There is an exciting new way to monetize your videos. Placing clickable links INSIDE the video itself.  These links can take your video viewers anywhere on the web you want…to your sales page or to your profile page on My Space.  Click-able links inside your video should prove to be a more effective way of advertising than commercials run before a video plays.  They are less obtrusive (obnoxious) than any other form of advertising yet provide detailed information to the viewer if they seek it.

Many companies are starting to offer this new technology.  Some provide a more complete service than others.  Watch the two-minute video above to get a better idea of how this new technology can benefit you. As you watch the video, look for the two "spots" I placed within it.  Tomorrow, I will post another video with detailed instructions on how to use the service offered by Veeple, an industry leader in click-able videos.

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips

Lorraine Grula

Internet Video Gal

Technorati Tags: clickable videos, Internet Video Gal, Lorraine Grula, online video marketing, veeple

Merry Christmas, HO, HO, HO!!!!

Enjoy this toe-tapping special holiday treat Christmas video.

Set to a jazzy version of Jingle Bells, this video was a breeze to make.  First, I selected the music.  I wanted something bouncy that made you smile.  I got this cut from the Music Bakery for around $30.  No doubt I could find some royalty free Christmas music for less than that, but getting it from Music Bakery was faster, so speed won over price.

Next, I selected a background. I use Final Cut, which comes bundled with Live Type, software that helps you easily create animated titles and graphics.  The dancing snowflakes background was the most holiday-ish and festive.

Then, I selected video to go over the background. I used some still pictures off my hard drive.  That cute little girl hugging the Micky Mouse is my daughter, who is now 21.  No one said the pictures had to be current!  A face that sweet never loses its appeal.  And that's not just the mommy in me talking!

I also used some video I shot years ago of our Christmas tree. Mostly close-ups of ornaments.  At the time I videotaped the tree, I did not plan on using the video for anything other than home movies so I did not bother to set up lights.  The video was shot at night, with only the Christmas lights on the tree for illumination.  This means some of the shots are a little dark, a few shots I had to discard entirely, but most of them are OK.  That's another reason why I took a lot of close-ups.  One tiny Christmas light is enough if you are focused on just the 2-3 inches right next to the light.

I also used a cute snowman ice skating animation I got from anistock.com. Anistock is a fantastic resource for video animations of all kinds.  In my opinion, they beat the socks off iStock photo for animations.  Anistock is exclusively animations, they have tons, and they are less expensive (considerably) than iStock.

I matted and/or shrunk each video clip so it will fill only about 1/2 to 2/3 of the frame; the snowflake background will fill in the rest of the frame.

The words on the screen were generated by Final Cut. Merry Christmas was done in outline letters with a very soft, very large red outline and green letters.  Making your outline large and soft like that makes it appear to be more of a background for the letters and not just an outline.  The "oh goody!" was made using standard text.  I made the words grow using keyframe animation.

So Merry Christmas one and all.  Or, Happy Holidays.  Happy Hannuka, Happy Kawanza, WHATEVER! Let's just all be happy, OK?  Pass this video around and make someone smile!

Technorati Tags: ANIMATION, Christmas, Music Bakery, USD, Video Editing, video production

Green screen, which is also called chroma-key, is one of the most popular video editing techniques. No wonder. With it, you can do just about anything.

With green screen, you can transfer the setting of your video anywhere you want without spending a dime.

Discover how to use green screen technique with this free video editing tutorial. I show you how I did a green screen for the Stephen Colbert green screen challenge using Final Cut video editing software. The process is similar in all programs.

If you want even more information, we have multiple articles on this blog which you can easily find using the keywords green screen.

Technorati Tags: green screen, video editing software

From the perspective of an old news and political junkie (me), who loves the freedom the internet gives her to do weird comedy videos, I have a confession.

I just stayed up ALL NIGHT, guzzling caffeine, producing a very bad comedy video with the grandiose hope of being the next internet video sensation. I mean, come on, if a kid lighting his fart on fire can get a million views, there’s got to be hope for me!

So, here in the waning seconds of the presidential race of 2008, I present to you:

“Space Alien Celebrity News,” with hot intergalactic news anchor Fonda Lots-a-Titty. (Yes, I am being extremely crude.  Sex sells on You Tube, and everywhere else.)

This video is my contribution to the insanity that comes from melding politics and television.

As a longtime TV News field producer, who can aptly be described as a PBS girl in a MTV world, the current state of the American news media makes me crazy.

I HATE IT! I think most of you do too.

In my opinion, there is little, if any, REAL journalism going on in today’s corporate TV newsrooms. The viewing public is ill served by the superficial, biased garbage that passes for “news” on boob tubes across our land.

The effects of television on our political system have been drastic. Imagine Honest Abe showing up to the debate after rescuing the muddy pig. Good grief, the hairspray helmet heads on the TV news today would laugh him right out of the race!

Once TV came along, Richard Nixon dared to pop a few sweat beads and he had to exit stage left to make way for the handsome, well-composed hunk.

OK, fast forward to today. Huge, well-funded organizations (both political parties) are desperately trying, and usually succeeding in “controlling the message” via a lights, camera, action mentality.

Reality is irrelevant. Control the message via TV and you control the minds of the people, most of whom would rather be watching, One Life to Live.

