Hi Everyone!
The past few months have been a bit of a whirlwind, both with the business and in other aspects. I won't bore you with my general life complaints because we're here to talk about business!
Right?
Ah... Business... Some people love the word and others hate it. For me, I usually get a headache just thinking about the word, let alone its connotation. Now, I don't have a degree in business, nor do I even know if I will be taking business classes when I get to college, but I DO know that learning about it has resulted in some of the longest--and maybe the most interesting--conversations I've ever had.
You might be asking: "What do you mean? You're trying to tell me that you AREN'T head over heels in love with business? Isn't that what you're trying to start? A BUSINESS?"
Well... Yes.
But I've also come to terms with the fact that the mystical, magical, wonderful world of business isn't something that can be mastered overnight. It certainly takes experience. How do you get that experience? Well... trying it out usually works!
How do you "try out" business? Do you mean try out starting a business?
Well, not exactly. "Business" doesn't always mean that you have to be a businessman or that you have to own a company. For the average Joe, what it DOES mean is that you know how to be a master at just one thing.
Persuasion.
Yup. That's it! At least that's what I've observed. Business is all about persuasion. Exactly HOW you are persuasive often varies. Maybe you are clever in the marketing field or maybe you're a great negotiator. Either way, by doing these tasks you have found a successful way to persuade people into agreeing with you.
Here's an example:
I recently began working with a mentor on how to develop what are called "packages", meaning stock services that can be sold at a specific price, that could be implemented in my logo design business. The trick to presenting these packages was to figure out exactly how to persuade the person in to buying the most expensive (and subsequently the most practically useful) package that I offered. We had to figure out which bonuses to put where and exactly the right wording to use, to show that the package with all the bells and whistles was really the most useful. That, my friends, was marketing and business.
How can you use this to your advantage?
Well, if you're someone who is looking for a job, make sure you're always professional. It is always useful to have your own office space and a business email address. Make sure you send emails that are well worded and make you sound like an educated adult. THIS is also persuasion, because you are forcing a potential employer to view you EXACTLY the way you want to be viewed, which is an extremely valuable tool.
Shameless Plug: If you ARE looking to start up you're own business, you'll need a website and a logo! check out www.LaurenceBenjaminProductions.com for a dazzling logo and www.StageDoorDesigns.com for a spectacular website!
I will check in soon! Keep being persuasive! Have any stories or questions? Post a comment!
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Twitter: @LarrySaperstein
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Thursday, August 21, 2014
Monday, January 20, 2014
Director or Problem Solver?
First of all, I'd like to welcome everyone back to this blog page. After a year-and-a-half, it is nice to come back to old ideas, spruce them up a bit, and send them out into the public. As a filmmaker, I have improved immensely in the 2013 year and continue to improve each day. As I improve, I release more work, and as I release more work, my workload increases (in a good way, of course!). My goal is to continue to film, direct, edit, and post so that with each project I will continue to improve and learn new lessons.
Recently, I have had the opportunity to work with some amazingly talented and ambitious people who have inspiring creative visions and are willing to grant me input and control. This delicate balance can be difficult to master, and is something that I plan to talk about in the future, but for now, we'll stick to the experience of being a director on location, and how to rise to the occasion when faced with limited time and limited resources.
Low budget (and I mean looowwww budget) projects can be a delightful nightmare. Since money is scarce, daunting time constraints are the first to loom over your shoot. Those people (usually family friends) who have graciously offered their storefront or living room to your shoot have lives that they need to get back to, and often times, while there can be some wiggle room, the team may need to shoot an entire 3 minute sequence in 3-4 hours. Before you rebut, just know that 3 minute sequence in a feature film can take up to 3 days to complete. Actors and crew members can avoid stress by making sure that every single detail is planned before they arrive to their location. Know your desired angles and how you plan to light the area. Most importantly, make sure that the actors know their lines and blocking. It may be a wise idea to hold a rehearsal before hand at someone's house so that everyone can arrive at the location and get right to work!
Unlike sound stages, locations can be laced with imperfections and often times quick thinking and problem solving skills are required. Lighting, sound, power, space, and other resources are always limited, and it is the crew's job to turn every flaw into an advantage. For my shoots, I bring a suitcase that contains everything that I may need for a shoot. I pack 3 spare microphones, a spare flipcam, PLENTY of extra batteries, an extension cord, a power strip, and a small lamp that helps fill dark areas with ambient light. The number one rule is to be prepared! Know your camera, location, actors, and possible issues. ANYTHING can happen on a shoot, so make sure you know how to handle everything.
