Happy Friday the 13th everyone!!!! What a great day to officially kickoff the first ever 12 Days of Creative Cabana! I'm very excited to start this new tradition for this blog with you and while I notice a lot of people do their own "12 Days of Christmas" bits, my goal is to give you 12 creative ideas that will spark joy and inspiration for you during this holiday season. So between now and December 24th, each day will be a special project ranging from any of the discussed creative fields here, as well as some of my own personal input ideas! Why wait any longer, let's start with our first day....
Today's special project is a Video Christmas Greeting which can shared through Social Media, E-mail, Websites, and Broadcast. Last month, I discussed this project idea in the post "Do-It-Yourself Holiday Cards" where I used Windows Movie Maker to create a simple presentation of photos and graphics to create a virtual multimedia greeting card. I've done something similar in my demonstration of a Christmas greeting, but this time I've used my webcam to incorporate my own testament for this greeting.
I think it's always nice to add a personal touch to any type of card whether it's a picture, letter, video image, or another individual touch. In my greeting card, I recorded my message using my webcam in Windows Movie Maker. It worked out ok, but for quality purposes I highly recommend using a digital camera that records video, or if you have a camcorder that would be better. Also if you have one available, please consider using a microphone for your device so that your speech will come in at a much better quality and volume. Because I don't own a video camera, or a microphone- the webcam will have to do for this demonstration. If you are using a camcorder to record your message, be sure to adjust your settings to the appropriate levels- be mindful of lighting, scenery, and sounds. It doesn't have to be "Hollywood Movie" quality, but you should try to make the best of what you can.
Next come the visuals. You can easily add any picture, graphics, or other images into your editing programs by simply importing the content. If you're using a lower-budget program (like me) such as Windows Movie Maker, you might have to be a little creative when incorporating these elements into your video. Simplicity is key, but don't forget to add a little fancy too! Here is my final completed Video Greeting specially for you. Keep in mind, it's not perfect, and there are many things I wish I could do to spruce it up, however I'm working on a lower budget so bear with me!
I'm sure you've noticed a few things that could be better, but it's the thought that counts right? haha! Actually, this isn't bad for running on a webcam and with Windows Movie Maker. You don't have to be as formatted or structured as I made mine, but it at least gives you an idea or a template of how it COULD be done.
Again, refer to my previous post "Do-It-Yourself Holiday Cards" for a more detailed tutorial on creating these online video greetings. If you do have any questions, suggestions, or comments regarding Video Greetings, feel free to leave a comment this post and I'd be happy to respond!
Don't forget, to check back each day for a new project idea as part of The 12 Days of Creative Cabana! Have a Happy Friday Everyone and Stay Warm!
Boo to You! My wonderful readers. It's the day before Halloween and I thought it'd be fun to talk a little bit about some of those favorite Halloween movies that make us scream, cry, and maybe even laugh a little. Halloween is perfect time to watch a variety of movies because unlike other holidays which are centered around one type of emotional bond (love, family, joy, freedom, etc.), Halloween brings out the creepiest and strangest sides of movie watchers. It also provides the most variety when choosing genres to view during this time of year ranging from murder to mystery, horror to fantasy, sci-fi to thriller, need I say more? I guess my point is that unlike other holiday movies that are really only good for certain times of the year, the scary or thriller type of movies can last all-year round- Halloween just happens to be the best time to let these movies shine! So in picking from a wide array of genres and factors, I'm going to list some of my Halloween movie picks and discuss what makes them so good for this spooky celebration.
