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Saturday, 10 September 2005 |
Many tourists will gag along with me remembering the smells of Bourbon Street in New Orleans: a sour combination of mule urine, human excrement, and vomit. And that's on a good day. In the summer, add the scent of crawfish shells ripening in the 95-degree heat. Walking America's most notorious olfactory avenue is enough to make you choke. And today it smells worse than ever, with toxic sludge drying in the noonday sun, flavored with faint whiffs of decaying flesh. But today there is no other air I'd rather fill my lungs with.
I have been a refugee for three months now. Long before Katrina laid my city to waste, I was touring the Western United States shooting author videos for free. I've crashed in 25 different rooms over the last three months: Austin, Wichita, Denver, Fort Collins, Salt Lake City, The Dalles, Seattle, Bellingham, Port Townsend, Portland, Gold Beach, San Francisco, Hollywood, the Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, and Little Rock. Since Katrina, I've added Nashville and Richmond to the list. And my conclusion after all these months of travel: the best small town in the U.S.A. is Port Townsend, Washington -- my former home on the Olympic Peninsula -- and the best big city is New Orleans, home stanky home.
If we lose New Orleans, we lose something special. We don't just lose the aroma of Bourbon Street, we lose the musky smell of Magnolias on the Mississippi breeze. We lose the smoky scent of chicory curling out of Cafe Du Monde. We lose the sweet cadence of Bourbon French perfume strolling down Royal Street. We lose the rich roast of French bread fresh from Binder's bakery. We lose the brace of garlic flowing from Irene's. We lose the sticky sweet jasmine fence at Blessed Francis Seelos. We lose the bittersweet of burning butter at Aunt Sally's praline factory across from NOCCA.
Right now, there's a stench hanging over New Orleans. It smells of the federal government trying to wrest control from the state government trying to wrest control from the parish government trying to take it from the city. The palette of flavors will return only when the residents and business owners of New Orleans are able to wrest control of their city from the politicians and set the city to rights again. New Orleans is dead. Long Live New Orleans!
From Richmond, Virginia,
STEVE O'KEEFE
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Wednesday, 07 September 2005 |
(Wednesday, September 7, 2005; 7:30 a.m.) -- Nashville, TN -- Yesterday I sent e-mails to all the cell phone associations pleading for pre-paid cell phones to be dropped in New Orleans. One of the associations, the PCIA, put the word out to their 11,000-name mailing list. Today, I realized that maybe I should get a pre-paid cell phone myself, since no one has been able to call in on my New Orleans number. As soon as I have a new number, I'll post it.
Storme and I are waiting for an opportunity to get back into the French Quarter so we can check on our stuff, grab items we wish we had, and secure our places more thoroughly against looting and the weather. We'll also be bringing in supplies to those still trapped, such as pet food, batteries, neosporin, maybe even pre-paid cell phones if some company would donate them to me. We're not going to run any blockades or anything like that. We'll wait for the authorities to allow us in.
I'll keep you posted.
From Nashville, Tennessee,
STEVE O'KEEFE
New Orleans Refugee
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Tuesday, 06 September 2005 |
(Tuesday, 1:00 p.m. CT) -- Nashville, TN -- Last night, I received e-mail from Hank McKinnell, CEO of Pfizer, letting me know that Neosporin is indeed being distributed in the Gulf Coast area. I e-mailed Mr. McKinnel after midnight and he responded from his blackberry within a half hour. Like me, he must be having sleepless nights.
Today I did an interview with PR Week and asked them to tell PR people to be *specific* about the nature of their aid: how much, where, when? Press coverage is too slow. In matters of life and death, people in New Orleans need products and services, not analysis.
Today I contacted the three largest cellular phone associations to plead for pre-paid phones to be dropped in the area. General Russell Honore, in charge of the ground operations in the Gulf, is begging for these. They need people to be able to communicate their location. They need phones TODAY.
Tonight, I'll be going to a local church where Gulf Coast survivors will tell their stories and look for aid and comfort. I have barely had time to consider my own difficult situation. Right now, my plight pales by comparison with those who are dying without water, medicine, or shoes. When we are on even keel, I'll start to examine what I need for myself. If you want to help me, please do whatever you can TODAY to help those who are still dying in the Gulf by imploring the phone companies to drop pre-paid phones.