Lastly, on low budget shoots, it is important to know that you, as a director, take on many more jobs titles than just "director". On these shoots, a director can also be the DP (Director of Photography), the Gaffer (head electrician), the sound guy, and even the editor (which is a whole other animal altogether). It is important to know how to perform each job flawlessly and with a smile on your face! Have fun, and go make an awesome movie!!!
PS:
To see what a project like this can look like, check out my latest endeavor. The wonderful Justine Re and I are working together to bring the public a webshow complete with fashion, music, and girl-talk (I'm learning every day in the fashion and girl-talk areas).
My Youtube Channel
My Facebook Page
Low budget (and I mean looowwww budget) projects can be a delightful nightmare. Since money is scarce, daunting time constraints are the first to loom over your shoot. Those people (usually family friends) who have graciously offered their storefront or living room to your shoot have lives that they need to get back to, and often times, while there can be some wiggle room, the team may need to shoot an entire 3 minute sequence in 3-4 hours. Before you rebut, just know that 3 minute sequence in a feature film can take up to 3 days to complete. Actors and crew members can avoid stress by making sure that every single detail is planned before they arrive to their location. Know your desired angles and how you plan to light the area. Most importantly, make sure that the actors know their lines and blocking. It may be a wise idea to hold a rehearsal before hand at someone's house so that everyone can arrive at the location and get right to work!
Unlike sound stages, locations can be laced with imperfections and often times quick thinking and problem solving skills are required. Lighting, sound, power, space, and other resources are always limited, and it is the crew's job to turn every flaw into an advantage. For my shoots, I bring a suitcase that contains everything that I may need for a shoot. I pack 3 spare microphones, a spare flipcam, PLENTY of extra batteries, an extension cord, a power strip, and a small lamp that helps fill dark areas with ambient light. The number one rule is to be prepared! Know your camera, location, actors, and possible issues. ANYTHING can happen on a shoot, so make sure you know how to handle everything.
Lastly, on low budget shoots, it is important to know that you, as a director, take on many more jobs titles than just "director". On these shoots, a director can also be the DP (Director of Photography), the Gaffer (head electrician), the sound guy, and even the editor (which is a whole other animal altogether). It is important to know how to perform each job flawlessly and with a smile on your face! Have fun, and go make an awesome movie!!!
PS:
To see what a project like this can look like, check out my latest endeavor. The wonderful Justine Re and I are working together to bring the public a webshow complete with fashion, music, and girl-talk (I'm learning every day in the fashion and girl-talk areas).
My Youtube Channel
My Facebook Page
Monday, October 1, 2012
Video Breakdown: We're Done With You
Hello Everyone!
Wow! Its been a VERY long time! I apologize for the long wait for a new video, and I don't even have an excuse for it. It was really just a product of my writer's block. If you haven't seen my new video "We're Done With You- An Original Breakup Song", then I suggest you watch it here before you read the rest of this Video Breakdown.
Okay, lets start with the beginning. I wanted to make this video seem as though it was un-professional, almost as if it was an e-card. This is why the video has only one continuous shot. I chose not to follow general music video format, because it gave the video (sort of) a hidden meaning. It also makes it look more like Reg and I are actually together. If a video was ameteaur, why would someone work on an effect like that? Well, that's exactly what I wanted it to look like. It makes it seem more real.
Second, how did I actually accomplish the shot? In Premiere Pro CS5.5, I used a 16 point garbage mask to cut the video in half. When I shot the video, I made sure to never cross a certain point. This made my editing easier. I didn't have to use a green screen because I cut the entire image in half.
The song itself was a product of an idea that I got at 3 in the morning! I woke up in the middle of the night and created a rough outline on my iPod. Then I used a special piano that plugs into my computer to record the piano track. I recorded the voice tracks a while later and shot the video just after that. I hope you guys all enjoyed the video as well as the song!!
If you haven't seen the video yet, please watch it here. Please also check out my Facebook Page and my Twitter as well! Thanks everyone for your support! Please share any of my videos to a friend if you enjoyed them!! Have a wonderful day!
