AV Dan

diy=d'oh

I dislike bringing work home with me (for a number of reasons) so I keep all my audio and video editing gear at the office.
A few days ago my daughter was in a school talent show, and my lovely wife video taped her performance from the audience. Now that it is on tape, the wife wanted to edit it down and post it to one of the many social media sites, and she wanted to do it herself.
So I set about setting up the built-in editor (windows movie maker, I think) and captured the video, and gave a brief overview of how to edit.
I am used to professional, robust editing platforms. Using the stock editors from Microsoft is like... well... going from Top Gun to Wright Brothers. Like going from modern hospital to leeches and saws. All the easy things I normally do were not available on the WMM... or at the very least not easily accessable by me in this program. And I am not trying to knock windows... I am just amazed at the gap between consumer goods and professional goods.
Fortunately my wife loves dong things on her own, and I craftily stepped aside saying something like "there ya go... you got it from here" and found something else to do in the garage that will require my full attention until that video clip is edited.

Drat. Foiled by consumer goods once again. Why can't I be surrounded by the complicated and intricate where things make sense?
Oh... yeah... I don't like bringing my work home.

iLove

I have had a chance to visit with a lot of my tech buddies this trip. One of the regular bits is us comparing our phones. Not surprisingly a lot of techs have the iPhone, but with the Storm and other platform emulators there everyone is jumping onto the bandwagon. Even die hard "I don't need a phone to do more than make a call" guys are finding themselves falling in love with their advanced phones. And everyone seems to like theirs best. Whether it is the interface, web browser, programs and apps, camera and other media, most guys are giddy with their own brand.

I have to say that I was one of those anti-tech guys. I tend to resist technology. I am not am early adopter. And I have to say that I am not as up to date with the cutting edge as many of my brethren are. Not that I don't appreciate it; I just find it moves too fast for me to keep up.

But oh how I love my iPhone. The phone itself is unremarkable.... Meaning it is just like any other phone. But the Apps... God, man, the Apps!
I am blogging again with my Typepad app. I am keeping in touch with my long lost family and friends using the Facebook app. I am catching up on my reading with my ebook app Stanza. Instant messaging. Internet music via Pandora. And on and on.
This morning I had to get a feed from CNN , and had no idea what channel it was on in the ballroom.... and apparently no one else did either. I found an app called "What's On?" that can look up prgramming, channel lists, and a wealth of other info on any area in the country. Within a few minutes I found my channels... but more than that, I found big love for my iPhone.

Show me the money! No, really...

I am working the ASF 2009 (American Securitzation Forum) conference here in Las Vegas. The topics are very interesting... at least to the attendees and myself... and the topics range from the budget deficit to credit ratings (and how they work) and politics and business.

Prior to the start of the show, the techs were all talking about the financial environment and how it affects us. The story of a large conference (around 4m dollars at a nice hotel, big AV, etc.) that was cancelled once it leaked what the budget was. 4 millions dollars for a conference? Gluttony. Waste, fraud, abuse. How dare they?

I would like to offer an alternative take on this particular event. I agree that waste is rampant, and now more than any time in the last decade being careful with spending is important. But a conference is drastically different than a 4m dollar salary, or a car, or a single thing.

That 4m conference was pumping big dollars back into the economy. Spending at a fancy hotel? That hotel employs a lot of highly qualified and experienced people. Big AV? Well, that employs highly skilled people as well (contact me for a resume). Local businesses, restaurants, tourism, and on and on... all of those people lost their gigs when the press took that event to the realm of waste.

Spending big and spending wisely are not mutually exclusive. Paying for quality and image are just as important as getting one's moneys worth.

So spend wisely. Spend smart. And spend big whenever you can.

Vegas, baby!

Palazzo Hotel, Las Vegas
Ah, Vegas again. I like Vegas. There is a certain weariness to it that I identify with as a technician. Always on, ready for the next show, dirty and clean at the same time.
A little sad here this trip, tho. To the naked eye everything looks normal here, but like everywhere else times are tough. Staff is sparse, and with conventions getting fewer and smaller I think this busy little city is leaner than usual.
But Vegas is Vegas, and I have no doubt that like roaches and AV techs, Vegas will be here after the fallout settles.

Off-season Blues

Even though the Charger's season was over weeks ago, there was still a football spirit in the town. Or at least I had the football spirit still within.

But now, emptiness. No new posts from chargers.com, no articles in the weekend paper. Which leads me to wonder if the players themselves also feel the absence of football.

I am sure that they are happy for some downtime and relaxing, but for people who define themselves in relation to a particular thing, once you no longer do that thing... well, what does that make you? I define myself as a big football fan, and I have a void where the season usually is. Do players also have that void? Waiting anxiously for the season to start again?

Like Farvre, the man who turned down millions, he just can't walk away. He defines himselfnas a player, a competitor, a leader. And even though all networks are wet to have him as a commentator, he can't leave the field.

So I salute you Brett, and all the other athletes who fill the time between the end and the beginnig. I, too, anxiously await the season anew.

Professional Image, Branding, and the Illusion of Self

Los Angeles, CA.  This week I am GFX switch and TD for a AARP show in L.A.  My camera guys are good, but one of them doesn't really follow my instructions.  He ends up framing his shot the way he thinks it looks good and not the way I ask for it.  When I asked him about it, he answered "this is my work that is being recorded.  If you ask me to frame a shot badly, and upon review it looks like I framed it badly on my own, then I look bad.  No one records the Director calling shots, so my work needs to be perfect."

