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February 18, 2013 by mudhut

Video the CEO

Regular, personal messages from a company’s top executive aren’t just more popular, they’ve become imperative. Unflattering media portrayals of CEO’s are commonplace and these short, informal videos can go a long way toward improving executive image.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to do many video interviews with CEO’s. Whether you’re producing a short message from your own small company’s president, or an interview with the skipper of a Fortune 500 company, here are some suggestions.

People who run corporations are usually very smart. They’ve made careers out of breaking down complex, gray-area issues into elementary components. Decisions are made in an almost binary way. They rarely like surprises, and usually rely heavily on their administrative assistant (AA).

Briefing the AA:

Treat the assistant as you would a VP or divisional president. Be warm, cordial, and extremely professional. If they tell their boss that you seemed like a jerk, you will have a bad day.
Provide a clear, one-page briefing regarding the purpose of the shoot well in advance. Bulletize and generalize the message unless the delivery requires a recited script (then be very clear whether it will be memorized or prompted).
Confirm details with the assistant five business days in advance. While the CEO may know the event is calendared, they probably haven’t read the briefing sheet. Tell the AA that you are available at any time if there are questions.
Discuss, conceptually, your desired locations and let them know what time you’ll arrive for load-in and set-up.
Provide the names of your crew to ensure that building security is ready for you and your equipment. Even so, arrive early in case the security team decides to do visual inspections.
Will they need to see the final version before it’s public? Some companies insist on it.

A few years ago I did a two-camera, three-person-crew shoot with the CEO at a top-ten Fortune 500 company. We arrived well in advance to set up in the office while a meeting finished on another floor. As we completed the set-up, two of us sat down and rehashed the objectives of the shoot. When I looked up, I realized that the third person (a recent college film graduate) was sitting in the CEO’s chair playing with the puzzles and knick-knacks at the desk. I could only muster two words, “What?” and “No!” Had the executive walked in at that moment, we correctly should have been marched up one flight of stairs to the roof and thrown off.

The Crew:

Don’t have one. Unless you absolutely have to have a two camera shoot, do it yourself. Today’s technology allows you to trim your kit so that you can carry all of the equipment in one trip. Be efficient.
Dress appropriately. Khaki’s with a logo-embroidered golf shirt is an absolute minimum. A suit may be overkill, but you must at least consider it. The valet staff at the country club probably wears khaki’s and embroidered golf shirts.
Meet for coffee and brief the crew ahead of time. They shouldn’t sit at the CEO’s desk, for example. Dear God, what is wrong with me?!

The best thing about getting to know CEO’s is that they are almost always awe-inspiring people. While their job requires decorum, they are generally wonderfully passionate, and quick witted individuals. In spite (or because) of this, they fall roughly into two categories as it relates to filming; those with experience and confidence in their media chops and those that detest it. You are as likely to find a nervous subject as you would with any other shoot. While you may not think this is unusual, the CEO does. Entire companies shrink in their presence, but that stupid camera changes them into a seven year old being bullied by a fifth grader. This is not business as usual for them or you.

The Subject:

All CEO’s have some media experience. You will have no way of knowing whether it has been pleasant or not.
Be prepared to take them off-topic if needed. Chat about something they might be comfortable discussing. A corporate acquisition, recent press coverage, future industry directions, or their daughter’s wedding. Meaningful prior research is imperative.
The tricky part is understanding that you are in the presence of the boss. Giving direction is what you usually do. They are not used to it. Don’t apologize, but be apologetic.
Be prepared for a “one and done” take. Don’t ever assume you can take a mulligan. I had a CEO do one take and then look me straight in the eye and ask “Are we done?”. Which, in this case, meant that we were.
Make them look presidential. Set up that kicker or extra hard light to give them some separation from the practicals. Don’t forget your gels. Corporate offices are notoriously surrounded by giant windows. You will have mixed lighting.
If they are comfortable, I sometimes ask for a second take with the camera/shot at a different position allowing cuts if necessary.

Executives are my favorite subjects, and it has nothing to do with video. There tends to be more laughter and meaningful conversation than I have in the rest of my day. Have fun!

