have I got a story for you…

Posted in culture, film, Inside|Out, inspiration

This past week I’ve had the privileged of visiting my Grandparents in North Carolina as well as my Dad’s brothers and their families down in South Carolina. If there’s one thing we all have in common (other than being family) it’s that we all have stories.

Whether they’re well told in great suspense and laughter, or whether the punch line is given too soon it became apparent to me that the people in my life (well, and everyone for that matter) have some incredible stories to tell. Stories of strength, honor, laughter, humility, vacation goof ups… the list goes on and on.

My Great Granny (my dad’s Grandmother on his dad’s side) wrote in her journal every day for years. I’m talking every, single, day y’all.  She documented everything from how many pints of pickles she canned in the smokehouse to processing her grief after her husband died.

My dad’s younger brother’s family now has her journals and diaries. Years and years of stories and every day encounters. And it got me thinking… what are people going to read about me when I’m gone? Will whatever legacy I leave behind be passed down to my great grandchildren? They’ll probably get some microchip from the Library of Congress that contains every blog, tweet, Facebook update (and whatever else comes along in years to come) that I’ve ever written. So there’s that I suppose. I digress.

Let me get to the point: everyone has a story to tell. And the cool thing is it’s YOURS. It’s your very own. It’s something that you can pass down from generation to generation, or write online about, or write a short story about, or make a movie about.

How are you telling your story?

- – - – -

Tomorrow I leave for Arlington, VA for another Inside|Out workshop. Inside|Out workshops empower students from many different histories to tell their stories to the world through film. We have filmmakers from literally all over the world come in and teach students every aspect of the filmmaking process.

Through a week-long film workshop, students learn how to tell their story through film and showcase their 5 minute short film at a red carpet premiere at the end of the week. It’s amazing to see students “come alive” when they get in and create through film.

Inside|Out is the same workshop that took me over to New Zealand almost one year ago. It was a time that turned my world upside down. I’ll do what I can blog about my experiences this year as I go through the workshop again.

For more information about Inside|Out and how to get involved click here.

magazines come alive on ipad

Posted in business, culture, feature

I retract my former statement of not being turned on by the upcoming iPad. I am. Very much actually.

I’ve been seeing some stellar stuff on the web these days about how it’ll engage readers even more and bring film and print together into one sexy (and I mean sexy) execution. Take the example below for… example. (#awkward)

The latest and most thoughtful mock-up I’ve seen is of an iPad magazine supercharged with video. California-based director Jesse Rosten has been ruminating about how the iPad promises literally to reorient our preconceptions about video by adding the vertical dimension to a format that has been dominated by wide-screen conventions from movie and TV. The iPad allows the traditional portrait orientation of books and magazines to merge with the landscape aspect ratios of video. At his site, Rosten muses, “With the iPad, there’s really no longer a landscape limitation for video. Maybe you want your video to appear full screen in portrait mode? Maybe you need a long, tall video banner ad on the side of a digital magazine page? I think we’re going to start seeing a lot more vertically shot video soon.”

As a demonstration of how video and magazine aesthetics can merge more effectively in portrait mode, Rosten created a compelling mock-up of a Sunset magazine cover energized by video.

iPad Sunset Mag Cover Spec from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

There is no shortage of iPad magazine demos out in the wild now. The latest and most striking we have seen comes from digital magazine publisher Zinio and its digital-only women’s title VIVMag. (See below) This. Is. Incredible.

VIV Mag Interactive Feature Spread – iPad Demo from Alexx Henry on Vimeo.

In fact, the VIVMag demo even comes with its own “Making of…” featurette. (See below)

VIV Mag Featurette: A Digital Magazine Motion Cover and Feature for the iPad from Alexx Henry on Vimeo.

The possibilities are endless!! How can iPad take your business to the next level?

HT: Minonline