February 2012 – Media Services News

A new piece of AV gear is now available for check out from the New Media Center!

Pearstone OLM-10 Omnidirectional Lavalier Microphone The Pearstone OLM-10 lav mic is a really great sounding mic that may be perfect for one of your upcoming audio or video projects. It clips on and it has no problem picking up sound from a distance. When we tested this mic in the New Media Center, it managed … Continue reading “A new piece of AV gear is now available for check out from the New Media Center!”

Pearstone OLM-10 Omnidirectional Lavalier Microphone

The Pearstone OLM-10 lav mic is a really great sounding mic that may be perfect for one of your upcoming audio or video projects. It clips on and it has no problem picking up sound from a distance. When we tested this mic in the New Media Center, it managed to pick up voices from up to 15 feet away with no problem. Of course ideally you will only be attempting to record the voice of the individual that the mic is attached to. This mic will be great for audio interviews or “talking head” style video shoots where you want to be sure you’re recording solid primary audio or even secondary audio using the Pearstone lav mic along with an audio recorder. The one thing to be aware of is that this mic is not wireless, but instead comes with 20 feet of thin, lightweight cable. Luckily, the cable is black so with a little creativity, you can easily conceal it from your shot. The Pearstone OLM-10 lav mic circulates for 3 days to any current AU student, faculty, or staff member. It can also be reserved by stopping into the New Media Center or by calling us at 202.885.2560. Come by the New Media Center and check it out for your next project!

Hot Docs: The Siege now available in Media Services

This documentary follows the story of the day of the Siege of Colombia’s Palace of Justice, where close to 100 people were killed including most of the Colombia’s supreme court justices, and tracks the courtroom drama of Colonel Plazas Vega’s trial 25 years later. In the course of the highly charged trial the lawyers, prosecutors, and the judge all wear bulletproof vests, and start traveling with armed guards, in fear for their lives. The case has captured the attention of the Colombian public, and both practically and symbolically it has become a touchstone for the integrity of justice in Colombia.

DVD 9594

La Toma (The Siege) from Pivot Pictures on Vimeo.

Distributor description

Visiting Filmmaker Series – Spring 2012: Heather Courtney – “Where Soldiers Come From” – Thursday, March 1, 2012 from 2:30 – 7pm

Heather Courtney – “Where Soldiers Come From” Date: Thursday, March 1, 2012 – 2:30 – 7:00pm Join us for a Master Class with filmmaker Heather Courtney at 2:30 pm followed by a screening of the documentary “Where Soldiers Come From” and Q&A starting at 5:30 pm. WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM is an intimate look at … Continue reading “Visiting Filmmaker Series – Spring 2012: Heather Courtney – “Where Soldiers Come From” – Thursday, March 1, 2012 from 2:30 – 7pm”

Heather Courtney – “Where Soldiers Come From”

Date: Thursday, March 1, 2012 – 2:30 – 7:00pm

Join us for a Master Class with filmmaker Heather Courtney at 2:30 pm followed by a screening of the documentary “Where Soldiers Come From” and Q&A starting at 5:30 pm.

WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM is an intimate look at the young men who fight our wars and the families and town they come from. Returning to her hometown, director Heather Courtney gains extraordinary access, following these young men as they grow and change from reckless teenagers, to soldiers looking for bombs in Afghanistan, to 23-year-old veterans facing the struggles of returning home. The documentary looks beyond the guns and policies of an ongoing war to examine the war’s effect on the future of these young men, their parents and loved ones, and the whole community when young people go off to fight.

Heather Courtney has directed and produced several documentary films including Letters from the Other Side and

Los Trabajadores. With her current film, Where Soldiers Come From, she was a Sundance Edit and Story Lab fellow, and a 2009 recipient of the United States Artists fellowship. Her films have been funded by a Fulbright Fellowship, ITVS, the Sundance Documentary Fund, the Paul Robeson Fund, and the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund. She was recently named one of Film Independent’s Top 10 Filmmakers to Watch. Letters from the Other Side was the Closing Night film at the Slamdance Film Festival in January 2006, screened at numerous festivals around the world, and was broadcast on over 60 PBS stations. Los Trabajadores won the Audience Award at SXSW and the International Documentary Association David Wolper award, and was broadcast nationally on the PBS series Independent Lens. She was a co-director on Roger Weisberg’s Critical Condition, which aired nationally on POV in Fall 2008, and is a member of the acclaimed film distribution cooperative New Day Films. Prior to receiving her MFA in Film Production, she spent eight years writing and photographing for the United Nations and several refugee and immigrant rights organizations, including in the Rwandan refugee camps after the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Excerpted from the Center for Social Media site.