From Nashville,
STEVE O'KEEFE
New Orleans Refugee
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Tuesday, 06 September 2005 |
It has been one week since Hurricane Katrina roared into Louisiana as a Category 4 storm. What a week. I have decided to blog about the hurricane here as well as the other sites I am working. Here is some basic info.
* We were not surprised by this hurricane. Everyone in New Orleans knew what to expect if "The Big One" ever hit and it hit. We knew if we stayed we were in for a rough time.
* We had enough time to evacuate but not enough time to board up. Normally, French Quarter businesses are about 75% boarded-up when a hurricane hits. This time, it was more like 10%. When the track shifted toward New Orleans, we lost the two days normally used to prepare and instead we had to get out.
* I would have stayed were it not for a family friend who arrived for a visit just as all the freeways were made one-way: out of town. We got out just ahead of the storm.
* The storm hit Monday. There is simply no excuse for not having riot police and water at the Superdome and Convention Center by Wednesday. Instead, there was an extra 48 hours of sheer terror with no water because FEMA blocked the efforts of both official agencies and volunteers to aid the victims. The looters were minor criminals compared to FEMA, the agency that caused hundreds to die in agony rather than allow "unsanctioned" aid.
* I am now with my family in Nashville, Tennessee, trying to work out a post-Katrina plan.
However, before I get to think about me, there are thousands of my brothers and sisters in misery in New Orleans and they need things. Right now, they still need water in some parts of town, Neosporin, batteries, and pre-paid cell phones. If you know anyone that makes these products, please encourage them TODAY to make sure supplies are getting through.
Last week, I begged the bottled water companies to airlift water onto the freeway overpasses of New Orleans. You can see their responses at the IAOCblog.com web site, where I am blogging about crisis PR. Many companies are not aware how much their products are needed until they are told. When you see a need not being filled, and you know there is a company that could fill it, I encourage you to step forward and make your voice heard. Right now, those people need batteries and Neosporin and pre-paid cell phones, so I am off to bug the senior executives of those companies to get their products in NOW. When all this settles down, I'll get back to making author videos.
Thanks for your kind wishes and support getting supplies to the Gulf Coast.
Sincerely,
STEVE O'KEEFE
New Orleans Refugee
President, AuthorViews
Executive Director, Patron Saint Productions, Inc.
Vice President, IAOC
Adjunct Faculty, Tulane University College
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The San Francisco FilmFest |
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Monday, 08 August 2005 |
On the return trip to New Orleans, the AuthorViews tour kicked into high gear. In San Francisco, Robin Donovan, Online Marketing Manager for Berrett-Koehler Publishers, provided a conference room to shoot in and several authors to film. Media coach Susan Harrow, along with Cypress House's Cynthia Frank, lined-up most of the remaining authors for an incredible day of filmmaking. Here's the schedule:
09:00 - 09:30 Set Up
09:30 - 10:00 William C. Miller - Long Pig
10:00 - 10:30 Maggie Oman Shannon - The Way We Pray
10:00 - 10:30 Maggie Oman Shannon - One God, Shared Hope
10:30 - 11:00 Robin Donovan - Campfire Cuisine
11:00 - 11:30 Susan Harrow - Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul
11:00 - 11:30 Susan Harrow - Get a Six Figure Book Advance
11:30 - 12:00 Carol Adrienne - The Purpose of Your Life
11:30 - 12:00 Carol Adrienne - When Life Changes or You Wish It Would
12:00 - 12:30 Ines Villafane-Leon - Viento del Sur ("Wind from the South")
12:00 - 12:30 Ines Villafane-Leon - A Story for All Seasons
12:30 - 01:00 LUNCH
01:00 - 01:30 Ruth Hoppin - Priscilla's Letter
01:30 - 02:00 Ellen Augustine Schwartz - Taking Back Our Lives in the Age of Corporate Dominance; also Stories of Hope
02:00 - 02:30 Carmen Richardson Rutlen - Dancing Naked in Fuzzy Red Slippers
02:30 - 03:00 Laryssa Nechay, and Nick Nechay - Invisible Friend
03:00 - 03:30 David Isaacs & Juanita Brown - The World Cafe
03:30 - 04:00 Jenny Willims - BK Currents
04:00 - 04:30 Johanna Vondeling - Berrett-Koehler Publishers
04:30 - 05:00 Take Down
The schedule is one thing; the day is another. We arrived at B-K's offices at 8:30 to set-up and we began shooting as soon as the equipment was in place. We shot continuously -- relentlessly -- until after 5 p.m. with a 15-minute break for lunch. I never realized how draining conducting interviews could be. These authors were revealing very personal, powerful sides of themselves and cameraman Jesse Vohs and I had to be on guard at all times, looking for that magic moment of intensity to build a clip around.
