Powerpoint Rules

Hi Guys

Powerpoint has been around for what seems to be a lifetime and we have all attended webinars where we have been subjected to boring presentations supported by ugly, boring or complicated Powerpoint. Maybe all three. 

Like the following example 

The worse  nightmares were when the speaker just read the words straight off the screen, often facing the screen so you couldn't hear what was being said. And when he hadn't rehearsed and stumbled then this was the pits

Now these simple text only presentations have a place in offline seminars where the speaker knows his stuff and uses Powerpoint as little as possible, just with the brief bullet points.

And this is brilliant for webinars and online courses where you are watching remotely and just want bullet points. But here are some points to bear in mind:

• Learn what you are going to say. Rehearse. Rehearse. Rehearse. You just can't rehearse enough. Take a look at the professionals. Actors rehearse until they are not only word perfect but action perfect too. They are entertainers and so are you. Practice in front of a mirror, your family and friends.
• Keep your slides simple and big enough text. We have all seen screens full of text so small that it's impossible to read - firstly because it's too small and secondly there is too much text. This usually happens when the presenter is going to just read what's there. For text sizes I's recommend 60pt for headings, 48pt for sub-headings, and 36pt for the bullet points. Any smaller and it can't be read easily. Also if you use these recommended sizes it will restrict the number of words you can use. 
• I'd highly recommend using simple typefaces such as Arial or Times New Roman. Then use the derivatives such as bold, italic, Black, Rounded etc. By using different fonts in a family the look will be much more consistent. Using these typefaces are also easy to read and are the fonts suggested for visually impaired people.
• Use good contrast. Black on white is ok. The best contrast used to be blue on yellow but the latest thinking is black on yellow. Using more colours might look bright but remember KISS - keep it simple, stupid.
• There are loads of transitions and animations.These add a bit of sparkle but don't overdo it. Remember, it's what you say that's important, not a jazzy presentation.
•  Consider having the slides available online as a download. Afraid someone else will use them? Don't worry, it seldom happens but you give attendees the chance to see them and inwardly digest. You might consider an audio to so they can be listened to at convenient times, like in the car.
• Use pictures and cartoons if they are pertinent but make sure they are easy to see. Sometimes photos are too detailed, blurred or out of focus.  
• Talk slowly. We often talk too fast and in presentaions of any type it is really important that every word is clearly understood.

So there are a few tips. Now there are some great ideas to take Powerpoint to the next level. You can design this yourself or download ready made templates that you can just modify and change. There are plenty, Google free templates. I will be making video on how to use Powerpoint and convert it into an MP4. 

Here is a simple example of a downloaded template that I modified to show you. Now something like this can be used to make lectures for online courses, short videos of different types for your website and much more. If you are camera shy this is a sure fire route to take.

 I hope that this has been useful to you. Please follow me here and make a comment. I'd love to hear your experiences, comments and suggestions. In the right hand column you'll find a link to my YouTube channel. Why not click and see what I'm up to.

 

Initial Basic Planning for a Community online TV Station

Hi Guys. 
Thanks for your interest in this blog. I really appreciate you reading, and I hope that you are finding it interesting. Most of all I hope you are taking action. I'm going to try and answer Gina's question about how do you start to put together a community TV station? This is a difficult one to answer without more information but I'll give it a shot. 

Lets assume that you want to put together an online station that will be become self-funding because whatever you do there will be some costs and you may have a bagful of

volunteers but that isn't enough. 

So first of all you need to write down your objectives, assets and resources and the type of station you want. These are the 3 circles that you need to complete and have overlapping to see if the venture is credible.