1. Musicals- "Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975)
Ok, so to start I'm voting "Rocky Horror Picture Show" as a Halloween-must see. Is it Scary? Not at all. Does it have a Creepy factor? Nope. Are there any Psychological nut-jobs? Well, you could say that. I put "Rocky Horror" on this list because it's a ton of fun to watch, that is if you decide to interact with the movie. Throughout the film, there are tons of messages that direct you to do silly things to yourself while watching the scenes: throw popcorn, put a newspaper on your head, yell things, etc. Trust me if you follow along with the instructions you'll enjoy it much more, but if you watch it like a straight up film then it will probably be the worst 2 hours of your life. If you'd like the interactive instructions CLICK HERE for more details. Moving on though the story starts out with two very stereotypical movie characters, Brad and Janet. In a stereotypical movie plot they get stuck in the rain with a flat tire and come across this creepy house which they enter to get help. When they enter the house they meet several unusual dancing and singing characters, one of them being the famous Tim Curry who plays Dr. Frank N. Furter. The movie gets stranger and more fun as the story progress and by the end of the film you are left wondering WTF?!?!?! That's all I can say plot-wise without ruining the sacred spectacle of the film. What makes this film so great is that it's actually a parody of the typical sci-fi and horror flicks. Playing off the typical characters, story plots, and awkward moments of these genres, "Rocky Horror Picture Show" is an instant classic. I guess it goes up there with Monty Python, Napeleon Dynamite, Scary Movie, it is so stupid and awkward it's funny. Plus even if you don't like the movie chances are you'll at least enjoy the music. Just about everyone is familiar with "Time Warp" and "Sweet Transvestite", but some of the other casts' numbers are pretty good and Meat Loaf's "Hot Pootie" song is pretty kickin' too. Overall, "Rocky Horror Picture Show" is an entertaining Halloween movie to get people singing, dancing, and thinking about how you've spent 2 hours watching this.
2. Comedy- "Hocus Pocus" (1993)
How could I not mention this movie for Halloween? It's ridiculously funny! But to be honest, "Hocus Pocus" tends to have a love-hate relationship with people. Most people love watching Bette Midler dress at witch terrorizing children, but hate the story-plot and/or the other characters. It starts out with the three Witch Sanderson sisters, Winifred (Bettle Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy). The witches plan to steal the lives of the children of Salem, Massachuttes to keep them young forever. When their plan fails in the late 1600s they vow to return when a virgin, yes a Virgin (where's Madonna when you need her?), will summon them back. Naturally, an idiot non-believer in the year 1993 named Max Dennsion, conjures up the witches on Halloween night. They have one that one night to steal the lives of children before they become dust. They constantly chase Max, his little sister Danny, Max's girlfriend Allison, and a talking cat Binx (who was the last victim of the witches' power in the 1600s) to get their vengeance and succeed in their plot. All of this because of VIRGINS! Wow, Disney thanks for bringing this to light. I digress, so "Hocus Pocus" makes a great Halloween movie because it's funny, has a lot of good character moments, and of course there's this song:
My goodness, Bette Midler is just an amazing talent! She's a delightful actress and a terrific singer- of course if you've seen her in other films or TV appearances then you know that she just sparkles in creative talent. Now the downside to Hocus Pocus is that it isn't really doesn't have a strong conflict. Unlike most horror films where the antagonist shows several cases of horror, power, and terror these characters more less just want to have fun. The witches don't really scare anyone, all they're interested in is eating children (Perhaps these are the cousins of Pennywise the clown?). It's definitely a kid, family friendly type of movie. Still though, it's a great Halloween movie.
3. Drama- "IT" (1990)
Speaking of Pennywise, here's a movie/miniseries that gets everybody's blood pumping, Stephen King's "IT". Originally a book turned into TV miniseries to now available as a full movie, "IT" is the primary reason for people being terrified of clowns. In the first scene of "IT" we see a little girl riding a bike who sees a clown hiding behind a laundry line at her house. At first the clown seems happy and harmless but quickly turns into a monster and kills the little girl. As it turns out the clown as killed before, 30 years prior to this, and one man in the town of Derry, Maine calls his childhood friends to tell them the clown they thought they killed has come back. In the first part of "IT" you are shown the childhood memories of each of the friends and how they came together to defeat Pennywise the clown. In the second part they all reunite back in Derry and argue about how they are "too old" to be chasing monsters. After getting their act together the adults manage to find Pennywise and put an end to him for good. So let's start with the obvious, for this being made in 1990 it's actually pretty scary. Tim Curry does a magnificent job in the role of Pennywise and creeps the heck out of you throughout the film. You don't know if he's gonna kill you, or if he's just being playful to mess with your mind. Other characters in the series bring some terror as well. Henry Bowers (played by Jared Blancard and Michael Cole) is a major punk and bully who even tries to kill some of the main characters- he's one guy you don't want to mess with. Another is the father of Beverly Marsh, one of the children who destroys Pennywise. Beverly's Dad is a drunk and abusive man who is far from winning "Father of the Year". IT definitely has it's scary and intense moments but there's also some cheesy moments too. The big one being in Part 2 when Pennywise turns out to be this giant spider-like creature.