"Interesting," I thought.

In San Diego a few weeks ago, I did an A1/PM show for a lawyers group.  During rehearsal for the corporate skits, I was bombarded with questions and whatnot and killed the stage mics to avoid feedback when they exited the stage.  Apparently, they weren't done with the skit, and one of the lawyers yelled at me in a very inappropriate fashion in front of my crew.  So, do I tell the guy to fuck off?  Pull the guys and wish the "actors" good luck?  Sass him back on the VOG mic?  Pull a stern face and let it go?
So I made a couple of decisions that were tough.  I ended up replacing a really good camera guy with one who wasn't as good but would do what I wanted because, despite his opinion, my directing is also called into play on that tape... and a bad camera op can kill my reputation just as a bad TD can kill his.  With the lawyer, I took a deep breath and finished out the gig, even though everyone there expected me to do anything but that.  I wasn't going to let the show go down, and I wouldn't sabotage the show, because as a freelancer I rely on my reputation as a professional to get the job done.

HP Webcast- Justice League of AV

San Diego, CA.  It is time for another Hewlett Packard web cast.  I do about 5-8 of these a year, and they are always a great time.  I think the reason these events are so great is the crew is almost always the same.  The usual crew:  Kurt Snider of Solana Productions (producer),  JT with Available Light  (Elex),  Steve Hesselbach with H&H (Director), and a handful of talented freelancers (Shane, Noodle, Ali, Glenn, Ward, Greg, Mark, and myself).
So much of my work has me traveling to new places, running new crews, opening new racks, finding the loading dock in a new hotel, everything a challenge to figure out how everything works.  What this gig gives me is an appreciation of how great it is to have the same crew on a show.   As  freelancer... and even sometimes as a full timer... you don't get that very often.  I have often thought of forming a super crime-fighting AV group of freelancers, fighting evil and putting on great shows in every city across the nation.  Maybe I should start writing for Heroes...

The New Office

San Diego, CA.  Greetings all!  Sorry about the long absence, but there have been many changes and much progress over the last few months.

The Kamatoy Media Group has officially transitioned from a virtual office space to a real one.  We are now located in Kearny Villa at 4565 Ruffner Road, Suite 112.  Having a new space is great.  I find myself much more productive, meetings are easier and more professional (although I do still find the occasional reason to sit in the coffee shop with my wireless connection), and it somehow feels validating to have a real space in a real office building (regardless of how much work was done in the virtual space).

Work is also picking up.  It seems with the new space clients started calling... a strange coincidence, no doubt, but a welcome one.  Three new clients have joined us, and we are getting ready to take on some full-time employees.  Yessir, things are going pretty good.

Drop me a line and let me know how you are doing.  I promise to be here more often.

D

Review: Hollywoodland

I have been mulling over Hollywoodland for the last few days.  I can say that is wasn’t bad.  This is not the same as being good.  Let me explain. 

The actors all did well.  They seemed to enjoy their roles.  Lane was sexy and desperate, Brody was seedy and charming, Hoskins was bordering on brilliant.  Affleck seemed to play his role from the heart, maybe some of his personal career tying into the frustration that Reeves felt.  But Brody’s character (the protagonist) didn’t seem to grow much at all, even though it was fun to watch.  That seems to be the trick of making a movie based on an unsolved mystery, when there is no more mystery to solve, and no character growth.  I could have watched this on Lifetime with the wife, or seen the 30 minute documentary on the Discovery Channel and been happy.  I at least would have gotten 90 minutes of my life back that I spent watching this thing spins it’s wheels.

A fine film to doing in depth analysis of Affleck’s career, or breaking down portions of the movie for review.  The movie wasn’t bad enough to dislike, but certainly not good enough to warrant a “good.”

9/11 and the Media Revolution

I was in

New York

over September 11^th.  Even if I didn’t remember it, there was so much media attention and hype that I heard it at least a dozen times a day.

I was talking with one of our stagehands during the days leading up to 9/11, and he had a much different take on it.

“I am sick of hearing about it.”

Apparently, some people have heard enough.  Not that he wasn’t respectful of those that died, or concerned about the world we are in today.  But that he was sick of hearing about it in the news, on TV, from everywhere.  Media overload.   Especially since it is the same message, over and over, with the only new takes on the event and memorial were half-assed (I saw one crazy that CNN interviewed talking about how he praised Bin Laden, etc.). 

I started thinking about it, and realized that I was sick of it too.  Well, actually, I got sick of poor media coverage and analysis years ago, and since then have managed to tune out most of the “fair and balanced” coverage that 97 channels of cable can provide. 

I believe that modern media simply looks at the symptoms of the problems without really looking at the problem… which I can’t blame them for.  After all, ratings are more important than most other things (like journalistic integrity), and being a businessman myself, I would want to see the most revenue coming in as possible. 

But as a citizen, I am craving for a real discussion about change and how to make our country better.  Maybe that is our fault, for not making it known that we are tired of the ratings games. 

Of course, the new media revolution may already be in progress.  But I haven’t come across anything yet, with the exception of blogs.  I turned off my TV years ago during the White Bronco chase down the freeway.