So a soap opera is what they get. A well scripted, controlled story line that has been inspired by a mixture of Machiavelli’s, “The Prince,” and a Disney movie. The 24-hour news cycle and the bimbo talking heads who populate it thrive on the love of gossip.

It drives an old fashioned news junkie, political nerd like me so crazy, that I am inspired late at night to produce weird internet videos.

I have an excuse to do so. It’s my JOB, damn it.

Being self-employed rocks! (Except for that paycheck part.)

Now, onto how I created this video masterpiece.

This highly sophisticated video production (NOT) was achieved by me videotaping a close-up of me while I read a script that I had written a few hours earlier. I went through three version of the script before I was satisfied. I made sure to poke fun at all sides. Can’t be biased now, can I?   Who do I think I am?   Network News?

I propped my mini DV camera up on a card board box on top of my desk so I didn’t have to use a tripod. I had my computer screen directly behind the box so I could read the script off the monitor. The camera was about one foot in front of my mouth and I had it zoomed out on a wide shot.

I used one 100 watt light bulb pointed at the wall to diffuse the light. The light was clipped onto the desk.

I used the camera’s on-board microphone and had to speak very softly in order not to over modulate it. I made sure all background noise was turned off.

Being a neurotic perfectionist, I did about fifteen takes…ok, more like thirty, before I felt comfortable with my “acting.” How does a sex-pot alien TV anchor sound, anyway? Hell, I dunno. Had to experiment!

We made some eyeballs out of Tennis balls, pipe cleaners and fencing wire. I shot them in front of a red background and added them to the alien face using chroma key techniques. (Also called green screen, but I used red since the tennis balls were a greenish yellow.)

We ripped out the pipe cleaner eyelashes and used one of the eyes for a nose. The eyes and nose were all separate shots and I edited them individually as separate layers in FCE. This gave me more control over precisely how they were placed and their size.

I then captured my video into my computer video editing program via a firewire cable.

I matted out all of my face except my lips. I can not cut out the lips exactly with the software I have, (Final Cut Express) so I used an oval matte. I key framed the center point of the matte in order to follow my bopping head and isolate the lips. I tried to hold my head as steady as possible while video taping, but movement is magnified so much on a close up shot. It would have been easier to edit if I my original shot was closer on just my lips AND if I had not moved as much.

I then put the matted lips on top of a JPEG my daughter drew of the alien character, Fonda Lots-a-Titty. I had to block out the eyeballs she had drawn because I wanted to use the tennis balls, since I could make them move.

I intercut the drawing/lips composite with footage I shot off a real TV. I used my mini dv camera off a tripod for this and then captured the tape. Doing it that way is much easier than recording it directly off the air onto my computer hard drive.

Luckily, I live where there is plenty of horse hooey, you know the REAL stuff. So I videotaped the poop to use as a metaphoric commentary. The sun was setting so I got some great back lighting. Ah, the glistening poo-poo thrills a videophile like me!

The opening was made with a background generated by Live Type, the software titles and animation program bundled with Final Cut Express. I key framed a flying saucer Jpeg my daughter drew over the star background made by Live Type.

After editing the entire video together with some royalty free music, I converted it to an MPEG4 in FCE. Mpeg4 gives you a small file that uploads quickly.

I then uploaded it to Traffic Geyser, a paid service that sent my wonderful video creation all over the internet with minimum time. I have channels on multiple video sharing sites and Traffic Geyser sends to them all at once. Traffic Geyser also changes the file format and re submits the video a day later. All automatically. Traffic geyser is well worth the membership fee in time and frustration saved.

Then, the power of viral video (hopefully) will take over and get my weird comedy video, crazed, late-night creation in front of viewers all over the world.

Beats working for a living!

Producing weird videos for the internet is a tough job, but someone has to do it, so it might as well be me.

With this video, I hope that I have raised the level of sophistication of our political discourse above and beyond where it has sunk on mainstream news channels.

OK, not really. I’m just trying to be funny. Which is why I love the Internet. Talent, money, and a big corporate name aren’t necessarily what it takes to reach the masses today.

Nope! You just need a touch of craziness, balls the size of Jupiter, and the power of internet video.

Life is good!

Pass the video around and have a good chuckle! Then go vote.

Many thanks.

Lorraine Grula

Technorati Tags: ANIMATION, field producer, Lorraine Grula, MTV, news media, Richard Nixon, weird internet videos

If you want to make videos to share on the Internet, it helps to learn a thing or two about photographic lighting.

Lighting is one of the key elements to making a professional looking video. Decent lighting will ensure that your audience won’t have to squint at the screen, wondering what the heck it is you’re trying to show them.

Lighting for video does not have to be hard. As a lifelong video producer who specialized in moderate and low budget productions, I figured out lots of ways to make my videos look good without having to spend hours setting up and tearing down lights.

If you’d like to know exactly how to do it yourself, watch this three minute video tutorial on lighting for video production. It covers all the basics of lighting and helps you figure out how best to use whatever lighting situation you find yourself in.

Don’t buy an expensive video production course, my free video tutorials will get you on your way to making professional quality videos without all the hassle!

Enjoy the video and thanks for being a subscriber.

Lorraine Grula
Internet Video Gal

Technorati Tags: internet video, Internet Video Gal, Lighting, Lorraine Grula