May the 4th Be With You... Always
It’s Star Wars Day - so for that unofficial holiday, here’s Carrie Fisher, and some friends, at the Rolling Stones magazine cover shoot circa 1983.
Original:
Final Cover
The Show Must Go On!
COVID-19 has brought the economy to a screaming halt - as it should, the Corona Virus is dangerous. In-person meetings are cancelled, live events postponed indefinitely, sporting events and schools are shutting down. Nervousness is at catastrophic levels. If you’re not sure how bad it is, visit your local Costco and ask if there’s any toilet paper left.
But, even in the time of crisis, your customers and clients continue to have business needs. They need to make product announcements, and to interact with customers. They need to speak to their investors and the press.
Normally, events run as scheduled. We’re not in “normal” territory right now.
A simple solution to keep the wheels turning is to go digital. But it’s not as simple as just making a conference call. How do you keep engagement up, production values high, and keep the experience fun and exciting?
How is an all digital delivery different?
Should you use opening videos like you normally would in a kick off meeting? How should it be produced and used in an on-line setting?
What about a host or a moderator? How does a host keep an on-line event moving and not make the viewer feel isolated or disengaged?
Can you keep track of people who ‘walk-in’? What about folks who only want to watch specific content? How can you serve all the audience, effectively?
It’s digital - how about some interactivity! Live Polls, Q&A, chat boards, voting, are all capabilities that keep your audience paying attention and interacting with the content.
We have solutions to these interesting new issues and want to work with you to keep your event moving and engaging.
Where do we start?
The fun part of the equation in webcasting, streaming and live conferencing is that every live webcast/conference is a little different and there are many questions to review and consider when preparing for a new event. Starting with an initial conference call would be the first step to review and answer any questions you and your team may have.
StS Productions provides professional end-to-end webcast and web conferencing solutions using familiar platforms including but not limited to:
Zoom
LinkedIn
BlueJeans
WebEx
GoTo Meeting
YouTube LIVE
Facebook LIVE
We’ll perform a site evaluation along with total coordination with IT personnel within your organization or at your chosen venue.
What services should we be discussing?
Consulting assistance on selecting the appropriate platform for your specific event needs and budget.
Our experienced professional video crews provide options from one to multiple cameras to broadcast and record your event.
Audio solutions include everything from microphones, to sound systems, and professional audio engineers to help manage the technical aspects of the event.
Graphic and motion design can be incorporated to take your slide deck to the next amazing level.
Our meetings are secure - with passwords, restricting email addresses, IP addresses, and referral URLs.
Full production staging and lighting equipment rentals are available too.
We can supply systems to integrate webcasting/web-conferencing platforms with your existing resources.
We offer complete LIVE captioning and transcription services as well.
We also offer complete recording and post-production (video editing) services of the event for archive and social media.
Whatever your needs are, we’re here to offer solutions. Reach out today, so that we can set up a meeting immediately. Waiting and postponing is your competitor’s plan - beat them to the punch, and get your message out and let everyone know you’re not hiding in the bunker waiting for things to get back to ‘normal.’
It’s time to Innovate. Communicate. And Win.
Take on Me - 1 Billion
According to Daily Variety - a-ha’s “Take On Me” has hit over one billion views.
Anyone around in the 1980’s will instantly remember the video, and the tune, which featured pencil sketch animation blended with live action. Note, Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” also hit the billion users served last fall. “Take on Me” averages over 480,000 views a day.
A-ha’s video was directed by Steve Barron in 1985 and won six MTV Music Video awards in 1986. Pitbull also sampled the tune in his 2013 hit “Feel This Moment.
The Norwegian band Tweeted, “We couldn’t have done this without you, our fans.”
And in case you’re late to the party, or have no idea what “Take on Me” is about, feel free to add yourself to the list by watching the video here!
Musician and composer Wendy Carlos c/o Wendy Carlos all rights reserved
Wendy Carlos
Musician and composer Wendy Carlos (circa 1986) composed the score to "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) "The Shining" (1980) and "Tron" (1982) and helped design the Moog synthesizer with Robert Moog. She came to fame with an album called Switched on Bach, which were Moog versions of Bach classics (1968).
R - Rack Focus
A Rack Focus occurs when the Camera Operator, or a dedicated professional Focus Puller who is assigned only to dialing the focus on the lens, turns the dial of their focus, physically, which causes the lens to force the viewer’s eye to travel to a new image which becomes in focus. An example would be to show something in the background (deep) or the foreground of the shot (shallow), and then the focus shifts to the new thing.
The technique is use to bring attention to something behind, or in front, in the same frame. It can be used to show the audience something the character might not be aware of, or sometimes when a character realizes something is in front of, or behind them. The rack focus can be used in comedy and also in drama. Sometimes it’s subtle - like the sidewalk crowd shot of Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, or 2006’s The Host, specifically the hospital corridor scene. Other times it can be used in dialogue between two people without the need for an edit point.
The roll of the focus can also be called ‘selective focusing’ a ‘rack’ or a ‘pull focus’, depending on the Director of Photography or whom ever calls the shot.