Okay, lets start with the beginning. I wanted to make this video seem as though it was un-professional, almost as if it was an e-card. This is why the video has only one continuous shot. I chose not to follow general music video format, because it gave the video (sort of) a hidden meaning. It also makes it look more like Reg and I are actually together. If a video was ameteaur, why would someone work on an effect like that? Well, that's exactly what I wanted it to look like. It makes it seem more real.
Second, how did I actually accomplish the shot? In Premiere Pro CS5.5, I used a 16 point garbage mask to cut the video in half. When I shot the video, I made sure to never cross a certain point. This made my editing easier. I didn't have to use a green screen because I cut the entire image in half.
The song itself was a product of an idea that I got at 3 in the morning! I woke up in the middle of the night and created a rough outline on my iPod. Then I used a special piano that plugs into my computer to record the piano track. I recorded the voice tracks a while later and shot the video just after that. I hope you guys all enjoyed the video as well as the song!!
If you haven't seen the video yet, please watch it here. Please also check out my Facebook Page and my Twitter as well! Thanks everyone for your support! Please share any of my videos to a friend if you enjoyed them!! Have a wonderful day!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Professional Style Videos
Hi Everyone!
The 2 month wait is over! I finally put up a new video, which you can watch by clicking here or by watching it down at the bottom of this post.
Today's video breakdown is mostly about what makes your videos look professional. Why is this important? You want people to be able to look at your videos and take them seriously (even if they are comedy). You want people to look at you and say "Wow, he/she is really serious about this stuff. It obviously looks like he/she puts the time and effort needed into his/her work." And making people think that is a lot easier than you think.
First, have a good establishing shot. Take a look at the beginning of my current video. Notice the pan that occurs? Its extremely simple to accomplish and really makes people want to watch the rest. It's like having a hook sentence in an essay or story. It makes people keep watching until the end.
Second, I like having a nice simple intro and outro. It makes the video part of your "brand" or "company", so to speak. And if you are putting music to it, make the music your own! Don't take a song that somebody else wrote. If you can't sing, I'm pretty sure you have a friend that does. And it can be simple, just a few seconds. The video of the intro doesn't have to be elaborate either.
Third, get a bunch of people to work on your videos with you. The more hands in the pot, the quicker and better the project gets done. However, make sure that one person is the dedicated leader (if there is a director, that would be him). Then, when you're editing, put all of the stars of your video in the beginning. This is done a bunch in feature films and gives credit to all of the people who worked with you. Also, if you have more people that helped with your video, put them in the credits at the end! But don't forget to include your stars in the end as well! :) When you have a bunch of people that work with you, there are more people who can tell more friends, who then tell their friends, and then your view count increases exponentially.
It is ideal to work on professional editing techniques. Now, this is optional, because I understand that most people don't have editing software. However, any computer nowadays comes with some type of video editing software, whether it be Widows Movie Maker or iMovie. You can still experiment with some professional editing techniques using those programs. Now, by professional editing techniques, I mean things like conversations. This is hard to explain without showing you, but good examples can be found here. Notice how when conversations happen, the camera cuts back and forth between the two (or more) characters talking? This is a great thing to do, and its really very simple to do, but for some reason it makes people think that your videos are professional. It also just looks very good.
Okay, the last and most important point: BE ORIGINAL! Don't do spinoffs of other people's videos! If you have a channel in which the goal is very similar to that of famous YouTubers, (i.e. My channel is pretty similar to Shane Dawson in that we both do the same type of comedy) then be sure to make your individual content very different! Don't try and do a parody of the same song he did a parody to a week after he did it! Just think of your own things, find places and things that inspire you, and get to work!
If you read this whole thing, then thank you. I hope you took some valuable information from it. Tune in for the next blog post in a few weeks! Here is the newest video that I've posted. Thank you everyone!
The 2 month wait is over! I finally put up a new video, which you can watch by clicking here or by watching it down at the bottom of this post.
Today's video breakdown is mostly about what makes your videos look professional. Why is this important? You want people to be able to look at your videos and take them seriously (even if they are comedy). You want people to look at you and say "Wow, he/she is really serious about this stuff. It obviously looks like he/she puts the time and effort needed into his/her work." And making people think that is a lot easier than you think.
