as “The Internet,” the World Wide Web (www – as in your website address) is so pervasive in our every day use, commerce would probably halt completely if we lost access to it.

Well, take the word “web” from “world wide web,” and add it to the word “log” (like a log book), and you have the word “web log,” the original word for blogging. Since saying “web log” makes people sound like they have a speech impediment (or perhaps are related to a species of frog), web log has been shortened down to just “Blog.”

But it’s just an  online journal. A self-published column of sorts. Yes, essentially you become your own journalist.

I’m not going to get technical on why Blogging is so important in today’s blog post. I’m just trying to get across that blogging is an effective way your site can get more traction online, and get found by more searchers who are looking right now for what you offer. Yes, social media factors in their too, but social media is less important than blogging in the long run. Here at The Association we implemented a corporate blogging platform and now at least half of our of Canon Boot Camp sign ups come from search traffic, with no extra effort on our part.

Blogging has some built-in hurdles. Similar to having children, there’s a learning curve (hey, it’s less than 9 months!) as well as a long-term investment in terms of time and commitment to success. It’s pointless to conceive a blog and then just let it sit unattended, orphaned by lack of time and/or content.

But like all problems, there is a solution if you look for it. I’ve already found the solutions to the above hurdles, and those willing to roll up their sleeves and learn some new tricks can overcome them easily. With a little coaching, you can learn to maximize the benefits of a blog, minimize the costs and time involved and reap the benefits for years.

Our February 25th Pro Level I Canon Boot Camp may feature TWO guest speakers. It’s officially “Rig” day, as we’ll be focusing on rigs for the Canon DSLR 5D and other models. This is one Canon camera class you won’t want to miss! Both guest speakers will be covering rigs.

Our first guest speaker is Michael Valentine, AC. Michael has done TONS of work since graduating from the Los Angeles Film School in 2008. His resume features 15 commercials, 9 music videos, 3 fashion videos, 12 feature films and 15 short films. He’s worked with Polly Morgan, DP on productions like “Mobius” and Emmanuel & The Truth About Fishes (starring Jessica Biel), as well as a number of other DPs.

His digital skills include experience in Arri Alexa, Canon DSLRs, Canon C300, the RED EPIC  & RED ONE, Sony F35 and the Panavision Genesis.  Currently he’s the 1st AC for Polly Morgan, DP, and is doing a lot of filming with the Canon 5D as well as the our new fav camera, the Canon C300. Fletch Murray, the Chief Instructor for the Canon Boot Camp, will be interviewing Michael (and our other featured guest speaker) on the technical aspects of rigging cameras: car mounts, underwater, custom rigs, building rigs and adapting cameras to different situations.

So if you have any interest in underwater shoots or rigs for the Canon DSLR 5D/7D, don’t miss the first part of the Feb 25th boot camp! To find out more about our Canon camera classes, visit www.canonbootcamp.com. Availability of speakers is subject to change without notice and does not affect class cost.

Mobile is an increasingly important aspect of an effective online marketing plan. It’s not enough to have an incredible website even if the content is optimized with long tail keyword research. It’s got to be mobile-optimized. What does that mean? It means it’s got to read well on a smartphone, iPad or other small mobile device. Just because you have a website doesn’t mean it shows up well on a mobile device.

If over half of US smartphone users are accessing Facebook on their phone, there’s probably a 50% chance that your customers are also trying to access your website on their phone. Can they? Websites that aren’t optimized for mobile are harder to navigate. Paging through the site is a pain because of the extra scrolling one has to do just to navigate the site.

It also just plain looks ugly when I access a site on my smartphone that isn’t optimized for mobile, as the elements of the site can move out of place instead of being laid out with some kind of sense.

So how do you know if your site is optimized for mobile? There are a number of apps available that will tell/show you the current state of your site’s “mobileness” online. I tried some out, and the one I liked the most was http://validator.w3.org/mobile/. It gives a simple overview of where a site stands on mobile effectiveness, along with a list of where it needs to be improved.

If a site is fairly new, it’s probably on a platform that is already mobile optimized, but it’s worth checking out! Some may argue that most people still do their Internet browsing on their desktop. Stats on mobile usage indicate increasing usage worldwide. Still not sure? Well, how would you rank your own use of mobile? Is it increasing? Mine is. Sooner or later it’s mobile will be more mainstream than not, is my guess. Is your website going to be ready?

This coming Saturday we have a special treat for the attendees of our Pro Level I Canon camera class. Locally known as “Ping,” 1st AC and DP John Pingry is coming to visit during the afternoon session to chat about rigs, following Michael Valentine, 1st AC, who will be talking to the class that morning (also about rigs).

John knows a little something about rigs for the Canon DSLR 5D. The current McDonalds campaign featuring suppliers for McDonalds was shot by John using the 5D. He has a passion for travel, and worked closely with Eric Schmidt, DP who was our featured guest speaker for the January Canon Boot Camp. Eric and John shot I Melt With You, directed by Mark Pellington, entirely on the 5D and 7D.

Knowing how to set up rigs or even build your own rig for the 5D is a crucial part of getting the shot. Come get your questions answered by 2 experts in the area, and learn everything you need to know to get your own film work. Our hands-on approach to training will get you up and running in a few hours, even if you’ve never used a Canon HDSLR before. We have certified shooters on the Canon DSLR 5D, 7D, and the 60D so if you’re looking for Canon certification on these amazing cameras, come pay us a visit on Feb 25th.

Future Canon camera classes are listed on the right side of this blog, so check out our upcoming dates there, or visit www.canonbootcamp.com for more information on the classes. Or just pick up a phone and give us a jingle. We love to talk about the Canon Boot Camp!

Below is one of the videos John shot for McDonalds. Stunning work. Come shoot with the Pros and book your own work with Canon DSLRs.

The research report (click on the pic above to access the full report) is very interesting and informative. While user-generated reviews have a strong impact on the decision making process, how they get to those reviews is a different story. Here’s an excerpt from the same report:

The above chart seems pretty accurate to me. I generally start with Google no matter what I am researching. I know I am more likely to find user-generated content (also known as “organic”) in the search results. Often there are blogs and forum results (especially if you use the word “reviews” in the search request). Most of the time I ignore the manufacturer ‘reviews’ as well as any advertisements, which only have a 14% trust factor, generally speaking.

IF I think about it, I’ll ask my social network for their opinion. Usually that works well too, I just don’t always remember to ask.

So for an effective marketing plan, what’s the best course of action to take to maximize both aspects? Social and Search? I’m glad you asked. The simple answer for nearly every corporate social media effort is blogging.

Without getting too technical, blogs allow you to add 2 known “online visibility factors”: pages of content to your website, and backlinks. Google likes more pages, and backlinks (other sites linking to yours) gives your site more authority. Other sites will link to you if they feel your content is engaging and well-written. If you can solve problems for others (on your blog), your chance of engaging, lead conversion and customer acquisition increases over time. You future customer will appreciate your written efforts and recommend your content to others.

To add social to the mix, make sure to share at least some of your content to your social network. Most blogging platforms have that capability built right in to their system. If you have a newsletter already, it’s often a simple matter to re-purpose newsletter content into blog posts, saving time and money. To maximize your efforts, get a knowledgeable person to do long-tail keyword research and include those keywords into your content regularly. Over time you’ll see more and more results!