SPC Films and RHA Present The Muppets

Tuesday, February 28, 11:00 p.m., Ward 1 Come join SPC Films and RHA for a free screening of The Muppets. Starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams, the Muppets attempt to save their old theater.Sponsor: RHA, SG Events, Student Activities, SUB, University Center, and Women’s InitiativeContact: sm2272a@student.american.edu Excerpted from Today@AU The Muppets Trailer

Tuesday, February 28, 11:00 p.m., Ward 1

Come join SPC Films and RHA for a free screening of The Muppets. Starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams, the Muppets attempt to save their old theater.
Sponsor: RHA, SG Events, Student Activities, SUB, University Center, and Women’s Initiative
Contact: sm2272a@student.american.edu

Excerpted from Today@AU

The Muppets Trailer

SOC’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking Presents: Documenting the Unseeable: Spielberg, Ground Zero, and Feeling the Rebuilding

Tuesday, February 28, 7:00 p.m., Mary Graydon Center, Wechsler Theater Mark Breeze, the producer of the “Memorial and Museum” episodes of the recent landmark six-part Discovery Channel/ Spielberg documentary on the rebuilding of Ground Zero, discusses the challenges and process of making a documentary about the rebuilding of a site that everybody knows but nobody … Continue reading “SOC’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking Presents: Documenting the Unseeable: Spielberg, Ground Zero, and Feeling the Rebuilding”

Tuesday, February 28, 7:00 p.m., Mary Graydon Center, Wechsler Theater

Mark Breeze, the producer of the “Memorial and Museum” episodes of the recent landmark six-part Discovery Channel/ Spielberg documentary on the rebuilding of Ground Zero, discusses the challenges and process of making a documentary about the rebuilding of a site that everybody knows but nobody wants to talk about.
Sponsor: SOC’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking
Contact: Chris Palmer, 202-885-3408 or palmer@american.edu

Excerpted from Today@AU

The Oscars: Will you be tweeting tonight?

The Oscars are on tonight at 7pm. Will you be watching? If so, will you be tweeting about it too? Word on the street is that tonight there may be some record numbers in social media usage involving tonight’s award ceremony. Many celebrities are expected to be tweeting, some from behind the scenes at the Oscars, some from the red carpet and others from their couches. Tons of non-celebrity TV viewers are expected to be tweeting and Facebook posting their opinions on various aspects of the Oscars throughout the course of the event.

There is quite a busy Oscars site with plenty of things to keep you occupied as you watch the ceremony. This includes a Backstage Pass page with photos and videos designed to give you the “insider’s experience”. There’s plenty of fuel here for all your social media activities this evening.

There’s even a free Oscars App which is also designed to provide you with some sort of insider’s view of all the excitement. I actually just downloaded it out of curiosity and at first glance, it’s similar to the Oscar website and appears to more or less be a source for all the little behind the scenes videos you may or may not have an interest in watching.

To learn more about social media and the Oscars, check out this article from the Wall Street Journal and check out the video below.

A Social Media Guide to the Oscars

Check out one of these nominated titles from the Media Services Home Use Collection:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes – HU DVD 9337
Bridesmaids – HU DVD 9104
The Help – HU DVD 9309
Tree of Life – HU DVD 9230
Moneyball – HU DVD 9419
Midnight in Paris – HU DVD 9410

The Oscar illustration above was done by a Media Services staff member.

New Media Center Software Training Sessions this week:

The New Media Center is located on the lower level of the library past the Technology Services desk, next to Media Services. The NMC conducts open workshops on a variety of topics related to multimedia production. These 30 to 60 minute sessions are open to all AU faculty, staff and students with all levels of multimedia production experience. There are usually four or five workshops held each week. There is no fee for these workshops and no RSVP is necessary. Check the NMC calendar for the latest schedule. For more information, contact the NMC staff (202) 885-2560.

Sunday, 2/26 at 5pm – Intermediate Photoshop
Monday 2/27 at 2pm – Keyframing in Final Cut Pro 7
Tuesday 2/28 at 12pm – Basic Website Development
Wednesday 2/29 at 8pm – Basic motion Graphics for Video: After Effects
Thursday 3/1 at 4pm – Green Screen Editing
Friday 3/2 at 12pm – Getting Started with Photoshop
Saturday 3/3 at 5:30pm – Final Cut Pro X: Intermediate

See the complete Spring Training Schedule by date or by topic.

There is a wealth of multimedia training resources available online. AU faculty, staff and students have access to thousands of hours of free training at Lynda.com. Create a personal profile and get started. More information about resources can be found at Multimedia @ AU.

Footage from SD card to Hard Drive – IMPORTANT!

Downloading files from a SD card into final cut or onto your computer? There’s a few REALLY IMPORTANT steps to remember! First, your card acts like a hard drive, so its important to first create a back up. The first step is to make a disc image of your ENTIRE card. Open up disk utility … Continue reading “Footage from SD card to Hard Drive – IMPORTANT!”