January 7, 2013 by mudhut

Digital Media Strategy. Do You Have One?

Web Site, Facebook Page, Blog, Twitter Account, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest…yadda yadda… Check, Check, and Check. By now, most companies have decided to which social media platforms they will be committed. They’ve decided how analytics might be the measurement of success, and have staffed the marketing team with someone who focuses solely on social media, right? Right? Let’s play a game…

At some point, your next VP of Marketing will probably have been a Director of Social Media someplace. End of story. The biggest measurable change in a company’s inside marketing operation over the next few years, will have come from social site management. Most CEO’s have held the VP of Marketing title at one time. Do the math. Sooner or later your boss will most likely have been “That college kid who played around on Facebook for two years.”

Here are four things you might consider when implementing a Digital Media Strategy for your organization.

Platform. Sites used to distribute information and link potential clients/supporters.
Content. The information being presented at these sites.
Frequency. How often the message is posted.
Organizational Guidelines. Who has the responsibility for creating content? Who has approval and accountability? When interaction is encourgaed with people outside the organization, who determines appropriate dialog?

Mud-Hut Studios can help you with all of the above. However, eventually the biggest concerns we hear from clients are regarding content. What stories should we tell? What format should we use to tell these stories? How do we visualize the content? (see Developing a Marketing Script)

We have much experience with content production, and we believe that consistent, branded messages are the key to your marketing plan. What do your clients need to hear? What do your potential clients want to hear? What do you want to say?

Let’s talk about how our inexpensive Impact Media might help you.

April 6, 2012 by mudhut

Can You Afford Paper?

There was a time in our history when paper was too expensive for the average writer. Paints and canvas were an indulgance for the rich; materials were simply too costly. It’s crazy to think that these items were for the elite, not the everyday artist.

Prior to the 1990’s, the equipment used in recording studios was so expensive that musicians were paying more than $100/hour to get the use of a facility that owned some of it. In fact, time was so expensive in the early days that only well capitalized record companies could afford to rent the studios for the musicians. The rate included the studio engineer who, by the way, most likely had a college degree in electrical engineering.

Video equipment followed the same plot line. Before the early 2000’s, Only TV stations and high-end independents with rates to match could afford the equipment necessary to produce professional looking videos.

Today, with a credit card and stops at a big box electronics retailer and a music store, you can take home enough equipment to do both jobs. Hey, pick up some paint and paper and you can be a writer and an artist too! I’m being facetious. The point is this; if you think that media communication is important enough to do it regularly, than you need to consider doing it yourself.

Ian Kanski from IMR Digital and I have discussed this many times. He believes that once technology can be placed directly into the hands of creative people, everything changes. The story teller, the artist, and the musician need no go-between. Once they understand the tools, they can begin presenting their vision.

Sometimes technology learning curves require patience and practice. Just because we can go buy a Fender Stratocaster at any music store doesn’t mean we’ll be Jimi Hendrix. So before we set up media production in that empty bedroom/cubicle by HR, there are a few questions that I usually ask my clients;

Do you have a creative person on your staff that would be interested in this type of role part time? Maybe they have media experience. Maybe they think it would be fun.
Do you have a digital media strategy that includes the need for professional final products? Hey, smart phones do a great job of taking pictures and capturing video. Audio is another story, but if short, regular FB posts are your objective, then good audio may not be necessary.
Is there a way that Mud-Hut Studios can help you set up your studio cube, train personnel, or even provide on-site production/examples for you? I am happy to work myself out of a job… I’m used to it!

January 20, 2012 by mudhut

Recording Drums… Part Three

There are hundreds of dissertations on this subject around the web. Many written by people far more qualified than I. However, since I’ve recorded 400+ different kits over the years, and customer satisfaction has generally been high… This is Part Three.

I Usually… One: Take a wide-ish band at 500Hz and cut it aggresively on the toms. This is the boxy tone that nobody misses.

I Usually… Two: That pesky energy node you’ll probably get on the toms at 200Hz isn’t going to go away unless you spend a month tuning… forget about it. Set a narrow band on the eq and try to notch it out either while recording or while mixing later.