The authors, too, felt drained after filming. They start nervous, concerned about their appearance and prepared with the "elevator pitch" for their books. Sometimes it takes an entire interview for them to let down their shields. Sometimes we never get there. Always by the time it was over, they were relieved. This day in San Francisco was extraordinary. Someday soon we will have clips for you to look at and you will see for yourself how unique and powerful every author is.
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Tuesday, 02 August 2005 |
My home away from home for the few weeks this summer between the first and second leg of the AuthorViews Western Tour was Bellingham, Washington. The 70,000 residents of Bellingham really put the lie to my theory that the reading of books is a skill that is disappearing.Just 90 minutes north of Seattle, Bellingham is a little too far to become a bedroom community to that congested metropolis. It is the last major city on the I-5 corridor before it crosses into Vancouver, British Columbia. The citizens -- Bellinghamsters, they call themselves -- have a lot in common with the Canadians to the north: a reverence for nature, a tolerance for alternative lifestyles, and a fondness for an herbal remedy which the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled could not be used for medicinal purposes.
Until recently, the economy of Bellingham was tied to natural resources -- lumber and fishing, mostly. Jobs in those industries have been disappearing. The giant paper mill that stank up downtown Bellingham recently closed, inspiring a waterfront redevelopment which will change the whole feel of the town. Right now, it is a city of pockets, with a lot of heavy industry still occupying prime downtown real estate, Western Washington University on Sehome Hill overlooking the town, a restored Victorian mercantile village called Fairhaven, a massive commercial waterfront development with resorts and trendy shops that the locals avoid, an ugly big-box-store district near the Interstate, and a good-sized downtown that is slowly gentrifying and coming back from near death.
My first week in Bellingham, I went to the main branch of the library to pick up a book I ordered online. It was about four in the afternoon and the joint was jumping. I had to wait in line several minutes to learn that my book wasn't in yet. When I went back in the morning two days later, I was sure the library would be less congested. Wrong! The library was packed with several hundred patrons -- mostly moms and children, including plenty of teenagers. There were three checkout lanes and a dozen people in the line feeding them. I've never seen such a busy library in such a small town. It is heartwarming.
As I looked around Bellingham, I noticed peculiarities I haven't seen in other cities. I frequently saw people reading books in parked cars. I'm guessing most of them were workers on lunch or break, but it struck me as odd and delightful that they would spend their breaks locked in a car getting in another chapter or two. The city has more coffee shops than churches (you need a jacket in Bellingham even in July), and these establishments usually had more people reading books than periodicals. The strangest reading phenomenon I witnessed was locals coming outdoors to celebrate a little sunshine and warmth by reading books in public places. Reading here is considered an outdoor sport. I saw many people plopped on sidewalk benches reading books -- folks who could obviously do this in the comfort of their own homes but choose instead to soak up the street scene while devouring a new novel.
Bellingham is home to Village Books, one of the great independent bookstores in America. Village Books holds readings every night of the week, and these seem to draw bigger crowds than the town's minor league baseball team, the Bellingham Bees. If you're looking for a place where the love of reading is stronger than ever, point your compass northwest and visit Bellingham, Washington -- the last city in the Lower 48 but first in consumption of good coffee and good books.