 So list out your Assets and Resources. So this will include what equipment you have, what facilities and space, the people you can rely on, and any finances. Now this can be what you have or what you need. Be ambitious and write down what you need then you can look for it. Don't limit this to what you have. Include, for example, local college or university students studying acting or film making because you can gather a team here. I have worked with several successfully and am now partnering some projects with a friend whom I met through his studies and is now doing his masters in Film making and TV

What are your objectives? Do you want to provide a local information service, entertainment, news, local music? Do you want to provide training to local unemployed people, those retired, maybe disabled people. Do you want to provide a live station or pre-recorded that is available on demand? Do you want to get funding or will you look for local sponsors and advertisers? Will you want to have a large space station or just a desk and have most outside recording? Think about other questions and answer them here.

And finally, what type of station are you planning? Will it be in your home? I do a lot of filming in my bedroom, standing in front of the camera and away from the wall with a couple of daylight bulb lamps, one on an umbrella reflector and the other a light pointing on the back wall. I could put in a small desk and be a news reader. You might have a large lounge/living room that you could use. How about a double garage. You may be able to afford space. Maybe you have an office or can use an office evenings or weekends. I even had a large empty warehouse at one time. In the UK if an empty property is used by a charity or social enterprise then the owner doesn't pay business rates, or at least has an 80% reduction. So it helps you and the owner. The only problem is that you have no certainty and can have to move at any time, if the property is sold or rented out. A friend of mine who ran a charity and needed loads of space for his outdoor equipment had free space but moved about 4 times in 3 years. Keith Chegwin, a British actor and TV presenter ran an online show back in about 2003 for 2 months from his bed, two hours every day. He was a forerunner and it was successful. He had 5 cameras and ran it as webcams. I think I remember him having guests who went to his home and sat on or in his bed.

So you may have an intimate studio or something bigger. Here we are looking at what you have and also what you would like. But I seriously recommend you start with what you have and get going. Then when you get funding, sponsors or advertisers you just move up. At least you will have started and have a track record and viewers.

NEXT STEP
 Now you have this information see if it all overlaps as in the diagram below. If there is a big mix in the centre you are probably ready to go. If the central mix is small you need to see what you can do to increase it.

 Now you need to take all that information and write a business plan. You can make it elaborate if you wish but I'd keep it down to bullet points. The elaborate plan is when you want to involve funding or sponsors. The bullet point plan becomes a working model and should be looked at and updated daily. It will help and inspire you towards your goal.

Include a programme schedule section where you write out the programmes you want to include, details and length. This will help you focus.  If you can produce a very short video of yourself, or someone helping you, talking about your venture and expectations this can be put up on YouTube and Facebook etc to spread the word. It can be used to promote what you are doing. The main thing is to do it. No matter how good or bad it doesn't matter. All that matters is you take that first step. You can and will get better with experience. And your confidence will grow too. Be passionate because that is contagious.

This is just an outline but I hope you find it interesting and encouraging. I truly feel that the future for small independent local online TV channels is very bright. Take a look at the top YouTube channels and you will see that many are really individual TV channels, usually of one person. You will take this to the next level. So there are my thoughts for planning your online TV channel.

PLEASE NOTE. My new online course "How to set up and produce an online TV station" will be available soon. Click here to become an early bird   You can make a really exciting project out of online TV and I'm here to help you and answer any queries. Leave a comment below. Also please look at the right side of this blog and like my Facebook page. And SHARE

The Trailer Video on your YouTube Channel

 





Hi Guys
I've just launched a YouTube channel trailer. 

Setting up your own YouTube channel means you can have a specific page for your videos.I fact if you have a couple of interests you can have a separate page for each. This will mean you attract viewers interested in each interest and can encourage them to come back over again.

Having a trailer video means that anyone browsing can look at this and know exactly what to expect. It's a great idea. You can use an existing video from your library or have the latest and newest video as your trailer. But I believe that if you prepare a specific video you can explain exactly what you cover on your channel

So how do you do this? Well first of all you need to plan the type of video. Will it be a talking head, a Powerpoint presentation or a cartoon type video. There are others but these are the main ones used. If you are up to it I would highly recommend you do a talking head because it is the easiest and fastest to shoot and you will build up a fast relationship with the viewer. By relationship I mean its good to get viewers to know you and to like you. They will eventually trust you and the material you publish so that they come back and watch everything you make.

