Every year I miss the local film festival because I only find out about it after it has happened. This year was different. Renee Domenz came in to the shop needing to convert a file into a DVD so that she could be in the festival this year again. Once it was brought to my attention I quickly put together three DVD and delivered them in person. To make long story short all three got played. I managed to get what seemed sincere applause for all three. That was fun. I already know what two videos I'm going to submit next time.
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We branched out a little. John makes his own graphics which he uses to make a line of note cards that he sells. I convinced John that if his cards were so popular that he should sell them at art fairs and that he should make some of them large enough for framing. So, we put together a display, rack and a tent and went to a French theamed art fair called "Art Dans La Rue" or art in the street. To sum it up we did pretty good and John walks away with another stream of revenue.
Well, we did it. We successfully broadcast something directly to the internet live without the use of a computer. John and I had been working on this for a while. Just to drive the point home so that you understand what I mean, let me give you an example. We can put the camera in the car, drive around, deliver the video to the internet live and all without a computer hookup. Its like we have our own personal microwave truck stuck on top of our camera.
Our first show was in front of Centuries and Sleuths Bookstore. The bookstore often has the authors who write the books come in to their store for discussions. This time he had four different authors in the store. The whole taping was 40 minutes long. You can see the video at http://www.greatlocalshops.com/live-online-stage.html The bookstore website: http://www.centuriesandsleuths.com The second day of testing our streaming equipment and personal acumen has been stopped because one of us was in an automobile accident. We will resume tomorrow. If you want to see some very boring testing you can tune into the "live online" section of this website on Thursday. Chaio until tomorrow.
We finished the new trailer for the movie "Detained". It took us a little while to do it because, well we did actually have a trailer already and a couple of us had some life style changes. Anyway here is the new trailer. This one has been done after the movie has been finished and more accurately reflects the tone of the movie. Enjoy. After about 2 months of on-&-off research and debate, we finally purchased our first streaming tool. I should arrive sometime this week. We can't wait to try it out. It took us so long because we had to decide how to start and figure out where we wanted to take it business wise. We'll let you know how it goes as soon as we can.
I went to L.A. for the first time just a few months ago. This time I went with my family. I once again
rented a convertible Mustang and drove around using a GPS unit. Here are some of the places we went. GALCOS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPbh6Ru7VVM PINKS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb-2DA84oto#aid=P9yDjc8SdHI U.S.S. IOWA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yGr6I3N5Vg Wurstküche: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsFx64aZrMc BEVERLY HILLS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL_WvOly7mY SANTA MONICA PIER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxxDKST5wpI HIGHWAY 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkd46OotGws Mulholland Drive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66yvUn7Bm54 THE CHINESE THEATRE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS5P7bjt5bM UNIVERSAL STUDIOS / CITY WALK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkfEkgudlus These are just a few of the places I went. None of this is video I shot myself. Yeah I know. I don't publish any thing for months then I post three things a day, sorry. Tony and I are working on a new trailer for the movie "Detained". We are doing this because the original trailer we made was done before the movie was finished. That means the trailer doesn't reflect the shots and tone of the finished movie. When we get it done I will post it here and on the movie website for you to see. In the meantime here is the old trailer. Do you remember that movie a little while ago called "The School Of Rock" featuring Jack Black? Guess what there really is such a thing. It's a franchise and one of them opened up in Oak Park. John and I got to shoot their founders day 1st concert. We took this as an opportunity to make a little money and to test out our multiple camera editing. We have two cameras that match. Our task was to integrate into the final project three other cameras that didn't match one another at all. Edited by John, and if look closely you can see me with the dreaded "camera on a stick". Here is a slice of that experiment. Not bad if I do say so myself. If you remember, I took a class on video streaming some months ago. Well, I have been trying to put together a package that fits my needs and business model. It is not easy. There has to be a harmony of cost, provider, encoder, etc and all with the need that the system is open enough for future growth. Needless to say if I had $35,000 to spend on this project selection would be quite a bit easier. However those prices don't reflect my available cash to take on a risk to develop a new revenue stream. My existing client base doesn't reflect that kind of risk / investment. That means the head work and the cost is going to be divided between John, Mario and myself. There are lots of things to do. Marketing, new sales materials, new website and name (maybe), business models and more. Oddly enough one of my old frustrations is haunting me again. You would think that with all of the communication avenues out there, that finding clear concise information would be a snap. No its not. Advertising is mostly gloss and pretty pictures. The people who write the copy are insiders and must assume you are already doing this. I find real explanations are hard to come by. It would seem to me that all advertising of this sort should be written for the newby trying to get in. There is some pressure in me to do this because it seems to me that the idea of providing streaming to clients is in the air. Wish us luck on getting into the market. See you later.
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This blog is a look at our business behind the scenes, and also a few of our side adventures.Ed Pitts - owner of Absolute Video Services Inc. since 1984 Archives
September 2014
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