Two Ways to Preserve Your Home Movies

Starting in late November and lasting all the way up until Christmas, I get lots of e-mails and phone calls from folks who want to transfer their old home movies from VHS tapes to DVD.

There are a few different ways to go about backing your VHS tapes up to DVD, and they each have their ups and downs.


Method 1: Buying a DVD recorder deck, or a dual VHS / DVD recorder deck.



Pros: This is the quickest and easiest way to transfer your VHS tapes, and you can do it yourself if you want to front $200+ for the equipment. It's as easy as hooking the VHS deck to the DVD recorder, and then recording the VHS playback onto DVD in real time. If you're going to pay a company to do a deck-to-deck transfer like this, it will cost less than Method 2.

Cons: I have yet to find a DVD recorder deck that will create "auto play" discs. They always seem to generate a really ugly menu which pops up when you put the DVD in. This probably doesn't bother most people, but I think it's tacky.


Method 2:Buying a device that will allow you to capture your VHS tapes into your video editing system.



Pros: Capturing the footage into your computer gives you a LOT of flexibility in terms of color correcting the footage, adding titles, music, fading in and out, or cutting from one clip to another. Then, depending on the complexity of your DVD authoring software, you can make the disc "auto play" or you can create a really nice menu so that if you have multiple clips on one DVD, the viewer can select what they'd like to watch. Overall, this method makes for a much nicer finished product.

Cons: Depending on the device you buy, this can also be fairly expensive. There's a variety of converters you can buy, but the cheapest is probably around $150. If you're hiring someone and they'll be using this method, it's more expensive because it takes more time and utilizes an editing station.

My feeling is that if you're going to transfer your home movies to DVD, (and especially if you're going to give them as gifts), you should spend the extra little bit of money and go with method 2. It's especially nice if you have an old photo or two which can be printed onto the DVD face, and we even offer the service of designing a really nice DVD jacket and shrink wrapping the full sized DVD case. It's for a holiday gift, so why not go all out and make it as special as you can? AM I WRONG?

Contact us today and we'll be happy to transfer your old VHS tapes to DVD. It will preserve the videos for many years, and let's be honest-- watching a DVD is way more convenient and more fun, too!

Adam Flaherty
www.adamflaherty.com

The benefits of a professional marketing video

I've had the opportunity to work on a few really great projects lately which serve as promotional or marketing pieces for the businesses.

One of the recent projects is a promotional piece for York Maine's Department of Parks and Recreation. (And no, it didn't cross my mind to bring up the TV show during any of our meetings). What a great group of people! I had a lot of fun working with them right from our first preproduction meeting straight through to the final editing tweaks.

Their department is broken up into several areas of interest including Mount Agamenticus Conservation, Parks & Public Properties, and Sohier Park / The Nubble Lighthouse. Each segment of the video illustrates what responsibilities are involved in each of those areas of interest, and the staff who handle all of the day to day operations. The video is capped off with a slideshow featuring some of the best photos from their Recreation department.

Their video is now hosted on the homepage of their website at http://parksandrec.yorkmaine.org.

Another great marketing piece of late is a short video for Rich Demanowski who is a skilled photographer from the Seacoast NH area. Rich specializes in working with children, and you can see some of his work on his website http://www.richdphoto.com.

This was a particularly fun shoot because I got to not only hang out on the beach on a beautiful summer day and film Rich as he interacted with the kids, but I also got to hang out with Christine Major and her husband Bill, who coincidentally I had just been speaking with regarding marketing and social media. Christine's an expert!

Rich's video is on YouTube. Christine and Bill discuss WHY they hired Rich, what sets him apart from other photographers, and you'll get to see some of his photos from the photo shoot on Hampton Beach as well.



The biggest thing that both of these videos have in common, is that, in addition to authoring their videos to DVD, we've also created web versions to stream from their websites. Now, not only can their website visitors read about what they do, they can actually see them in action, see what sets them apart from their competition (in Rich's case), or see what makes them a valuable asset to their community (in the case of the P&R Department). Are you looking for that kind of exposure on the web? Contact me today to discuss producing a captivating and affordable marketing video for your business.

More updates soon... big things are in the works including websites for musician Zach Jones, a series of training videos for Dare Mighty Things in Portsmouth, NH, and more!

Adam
www.adamflaherty.com

Ever wanted to learn about Container Gardening?

I've been working with the awesome Kerry Michaels on a series of short segments on the topic of Container Gardening for the About.com website. Kerry is About's Container Gardening specialist, and I've got to say... she's very good at it! She's got dozens of blog entries up on her page, and very soon you'll be able to see our first two segments... How to create an herb garden in a reusable grocery bag, and how to construct a cage for your tomato plants! Check her out, and leave her comments!!