So how should you make the video. Firstly it needs to be precise. You need to introduce yourself in a sentence then talk about what you will be showing and finishing with a call to action where you ask viewers to either subscribe, go to a website or blog or take some other action.

It needs to be short, about 60-120 seconds. I's suggest an intro of about 10 seconds with a title. When you record look at the camera and be slightly off-centre on the screen. Be well lit: the best lighting is natural sunlight but when its actually cloudy because you'll not get harsh shadows. A good plane is to face a window. If not get some lights, with video these days you can use almost any type of light. I'm not going into lighting here but you can always do some test shoots. As a point of interest you could go to a park or other quiet place and do a selfie with your smartphone. This will probably be more than adequate.

When you have uploaded your video you need to make a custom thumbnail. Use Carva.com which is free. You can make all types of images with text to the correct size for any particular use such as a YouTube thumbnail or Facebook banner. Your thumbnail needs to be simple and with only one or two words max. Remember many people view on smartphones and other devices with small screens so text can't be read. There is a tight specification of recommendations that will give you the best thumbnail that will draw the most attention. There is not enough room here to cover that in detail. Take a look at successful YouTube channels and they will all have custom thumbnails. Copying their ideas is ok, but don't use the same images, use your own. 

So now you need to set up your trailer. Click on the "My Channel" button on the left. The you will see the wheel symbol on the right as in the following image. Click then you will see a drop down menu.

Where it says "Customize the layout of your channel" switch the botton across to change colour to blue as below

 Go to My Channel and as below click on "For New Visitors" and you will see the space below to load your Trailer. Complete as much on the text as you can as usual and tags.

 This is the finished result. This has been a very quick guide. I will produce a full video on this as it is very important

Good Luck. Give it a try.

I'm really happy to help you with your video problems. Leave a comment below and I'll reply or make a new post to cover your query. If you have any useful suggestions or ideas please leave hose too. We succeed by being a community

And please subscribe here and on my YouTube Channel

Awesome video course coming soon

Hi Guys

I've now got the new course How to make Awesome Videos laid out and several videos in place. This is really exciting and I am anxious to launch it shortly. There is much to do yet, however, no matter how fast I work.

I am launching a Beta version soon, greatly discounted, and invite you to register now. There is a 100% 30 day money-back guarantee so you can order with complete peace of mind. I want you to be completely satisfied so that you share the course and are happy enough to leave a testimonial. One of the most satisfying aspects of creating a course is getting great feedback and testimonials.

You will be notified once this version is completed which will be about 50% of the finished course. As each new session is completed you will be notified.Once you register you will have everything new that I produce with your life-time access at no additional cost. In addition you can have a say about future lessons and tell me about any improvements you'd like to see. 

This is great value for someone who just wants to build a good YouTube Channel but valuable if you want to take video making to a higher level. Not only is it absorbing but can be profitable too, in so many different ways. 

Build up a popular YouTube Channel and get advertising revenue, affiliation revenue, sponsors revenue and other benefits. Make short films and you can sell them or rent through one popular outlet. If you have a business website you can make video to promote, explain, teach, grow subscribers or make special offers. Video is now immediate and you can decide on an action, shoot a short video and have it on your website, Facebook or Twitter within an hour. A restaurant can have a special event and promote it on social media for free straightaway. A retailer can see if a product will sell by making a video and gauging customer response. Raw video put straight onto Facebook or Twitter is called Native. It is now simple to upload from your smartphone or camcorder.

YouTube is now having 300 hours of video downloaded every minute. 6 billion hours of video are watched every day. I could go on there are so many amazing statistics. And with so many videos, the most difficult thing to do is to make videos that stand out from the crowd.

