Review of “The Shut Up and Shoot Freelance Video Guide”
I love books, and I look getting them in the mail to review! The Shut Up and Shoot Freelance Video Guide: Any Budget. Any Camera. Any Time. by Anthony Q. Artis is a really awesome book to take you step by step through the process of shooting videos - from choosing your camera, understanding what pixels are, comparing memory cards and going over how to hold a camera, to how to shoot music videos or commercials, conduct an interview and make your own business plan.
This is a comprehensive guide to everything you ever wanted to know about filming videos. I could see myself going through this book step by step and going from a complete novice to someone who can actually shoot a pretty good film! And I also think that this book would be useful for the experienced videographer: there is always more that we can learn, no matter how experienced we are.
One of the things I enjoyed about this guide is how very user-friendly it is. It's fun to read it! It's a book that you can sit down with and flip through just because. The writing style is conversational and speaks on a one-on-one basis. There are also plenty of pictures, lots of colour, and helpful charts and diagrams.
Artis says that no matter what type of camera you have, your knowledge of how to use that camera can make all the difference. His four quick tips include:
- Shallow Depth of Field
- Multiple Camera Angles
- Great Lighting
- Keep it Moving
The author does a great job of breaking down concepts into manageable pieces and idea, making it easier to work with if you have a camera at hand and are trying to improve your skills. This guide makes me want to buy a video camera and start practicing my film-making skills, to be honest. I like it!
Have you read The Shut Up and Shoot Freelance Video Guide? Do you enjoy taking videos?
Books I read in February 2012
- The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis. Yay!
- Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis.
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis.
- The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis.
- The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis. I love his writing style - he was a really brilliant man. I need to read some of his other works.
- The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien. After I read The Hobbit last month and mentioned that I wanted to read The Lord of the Rings, Mr Science went out and got me the whole set! Such a lovely gift. And I'm impressed by how readable this book was! The last time I read it - the only time I read it - I was about 13 years old, and I seem to remember that there were some boring bits and parts of it were tough going. Such a delight to find that wasn't the case after all! I've no doubt I'll finish the next two books in March.
- One Year to an Organized Work Life by Regina Leeds. I borrowed this from the office and I love it. It's super awesome! Great tips and ideas in here. Now I really want to find and read her original book, One Year to an Organized Life. Since I'm all about organizing, I think her books are kinda perfect for me. I'm nowhere close to having finished it, but I'll be continuing to read it over the next couple months.
What books did you read this month?
Three Things Missing from University
I loved university while I was there, but I also felt like there were a few things lacking. Now that I've been in the working world a couple years, I know there were a few things missing. These could also be applied to high school, actually, but since an undergraduate degree is the new high school diploma, I'm going to say that these are the things that ought to be taught at university:
1) Everyday budgeting. Paying off bills and a mortgage, while trying to put money away into RRSPs and TFSAs (what the heck are those, anyway?), and trying to manage all other expenses, can be really tough if it doesn't come naturally to you. Numbers aren't my strong suit, but I have a keen interest in budgeting, so I make lists of all of my expenses and income, and I put money away into savings and all of that. Even so, I have a really tough time understanding how various savings systems work and how I can put money against the principal of my mortgage and that sort of thing. If you have parents who understand this stuff and a nice person at the bank to help you out, listen to their advice and ask questions because it's one of the best things you can do. But you know what would be even better? If there was at least one mandatory course in university which teaches you how to budget and save money. This would be great for the economy and it would be so useful for people in general. Getting into debt and never paying off credit cards has become the norm these days, and it's primarily because people don't know how to manage their money.
2) How to write. I'm so sick and tired of the number of news releases and professional documents I receive with tons of typos, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. It's unacceptable when the document is a professional one. I wish they'd spend more time at university teaching people how to learn the difference between "to, too, and two" and how to use proper sentence structure. It's a shame how many people write poorly. Inconsistency is a big part of that, too - when the font suddenly changes midway through a sentence, or the type of bullet changes from an arrow to a circle halfway down the line, or the spelling changes from the British version to the American version and back again within the same paragraph, it really drives me crazy because it shows that the writer didn't re-read their piece before sending it out as a professional document.
3) Organization 101. We can be much more productive people if we just learn how to prioritize a little better and how to organize our lives. This is a basic life skill that many people lack! It might seem like a tedious subject, but there are a lot of little techniques and tricks that one can employ to make themselves more efficient, and it would be worth learning in the classroom. One Year to an Organized Life by Regina Leeds could be the course textbook!
What do you feel is missing from university? What classes do you think should be mandatory?