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AuthorViews Western Tour FAQ |
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Friday, 22 July 2005 |
Frequently Asked Author Questions:
WHAT IT IS:
We are shooting videos of authors talking about their books. The video is about the book more than the author, so we like to shoot two videos if an author has two books. We shoot for 10 minutes to 30 minutes. We edit the videos down to two minutes. We put the edited video online for the author to view and approve. If approved, it is released to the public. If not approved, it is taken down.
WHO OWNS THE VIDEO?
No one owns it. We are shooting the video for free. We ask that you sign a permission slip that makes the video available through Creative Commons -- that is, it is copyright free. We don't own it. You don't own it. Anyone may copy, store, or display the video as long as the contents are not altered. It's that simple.
HOW TO PREPARE:
Wear the image you want your readers to see. The videos are mostly head shots, sometimes head and shoulders, rarely down to the waist. Mostly it's your face. Bring a copy of your book to hold up. Then sign it over to the director for his collection if you like. Try to relax -- we are not professional journalists, we are publicists who are trying to make you look as good as possible. You can stop and re-take all you want.
WHEN WILL YOUR VIDEO BE READY?
You need to cut us some slack on this point. We are on the road and shooting for free, so it's difficult to find the time & staff to edit immediately. We make no guarantees, but we will try to have the videos finished in two weeks and hope to have all videos done and available at AuthorViews.com by September 1, 2005.
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Why Does It Take So Long? |
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Friday, 15 July 2005 |
It has been almost a month now since we began our Summer Tour and there are still no tour videos on the site. What's taking so long?
It has been almost a month now since we began our Summer Tour and there are still no tour videos on the site. What's taking so long?
Good question. The main bottleneck in getting the videos up on the web site is the file sizes. The video must be "captured" -- that is, pulled off the camera and onto a computer -- before it can be edited. The capture files for John Lebkowsky's half-hour video shoot are over 10 gigabytes! That's huge.
We can't put them on a DVD or a CD -- the file sizes are just too big. It would take forever to FTP the files, and don't even think about trying to e-mail them. So we have to capture the video to our 500 gig LaCie hard drive, then send the original tapes to New Orleans to edit. That way, we have a backup in case the tapes get lost in the mail.
To edit the tapes, someone has to decide which cuts to use, in what sequence. I have trouble delegating that task, so I'm the bottleneck there. Making a two-minute video usually requires that I view the half-hour raw footage three times. I select my cuts, sequence them, and give the list to George or Jesse or Lance or another editor to make the cuts, smooth the transitions, add the credits, and make it look great.
Then we face rendering issues. We have to decide what formats to encode the final videos in. There are dozens of possibilities (maybe hundreds or thousands, when you consider there are numerous choices for how to compress both the audio and video tracks). Each choice is critical to having the video play properly for everyone who watches.
I've asked Jesse Vohs to blog on some of the rendering issues. Little ol' AuthorViews is actually working on the cutting edge of this technology. We're not just choosing a format -- we're helping to *create* formats that make these videos look good and work well.
In closing, I'd just like to add that we have pretty high standards. Amazon.com is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month, and part of the celebration involves serving videos of celebrities delivering Amazon packages. I've watched a few of the videos and I have to say, in all honesty, our videos look much better. Why? Because we're using state-of-the-art equipment and we're taking our time to get it right. Do a side-by-side comparison and ask yourself who's got the higher quality:
AMAZON or AUTHORVIEWS
From Bellingham, Washington,
STEVE O'KEEFE
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Monday, 11 July 2005 |
I wanted to take a moment and comment on how clear and entertaining the messages delivered by the AuthorViews videos really are. All the passion and hardwork the writers of the books put into their creative endeavors is revealed through slight changes in vocal patterns or ear-to-ear grins as they comment on their work. It's quite fun to watch.In every video that I have had the pleasure to work on, it's been very interesting (and refreshing) to see how spiritually and emotionally vested in the book each author is.