Here is the opportunity to register your interest. There is no commitment, just the chance to enroll at a huge discount and be able to input anything that might benefit you and other students. Click here and go to the registration page.
 

On Location with Swansea Film Productions

The Doll had a cast over over 20 actors and extras and was shot on located around Swansea in South Wales, the UK. We shot over a February weekend and were extremely lucky with the weather. It was so good that we were able to film outdoors and have a real barbecue on the beach as the script dictated.

One scene was in a pub and the manager was most kind in allowing us to make up a corner after the lunch-time rush had finished and to have his staff be filmed serving drinks. The scene involved one main character and two others sitting down at a table having a drink and cutting a cake. Most of the camera-work was hand-held in this scene to add a feeling of reality. 

We used two cameras and some shots were taken from above with the camera-man standing on an adjacent table. We had some five takes but I'm not sure whether this was to have an extra drink or because the director wasn't happy with previous takes. Carly was directing this scene and she had grown in strength in the job taking total control of the actors and camera crew. 

Another scene was in the local very busy Diner. The owner was so helpful and let us have full reign, even though they were busy. The diner is a long room and we used a table towards to rear so we weren't too much in the way. We had our waiter working from behind the counter and delivering a coffee to our actor. Then a group of her friends came in and were crowded round and talking. The scene was quite cramped in the narrow room but the shots worked really well. 

There was a great feeling throughout the filming and I believe much of this was to do with the day we all spent together about a month before when we did the read though rehearsal and familiarisation. We did this over a complete day and organised a buffet lunch which gave everyone time to talk to the others. I had an office for my business and this was an ideal place, just big enough for everyone to sit down. 

We needed a club or other venue where we could simulate a rehearsal room for the Salem Witch play. There was a play within a play. I'd arranged to use a community hall but when I sent someone along to prepare the room, they phoned me to say that the building was locked up and there was no contact phone number or address. As everyone had come together from across the UK it was really essential that we found somewhere.

As luck would have it I was involved in managing a Show Girl Dance Group and they had performed just a couple of weeks ago in a local city pub that had space at the rear of the bar where they put on cabaret. I went in and spoke to the manager who immediately agreed for us to use the space.

This was amazing as I expected to have to visit several venues to find a willing owner or manager.

This was a dramatic scene and our director was playing a main role as well so I was a bit concerned. The scene was rehearsing a section of the play The Salem Witches and involved dramatic action both in the rehearsal scene and also drama in the film script. It also involved the entire cast and obviously costumes as the scene was set in times gone bye. There was quite a bit of shouting and the cast needed to show some good reactions. Everything went well.

We had scenes on a grave-yard, on the beach where we had a real barbecue, in a local busy pub in the evening and outside the Dylan Thomas Theatre. We also had a scenes in an amusement arcade, on a river boat and in a home . It was quite varied but luckily we had planned everything very carefully. There must have been some hitches but I can't remember any. 

This all happened 4 years ago and I am really disappointed to say that the editing was never completed.  All filming incorporated sound via wireless mics if I remember correctly so there is no synchronization to do. The editing was promised by two professionals but both were unable to complete the job.I have now committed to completing this by the middle of February. So I have 6 weeks. Watch this space.

If you enjoyed this article or found it useful please leave a comment. If you have a question please ask in the comment box. 

And please subscribe to our YouTube Channel and notification of our forthcoming course. Both are to the right of this post.

Good luck in any dramatic film you are or intend to produce. If you are working on a project let s know, we will be pleased to include this in future posts.

Making of an Indie Short Film

Film making comes in many guises. You may want to just produce family video for friends or you may want to produce a drama like this short indie film. 
 