Downloading files from a SD card into final cut or onto your computer?

There’s a few REALLY IMPORTANT steps to remember!

First, your card acts like a hard drive, so its important to first create a back up. The first step is to make a disc image of your ENTIRE card.

Open up disk utility on your mac.

Locate the Drive on the left hand side, and highlight it by selecting it ONCE.

While highlighted, click on the icon, NEW IMAGE.

Give the new image a name (we HIGHLY suggest the name of your footage or card?)

Select where you would like it saved to. (AGAIN – HIGHLY SUGGEST YOUR EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE!)

This will create a new DMG file that can be used as an external hard drive, later.

Later on….

Once you begin to edit, simply click on this DMG file, and the “hard drive” or card will mount on your computer.

This will help your editing program to recognize the media.

Begin transcoding!

Come into the New Media Center for help with digitizing your footage:)

What Do I Use For My Project?

Video+Audio VIXIA: Higher level shooting, on a camcorder, gives you the most manual abilities to work with. Requires you to log and capture, or transcode in FCP X. KODAK Zi8: Easy to use and handle, shoots on HD, and requires some transcoding for editing in FCP 7. FLIP CAM: Easy to use, least manual control … Continue reading “What Do I Use For My Project?”

Video+Audio

VIXIA: Higher level shooting, on a camcorder, gives you the most manual abilities to work with. Requires you to log and capture, or transcode in FCP X.

KODAK Zi8: Easy to use and handle, shoots on HD, and requires some transcoding for editing in FCP 7.

FLIP CAM: Easy to use, least manual control over functions. Easy to drag and drop and edit into any system.

Audio Only

M-AUDIO RECORDER: Sound only, with small microphone. Good for sound projects, or recording audio interview. Manual function available.

OLYMPUS RECORDER: Very easy to record, lower quality recordings. Better for in class language assignments, or for personal use.

Selected New Documentary Titles in Media Services

Check out these documentaries that were recently added to the Media Services collection. Minik: The Lost Eskimo – DVD 117On the Ropes – DVD 154Pimps Up, Ho’s Down – DVD 160Bomb It – DVD 968Monumental: David Brower’s Fight for Wild America – DVD 980Thomas Berry: The Great Story – DVD 981How to be a man … Continue reading “Selected New Documentary Titles in Media Services”

Check out these documentaries that were recently added to the Media Services collection.

Minik: The Lost Eskimo – DVD 117
On the Ropes – DVD 154
Pimps Up, Ho’s Down – DVD 160
Bomb It – DVD 968
Monumental: David Brower’s Fight for Wild America – DVD 980
Thomas Berry: The Great Story – DVD 981
How to be a man – DVD 9291
How to be a Woman – DVD 9292
Let’s Get Frank – DVD 9293
Private/Seeds/West Bank story – DVD 9301
Must Read After my Death – DVD 9313
Tambien la Lluvia – DVD 9314
Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals – DVD 9315
Living in Emergency – DVD 9316
Kartemquin Films Collection: The Early Years: Vol. 1 1967 – 1968 – DVD 9317
Small Act – DVD 9318
Eika Katappa & Der To der Maria Malibran – DVD 9353
Girl Power: All Dolled Up – DVD 9244
Fambul Tok – DVD 9333
Call Me Malcolm – DVD 9335
Jane’s Journey – DVD 9484
Cazadores de Utopias – DVD 9485
Economics of Happiness – DVD 9488
H.I.J.O.S. El Alma en Dos – DVD 9490
Strategic Teacher – DVD 9491
Harvest [La Cosecha] – DVD 9492
Climate Refugees – DVD 9493
Sitting Bull: A Stone in My Heart – DVD 9495
Acting in Film: Michael Caine – DVD 9496
Eames: The Architect and the Painter – DVD 9497
Fall from Grace – DVD 9498
Fruit of Our Labor: Afghan Perspectives in Film – DVD 9504
Jim Crow’s Museum – DVD 9505
Women, War and Peace – DVD 9511
Not My Life – DVD 9512
Visual Acoustics – DVD 9514
Sewing Woman – DVD 9515
Romantic Warriors – DVD 9518
Witches in Exile – DVD 9570
If you are the one – DVD 9576
Paving America – DVD 9592
Siege: La Toma – DVD 9594
Please Vote for Me – DVD 9597
Legacy of Peace – DVD 9610
New Recruits – DVD 9617
Memory of the Camps – DVD 9618
Bhangra Generation – DVD 9619
Sisters of the Screen – DVD 9624
California’s Lost Tribes – DVD 9631
Price of Renewal – DVD 9632
New Los Angeles – DVD 9633
Ripe for Change – DVD 9634
Wild China – DVD 9644
Ister – DVD 9655
Swastika – DVD 9661
Black Magic – DVD 9663