There is nothing better than watching an artist sing the praises of their own work. Saying nothing of the book's value (good or bad), just listening to authors being put on the spot to describe said book's worth is very interesting and enjoyable to watch. Even if the videos wern't being used as promotional tools, they would still make interesting films, mostly due to the performances of the authors.
Of course, one can't deny that some authors are natural-born charmers. People usually have two distinct reactions in front of a camera. They either shy away from the instrument and clam up, or they are empowered by it and reveal a performance that is a fitting and accurate portrayal of their book. Most fall into the latter category.
For good examples of AuthorView videos that illustrate some of my points, check: Susannah Breslin, Joshua Clark, Keith Medley and Andrei Codrescu.
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Editing Video, Compressing Time |
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Sunday, 03 July 2005 |
It has been ten days since we started shooting video for the AuthorViews Summer Tour and still no clips appear on this site. What's the hang up?
Ideally, I would like to be able to shoot video and see it online within two days, but so far we have not been able to compress time that well. Each video we make goes through the same series of processes:
Shoot. Capture. Edit. Rend. Store. Serve.
There are delays and problems at every stage. For example, Jesse Vohs and I can shoot a 60-minute session with an author, but we have no easy and safe way to get that tape to Lance Vargas or George Ingmire back at the home office. We could just put the tape in the mail and move on, but that's too risky. If the tape is lost, so is a substantial investment in travel, time, and technology. So we capture to our laptops at night.
Capture is the process of pulling the video into editing software, and it happens in real time. That is, it takes an hour to capture an hour-long video. Once the video is captured, we have a duplicate and can safely mail the original tape back home (where, ironically, it will have to be captured again before Lance or George can edit it).
The main decisions in editing are which clips to use and what order to put them in. That's a judgment call I like to make myself and have difficulty delegating. Making a time log of clips to use requires watching the video at least twice. If I can provide George or Lance with the clip selection and order, it makes their jobs much faster. They can then apply the editor's arts of smoothing transitions, inserting graphics, manipulating soundtracks separately from video tracks, adding credits, and turning a series of, say, 11 clips into one two-minute work of art.
Once the editing is done, we have to render the video in different formats for delivery on the web. Right now, this is a major bottleneck. Many of the videos on the AuthorViews site are available only in MPEG4. Unfortunately, as we've discovered, many of the people who come to our site cannot get those videos to work. For videos that get the full AuthorViews treatment, we render in multiple formats (MPEG, Windows Media, Real Media, and QuickTime) optimized for different connection speeds (dialup or broadband). Still, there are problems...
Today, we're trying is a new "codec" for rendering videos which gives us twice the screen size with half the file size. The only problem is, they can't be viewed by anyone who has not installed QuickTime7, which is free. Hopefully, Jesse Vohs will come blog about the details of this new codec; much of it is beyond me. The desire to serve quality video over the Internet is so strong that thousands of engineers are working on the problem at the same time and major improvements appear on a weekly basis. This will settle down eventually as video helpers are integrated into web browsers. For now, the ability to make watching online video simple and easy for every browser just doesn't exist. Even making the videos work for the majority of browsers is a difficult task -- especially if you also want them to look and sound great. Improvements in quality come at the expense of access.
And so we struggle to find a way to get these videos edited and online quickly, without sacrificing either quality or accessibility. Hopefully, this coming week you'll get to see the first of our Summer Tour videos. We appreciate any feedback you have about difficulties viewing the videos on our site. It is from your comments that we find ways to improve the experience.
STEVE O'KEEFE
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Profile: Filmmaker George Ingmire |
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Thursday, 30 June 2005 |
After getting our new gear, we had a digital video boot camp at the Bywater Tech Center last week. Our drill instructor was George Ingmire, who has been working with us on the AuthorViews project for about 18 months now...
George Ingmire is a man of many talents. He came to me through a mutual friend, Chris Lenois, who I worked with at Tenagra. Both George and Chris are disk jockeys on New Orleans' beloved public radio station, WWOZ. New Orleans is not a high wage city. Most people live there for reasons not related to money. Music is a top-three reason for living there (food and winter weather are the other two). In a town that worships music, WWOZ disk jockeys are like rock stars. You feel special when walking the streets of New Orleans in the company of either of these men.
