MOBILE BEAT - JANUARY - #126

MOBILE BEAT - JANUARY - #126

Aspects of Video

We kick off the year (and the decade) with a focus on how you can fit video into your services, or take what you’re already doing to the next level.

We talk with DJ Toad, who gets creative with video in clubs and on his mobile gigs.

Learn about creating awesome photo slide shows, video production & lighting basics, video editing software, and how to do video right on your website.

A videographer gives an honest impression of the DJs he works with; also, a DJ-turned-Videographer tells the story of his transition.

Get the Scoop a variety of new DJ products. BoogieHeads, a green-screen video technology, gets your audience into the picture-literally. Hear about how Pioneeer’s SVM A/V mixing system made the difference for one DJ over a year. Check out NEXTBEAT, an interesting handheld music controller the docks with a base-station mixer. For Mac users, we provide a view of DJAY, performance software that integrates seemlessly with iTunes. We also talk with Avi El-Kiss of B-52 Professional about his company’s gear and history.

PLUS: Scamming a scammer; Using music logs; Why you should add interactive games to your arsenal; Lists of hits from mulitple decades; Narrowing focus by customer profiling, and other ideas for business success in 2010; and MUCH MORE.

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Photo Slide Shows Made Easy by Mark Evans

Photo Slide Shows Made Easy

By Mark Evans

We have all been to events where people show videos and photos of the couple or the birthday person and we think, “I could have done better.” Well with the right tools and a little knowledge you can. I’ve put together shows from very simple photo fades to very elaborate video and photo montages and clients love them. So where do you start? Let’s begin with the basics.

SCANNING, SAVING

Scanners are widely available and you need a pretty good one to make some nice crisp photos of older photos. When you scan a photo in you want to make sure you have the settings right. Most software programs will give you options to change DPI (dots per inch) or resolution. When scanning in small photos such as 3″x5″ or 4″X6″, you want to scan the photos in at 300 to 600 DPI. The reason for this is that you will want to have a digital version of the photo that is larger than what the output will be. This will give you some room to pan and zoom images. Knowing what the output will be is also very important. The slide show will look different if you are showing it on an HD TV than it will on a projector and screen. Keep this in mind when you start your project.

There are many formats available to save the photos in, but the industry standard and best format for this is JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). This format losses very little quality even though it keeps the file size smaller. JPEGs work well when you put the photos into video.

ORGANIZING

One of the key things I learned when I first started doing slide shows was the importance of a regular scheme for naming the photos. First, knowing how many photos you will have to put together is critical to how you name them. Let’s say you have 150 photos to work with and you start naming them photo1, photo2, etc. If you are doing these chronologically then the numbers will be off. The program you use will put photo10, photo11 before photo2. It is best to start naming them photo001, photo002 and so forth. If you have less than 100 photos then you can start with photo01, phtoto02.

PROCESSING, ADJUSTING

Once you have your photos scanned or brought in from another digital source, it’s time to clean them up. The industry standard and best program for this is Adobe Photoshop. Most people are not willing to shell out the $700 for the full-blown program but there are some great alternatives. Photoshop Elements is the best-selling package at under $90; it does a lot of what its big brother does and is perfect for what we need to do. Other great software programs for editing include Corel’s Paint Shop Pro, Ulead Photo Impact or ACDSee Photo Editor. For Mac users there is iPhoto (pre-installed on all new Macs) and Aperture from Apple. I recommend you download the trial versions and see which one works best for you. The main things you will want to look for are color adjustments, photo restoration, red eye removal and photo sizing. Preparing the photos is typically the most time consuming part of the project, so you want to find a program that will do the job as quickly and efficiently as possible, while fitting with your way of working.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Here is where you’ll have the most fun, in putting the photos together. Again, there are many tools to choose from and some will have steeper learning curves than others-and may not give you the flexibility to get the job done. In most cases you will not need a full video editor, but these do give you the most creative options. These programs include Adobe Premiere and Avid for Windows or Mac platforms. For Mac only Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express are the standards. Because of the cost and learning curve to these programs you may want to consider one of the following programs at a fraction of the cost. For PC users, Cyberlink PowerDirector, Corel Video Studio, Adobe Premiere Elements, Sony Vegas Movie Studio, and Pinnacle Studio are the top programs and all under $100. For Mac users, try iMovie, another pre-installed option. Each of these programs gives you a full timeline option to work with, and some give you an easy-to-use storyboard option that allows for drag and drop placement of photos and videos.

