Mike Simpson » Video

The Power of Online Video and Presentations – Chris Anderson from TED Talks creates a Prezi

Mike — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:09:01 +0000

Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software that opens up a new world between whiteboards and slides. The zoomable canvas makes it fun to explore ideas…

TED is a cutting-edge conference featuring “ideas worth spreading”

It goes without saying that people want to be entertained, and video may be the ultimate entertainment. The use of video in marketing, and education is also becoming more prevalent. In my workshop, a student recently declared that most of her listening exercises were conducted with video. I feel mostly the same way, and maybe that has to do with the fact that we often source our media from the Internet. The Internet, with its steady increase in content and bandwidth is an ideal platform for video.

When I conduct my “CALL workshop” – on Educational Technology – I have found that if I ask for “interesting sites” that I get a few predictable responses. In no means do I mean “predictable” as “dull.” But the two sites that are recurring with some frequency as possible teacher/student tools are TED Talks and Prezi. They are both very worthy of your time.

Presentation has come to mean two things: one a series of text and images, presented using tech like PowerPoint, and two, the actual process and art of giving a talk, with the slideshow of images and information playing a major role. the conventional knock against PowerPoint is that it is dull. In my opinion, it is not the technology at fault, but the skills and imagination of those who create them (to be simple we see too many bullets, too much text).

I happened upon some links I can share that bring it all together, and show the synergy between presentations and online video. First off TED Talks which is an amazing wealth of ideas and eloquent people speaking – and a worthy mention as great resource online. And the second, Prezi, has crept up in frequency and my be on the cusp of great things. It just so happens that I found a “talk” and a “Prezi” by TED head Chris Anderson, and it’s a cool reference from Prezi’s own blog to share with you.

Chris Anderson, not to be confused with Wired editor of the same name, is both the TED head, and one of a number of respected presenters who has shared a presentation using a web-based tool. Slideshare is a well known site, and experts such as Garr Reynolds, author of the amazing book “Presentation Zen,” has posted numerous presentations there (Check Presentation Design 411, which starts to really break the fundamentals down around slide 11). You can view Chris Anderson’s Prezi to see some of the format’s potential to be engaging and truly interactive. Watching his Prezi presentation I was reminded of the power of motion graphics tools like Adobe’s After Effects – it’s truly a visually dynamic format – the “camera” perspective pulls away, rotates and zooms in on featured content areas (which would represent slides in a tradtional Powerpoint format). Chris samples some “baby break-dancing” videos and other eclectic international footage to complement the message he has to share, which is that Internet video is changing the way we communicate in an increasingly globalized world.

If you are keen to create a whole new kind of animated Powerpoint, with highly visual transitions and different kinds of embedded media, you should check out Prezi, and Chris Anderson’s Prezi is indeed a true inspiration (see first link below).

Links:

There’s only one link you need that connects you with both Chris Anderson’s Prezi presentation and one of his TED talks:
http://blog.prezi.com/2010/09/16/watch-ted-head-chris-andersons-prezi/

Prezi – “Create game-changingpresentations online.”
http://prezi.com/

A blog article on the features of Prezi – “Finding an alternative to PPT”

http://www.k-international.com/blog/finding-an-alternative-to-powerpoint/

Presentation guru Garr Reynolds wrote about this same topic here
Garr Reynolds’ blog entry on Chris Anderson’s Ted Talk and Prezi

Alternative Online Presentation Tool – Slideshare -” Offers users the ability to upload and share publicly or privately PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe PDF Portfolios”
http://www.slideshare.net/

Alternative Online Presentation Tool - Google Docs (also create text docs, spreadsheets and more)
https://docs.google.com

Cinemagraphs – Magic animated GIFs bridge photography and film

Mike — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:37:13 +0000

Cinemagraph by Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg - http://cinemagraphs.com

I found an absolutely stunning bit of photography and animation on the web today. I went to google and searched for “sophisticated GIF” and found some work that blew me away. Each shot is like a time capsule, a magical micro-moment – and they’re animated GIFS!