I Usually… Three: Cut 100Hz or so on the kick drum. I know…I know… that’s the frequency that some people will tell you to boost, but it pushes to much energy into the compressor. You don’t have to get crazy, but as you drop this freq, you’ll hear some awesome sub tones that seem to expand the size of the kick. You’ll also have to make a wide, gentle boost some place in the upper midrange to show the slap of the beater. If you hear a weird “clacking”, “beeping” or other unnatural sound, figure out the frequency and… notch it. I don’t usually boost any low frequency on the kick unless genre=metal then I’ll boost 44Hz a tiny bit with a more severe 100Hz cut.

I Usually… Four: Put some level of compression on all individual drums. Very light on the toms, a little more on the snare, and quite a bit on the kick. Yes, we’re shaping the tone, but we’re really looking for some level of consistency in volume across the kit.

Oh Crap! Too much cymbal: They’re in everything and if that weren’t bad enough they’re flanging because of the phase differences at each mic making the drums virtually unlistenable. Let’s figure out why.

The room is usually the number one culprit. The cyms just seem to multiply everytime they’re struck. You’ll have to deaden the room or move the kit to a larger space.
Mic placement is usually the next bad guy. Solo each mic to find the trouble maker(s) and make adjustments in the way they’re placed. Crashes eat up tom mics and the ride is almost always facing the capsule of the snare mic. I’ve rubber banded pieces of foam to the sides of mics to help with this. but asking the drummer to either move his cymbals or change the way he/she plays may be the only way out. Depending on your situation, you may have to remove the offending cyms and have the drummer play them as overdubs. I’ve not done this, but it was common back in the day…
Make sure your overhead mics are in the best possible position to capture a balanced drum vs cymbal performance and as the drummer plays make sure that you sweep from pan to center (mono) to listen for phasing. Correct accordingly.
I’ve found that almost all drum tracks have too much cymbal in the tom mics. I just mute the tracks in between tom strikes.

The Snare: Don’t over compress! Make sure you can hear enough snare band. Need more snare in the mix and pushing the volume doesn’t really help? Build a reverb that does it. There are tons of plugins that let you set early reflections, tune the verb, and simulate natural rooms and environments. These can/will make your snare as big as you want it without sounding too reverb-y.

I don’t consider myself an expert, just someone who’s had the remarkable opportunity to mic a lot of drum kits. twenty years from now, there may not be many engineers around who will have recorded more than 10 kits. Music has changed. Anybody who’s used sample/replace software knows… but if you have a real band and a real drummer, who wants to hear real drums, mic’ing is easy… Part One. or Part Two.

December 19, 2011 by mudhut

Recording Drums…Part Two

There was a session several years ago when the band had finished recording all of the basic tracks and were starting to overdub guitar parts when one of the band members asked, “Where did (the drummer) go?” None of us had seen him since the last trip to his car after tear-down…it had been at least a half hour. It turns out that he had packed his car and quit the band. He drove three hours back home without saying goodbye thinking he was saving the band the messiness of quiting before he had recorded with them… Probably not the right call…

No Worries One: Really cheap tom mics are fine. You’re only going to use them to augment the overheads and bring attack, body, and increased volume to the toms anyway. That sounded surprisingly like a shampoo ad.

No Worries Two: Remove all of the damping, tune and reapply moon gels cut in half. Full gels kill too much area. If you have to, use two halves in different spots. Drum Gum is also really effective. I actually use little frogs that I bought at a party store which are made out of the same stuff. Part Three. or back to Part One.

November 19, 2011 by mudhut

Recording Drums… Part One

After recording and mixing a session one day, a band member asked, “What did you do to the drums?” His wording surprised me. I thought they sounded pretty good. “Umm, what do you mean?” I asked. His reply; “Well, they sound so good… So natural… What did you do to them? The last studio I was in spent two hours on the snare drum alone, and we didn’t record anything the first day of the session because we worked on the drums the entire day. You just threw some mics up, turned a couple of knobs and said, ‘OK, now guitar.’ Do you have a secret processor or something?”