Five things NOT to do in a news release
I receive at least a few news releases every single day in my inbox for new! and! exciting! health-type products, services, promotions and books. And to be honest, most of these news releases annoy the hell out of me because there's just so many things wrong with them.
Maybe we need to return to school for some more grammar lessons.
Here is what bothers me the most about many of the news releases I read:
1) Misspelling of my name - or the wrong name altogether. Dear Whitney, we have a new health product we think you might be very interested in! Yeah, my name isn't Whitney. This is poor proofreading on their part, that the person sending the news release has simply copied and pasted their email and forgot to change the name at the top. I have nothing against copying and pasting, but you should at least change the name at the top, even if you aren't going to personalize the entire email. And if you are going to use my name, please do your research on me ahead of time so that you know my name is spelled "Sagan," not "Segan."
2) Misspellings, grammar errors and typos throughout. It's one thing to make a typo or grammatical error when writing blog posts and the like: it's completely different to make those errors when you're writing in a professional capacity. Edit, edit, and edit some more!
3) Geographical errors. If you take the time to do you background work, you can generally find out fairly easily where a person is located in the world. So I really don't get why I keep receiving news releases for events and promotions taking place in California or New York. I currently live in the Canadian prairies. Anyone can find that out on my health blog or on Facebook, both of which show up on the first page when you type my name into a search engine. Google me before sending me a generic news release that doesn't apply to me at all.
4) Products and services that don't fit my philosophies. Most bloggers state their philosophies pretty clearly on their blogs. When I receive news releases promoting books that talk about the best frozen meals, I can't help but laugh. You only need to skim one of my Living Healthy blog posts to see right away that frozen meals are not something I condone.
5) Ridiculously lengthy pieces of text that don't get to the point. Sometimes I receive news releases that don't seem to say anything in particular or have any sort of relevance. There's no news in there at all! You can bet that most bloggers and journalists and the like are receiving piles of news releases daily, so please, only send something if you actually have something to say. Otherwise your email address is going to be added to the spam list, and when you do have something interesting to say, we'll ignore it. And that's not good for either of us!
What annoys you the most about news releases?
Books I read in January 2012
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Such a classic!
- Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko. I really love this book. There is so much great information here about the value of leafy greens and of drinking green smoothies. It's also good inspiration for keeping going with drinking green smoothies daily 
- Nutrition for Health, Fitness, & Sport by Melvin H. Williams. I'm not finished this one yet, but it's my final textbook to read for my nutrition course. Interesting information but it's a TOUGH read!
- The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis. Another wonderful classic. I forgot how short the books in the Narnia series are, though - I read this one in about an hour.
- The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. Yes, I'm reading the whole series. Whee!
- Lose Weight Without Dieting or Working Out! by J J Smith. Some pretty good basic information here, focusing on whole foods and relieving the body of toxins and such. But it's kind of just like any other book of this genre.
What books have you read recently?
Books I Read in December 2011
How are we in 2012 already? How have I not written a blog post in over a month? Time flies by!
I added up all the books that I read in the 2011. They amounted to 61 books that I read all the way through, plus another 11 books that I started reading but never finished. Awesome! I have absolutely no idea how I managed to read all those books when I had such a crazy busy year.
Here are the books that I read in December 2011 (the ones I can remember, anyway ):
- His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (the trilogy). I've loved this trilogy for years. So much adventure! These are can't-put-them-down type of books. It's also a really good series to read no matter what your age is.
- Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman. I had only read this book once before, so I didn't remember it at all. Great book though.
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This book is such a delight to read. I read it about half a dozen times as a kid, but hadn't read it in about 10 years. Love it. Such amazing writing and the story is very compelling. Now I need to track down a copy of the film and watch it.
What books did you read this month? What was your favourite book that you read in 2011?
Five Tips for Writing a Novel
I've been working on my novel a lot the past month or so and in that time I went from about 15,000 words to 30,000. A novel is generally between about 50,000 and 90,000 words, so I still have at least 20,000 more to go!
It can be tough to work on a novel consistently, especially when you have paid work to do, but here are some ways to ensure that the creative juices keep flowing:
1) Set a timer and word limit. I find that if I decide to myself that I'll spend two hours working on my novel today, and that I'll write 2,000 words, I can actually get that done. The amount of words you get written depends on the amount of research you need to do and such - but if you set yourself some solid deadlines, it can work well. This is also a good technique when you live with others, since you can tell them that you're working so you are not to be disturbed.
2) Read out loud. This is very helpful for dialogue especially. If dialogue isn't your strong suit, read the lines out loud (if a friend is willing, ask them to read the other character's lines). You'll be able to figure out right away if the sentences sound natural. For descriptive sections, this is also useful for checking that everything flows smoothly.