These programs may still be a little to much for what you want to do, so let’s take a look at some of the most popular programs for creating slide shows. My number one pick for the PC is Photodex’s ProShow Gold. For under $70 it gives you incredible flexibility and power over the photos. With just a few keystrokes you can drag all the photos into the timeline, adjust the time of the photos, change the transitions and put the photos into motion. One of my favorite things to do is pan and zoom photos. This is also known as the “Ken Burns effect, after the documentary director’s technique of slowing moving still photos to create more dramatic energy.

If done right you can highlight and zoom in on a person or draw attention to something extra in the photo. The program also comes with a simple yet effective photo editor for simple things such as red-eye removal. One of the neat features of this program is that when you add music to the show you can automatically time the music to the photos. Let’s say you have 50 photos and a 3-minute song for the soundtrack.. Click a button and all the photos will change time from say 5 seconds per photo to 3.7 seconds so that they all fit into the timeframe of the music. You can also manually adjust photos to make some stay on the screen longer and others shorter.

On the Mac I found a program called FotoMagico which works very similarly to ProShow. This is also a drag and drop type of program and is very easy to use. It literally takes a few minutes to put all the photos in and make a few adjustments to put together a very nice show. Both programs give you options for outputting the final project onto disc or onto file. You can even upload directly to YouTube or Facebook to have your client see the show and make corrections before the event. This is quite a time saver and clients love that they can see the final project as soon as you are done. Remember, most of these programs have free trial versions, so go ahead and try them out to see what works best for you.

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Time Trippin’ By Stu Chisholm

Time Trippin’

By Stu Chisholm
How a look back can reveal the road ahead

The realization that I’ve had a very long career is sometimes driven home in surprising ways. A long relationship with clients and their families is one of them. Just before I began my DJ career, there was a little girl in my apartment complex who played with my girlfriend’s son. She was one of many kids in the complex I got to know. Flash-forward about a decade, she’s calling me to entertain at her wedding! So there we are, and she’s a foot taller than when I’d last seen her, looking adult and beautiful in her wedding gown, a child no longer. Flash-forward again by nine more years and she’s calling me about her 30th birthday celebration! (Her “little sister” would call me soon after for her 25th.) The reason I’m recounting this particular family relationship is because the “little girl” called me again a few days ago…to spin the music at her [ital] daughter’s [ital] Sweet 16 Party. Like a family doctor, I’m not needed often, but they wouldn’t trust anyone else with their special life events.

THE VENERABLE LOG…

Over the same week I met with my friend and her daughter, I’d begun the tedious project of digitizing my old program logs. Today they’re Excel files, but for years they’d simply been handwritten lists, and over time those lists filled a couple of file cabinets! Since my living space isn’t getting any bigger, it was time for the paper to go. But I knew that this project was going to be long-term; something I’d do when the important stuff was done. Or I’d tackle them at lunch and between projects: less fun, but more productive than playing Mafia Wars.

I’d gotten in the habit of keeping a program long back in the 80s, when it was a job requirement at the nightclub where I worked. I immediately realized their utility. By noting what is played, in order, noting the response and jotting down any special notes, I’ve built a record of my events and, over time, a history. If there was a dispute (”You didn’t play…” or “You never did…”), I could point to the log and tell them that yes, I did indeed play that song, and what time I played it, and what kind of response it got on the dancefloor. That response could alert me to a song that would soon catch fire, or maybe a tried-and-true floor-packer that was starting to outlast its welcome, helping me to fine-tune my programs. In a nightclub setting, this can be critical. For weddings and mobile events, a longer-term benefit has also become apparent.

…FINDS A NEW USE

When playing multiple events for the same family or group, I would bring the program logs from their previous parties. It’s a graphic way to see what worked best and what was less successful. Things like birthdays and anniversaries were noted, and my program matched their tastes more precisely with each event. Over time, it’s as if I became a part of the family. It’s about as close to being psychic as you can get!

Today, a lot of DJs depend on the automatic logging systems built into their DJ software. Yet that software doesn’t note if a song was a request from a guest or from the list provided by a wedding couple. It doesn’t note the time it was played, or any dedications that might’ve accompanied the request. In short, they lack detail. A separate log, recorded on the spot, is by far a better way to go.