I do not. I have no secrets of any kind, and I have never substituted a drum sound using sample-replace software. It just seems so unfair to the drummer. Hey, guitar player, I don’t like the tone of your amp; let’s replace you and your little dog too.

There are a couple of things that I’ve done over the years that have given clients consistent results.

I present these with the humility of someone who has been in situations where nothing really worked and despite my best efforts the drums didn’t sound like they should have.

Assumption One: The drummer can play. He/she actually strikes the drums with authority and confidence. Touch drummers do not record well. You really have to be on your game when recording a jazz oriented player who strikes lightly.

Assumption Two: The drums aren’t complete garbage. I tracked a kit once that was cobbled together from three different below average drum sets. However, the top heads weren’t dented and he hadn’t removed the bottom heads (important). Once we removed all of the duct tape and retuned, they recorded fine. I am partial to maple shells, though. They just seem so focused.

Assumption Three: You have some idea how a kit is supposed to sound, and you aren’t afraid to help the drummer tune it.

Good Idea One: Two heads are better than one. You can’t fake this. There’s a reason that drums have two heads. The kick drum can be the exception, however. If it has a hole, put the mic inside the drum, and you’re in business. Otherwise remove the front head. If you’re going for a flabby/indie/70’s sound you may have to keep it and mic from outside the front.

Good Idea Two: Get two good overhead mics. They are your drum sound. I’ve used different ones over the years, and I found that I liked affordable, natural sounding microphones. I settled on ADK Area-51’s. Properly placed, you can shut off all of the other mics except the kick and hear the real drum sound. If you’ve been searching for overheads, I highly recommend you audition these. You won’t need a hihat mic either. I’ve never used one. Part Two.

October 16, 2011 by mudhut

Media for Non-Profit Organizations

Traditionally Non-Profit organizations produced media (video) for one-time events like galas, fundraisers, TV campaigns, or other similar situations. These “movies” were expensive, Video firms set up booths at Non-Con (I just made that up) and quoted some pretty hefty five figure numbers. There was an entire sub-industry of production companies that traveled around making these films. Unfortunately, the productions generally didn’t have an ROI that made them popular. They were often shown only at a single event or a few other fundraising meetings. The last time most Non-Profit organizations updated their media was when the director said, “Our VHS machine broke, so we need a new video on DVD”. Whether the organization sent home a VHS or DVD is irrelevant, the only machine it probably saw was the crusher inside of a garbage truck.

Ironically, the stories of hope that these agencies can tell are boundless. I simply can’t think of another industry that offers so many opportunities to document improvements in people’s lives.

Here are a few thoughts…

Predictable funding to Non-Profits is dangerously low.
The need for alternative capital sources is undeniable.
The complexity and needs of clients are at an all time high.
Delivery Platforms are abundant and free.

It’s never been more important for Non-Profits to market themselves and it’s never been cheaper. The Non-Profit agencies should be producing regular content for two very important reasons.

It validates their importance in the community.
It offers evidence to the ever-more-important independent revenue source, that funding this organization offers more benefit (See? We even document our impact).

Whenever I present these concepts to my clients, I say, “Don’t run back to the office and put social media on the agenda for the staff meeting next week. Put it on the agenda and never take it off.” At a minimum, do short web-cam updates once a month…or simple depictions of industry statistics.

August 14, 2011 by mudhut

Of Sound Mind

People will watch YouTube videos of terrible quality on palm sized screens as long as they can understand what’s being said… but put an HD video on a large screen TV with poor sound and they quickly lose interest. While the visual is sometimes self-explanatory, the audio completes the communication.

Many articles have been written about the relationship between audio, the brain, and memory including, Music, Memory, and Emotion (Lutz Jänke, Journal of Biology 2008, 7:21). or Involuntary Memory (Wikipedia contributors, “Involuntary memory,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (accessed January 14, 2013).

While media doesn’t necessarily start with the audio, it finishes it. Remove the music soundtrack from a movie and the scene is empty. The closest thing to a time machine I’ve ever experienced is hearing a long forgotten song. Music becomes the soundtrack to our life. So, audio is kind of important. Quality audio is our commitment.

and with that… cue the crickets…