3) Take a break. There's no sense in staring at the computer for hours without writing anything (or, worse, with writing crappy lines). Instead get away from the computer - read a book, take a walk, grab a coffee with a friend or do research for your book. It will help you feel refreshed for when you do go back to the novel.
4) Edit. If you're stuck, begin reading the entire story (what you have already written, anyway) from start to finish. You might catch a few errors, and you also might get new ideas for where the story should go next.
5) Ask for help. Get a friend to read your story and then discuss it with them afterward (or after they've read each chapter, depending how long each one is). Find out what they liked, what they didn't like, what sections confused them, what they'd like to read more about, and if they have any suggestions for where the story could go.
Share your tips for working on a manuscript in the comments section below!
Books I read in November 2011
- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I've read this book countless times and every time I read it, it's still as wonderful as the first time. I love this book. It's one of my favourites. Kostova is my hero. She writes all about Dracula and incorporates really interesting tidbits of history... it can be a creepy book, but it's just so thrilling! Do read it.
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Wow! I was impressed by this book. It was another one that I wasn't super interested in reading, but others urged me to, and I am so glad they did. On the front cover, there's a quote saying that "This could be one of the most important pieces of fiction since To Kill a Mockingbird." I couldn't put it much better myself. Which reminds me, I need to read To Kill a Mockingbird again. I read it when I was a little kid and loved it, but it's been years since I last flipped through those pages.
- Ella Enchanted by Gail Garson Levine. This used to be one of my favourite books, and it's another one I've read a million times. My copy is tattered to bits. Since it's for 10-year-olds, I haven't read it in years. But I still loved it reading it this time around. It's not complex writing, but the story is very sweet, and the author is an excellent writer. A very good choice for little girls to read, and I think adults can enjoy it too
- The Twilight saga (all four books) by Stephanie Meyer. I've already openly admitted that I read the Shopaholic books, so I guess this is prime time to admit my love for the Twilight series, too. Teenage girl at heart, right here. One day I spent five hours straight reading one of the Twilight books. They're kind of addictive.
What books did you read this month??
Books I read in October 2011
Huh. I'm rather behind on this blog post! I blame it on Internet problems
I did a very bad job of tracking the books I read in October and I'm afraid I can only remember two of the books that I read, besides my nutrition books. I know I read more books than these two, but can't for the life of me think what they were! Ah well.
The nutrition books, for my correspondence course, were The Dietitian's Guide to Vegetarian Diets: Issues and Applications, Second Edition by Virginia Messina, Reed Mangels, and Mark Messina, as well as Becoming Vegetarian: the complete guide to adopting a healthy vegetarian diet by Vesanto Melina, M. Sc., R.D., and Brenda Davis, R.D. I quite enjoyed these two, even though at times they could be a little dry. Very informative though!
The two novels that I read were absolutely excellent. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger was one I hadn't been planning on reading, but I was told that it was amazing so I decided I'd give it a shot. It turns out that this book really is incredible. It made me cry three times! I can't remember the last time a book elicited such a strong reaction from me. It is a very moving story and Niffenegger is a genius.
An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin was the other book I read, on recommendation from the father dear. I was blown away by Martin's talent. I don't usually like him in his films, usually because they're comedies and I just don't like him in that role. But he wrote this book with such a lovely style. I don't think I liked the characters, and I'm not sure I liked the story (I can't really decide, to be honest), but even so, I can tell a good writer when I read them. And Martin is very talented. It makes me want to watch the film Shopgirl again, which he wrote and starred in... at the time I first saw it, several years ago, I didn't much like it, but I think I'd like to watch it just to appreciate the talent, even if I'm not a fan of the story.
Have you ever read a book or watched a film where you could appreciate the quality of the skill and style, but just weren't into the story so much?
Sometimes rules you learn in school aren’t useful when applied to the real world
This article investigates six ways your schoolteacher sabotage your business writing. Definitely worth a read! Number 6 really resounded with me. I recall being frustrated in grade school one time when a teacher crossed out the "And" at the beginning of a sentence I'd written, because it wasn't "correct." My response was that I knew it wasn't correct, but I was deliberately breaking the rules because it sounded better and fit my story well and I'm a good writer, dammit, so I'm allowed to make my own rules!* Cheeky little monkey, I was.
Do you follow all the rules? Or have you discovered that the rules you learned in school are not to be applied to business writing?
*Okay, I didn't say it in those words. But I was thinking it 
Living in the Real World
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- Five things NOT to do in a news release
- Books I read in January 2012
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