TIMES AND TASTES: REMEMBERING ‘88

Keeping detailed logs over time can not only help with future programming-and make a career DJ feel long in the tooth-but it vividly shows the patterns of popular music, and how we sometimes use it in surprising ways. A good case in point was the year 1988.

22 years ago, many of the “usual suspects” were there; “Celebration,” “Old Time Rock & Roll,” “Y.M.C.A.” and “Lady In Red”-already established classics that we still play today and will be spinning for many more years to come. Trends appear and those songs and artists that couples couldn’t live without, that seemed so important at the time also appear. One artist that I noticed on almost every list that year was The Jets, a Latin-American group who had a ballad called “Make It Real,” and a dance track called “Rocket 2 U.” The former was even an oft-used first dance at weddings! But it’s doubtful that anyone would want to hear those tracks today outside of a class reunion or anniversary.

On a more personal level, I could see how I began to assemble some of the sets that have become my show staples, and how they’ve evolved as well. We all have our sequences and sets we like and, try as we might to be versatile and fresh, we always show off that perfect mix when given the opportunity. Gazing through the telescope of time, I noted the first time I mixed “Brick House” with “Play That Funky Music” back in 1984. “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen, previously a huge favorite among the sock hop set, was replaced by “Some Kind of Wonderful” by Grand Funk, or “Twist & Shout” by the Beatles as a follow-up to Bob Seger’s iconic hit. By the way, I also noticed that in 1985, live mixing during a reception cocktail hour and dinner period was a standout when other DJs were just playing a background tape. By 1988, the movie [ital] Dirty Dancing had breathed new life into songs like “Do You Love Me” by the Contours, “Cry To Me” by Solomon Burke, and gave us the destined-to-be-classic “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life,” which every bride, it seemed, wanted to be the final song of their event.

A Study in Contrasts

Indispensable groups from 1988 that are never (or seldom) heard at receptions today include: Exposé, Debbie Gibson, Taylor Dayne, The Whispers, Pebbles, Johnny Kemp, Pretty Poison, Tiffany, Lisa Lisa & The Cult Jam, Klymaxx and Paul Young. “Dance Little Birdie” became “The Chicken Dance,” the Emeralds version replacing The Tweets ‘81 hit. Still going strong: Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson, Bob Seger, The Village People, Bon Jovi and Billy Idol. Activities have changed, too. At least in my locality, the tradition of the bride dancing with her father first, who then ceremoniously “passes” his daughter to the groom has all but disappeared. So did the dollar dance, for a while, but it has been slowly making a comeback in recent years. The biggest casualty, however, has been the Grand March, which used to follow the bride and groom’s first dance and the introduction of the Bridal Party. The couple would lead their party around the room, a bit like a party train or conga line, but when they returned to the dance floor, they would turn and face one another holding hands and everyone behind them danced under their “arch” did the same. Soon everyone was dancing through a “tunnel” of friends and family members, kissing everyone along the way! On the extremely rare occasion when a couple opts for a Grand March today, there’s absolutely no kissing, except, hopefully, for the wedding couple!

Log Rolling

So what does all this mean? Most immediately it means that program logs give you a way to gauge many things about your performance, clients, music and trends in both the short and long term. This information can be useful, sometimes in unexpected ways! When perusing Facebook and some DJ websites, I’ve often wondered why DJs who don’t offer photography still snap lots of pictures and post them online. Then I realized that, aside from a bit of promotion, it’s a way to touch base with reality and affirm that we actually did something! It’s a tangible piece of an experience that’s gone like a puff of smoke. I remembered having the same feeling about my first program logs. Armed with that information, I could virtually re-create the entire event. It was somehow more [ital]real. I could also also answer the party guest who called days or even weeks after an event asking, “What was that great song they used for their first dance?” Or, a request to “play all of those great tunes you played at my sister’s wedding” was suddenly possible. And knowing when to STOP playing “Rocket 2 U” kept my program from becoming stale and might’ve even prevented a loss of business! Years from now, your own logs might also make you look back, as I have, and say, “What a long, strange trip it’s been!” (Now where have we heard THAT before?)

Until next time, safe spinnin’!

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Get Real: Success in 2010 by Mark Johnson

Get Real: Success in 2010

By Mark Johnson

With some realistic, creative business management, you can realize a better future

With apologies to the 1992 Clinton election campaign, the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid” seems more relevant than ever to virtually every aspect of life these days. Lets look at what this means for mobile DJs-and how can we use it to our advantage.