The creature approaches them in the cave and you can tell it's poor photoshop editing- not the greatest idea. Otherwise, "IT" is definitely a great film for Halloween- it's got a good storyline, great casting, and is pretty nicely produced given the time it was filmed.
4. Suspense- "Orphan" (2009)
Out of pure honesty, this is the one film I can say it kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. "Orphan" is definitely not what I had expected, but in a good way. If you had seen the trailers or previews for this movie in the past then you know it has something to do with this child and her creepy experiences living with a new adopted family. Well, without giving too much away I just have to say that I was shocked with the twist that comes out towards the middle-end of this movie. The little girl, Esther is adopted by Kate and John Coleman who already have 2 of their own children, a boy and a deaf girl. At first everything seems fine with Esther but as the move continues she gets more crazy and does erratic things that no 9 year old should be doing. What I liked about "Orphan" is that keeps that dark and mysterious feeling without turning into an actual horror film. "Orphan" falls more into the psychological thriller category but it does have some pretty intense moments such as killing a nun and stoning a bird to death (yeah, no lie!). This movie is definitely perfect for the viewers enjoy the thriller and somewhat disturbing motives in a film. I pick "Orphan" as a great Halloween movie because it's plot-driven and has a wicked twist that will shock audiences.
5. Horror- "The Amityville Horror" (1979/2005)
For the last category of my Halloween picks "horror", I really struggled to pick a good film for this last selection. I debated between "Carrie", "Rosemary's Baby", "The Omen", and doing a blind review of "The Exorcist" (because I haven't seen it). The more I got to thinking about how many horror movies I've seen one stood out to me above the other, "The Amityville Horror". Maybe it's because there's some form of truth to this film, I don't know, but it is for sure one movie that gives me the creeps. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing the original, but I have watched the newer version and was really shaken up from it afterwards. It is based around the Lutz family who moves into this scary looking house which is where the murders of the DeFeo family took place. Now just to clarify because there is a lot of controversy surrounding "Amityville", the DeFeo family murders actually happened, why? don't know. So that alone I think contributes to the horrors in the telling of this story. The experiences of the real Lutz family, now that's part of the debate. Regardless, the movie demonstrates the accounts of what the Lutz family was experiencing within the DeFeo home- ranging from spirits, to poltergeist, and strange attitude changes "The Amityville Horror" surely delivers the scare, thrill, and gruesome factors that make up the perfect horror story which is even more perfect for Halloween!
Now, I know I may have left out many other good Halloween picks, trust me I know there's plenty out there. These are just some of my suggestions and these movies are ones that I personally think deserve a lot of credit for skill, production, entertainment, and directing. If you have some halloween movies you'd like to share with The Creative Cabana make sure you leave a comment here and/or all social media sites! Stay tuned tomorrow for more Halloween epic fun and the reveal of my halloween costume!
*All movies mentionned in this blog post belong to their respective owners, writers, and production companies. The views in this post are entirely my own and are not the views of cast or crew members. Images used were gained through Google Images. Videos are found on YouTube from respective members with no copyright intended. No profit is being gained for The Creative Cabana from any of the movies or actors listed. No Copyright Infringement Intended.
Good afternoon to all you awesome readers out there! Today I have something special for all you 90s kids out there. That's right I'm looking at you people who were (and maybe still are) obsessed with Arthur, Power Rangers, Full House, and all that other good stuff from the 90s. Well since it's Thursday- which means Throwback Thursday, I'm inviting you to do some time traveling with me back to the year 1998...
You're sitting at home on the couch with some popcorn, candy, and probably a drink. You're in front of the TV watching the Disney Channel and at approximately 7pm a movie comes on. It's a new movie, a kid-friendly Halloween movie, a "Disney Original" movie, what is it? If you said Hocus Pocus, YOU ARE SO WRONG!!! (Stay tuned for that one), nope I'm talking about "Halloweentown".
