Mike's Blog

There is a relatively new effect that is becoming quite popular lately. It is a way to make still images come alive by separating the subject of the picture from the background and moving them in 3D space. This video contains examples of this effect.

I have been working with still photos in videos for over 20 years. When I started, the only way we could do picture moves was to zoom the camera in on a photo and pan across it. For one project, I spent days in the archives placing photos on an easel and carefully panning right, left, tilt down, zoom out… it was tedious work.

Since those days, software has allowed us to do these effects digitally. For the 3D picture move, you often need to replace the background after you cut out the subject. That is usually the trickiest part because you are creating a background that is not part of the photo. But advances in photo editing software have made that much easier. So I’m certain we will see more of this effect. And just like panning and zooming on a photo added visual interest, using these effects can make the video much more dynamic than it would be with the original still image.

We recently worked on a video that had a Chinese student as the host. After the shoot, I was told the Chinese student asked our client why I didn’t smell. Our client was taken aback at first, but then the Chinese student said that I was so serious, and she realized the student was saying “smile,” not “smell.”

Not smelling, that’s a good thing. Not smiling, that’s not as good. I’ll admit, sometimes I take my job too seriously. I have to remind myself that I have a fun job.

So why am I so serious on video shoots? I guess I just have a lot on my mind. A Hollywood director has a more people depending on him or her than I do. But he also has a lot of talented people working for him. On our shoots, I’m often playing the role of producer, director, director of photography, gaffer, sound technician, script supervisor and craft services. I get focused on doing all of those things well, and sometimes I forget to have fun.

From now on, I resolve to do better. I’ll try to continue to not smell. I’ll continue to focus on doing everything well. But let’s have some fun while we’re doing it too!

Adding interactive menus to video presentations can be a great way to break up an otherwise linear presentation. Many of our online videos have simple navigation menus, but for the UD Campus Master Plan, we created an interactive map for navigation.  The viewer can click the map to learn more about initiatives on campus.  Pop-up text boxes describe campus improvements, and videos highlight the vision for each section of campus.

I suppose a blog isn’t much of a blog if you don’t update it. We have been busy. And since our clients always get first priority, the blog has been neglected.

As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, I am thankful for all of our wonderful clients who have kept us busy. I am thankful for my patient family who put up with my crazy hours. I am thankful for my cozy corner of our dining room that was too often turned into a work station. And most of all, I’m thankful for pre-Thanksgiving deadlines, because now I can relax and enjoy Thanksgiving with my family… and maybe work on a blog post or two.

In the meantime, here’s our UD Thanksgiving greeting.

I’ve been getting a lot of feedback on my blog posts.  Very encouraging messages, like this one:

Everyone loves your blog post.. excellent colors & concept. Performed you actually design and style this amazing site oneself as well as performed you hire an attorney to accomplish it for yourself? Plz answer seeing that I!|m trying to style and design my own, personal weblog as well as would like to understand where by you bought this particular via. thanks a lot

Gee thanks. That’s so very helpful. You wouldn’t just be posting that to get a link back to your site would you? Of course not, you’re truly a fan of my blog.

My first blog post was just a video that we posted as we were setting up the site. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback about how insightful my words were in that post (there were very few words, but they must have resonated with people). I am humbled that my posts have so profoundly touched so many lives.

Bookmarked!

In today’s connected world, ideas move faster than ever.  The rapid exchange of ideas fuels innovation. Ideas are combined and built on each other.  I recently read a great article by Chris Anderson, the curator of the TED Conferences, discussing “crowd accelerated innovation.” He suggests that the web, and specifically online video, is advancing ideas in “internet time.”

“Video is the killer app. Don’t write me. Tell me. Show me.”

We know that the web allows good ideas to spread quickly to a wide audience. The impact of video makes the evolution of ideas even more pronounced. Anderson uses the example of street dancers: “Dancers have created a whole global laboratory for dance. Kids in Japan are taking moves from a YouTube video created in Detroit, building on it within days and releasing a new video… So in both street dance and TED talks, an upward spiral of improvement was taking place, prompted by the use of online video.”

My first experience with YouTube was underwhelming.  I saw it as a collection of really bad, really boring videos.  But YouTube was able to harness the power of the crowd to uncover the few diamonds in the rough. The crowd will bring the noteworthy videos to our attention.

Anderson presents an interesting look at the history of innovation and the way the internet is accelerating the flow of ideas.

“Crowd Accelerated Innovation isn’t new. In one sense, it’s the only kind of innovation there’s ever been. What is new is that the Internet—and specifically online video—has cranked it up to a spectacular degree.

I believe that the arrival of free online video may turn out to be just as significant a media development as the arrival of print. It is creating new global communities, granting their members both the means and the motivation to step up their skills and broaden their imaginations. It is unleashing an unprecedented wave of innovation in thousands of different disciplines: some trivial, some niche in the extreme, some central to solving humanity’s problems. In short, it is boosting the net sum of global talent. It is helping the world get smarter.”

See the full article here: TED Curator Chris Anderson on Crowd Accelerated Innovation

In 1911, a group of Dayton advertising professionals came together to form the association now known as AAF-Dayton. The group recently held its annual Hermes Awards banquet, and we were asked to help create entertaining video segments for the event. We worked with Clear Channel’s Jim Hausfeld and tapped the creativity of a number of local agencies. The result: a documentary revealing the storied history of advertising in Dayton… all of it is made up, of course, but isn’t that what advertising is all about?

Buying Time: A Tribute To 100 Years of Dayton Advertising.

We’re starting over with our new blog, but if you just can’t get enough, you can see an archive of our old blog here.  On the old blog, you’ll find…

The Secret Order of the Hermes. Videos we produced for the 2010 AAF-Dayton Hermes Awards show.

Our Holiday Greeting.

An early look at Blu-ray’s relevance for B2B marketing.

Brian’s embarrassing VMA incident.

A look back at our first 20 years.

Time-lapse of the staging of the RISE Forum.

Our promo that played on a 7-story video screen in Times Square.

…and more!

Mike’s Back

It has been nearly a year since Blogger shut down their FTP service that allowed us to use Blogger’s tools to post to our site. We looked around and decided to use WordPress to create a new blog. Turns out that was the easy part. Finding time to create new posts is a different story. I will be using social media for more regular updates.

For short bits of nonsense, connect with me on Twitter.
For the latest fun tidbits, check out the MPG Facebook page.