It well known that while adding professional music to any occasion improves that occasion, it could be argued that we may be the first to be omitted or at the very least, reconsidered for both our added value when times get tough.

LIFE GOES ON, BUT MORE FRUGALLY

Let’s start at the top. Will people change their mind and not get married due to the economy? Probably not. Besides the love thing, getting married allows the two single people to reduce their expenses and combine other expenses like housing, insurance etc. However, when it comes down to planning their wedding, many couples are taking a second look at all of the elements within this important, once-in-a-lifetime occasion.

I’ve seen several “Your Money” segments on various cable programs that indicate an increase in the number of the young couples taking the major amount of money normally spent on a wedding (and perhaps the following honeymoon) and spending it more pragmatically as a down payment on a house. In today’s economy, that’s very hard to argue against.

I personally have been involved with this decision in a few ways. The first has been losing some bookings as couples have changed their minds on the primary wedding reception. Secondly, some have changed their receptions from large affairs to more sedate gatherings coinciding with the actual wedding ceremony. The third change has involved more of a “party” than a wedding reception, held months after the actual wedding and usually at the family home.

All of these have the intention of NOT spending money on the extravagance of a soup-to-nuts wedding reception. While we might wish to have “blank-check” clientele, the current reality seems to inficate a backlash against such large expenses.

This budget-consciousness will in many cases trickle down to other family functions as well. Bar mitzvahs, sweet sixteens, graduations, first communions and birthday parties have all taken a slight turn for the worse regarding the use of our services. Factor in the increase of the “do it yourself” attitude of the clients with iPods and the lesser DJs with their cheaper systems and standards and you have a new storm on the horizon: Less sophisticated events allowing less sophisticated music that’s barely bordering on “professional.”

Corporate events and holiday parties have also seen decreases as recent headlines have chastised major companies for such celebrations. One headline in particular mentioned a solvent insurance company canceling their annual Las Vegas “sales conference” (wink, wink) not based on the money (which they had) but on the negative image of such a luxurious expenditure (which they didn’t need). Despite the company being able to afford this event, the motivational value of such an event to the salespeople, and the business that they bring to Las Vegas, the overall choice was to pull the plug. Everyone loses.

DJs fall precariously into two distinct categories regarding events: Value Added or Discretionary Expense. People will get married, have birthdays, and they will retire or graduate with or without DJs. In essence, these and other events will continue and adding a celebration to the event may or may not require a DJ.

About the only DJ event that we are absolutely necessary for would be school dances. There, the music IS the event, instead of simply coinciding with an occasion that would occur with or without us.

But enough gloom and doom. What can we do about these tentative times?

ADJUST YOUR FOCUS

First, the “sky’s the limit” mentality regarding DJ pricing may take a temporary sabbatical. Our clients are getting squeezed and are then squeezing their suppliers for better deals. Everyone is becoming a better shopper. The intangible qualities of our services (ie., “professionalism,”‘ “worth” and “customer relationships.”) will be seriously challenged.

Second, there will be fewer events to share with seemingly more DJs. And the newcomers to the DJ business will certainly exert pressure to bring down pricing. Now is the time to reinforce your relationships with repeat customers, namely schools and corporate events. Perhaps dangle a free or reduced price dance in January for locking in a whole year’s worth of regular dances. Offer a company a reduced rate for a non-Friday holiday party. Help create mini-sales conventions/celebrations held at the company’s facilities instead of the larger annual blow-out.

Cozy up with your local facilities that refer DJs by offering a greater referral fee. That’s highly negotiable and could make the difference in many cases. These venues are usually on the front lines of booking smaller family parties.

Keep in touch with semi-annual mailings to prior one-time events like weddings and perhaps “freeze” your rate for using you in the future. That should at least inspire a return phone call. Perhaps make it a one-time offering, which should coincide with a projected duration of the current economic situation. You don’t want to lock in a current rate forever.

INTREPID ENTERTAINERS

I’m reminded of FDR’s famous statement during his first inauguration, during the Great Depression: “There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.” Sure the economy is in the toilet. Sure, there’s more competition with lesser rivals. Sure, you have increased expenses with potentially reduced income.