There’s a good chance you associate the concept of an animated GIF with something like a garish early nineties website along the lines of a Geocities homepage. Remember Borat? His original tongue in cheek website is no longer online but has been preserved by the good folks at the Internet Archive, and you should read my post on his insane animated GIF strewn website here: http://iam.strongandfree.ca/blog/the-internet-is-forever-wayback-machine-retrieves-borat

Above you’ll see an example of this amazing visual art. It’s like a throwback to the original days of cinema, when even the most primitive frames could spark delight and capture the imagination. Mind you, the duo of Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg are operating in modern NYC and their spin on the “cinemagraph” is very sophisticated in its execution. I going to encourage you to check out two websites for dozens of examples of the incredible imagery, before I ask you to analyze the image at the top of this post (you’ll see some teensy tiny flaws in the crosswalk area at right).

So be sure to spend a few minutes at the main page, and the blog by Jamie Beck (each site has different content)

Cinemagraph site: http://cinemagraphs.com/

Blog by Jamie: http://fromme-toyou.tumblr.com/tagged/cinemagraph

50th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s Historic First Orbit in Space

Mike — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:30:06 +0000

10 Ruble Russian Coin featuring cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (Photo by Mike)

Today is “Day of the Soviet Space Program (Cosmonautics)” for Russians – a day to remember the cosmonaut and national hero Yuri Gagarin, who on April 12, fifty years ago, was blasted into orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

His famous quote, and a good one to say when you are toasting your Russian friends over some vodkas is “Поехали!” (Paya hellei – Let’s go!).

I would encourage you to check out some video and articles that explore the first orbit by Gagarin and the Soviet/Russian space program – some recommendations follow.

Watch:

“First Orbit” real-time video recreation (uses HD international space station footage and original audio)

http://youtu.be/RKs6ikmrLgg

Read:

Article on Star City (Soviet / Russian Space Program Headquarters) at Russia! Magazine. First link is to web site, second is to actual magazine spreads using the Issue viewer (worthwhile to see some Laika – the space dog – cartoons).

http://readrussia.com/magazine/winter-2008/00044/
http://issuu.com/russiamagazine/docs/russia__magazine

Article on Star City at Wired Magazine

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-09/ff_starcity

Arcade Fire – Rise of a Montreal Indie Rock Band

Mike — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 21:31:17 +0000

Illustration by Mike Simpson - Strong-and-Free

Update (March 29): Yesterday the band Arcade Fire completed the trifecta – winning Best Group and 3 other awards at the Canadian Juno awards – after bringing home awards at both the British and American music awards shows.

Arcade Fire won a Grammy award on Sunday Feb 13^th for Album of the Year for The Suburbs. On Monday morning I was at the college cafeteria, and I grabbed a copy of The Toronto Star, which had a story on the Grammy coup, for this humble everyday band from Montreal.

I assume my audience is broad and you might either be a fan of the band or forgiven if you didn’t quite know who they are. This is the Bieber-age and we live in a sound-byte era of dance pop forgettables. Black-Eyed Peas were once an alternative band, and now they’re Super Bowl headliners. It is frankly hard to find signs of life in the mainstream that indicate that rock music still has a pulse. Even at the Super Bowl the only sign of rock music was Slash, the guitarist from Guns’n’Roses, playing his signature guitar line from the 1980s as a kind of sample in the midst of a Peas medley.

I don’t write about music in this blog very often and it gives me pleasure to do so now because I’m a musician and passionate about all kinds of tunes. And most of all, I’m stoked because Arcade Fire represents something to me akin to the rise of Nirvana that culminated in the 1991 heights of the Nevermind album – when amazingly for a brief time, everyone everywhere seemed to get rock music. The pulse was strong and the “Seattle sound” was on everybody’s lips, including the industry, which birthed and nurtured a whole slew of awesome bands on the heels of Nirvana. This was the pre-Blink 182 era. Before pop infiltrated the alt rock.

Recently I have to admit, I wasn’t really in tune with the Arcade phenomenon. I suppose I live in a slight bubble. I listen to my own music, which I create under the artist name “Mikooshka,” as much as I listen to other bands. I get my music from places eMusic, where a subscription can get you all kinds of novel and interesting new music, in all kinds of genres. I also happen to get my music from the same places as everyone else, namely YouTube and MySpace.

YouTube is where my brother and I stream a combination of our greatest hits jukebox and our new and recent discoveries: New Order’s live version of “Temptation” at BBC is one of my favorites (to the semi-annoyance of my bro), while Jeff hits the replay button on artists like Gorillaz, The Strokes, Rufus Wainright, and band of the hour, Arcade Fire.

