Esquire magazine boasts its "Women We Love" profiles but here at the The Way We Watch we're a little more practical and boring... I've joined the ranks of digital HD super 35 mm CMOS sensor camera owners since the beginning of the year. Wheelhouse purchased a brand new Sony FS 700 with some fantasitic Zeiss Lenses. In the course of working with the equipment for the last 5 months there are a few pieces of gear that make the day go by more efficiently. This is not a Philip Bloom/Vincent Laforet-type exhaustive list; these items just make me a little... Continue reading

When I was a staff producer at AT&T headquarters in the mid-nineties, I was executive producing and producing/directing about 20 shows a year. One of my oldest friends, Karl Schurman, was a seasoned DP back then and I would frequently hire him. We were working on a job and on a second day of a two-day shoot I asked him if he could just re-shoot something quick that needed a new line added to the dialogue. "It won't take too long. Could you just do it?" I repeated. "You used the J word," he would answer. "What?" "Just." There was... Continue reading

"Show, don’t just tell. In a world of increasingly limited attention spans, we need to harness the power of video and photos because they are more snackable, emotive and sharable. We must also provide deeper, more informative visuals, such as infographics, as well. Aim to have the dominant creative idea. The stranglehold of advertising on the marketer is now loosened." From The History (and Future) of PR by Richard Edelman. The original post is here. Watch a snackable video with (info)graphics I produced that originally appeared in The Daily. Continue reading

Above is a presentation I made in Haiku Deck, a powerful FREE iPad app that allows you to make simple decks combined with sweet looking layouts and fonts. What puts it over the top is a simple search engine that finds a wealth of creative commons licensed photography you can insert to make your slides really sing. The app also allows you to use images from your own iPad photo library, flickr or instagram accounts. Can't see the picture above? Try this: http://www.haikudeck.com/p/SRlKf9aIy3/e-sherlocking. I always thought the iPad was a poor tool for content creation -- but I have to... Continue reading

Producing comedy is the closest I will ever get to walking on a tightrope. With comedy, you know by the end if you've reached the other side or fallen into the net. Appropriately, the choice below is funny or die. The Whiteboardist - watch more funny videos Special thanks to my comedy writing partner, Josh Lebowitz and check out Rob Donnelly's website for more information about his illustrations. Continue reading

The following is a guest post by Stephen Vanderpool, a writer for NerdWallet. The Way We Watch welcomes guest posts on the subject of video making, video in social networks, and the trials and tribulations of working in the field of video. You can reach me on my contact page for more information. -- Chris High quality video production tools have grown tremendously accessible over the past decade. Achieving a professional level of video craftsmanship will always demand a high level of skill and experience, but acquiring the prerequisite resources requires only a small monetary investment. Though HDSLR shooting is... Continue reading

There's a lot of competition out there for what you do. In any pitch to win business there's only one winner and getting second place means failing. The winner gets the job and the losers get an email saying the client has moved in a different direction. An email sent. Done. There are so many things I wish to say when I fail to win the job... But the best thing to say is simply, "Thanks for the consideration." Photo credit: chrisinplymouth (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Continue reading

I received lots of good feedback on twitter on the Editor You Never Want To Let Go post. Here's the next one in this series of people you never want to lose: On set audio people. In all my projects (over 200) I've only worked with one female audio engineer and the rest were males. I'm not entirely sure about why that is. My guess is that some jobs require booming which can be physically challenging. If you are a female audio person, chime in and let me know how you started so we can get more of you in... Continue reading

Look for video editors that have these qualities: He has ten years of experience. There's just no substitute. Editing is a skill like any other. But if you haven't put in the time, you're not going to be on my "go to" list. She looks at all the footage. Sounds nuts not to look at all the footage but it's easier not to. Some editors just grab the first things they see. I've seen people do it. There's no short cut. He's musical. As a general rule, the finest editors I know also are pretty competent musicians. It makes a... Continue reading

As a video story teller, I'm always looking for a way into the story. How can I tell this story in a way that is interesting? In Part 1 of Making Great Video Stories, I wrote about the Process video. Another way to ensure you're telling a compelling story is to tell your story through someone who is obsessed. People who are obsessed are fascinating. They usually have to juggle their obsesson with their daily lives, money, their family, and their job so there is an inherent conflict right there. Conflict good. The other thing that is great about telling... Continue reading

The line from Death of a Salesman "Attention must be paid," is on my mind. And, it's not because there is yet another revival of the 50+ year old play now in previews. Note to self: I've got to remind myself to get tickets to this show before the reviews come out -- because Phillip Seymour Hoffman will probably be amazing. (Trivia: he played Willy Loman in a HS production). But this line resonates with me because earlier this year in the span of six days (2/21 - 2/27) the world lost three theater professionals who should be remembered. Barney... Continue reading

I've talked here about ways to get a better looking shot. There's the The $4.95 Solution To Make Your Videos Better and remember the importance of showing a philtrum. But here's another one. Don't use an executive chair when you're doing an interview. (can't see the picture, go here: http://youtu.be/FIYnDo9BxgM?t=10m) Executive chairs are super comfortable and make you feel regal. However, on video they make you look small. The backside of the chair goes up to your ears and kills the needed seperation between you and the background. Plus, your talent is going to end up swiveling and that's going... Continue reading

The cream rises to the top. In terms of freelancers that is so true. As you know by now, I am a video producer and director and I frequently hire teams of talented professionals to create our videos. Have you ever noticed there are some freelancers that work all the time? How do they find themselves in that position? Here's a list of tips that will get you on your clients' speed dial. Make it easy for clients to find you. My biggest pet peeve with freelancers is that it should not be hard to reach you. Jobs come in... Continue reading

Found this video today on my facebook wall posted by Talmadge Boyd (@talmadge). It's a video shot by Benjamin Dowie on the new iPhone 4s. And it makes phone calls. ▲ Continue reading

The number one way to start telling a good story is to pick a good story to tell. Sounds simple? Not all stories lend themselves to video. The first test of whether a video is merited for any story is -- is this a visual story? To tell the truth, I'm not a huge fan of much of the video I see on the web. Just because you're talking into a camera and telling me what you think -- doesn't necessarily create compelling video story making. I mean if you are George Clooney or ScarJo, I'll watch anything. But if... Continue reading

“It’s Too Bad. And I Don’t Mean It’s Too Bad Like ‘Screw ’Em.’”. The link above takes you to a picture of Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and article about him from the July 24, 2011 edition of New York Magazine. You don't have to read the article, but I did like how Mr. Blankfein is allowing powder to be put on his balding head and face before the TV camera rolls. Scenario: A company pays good money to record their executives speak on camera. They rent a crew, HD camera, lights, and director. The talent comes in and declines... Continue reading

We're all in sales. No matter what role we play inside a company or if we're self employed - we have to have a selling mindset. Being a good salesperson will get you a promotion get you more clients and expand your business get you a better offer from a competitor I enjoy the insights of Jim Keenan at his blog, A Sales Guy. Jim is a former VP Regional Sales Leader at Avaya and now is a consultant and entreprenuer. He also seems to ski many days out the year so I think he has it all figured out!... Continue reading