First, have a good establishing shot. Take a look at the beginning of my current video. Notice the pan that occurs? Its extremely simple to accomplish and really makes people want to watch the rest. It's like having a hook sentence in an essay or story. It makes people keep watching until the end.
Second, I like having a nice simple intro and outro. It makes the video part of your "brand" or "company", so to speak. And if you are putting music to it, make the music your own! Don't take a song that somebody else wrote. If you can't sing, I'm pretty sure you have a friend that does. And it can be simple, just a few seconds. The video of the intro doesn't have to be elaborate either.
Third, get a bunch of people to work on your videos with you. The more hands in the pot, the quicker and better the project gets done. However, make sure that one person is the dedicated leader (if there is a director, that would be him). Then, when you're editing, put all of the stars of your video in the beginning. This is done a bunch in feature films and gives credit to all of the people who worked with you. Also, if you have more people that helped with your video, put them in the credits at the end! But don't forget to include your stars in the end as well! :) When you have a bunch of people that work with you, there are more people who can tell more friends, who then tell their friends, and then your view count increases exponentially.
It is ideal to work on professional editing techniques. Now, this is optional, because I understand that most people don't have editing software. However, any computer nowadays comes with some type of video editing software, whether it be Widows Movie Maker or iMovie. You can still experiment with some professional editing techniques using those programs. Now, by professional editing techniques, I mean things like conversations. This is hard to explain without showing you, but good examples can be found here. Notice how when conversations happen, the camera cuts back and forth between the two (or more) characters talking? This is a great thing to do, and its really very simple to do, but for some reason it makes people think that your videos are professional. It also just looks very good.
Okay, the last and most important point: BE ORIGINAL! Don't do spinoffs of other people's videos! If you have a channel in which the goal is very similar to that of famous YouTubers, (i.e. My channel is pretty similar to Shane Dawson in that we both do the same type of comedy) then be sure to make your individual content very different! Don't try and do a parody of the same song he did a parody to a week after he did it! Just think of your own things, find places and things that inspire you, and get to work!
If you read this whole thing, then thank you. I hope you took some valuable information from it. Tune in for the next blog post in a few weeks! Here is the newest video that I've posted. Thank you everyone!
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Video Breakdown: The Grossest Ever (New YouTube Video)
Hi everyone! I uploaded a new video last night, which you can watch by clicking here. Basically, what I wanted to accomplish through this video was the amazing dolly shot provided by my parents. I also wanted to incorporate that flying shot you saw closer to the end.
For the dolly: My dad's car has a hatch. Basically, if you have a minivan, you have one of these. Its in place of the trunk and it is connected to the car. So my dad drove around while my mom sat in the hatch holding the camera. Thats dedication!
For the flying shot: All I had to do was get my friend Lauren to jump in the air. I also had to get a shot at the same angle without her in it. Then, its all up to clever masking, layering, timing, and color correction in After Effects. A great tutorial for this can be found here!
Anyway, here is my newly released video! Other than that, please be sure to check out my Facebook, Twitter, and other YouTube videos!
Have a wonderful day!
-LaurenceBenjamin
For the dolly: My dad's car has a hatch. Basically, if you have a minivan, you have one of these. Its in place of the trunk and it is connected to the car. So my dad drove around while my mom sat in the hatch holding the camera. Thats dedication!
For the flying shot: All I had to do was get my friend Lauren to jump in the air. I also had to get a shot at the same angle without her in it. Then, its all up to clever masking, layering, timing, and color correction in After Effects. A great tutorial for this can be found here!
Anyway, here is my newly released video! Other than that, please be sure to check out my Facebook, Twitter, and other YouTube videos!
Have a wonderful day!
-LaurenceBenjamin
Friday, March 2, 2012
Welcome to my blog!
Well, here I am. This is my new, and first ever blog. I will try to post little things every week or so, and hopefully, as my followers increase, so will my posts. Basically, I hope to be showing little tips and tricks that involve film making. I also might just post about something that I find to be interesting or cool.
Have fun guys! And be sure to leave a comment!
Be sure to check out my YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter!!
-LaurenceBenjamin
Have fun guys! And be sure to leave a comment!
Be sure to check out my YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter!!
-LaurenceBenjamin
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