A few days ago I found myself tapping my toes to the live video for the title track from the hit album “The Suburbs.” I have heard it about a dozen times and it didn’t initially appeal to me but it’s grown on my quite a bit. I think Arcade Fire represents a kind of sophisticated sound that requires repeated listenings to fully get into and get. (By the way, the video of The Suburbs is by director Spike Jonze, one of my favorites, but I prefer the live version where clips are projected on a screen behind the band – link at end of this post).

Another Canadian won on Sunday: Neil Young. He won for Best Rock Song. It was a long time coming for the 1960s and 70s guitar-rock hero and Canadian legend. Perhaps there is a synergy at play here. There’s something subtle and yet very powerful about the music made by Young and the Arcades. I’m not holding my breath thinking there’s going to be a major renaissance in pop radio, but in the underground there lurks a rock’n’roll pulse, that refuses to give in. Hell, even my own electronic music is taking a kind of cycle back to my rock roots. And if you are curious, you might check out a half-dozen other lights on the Canadian indie scene, including, but not limited to: the Dears, Hey Rosetta, and We are The City,

Links:

The Suburbs by Arcade Fire (Live)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtbrY6QrgPw&feature=relmfu

Astronomers by We Are the City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5GOIYj5giI

Free Online Course – DIY Graphic Design and Marketing – July 5- Aug 9

Mike — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:52:00 +0000

I’m a teacher and designer offering a free online course for people interested in developing skills in areas like Graphic Design and Marketing. I’m offering the course to people who are not artists, but who have “artistic” or “artsy” tendencies and would like to develop some materials to promote themselves, their business or their organization. Many of my current students are working in various fields, including the arts, education, media, entertainment and law/finance. The most successful students are those with some strong ideas about design projects they’d like to work on in areas like print and web (business cards, logos, blogs etc). If you are interested and can commit 3-4 hours a week toward readings, participating in forums and completing assignments, you are welcome to apply.

June 25th is the deadline to receive formal letters of interest/intent. Please contact me for more detailed information.

You might also check out this post from when I first offered the course (includes link to PDF outline)

Mike Simpson

mike | strongandfree.ca

Mediatheque and NFB – Great Toronto Film and Documentary Resource!

Mike — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:36:26 +0000

Located at John and Richmond St. in downtown Toronto, the National Film Board’s Mediatheque centre is an inspiring place. You can check out all kinds of short films, animations and documentaries. Once I took a group of students there for a field trip. The presenter was amazing – it was one of my favorite all-time field trips. The staff are always friendly and helpful.

One of the main reasons to go to the NFB Mediatheque site is to check out the viewing stations. I have taken my students there just for that purpose on a number of occasions. Recently I watched an animated short, “The Necktie,” that’s also available online. In fact, the NFB are digitizing most of their catalogue and making it available via their website. Another favorite is called “Film Club,” by Cyrus Sundar Singh. It’s about a 20-year reunion of former childhood friends who were immigrants and in grade 8 banded together in an after-school film club. So far this title is NOT online – so get thee down to the Mediatheque and watch it!

Check out:

Mediatheque
http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/mediatheque/

The Necktie – animated short – 12 mins.
http://www.nfb.ca/film/necktie/

Flemingdon Park – Global Village – documentary – 47 mins
http://www.nfb.ca/film/flemingdon_park_the_global_village

“Across Cultures” – NFB clips from 60 different films!
http://www3.nfb.ca/acrosscultures/toutvoir.php?print

Mediatheque
150 John Street
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3C3
416-973-3012

Book Review – Presentation Zen

Mike — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:41:39 +0000

4 famous books on Presentations

I have just finished a book review on Garr Reynold’s inspirational Presentation Zen. I summarize a few of the key ideas in the book and offer some links to online presentations at Slideshare and Ted Talks.

Presentations have fascinated me for the last year, coinciding with my early video experiments, one of the first of which was a video resume based on a PowerPoint presentation I uploaded to LinkedIn. Presentations, when combined with an interesting speaker and interesting topic, are a great learning experience. Too often though, we associate presentations with some dull training or business information session. It shouldn’t have to be this way.

In the world of education, the concept of “digital storytelling” has been a buzz concept for the last few years. More than ever, regular people have access to tools for telling their stories and sharing their ideas digitally. One of the problems with this of course, is the great output of mediocre or uninspiring video and other multimedia. I think a crash course is necessary, to teach a few design basics to anyone thinking about putting together a presentation or video.