"Halloweentown", in my personal opinion, is definitely one of the better kid-friendly Disney TV movies made. For a 90s TV movie this was actually pretty good in terms of acting, effects, writing, plot, and overall production. Now does it have some negatives? Absolutely! There are plenty of cheesy moments to pick on, but that's to be expected. For those you who haven't seen the movie, let me give you a quick run down of the basic storyline.
It starts off with us meeting three children and a single-parent Mom (oh yeah, this follows the typical Disney legacy of having only ONE parent!). The oldest child at 13, Marnie, wants to go trick-or-treating with her friends but her mother Gwen won't let go for reasons that Marnie doesn't understand. Dylan who is the middle child, is basically a nerd and doesn't care about Halloween one way or the other. Finally we have Sophie, the youngest of three, who stares at the window insisting that "someone's coming". While the children are at home with Mom, they are visited by Grandma Aggie who comes with gifts, candy, and Halloween surprises for the children even though the Mom is against it. Marnie later discovers that her Grandma and Mom are actually both witches when she over hears them talking in the kitchen. She also learns that she too is a witch but is on the verge of losing her powers because she hasn't received her power training before her 13th Halloween (which is that night). Grandma Aggie actually comes to ask Gwen to help her defeat an evil force back in her home of, you guessed it, "Halloweentown". When the Mom refuses to help Aggie leaves and the children follow her on a magical bus to Halloweentown. They run into all sorts of adventures and meet new characters as they work together to defeat an evil spirit who turns out to be Kalabar, the mayor of Halloweentown. Grandma Aggie, Gwen, and the children all pull their powers together to destroy Kalabar and return home with Grandma Aggie living with her daughter and grandchildren.
So there you have the basic storyline of Disney's "Halloweentown". One of things I like about this movie is the concept- it's actually an original idea and not some fluffy cliche. It's a movie about a town where all the monsters and scary creatures live and they live just like humans do! They work, they have kids, go shopping, etc. I mean Halloween is just one night, what do they do for the rest of 364 days of the year? So yeah, it's a cool idea. I also like the actors in this movie a lot. Grandma Aggie, played by Debbie Reynolds, is a well-beloved actress and has that kind, yet strong spirit to her. She was a perfect cast for this role and is funny, witty, and very smart in her role as Grandma Aggie. Kimberly J. Brown plays the role of Marnie and has the typical pre-teen personality incorporated into her character. She's also smart, but displays that stubborn effect when she and her Mom have an argument in the first part of the movie. Another thing I like about the movie is that for 90s the special effects used weren't too bad. The scenes showing the flying bus and the part with Aggie and Marnie flying together, look pretty good and don't stick out like intense graphics do in today's movies. I think the special effect I like the best involves the evil shadow creature (aka Kalabar) as he appears in the movie theater to attack the family. He just sort of floats in and hovers while the others just take it all in. I have to say also enjoy a lot of the funny moments in "Halloweentown"- I mentioned Marnie's fight with her Mom in the first act of the movie, another part I love is when Marnie confronts Kalabar and gives him the best insult ever! Here's a video to demonstrate why I think it's so funny:
Now, so at not to be bias there are some things that I find a bit off with "Halloweentown", my biggest problem is the costumes. I really, really, really hate the costumes. Except for what the main characters are wearing, everybody else looks like they went to their local Walmart or Halloween USA store, bought a costume, and showed up on set. I get it, TV movies typically don't a have a huge budget to work with, but still a little bit of effort would've been nice! The other thing I don't like is the story progression. We don't really know what the problem is in Halloweentown until about half way through the movie. Plus there's this thing involved "Merlin's Talisman" and it serves really as nothing more than a candle for the giant pumpkin in Halloweentown. That's it, no explanation or anything as to what that has to do with Halloweentown or how it will destroy Kalabar. It's not a magic wand, there's no spell for it (except for turning it on), it's just a useless movie prop and doesn't really have a place in the story. I mean the family could've easily just zapped the guy with their powers, but instead they had to focus on turning the light in the Talisman on. Really people?
Other than that, Halloweentown was actually a pretty good movie production for it's time. It had some cheesy moments and a couple of times where you were just left to wonder, did that just happen? But it also had a really good plot, great cast, and some of the best quotes ever! The crew and cast of Halloweentown should be proud of themselves because this movie stood out to a lot of kids. The sequels weren't quite as a good as the first movie, but it is what it is. So go ahead and relive your childhood! Watch Halloweentown and you won't be disappointed.