The following will give you an insight into how and why this film was made.The idea was conceive at a visit to Swansea beach just looking for ideas. Coming across the railway arch on the beach brought back vague memories of the short story by Dylan Thomas and we went from there. It was a tight schedule with script written within a day, the filming took just 3 hours in a studio using a simple black backdrop (incidentally the studio was used recently for some of the green screen work in the latest Star Wars film, The Force Awakens). The editing kept Brian Marijena working over several full nights, his favourite time for this work. I hope you enjoy and learn both ideas and techniques. Please make any comments and ask any questions. And we hope that you will be inspired to make your own dramatic film. You don't need huge sets, costumes, lighting or cameras. Although this was made in a professional studio with a professional camera and lighting that was for convenience and not necessity.

This particular story takes place entirely under a railway arch where the locomotives ran along the beach road before turning inland and towards Manchester. Although the track ran parallel and next to the road it was constructed on the sand. There was a drop from the road and path to the beach and anyone standing under an arch would have their head just above the level of the road. The scene is night-time and of course there was little, if any, street lighting at that time so the characters are lit naturally from the elements and occasionally from a match or glowing cigarette. The magnificently descriptive narrative includes many cameos and these can be filmed, or a montage of multi-media or just narrated over the face of one of the three characters. Dylan has broken the story into two sections: the first part being mainly descriptive and scene setting; whilst the second part is the story of the two strangers. Both sections can be incorporated into the film so that anyone who had read the book would instantly recognise not just the setting but each and every detail.

It is important to note that the book is set around 1933 and that it would be expensive to replicate scenes, costumes and props for the entire production. This then sets limitations for the film-maker but also gives him the opportunity to use his imagination and ingenuity. An opportunity to go back to basics. Like the original silent movies where the director used gestures and lighting to convey translation and moods, so here glimpses and suggestion can make us believe we have been transported back in time without the associated usual high costs. 

This is project particularly relevant here in Swansea and at

         

 

 
this time because Dylan Thomas was a Swansea man who died over half a century ago, was and is generally regarded by the majority of the local inhabitants as a drunken layabout but who is now regarded as the second most quoted poet in the world and who is highly regarded across the world on the celebration of 100 years since his birth in 1914. The stories are good entertainment but also, because of the factual descriptions, are of historical importance.

There have been other great short story writers such as O’Henry, John Steinbeck and F Scott Fitzgerald who have crafted beautiful stories that are like gold nuggets to film makers. Interesting, however, is that few films have been made based on stories of any of these writers. They are all of a similar period but can be adapted at little cost to the story line, characters or background. We have had the same characteristic traits since time immemorial, love, hate, greed, love of companionship, morality or not, lust and fear to name just a few. The great writer manages to weave many of these traits into their stories to give in-depth real people who often seem to stride off the page. So it is with surprise that few of these stories have been transposed into movies. Longer stories such as The Great Gatsby, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s  have worked well. Some short stories have been adapted for TV in the past.

Dylan Thomas’s stories in The Artist as a Young Dog for example are vivid descriptions of the actions and raw emotions that he experienced as he grew up in Swansea suburbia from a small boy and through his teenage years and abound with such vivid description that images just fall off the page. On first reading his stories one is struck by their simplicity and reality. It is as if you are there, in fact his stories have become woven into other peoples reality. People who read his stories whilst they were young have found that they have become part of their own memories. An incredible skill that is only obvious in others such as Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemmingway, Truman Capote and James Joyce.

It is a fact that all these writers were describing current events and so are a living history that is often far more interesting than most history books, adding fine detail about real lives, places and back-drops that bring the book, and hence the film to life.

This skill makes their work perfect for the short-film maker who can almost shoot off the page. Taking “Just like Little Dogs”, a story from Dylan Thomas’s “The Artist as a Young Dog” is a typical example. Let’s look at the opening paragraph.

Standing alone under a railway arch out of the wind, I was looking at the miles of sands, long and dirty in the early dark, with only a few boys on the edge of the sea and one or two hurrying couples with their mackintoshes blown around them like balloons, when two young men joined me, it seemed out of nowhere, and struck matches for their cigarettes and illuminated their faces under bright-checked caps.