In my expansive book review of Presentation Zen you’ll find some design principles I followed when creating presentations and a number of examples I borrowed from Reynold’s book. These days with tools like Photoshop Elements (a light version) being affordable and accessible, there is really no excuse for anyone to churn out a template-based “presentation by numbers” production. Interesting photos can be found at stock photo sites or through creative commons licensing. A world of resources is available to give your presentations some graphical pizazz.

Read the review of Presentation Zen and check out some links to amazing presentations
http://iam.strongandfree.ca/book-reviews/presentation-zen

Celebrating 50 Posts! And an Emerging Mastery of Web Design, Multimedia and WordPress

Mike — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:16:00 +0000

I have been doing this blog quite a while – I just reached the amazing mark of 50 posts! Some blog nearly everyday but I tend to post about twice a month so it’s taken about two years to get to this point. I’ve learned quite a bit along the way and I’d like to share some of those accomplishments with you and offer some quick tips and advice. I still consider myself primarily a writer and graphic designer, but I’ve become highly capable and familiar with websites, blogs, multimedia and social media / social networking sites. Let me share some insights!

First of all, it is possible for nearly anyone to build and maintain a website or blog. Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress are pretty darn easy to manage. Graphics are more of a challenge but changing templates by designing a custom header are within the grasp of anyone who can use Photoshop and has a little design sense.

Second, there is no doubt that the world is moving toward the rule of information. Text, in a word, reigns supreme in the web 2.0 era. I shake my head mutiple times a week at the people, some of them accomplished designers/business people, who have flash-based or graphics-based sites. Take my advice: build a blog! Your flash-based site with no meta information (description, keywords, alt tags) is INVISIBLE to Google.

On that same tip, create a video to promote yourself or your business. There are three things driving Google rankings: relevance by way of the text /multimedia content on your site, external links reinforcing your site’s relevance, and the relation your site has to social networking and video sites. In other words, you need external sites linking to your site and content such as video.

Are you a musician with no budget? Put your songs up on YouTube and just use your album graphic! You will at minimum, double or triple your hits and Google ranking. Run a business? Convert a PowerPoint presentation to flash video (flv) and post on your site (along with YouTube). Google rewards rich multimedia content and outside links from social media sites (especially user-created business directory sites like “Yelp” or “Ourfaves.”)

As part of the strategy to build a clients’s search rankings I posted a review on Ourfaves Toronto with a few pictures, links to his site and MySpace page, and the caveat that I was both a fan and friend (and designer of his website). It was an essential part of our marketing strategy. You can learn more about this case study at the “Internet Marketing” page at my design site, strongandfree.ca.

I would encourage everyone to start expanding your skill base and create a list of new things you want to learn more about. The world is changing at lightning speed and it will pay dividends to those with some broader abilities.

I’m curious now about podcasts, rss feeds and web video. I’m also interested in the convergence of media and the need for designers to have familiarity with wide ranging devices from tiny pixel cellphone screens to flash vector graphics on 24 inch widescreen monitors. Your next promotion should seek to create a buzz on both. But don’t forget the text! Build that blog, hire a competent writer, and GET THE WORD OUT! Text rules. It could be the most important aspect of any of your marketing efforts in the near future.

New Design Work

Mike — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:07:51 +0000

Click to open larger version

This is a design based on stills I’m working with from a “city – streets” themed video I’m making called “Step Forward.” The dancer in this scene is Andy Wye. I want to composite him at various sizes dancing across a primitive cave background with prehistoric art.

Painters Eleven "in Motion" at Christopher Cutts Gallery

Mike — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:54:41 +0000

For those of you interested in drawing/painting and animation I thought you might want to check out a week-long exhibition called “Eleven in Motion” at Christopher Cutts Gallery. Some of you may know “Painters Eleven” as Canada’s own version of the New York School (Abstract Expressionism). Well, the Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) has put together a project to get animators to do animations based on the work of these artists. The show is November 18 – Nov 25.

Peter Goddard wrote an interesting article in the TO Star. Below are the relevant links and article.

Peter Goddard article (also on new NFB DVD/Blu Ray release) http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/725074–new-exhibit-dvd-put-art-in-motion

Toronto Animated Image Society http://www.tais.ca/eleveninmotion.html

Christopher Cutts Gallery http://www.cuttsgallery.com