Surviving in Post, Another Tool to Add to the Arsenal

Take a rapidly changing market, throw in new “low to no cost” distribution methods, add two lumps of recession and you have our current business environment. And it isn’t pretty. Surviving in post has always been a challenge, but now it is a nightmare. Fortunately Philip Hodgetts’ new book “The New Now: Grow your production or postproduction business in a changed and changing world” has come along to help navigate these tumultuous times.  In spite of the lengthy title, this is an excellent guide full of helpful tips that I would recommend to anyone in our industry.

Stop Motion Redux

If you haven’t noticed, stop motion animation is hip right now (see previous posts by Richard Harrington and Matt Jeppsen). This example, sponsored by HP, extends the concept by adding the extra time dimension of capturing a set of printers outputting graphics for the video. I also like the fact that you get to see the handlers tweaking the equipment during some of the shots. It’s a modestly amusing way to kill a couple of minutes.

More importantly, whenever I see a trend emerge, I have to ask if there is a business opportunity here. We’re clearly seeing some companies jumping on the stop motion bandwagon as an alternate way of subliminally promoting their products. If you’re looking for an angle to scare up some new work from old clients (or foster new ones), you might want to play around with learning stop motion yourself, and pitch the idea to your Rolodex. If you make a cool one, and are willing to share how you made it, let me know and we’ll post it!

Compelling Storytelling with a Short Video

One of the most important features of the current media explosion is the number of different channels someone has at their disposal to tell their story or sell their product - and we’re not talking just cable or TV channels! Some are tempted to use the shotgun approach and merely replicate their message everywhere - print, video, web site, Twitter, Facebook, you name it - but the real winners are those who learn to use alternate media channels in a savvy and effective way to raise above the noise and effectively communicate to their target audience. That’s where we come in: We help clients convey their message in a visually attractive manner. But this brave new world will take some education, both for us and for our clients.

Bringing Video to the Masses - Part 1 of an Interview

Live from the Voices That Matter conference, San Francisco, author Richard Harrington discusses the factors that have caused online video consumption to grow exponentially over the past few years.

You can also view part 2– here!

“Droidmaker” available as a free download

Michael Rubin, the author of several Mac and editing books, wrote a Lucasfilm/Pixar-centric history of the development of nonlinear editing and computer graphics for film production.  The book, Droidmaker, gets rave reviews, as well it should: it’s a great snapshot of the early days of NLEs and CGI, as well as the politics and soap-operatic dramas surrounding them, written by a guy who Was There When It Happened.  You can download it for free, and if you want to add a dead-trees copy to your library, you can do that, too. Highly recommended!

HOW Design Conference 2009

Why would someone brave mid-100 degree temperatures and high humidity to visit Austin Texas in the summer? To get a dose of creative inspiration, of course. But rather than being devoted solely to graphic design eye candy, we were surprised to find that the 2009 HOW Conference was also heavily slanted toward the topics of product design and marketing - as well as numerous talks on how to keep your own creativity fresh while dealing with both clients and management.

Netflix vs Redbox rivalry shaping up

Have you seen those red kiosks at Walmart and McDonalds locations across the US? If not, you probably will soon enough. With about 15,000 existing locations in operation, Redbox is currently rolling their $1 DVD rental kiosks out at a rate of one per hour. Cinematech’s Scott Kirsner has a post about Redbox and their competitor, Netflix.

Both offer DVD rentals, but using distinctly different approaches. Netflix’s DVD title selection is extensive, with over 100,000 titles to choose from. In contrast, a Redbox kiosk carries around 200 titles at a given time. The difference is instant gratification…Redbox is an impulse purchase, made at a location you are likely shopping or frequenting. While Netflix does offer instant internet streaming options, it’s not always the same for folks who don’t have a computer hooked up to their entertainment system. I’ve used both services before, and while I wish the instant selection of Redbox was more extensive, there is no denying the price point and convenience. They also allow you to order a DVD online in advance (ala Netflix), for later pickup at your local kiosk.

I honestly did not see Redbox as that useful when I first used the service, but am finding that we use it more and more. Regardless of which you personally use, I think there is one thing we can all agree on…the good ‘ole fashioned Video Store is all but dead.

Seeing the Future - In Color

We’re still recovering from the HOW Design Conference in Austin last week, where temperatures hit 107. After the ice packs melt, we’ll post a summary of interesting things we heard there.

In the meantime, for those who have color-focused jobs (or color-fussy clients), you may be interested in the work of the Color Marketing Group: a global consortium that attempts to determine what the hot trends in color for various market segments will be in different parts of the world. Click here to see their predictions for 2009 (white for business, blue is the new green, etc.). They also have a free weekly newsletter of color trends and ideas.

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