George was no doubt attracted to the radio station because of his background in sound. He has done the sound work on several recordings and just completed a six-month stint doing sound for the Dukes of Hazard DVD due out this fall. George's interest in sound led to studies in filmmaking and ultimately teaching digital filmmaking and editing at The University of New Orleans. You can see some of his clips at the web site, MiAbuelo.com.
Last year, George began teaching web design at Tulane's University College. He's a great teacher. In Day 1 of our Bywater Boot Camp, George and cameraman Jesse Vohs assembled all the lighting and camera equipment we purchased and began testing and making notes about things we would need, such as longer microphone cables and 9-volt batteries for the phantom power.
On Day 2, George gave Jesse instructions on the camera while filming me, and gave me instructions while we filmed Jesse. He taught us to give the authors more room when they're being theoretical, and come in close when they get personal. George has an undergraduate degree in anthropology, which came into play as he gave me hints on interviewing technique: "Get them to pause at the end of each statement. Let it hang -- don't rush in with another question too soon."
On Day 3, George supervised and assisted while Jesse and I interviewed two authors, Tripp Friedler and Josh Peter. After each author departed, George critiqued us -- less with negative criticism than positive suggestions such as "never let them think you don't know what you're doing by fumbling for a fresh battery. Quietly put the new one in and keep rolling." Later that day, Jesse and I filmed author Gary Michael Smith by ourselves.
On Day 4, George taught Jesse Vohs, Lance Vargas, and me how to edit using Final Cut Pro software. All of us have a little experience with video cameras, filming, and editing; George has a lot. He led a group editing class, showing us keyboard shortcuts, how to smooth transitions, how to manipulate the microphone tracks separately from the video track. Then we each took an author and started editing, with George going from student to student and assisting. I was the worst student; I was too busy with client work to sit and edit a video. I tried to absorb as much as I could by listening and watching.
And that was Bywater Boot Camp -- four days of training in filmmaking and editing by George Ingmire. Then Jesse and I hit the road in search of authors to shoot while Lance has been editing back in New Orleans at the Tech Center. George and I have discussed offering classes at the Bywater Tech Center, but so far the training has all been for staff only. If you'd be interested in taking digital video classes, send George an e-mail at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
. If we get enough interest, maybe we could lure you to the Town That Care Forgot for classes, great music, good food, and warm winter weather?
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Wednesday, 29 June 2005 |
Here's what we're using on our summer roadtrip shooting video across the Western U.S. What gear do you love?Here's what we're using on our summer roadtrip shooting video across the Western U.S. Most of this came from B&H Photo & Video in New York (http://www.bhphotovideo.com, phone 1-800-606-6969).
CAR: Ford Econoline 150E Cargo Van
This 1997 van was owned by a retired couple who used it mostly for car camping. The interior is padded and carpeted, keeping down the noise levels. It has two batteries -- an extra one for utilities in back. We purchased an inverter that allows us to run a standard power strip off a cigarette-lighter plug. We installed a desk in the van and we can run our computers and edit video en route.
CAMERA: Sony DCR-VX2100 3 CCD Mini DV Camcorder
This was the largest investment besides the van. Our video teacher, George Ingmire, says this 3-chip camera has been used to produce big-screen motion pictures.
MICROPHONES: Countryman Miniature Lavalier (2)
Lavalier microphones are small mics that attach to your lapel. These microphones are so small the ads compare them to the size of a match stick -- and that's about right. In hindsight, I wish I had gotten wireless "Lav" mics for greater mobility while shooting. We also purchased a Shure Beta 58A microphone for my "Phil Donahue," man-on-the-street ambush-style interviews. I've been assured the Shure mic will withstand almost anything a drunken karaoke singer could dish out. To support the Lav mics, we also purchased a Beachtek DXA-6 Audio Adapter with Phantom Power.