*"Halloweentown" is the property of Disney Channel and The Walt Disney Company. Video used was pulled from clips available on YouTube. Pictures used are from Google Images. No Copyright Infringement Intended.
So you want to make a video but don't know where to start or better yet, you don't know what to make a video of? It's ok, most people have the common case of the "I Don't Know What to Do" syndrome. Relax! If you want to make a really good quality, professional looking video, it's always best to start at the beginning by jotting down some notes.
If this is for a school or company project, I highly suggest you really take the time to consider your production options before moving onto any kind of casting, shooting, etc. If you're set out to make a homemade video of your Cousin Skippy doing the world's fastest Frisbee toss while juggling your collection of shoes, then you probably won't be putting much thought into making a good quality video. When I say good quality or professional video, I'm talking about something that will officially represent you, your company, your idea, etc. In other words put as much effort into the production of your videos as if it where up for an Oscar nomination!
So first off, think to yourself what do I want to create? Music Video, Commercial, Documentary, Commentary, etc. Put yourself into a category of what TYPE of video you want to create and then you can start selecting the topics, songs, products, etc. While I was studying Broadcasting in college, I had the opportunity to create two music videos. The first one I created was a video featuring some of my closest college friends has we lip-synced to "I'll Remember You" by The Rembrandts (aka the theme from "Friends"). The concept of the video was pretty simple, each of us had specific lyrics to follow throughout the song as we acted different scenes that correspond to the message of the song. Now please keep in mind, this was a class assignment so there were certain steps that had to be followed throughout all aspects of production, which I'll get to in a minute. The second video I made was a custom song for my college written and sung by DJ $crilla (and yes there is a $ instead of S). The song was titled "Ashland University 2008" and highlighted some cool things about the school and also focused on our Greek Life. When I made the music video for this song, the production schedule was a little interesting because of different events that were going on at the time of production.
Regardless, something that helped my with both music video shoots, and in fact all of my video projects, was a simple tool called Story boarding. For those who are not familiar with this concept, I can assure you it is for your benefit and easy to do. Basically, story boarding is a set of drawings that illustrates your ideas for your video. Don't worry, although you have to be the one to draw them that doesn't mean you have to have draw well. All you're doing is sketching out ideas for your video shoot in order to keep track of scenes, props, cast, and other important factors. To illustrate my point, here are a few pages of my storyboard for the "I'll Remember You" music video:
This is a just sample of the storyboard I put together for this video shoot. All together it came to about 21 pages. The final product didn't turn out exactly how I had planned for it, but the project got done and turned out really well. Having that storyboard to help guide the cast and visualize the ideas I wanted to portray really brought the video together. Sure stuff happened, bad weather, camera problems, etc.- storyboards can't fix that, but it helps organize your thoughts and plans. If you have to re-route your concepts from what you had originally planned, that's fine.
Before you begin any kind of shooting or pre-production work, I strongly recommend you take the time to create a storyboard illustrating your visual concept of how you want the video to be portrayed. If you have cast or other crew members, allow them to look over your storyboard and get their input as well. If you need scripts and/or song lyrics for the video, provide them a copy of the materials so they can follow along with the lines and your pictures. Story boarding is easy, efficient, and a great organizing tool to help you keep tracking with your production. If you're someone who is also looking to do any kind of graphics or animation work in your videos, storyboards allow you the ability to plan those ideas out as well. Below is a video I found on YouTube where animators from The Walt Disney Studios discussing how storyboards work and how they can be useful for you upcoming video projects.
I love videos! Hands down, it’s one of my favorite digital mediums because there’s so much you can do with video whether you’ve got just your standard home video camera, a studio production camera, or even the video you capture on your phone! This is where I’m going to post some of my video work to share with you. I’m on a mission to show how creativity and quality can be produced with limited resources. Plus, I'll also be sharing some of the unique video pieces I find throughout the web which will hopefully give you some inspiration and insight into how video is produced. The keywords here are resourcefulness and creativity- so lets make some movie magic!