Interestingly the whole paragraph is made up of one sentence, comprising of 77 words. It’s as if Thomas’s imagination or memory was running at break-neck speed. This could be transposed into an opening scene of long moving images fused into one silent night-time atmospheric take such as the opening sequence in the famous Orson Wells “Citizen Kane” with matching music straight off the page. Or it could be run as a single shot within the confines of the railway arch (where the entire story is centred) with a voice over reading the words as if reminiscing of a past experience. Both work, the latter more suitable for a low budget production.

This is followed by a descriptive paragraph about the two young men so that they can be cast to perfection. In fact the only drawback in filming the work of theses authors is that the images conjured up are so real that by miscasting the spell over those who have read the story will be broken. And interestingly the attention to copying the detail from the book by Truman Capote in creating “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” has brought the book alive for many readers. And it was possible because so much detail was included in the book.

“Just like Little Dogs” is a typical well crafted short story (of just half a dozen pages)  that has a beginning, middle and end, complete in the old-fashioned style compared to many stories nowadays that leave the reader baffled and confused. This also helps to  make the film-maker’s work easy because the finished product will be rounded and the film-maker can concentrate on film techniques rather than interpretation of the text. He can make small additions or changes if he wishes without unnecessarily altering the wording or style.  

The story continues with superb description that could narrated over material using a mix of new and old photos, live and historic film blended to match the descriptive text straight off the page. This should be in the style of the opening of Under Milk Wood. Thomas is the master of plays for voices so that many of the images used in this sequence could be suggestive and a background to the rich text. The narrative should be that of a deep male voice with a soft Welsh lilt.

Within this paragraph there is action descriptions how the two young men lounging against the wall under the archway, their cigarettes glowing and sparking in the wind. This will give the camera the chance to return to the two strangers within the descriptive filming and cement it together.

Paragraph four continues in the descriptive vein with Dylan lighting a cigarette so that the light reflected in the two strangers faces and gave Thomas further opportunity to describe Swansea life as it was then.

Here Dylan’s thoughts about each stranger and what he should be doing and where he should be builds a lovely picture of Swansea “where girls were waiting, ready to be hot and friendly, in chip shops and shop doorways and Rabbiotti’s all-night café, when the public bar of the “Bay View” at the corner had a fire and skittles and a swarthy, sensuous girl with different coloured eyes, when the billiard saloons were open, except the one in the High Street you couldn’t go into without a collar and tie . . . . “

The overall story finally becomes a dialogue between Dylan and the two young men and a story within the story is drawn out. This is a simple story about the two young men and their marital arrangements but Dylan has managed to embroider some fine detail about area and social aspects.

In fact this story, more than any other Thomas wrote, is so descriptive that it can be compared to Under Milkwood in that both are really plays/stories for voices but both have transformed well, and I have tried to follow the narrative with as much descriptive period photography as possible. I have produced this film using a single set, black and white throughout and with a montage of old photographs and some movement where I caught some people having a barbeque under the arch and was able to shoot them as if they were vagrant characters from the Thirties as described in the short story.

Looking at other well written stories they show remarkable authenticity for the period and everything associated so that clear descriptions of speech, people, clothing, furniture and other background detail is included. Interestingly the films made have become of historical importance. Included are Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Truman Capote, the story of Holly Golightly a larger than life character, the Great Gatsby about the young mysterious, but larger than life,  millionaire Jay Gatesby, and the range of John Steinbeck’s stories with what appear to be humdrum normal families but are in fact big personalities – in Grapes of Wrath which grew out of a series of newspaper articles about the Great Depression of the Thirties.

As I said before. Your comments are really appreciated as are you questions. This could have been filmed with a smartphone, in either a home studio or on location in the open using either street lighting or a low cost portable video light, costing around £20 ($30). We used a full black backdrop. You can buy a set of 3 backdrops (black, white and chromakey for greenscreen with a stand from around £40 or $55 on Amazon)