But this time offers a great opportunity to review your overall approach. You have expensive equipment waiting to make you money. Look at other ways to get it working for you, like rentals or sound production. You have time to perform DJ gigs. Doing some freebies won’t cramp your calendar and could potentially generate new long-term clients that will be with you after the economic crisis passes. Why let money get in the way of your business, especially the DJ business? Each performance has incredible referral potential. There are some rays of hope among the clouds.

And when the sky clears (as it always does), the flexible, better-prepared mobile DJ will come out as the stronger DJ, leaving the competition looking for their next careers.

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PRO2PRO: Pro DJ to Photographer/Videographer

PRO2PRO: Pro DJ to Photographer/Videographer

By Gerald Johnson

VISION EXPERT SNAPS CLEAR PICTURE OF WEDDING DJ’S ROLE

PRO PHOTOGRAPHER/VIDEOGRAPHER: TOM CHAPUT

In my area one of the best values in wedding photography and videography is Tom Chaput, who, with only eight years in the wedding business, has etched a clear mark in his trade. From a previous life of office supply sales and a lifelong interest in technology, he began his new career as a videographer working for a multi-op but eventually branched out on his own. He works with his wife Bonita, with the husband and wife team operating either as a tandem photography team or as a camera/video camera combo. I recently had the opportunity to talk with Tom regarding his thoughts on DJs, the wedding business, and the roles we all play as professionals:

Gerald Johnson: Let’s begin with DJs. During your time in the wedding business, you definitely have noticed that DJs have an effect on the event. In a positive sense, what can you say that DJs add?

Tom Chaput: I would say that good DJs help the guests to stay longer and enjoy themselves by providing quality entertainment with the right music. Also, a well-organized DJ can keep the flow and pace of the night moving along-which makes the guests more content and also removes stress and pressure from the bride and groom.

GJ: So the biggest piece of a DJ’s job you would say is “piece of mind?”

TC: Absolutely. If the event is planned out well in advance and followed through by the DJ with the right events, announcements, and music at the right times, then the bride and groom are almost always more relaxed and able to enjoy their reception. We can always tell if the DJ is a professional in the first few moments we work with them by how well they are organized and how well they work with you.

GJ: On the same note, I bet you have seen times when things didn’t quite go so well, and the DJ was at fault…

TC: The problem almost always begins with the actual scheduling of the event. In some cases, the DJ will not coordinate with the couple before the event, and as a result the event suffers. Sometimes names are wrong, the event has no flow, and before you know it the party was over because of a lousy DJ.

GJ: What, then, are the biggest problems you see when working with DJs?

TC: I am very surprised at the number of big (multi-op) services that will not divulge who the actual DJ will be before the event. With some services, the couple finds out at the event or the week before, which is definitely very stressful for the bride and groom, because, lets face it-some big services have one or two DJs that are bad. I’ve also seen DJs that show up dressed completely inappropriately for the event and some that are late. The biggest problem, though, are DJs with “an attitude” and those that make the show about them with too much mic time and cheesy shtick.

GJ: Let’s talk about sales. What is your best sales asset when meeting with new brides and grooms?

TC: For us it’s looking the part. We have a nice, clean office that serves the sole purpose of meeting with clients and doing work related to the business. Even though it is in my home, the office is on its own floor and is separated from the living space by stairs (meaning you don’t walk through the living space to get to the office). The whole space has been completely remodeled and we have our work hanging on the walls with accent spot lighting highlighting it. When couples are introduced to this setting, they see how serious we are about our work instead of a messy kitchen table or kids screaming in the background.

GJ: I suppose that’s the same on our end. If you are a client, you are inevitably going to look at those who have made the investment in a dedicated work space as more professional than those who simply meet with clients in their living room or another location.

As for your business, what is your approach to shooting weddings?

TC: Our concern is making the process as easy and fun as it can be for the bride, groom, and family. I know from experience that hiring “comfortability” over work that is shown will in the end always produce a better result because the experience making the photos or video will be better. If you hire by personality and not brand, then all will be better.

GJ: How does your typical planning meeting go?

TC: Well, we review with the client what the wedding day will entail and then they normally pick the specific package they want, whether it be length of shooting time with photos or the amount of videos and kinds of effect they want for the videography portion. We’re not Soup Nazis, and so our clients really can choose what suits them best.

GJ: Tom, thanks for your candidness. Are there any parting words you would like to give to the DJs before we wrap up?

TC: It is amazing how much a great DJ can enhance an event-and how a lousy DJ can ruin a day. Please don’t be the lousy DJ. Prepare, plan, and have fun!

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