ACCESSORIES:
Davis & Sanford Pro Vista Tripod
Sony MDR-7506 Headphones
Sony BCV-500 Portable Dual AC Charger
Power-2000 NP-F970 Lithium-Ion Battery
Petrol Compact Camcorder Bag
COMPUTERS:
Macintosh PowerBook G4 (2)
LaCie 500GB Big-Disk Triple Interface Hard Drive
HP OfficeJet 4215 Color Printer
Both Jesse and I are using Mac laptop computers that have been reinforced with maximum amounts of memory. But file sizes when editing digital video can be huge, so the LaCie drive gives us the storage space we need to work on the videos. And the HP printer is a favorite (I have four of them now). It does a passable job of color printing, copying, scanning, and fax.
What gear do you love?
STEVE O'KEEFE
AuthorViews in Austin, Texas
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AuthorViews Summer Tour 2005 -- Day 0 |
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Monday, 27 June 2005 |
AuthorViews president Steve O'Keefe and cameraman Jesse Vohs prepare to head out on the road for a 14-city tour of the western United States in search of authors willing to have their pictures made...Hi. I'm Steve O'Keefe. Welcome to the new AuthorViews Blog!
Those of you familiar with my newsletter, The Beautiful Plan, know I have very mixed feelings about blogs. Done well, they are incredibly time consuming. As many bloggers have found, it's also difficult to create blogs that can earn a reasonable rate of return.
Until today, I have been content to participate in other people's blogs rather than have one of my own. Why break precedent? Because today AuthorViews embarks upon a 14-city tour of the western U.S. in search of the elusive author. Myself and my cameraman, Jesse Vohs, will travel over 6000 miles shooting FREE videos of authors and author-ities. The diary structure of blogging lends itself to a travel diary, and so we're giving it a try.
In fact, we'll be blogging about the AuthorViews Tour on three sites. At this blog, we'll be focusing on the video project: shoot, capture, edit, rend, store, serve. At IAOCblog.com, we'll be talking about new communications technologies, such as VOIP, Skype, blogging, telecommuting, etc. And at Fast Company's blog, FCNow, we hope to blog about business planning; we will be interviewing many business planning experts on this trip.
So let's begin by talking about what we're trying to do on this tour. I have been involved in producing author videos for several years. In late 2003, I organized my first author shoot -- five authors in a television studio in Harahan, Louisiana. I took the prototypes to Book Expo America in June, 2004, and showed them to about 30 book publishers, booksellers, literary agents, and others in the book trade. Publishers -- my main clients -- wanted longer clips for use in DVD press kits. I wanted to keep the clips short -- two minutes or less -- for use on the web. I came back to New Orleans and re-tooled our approach to get the publishers what they need for the press kits (5 minutes) and what I need for the web (2 minutes).
I went back to the Book Expo America (BEA) in June of 2005. At my first meeting, I told the marketing director for a giant, multi-national publisher,"I have two things to show you: author videos and blog PR." She said, "Your videos better have an awesome hook; I've heard 11 pitches in the last two weeks for author videos." I replied, "Let's talk about blog PR."
I immediately stopped talking with publishers at the BEA about AuthorViews. In the last year, numerous vendors have stepped into the void of author video. I had been planning to use the BEA to line-up authors to shoot during the summer. Publishers have liberated me from the illusion that they will someday pay me to make videos of their authors. I was about to cancel the AuthorViews Tour when I realized that now I was free to shoot these videos my way. And that's what we're doing: making short author videos for the web that communicate quickly and with power.
You want an awesome hook? How's this: we're shooting for free! I'm betting that sets AuthorViews apart from the other video vendors. We are traveling all across the western U.S. to shoot videos of authors at our own expense. Why? Because I've been working on this project for too long to give it up without a fight. Because I might never get a chance to do a trip like this again -- the combination of money, equipment, time and staff needed to pull off an ambitious six-week tour. Because I honestly believe that if I go around asking authors why they write -- and publishers why they publish -- and recording the answers, good things will come of it. Because any excuse to leave New Orleans in the summertime is a good excuse.
So let me end my first dispatch by asking: Have you ever gone on a boneheaded adventure like this before -- one that goes against all sound judgment? How did it turn out?
Easing Out on the Road,
STEVE O'KEEFE
President, AuthorViews
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