Be back soon with more updates,

Adam
www.adamflaherty.com

Sebago Brewing has an awesome new website!

I'm proud to show off the brand new website for Sebago Brewing Company that we launched a couple of weeks ago. Kai, Tim, and the crew at Sebago are starting to take advantage of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, so they decided that it was also time for a fresh, colorful new web presence.

They had a great starting point -- some killer photography to work with. Along with already having some great textual content, that made the project very easy. They had some great ideas that they wanted to incorporate into the site, and I think we're all very happy with the final result.

One of the biggest selling points of this site is that they have a complete back-end interface where they can login and update the photo gallery and the calendar without having to jump through hoops, or to wait for someone else to do it for them. Having immediate access to make changes to the company calendar is vital to the Sebago team. Plus, they are adding new events all the time (from concerts to pubs where they will be pouring their brews).

So without further ado, I present to you the brand new Sebago Brewing Company website at www.sebagobrewing.com. Enjoy!

Adam Flaherty
www.adamflaherty.com

Local Ink... it's "Art on Cotton!"

I had the opportunity recently to reconnect with my old acquaintance Mark Ohlson, who started up a local business in Portland called "Local Ink." They partner up with talented local artists to actually put the art onto high quality garments... shirts, hats, etc, and they sell the products through their website www.local-ink.com.

Mark called me because Local Ink was going to be participating in the 2009 WMPG Fashion Show, and they wanted to capture their presence there on video. We interviewed the models, Mark himself, members of the audience, and captured a whole bunch of fun, colorful footage which captured the fast-paced, trendy, and FUN vibe of the event, which took place at SPACE Gallery on Congress Street.

The final piece is a :60 promotional piece designed for the web, with the goal of creating some additional buzz for these guys! They've gotten some great press lately, and being able to show their company in action-- in their element-- was a really special thing.

Click here to check out the video on their website, and then drop Mark a note at mohlson@local-ink.com to learn more about their company. Oh yeah, and check out their products too... Cool stuff! I can't wait to work with Mark and Local Ink again.

Adam Flaherty
www.adamflaherty.com

A Plethora of Projects!!

Hello everyone, I thought I'd take a moment to update you on some of the projects I've been working on.

First and foremost, I've spent the last few weeks designing and programming a new website for my business. It's much more complex, modern, and fun. In addition to some new updated video clips from recent productions, I've got some great still shots from recent productions to take people "behind the scenes" of a video shoot. It's set to launch around the first week of June, so stay tuned!

I hired my friend Scott Hamann from Harbor Light Films to come up to Augusta with me to shoot a full day conference on Autism put on by the Maine CDC. We both left there having learned a lot, and with about 16 hours of video between our two cameras which I proceeded to edit down to a 4 DVD set. Event coverage is great, whether it's company conferences, public speaking engagements, weddings, or dance recitals... Please contact me if you're in need of professional event coverage!

I've been shooting some video with New Hampshire musician Bill Foley. He's an acoustic performer who takes his show to restaurants, lounges, and even nursing homes all over New England. Bill needs some video for his website so that clubs can see and hear some of his act. Check him out if you can... he's very animated, and the crowd tends to love his performances!

I'll be back in touch soon with more updates. With the launch of the new site, I'm going to be blogging a LOT more, and you can also follow me on Twitter at @AFlaherty_Media.

Till then,

Adam Flaherty
www.adamflaherty.com

Would The Corporate Division Approve?

I've never worked at a Burger King, although my good pal Tim Collins did for a while in his high school days. Every now and then he tells the story of pointing out to an adult manager, who was changing the letters on the large, burger-shaped billboard out in front of the restaurant, that the first word of the phrase "Shinning Stars Wanted" had an extra "n" in the middle of it.

Coincidentally, two times last week, in different states, I drove past Burger King signs with blatant misspellings. When I see mistakes like this, I can't help but think about A.) the person who put it up there, and B.) the person who APPROVED it after it was put up. Some of us aren't the best spellers in the world, and that's fine -- but before this thing goes LIVE, catching the eye of every Joe who drives past it, wouldn't you think that a manager or someone on the ladder needs to give it a thumbs up? Below you'll find photos of the two signs that made me turn my head, and then turn the car around to get a second look.

Yes, you're seeing this correctly-- Burger King of Biddeford, Maine is excited to offer one-of-a-kind SPONGBOB KIDS MEALS! I wish that with the adult meals, they would include just a plain spong. No character needed. SPONGS RULE!

And yes, the Plaistow, NH restaurant wants you to know that they are offering hot, soggy BACON CHEDDER RANCH sandwiches! Not only can they not spell the type of cheese, but they also found a clever way to craft some D's out of upside down P's! Well done!

That's all for now -- back to work!

Adam

www.adamflaherty.com