Friday, August 24, 2012
Looks Like We Made It!
Against all odds, we reached our $1,500 goal on Kickstarter to help fund our new web series! This is so awersome! Backers will get their copy of the season and two will receive special VIP access at the premiere of the first episode party! We're so close to begin shooting, but unfortunately we had to replace ANOTHER actress, but things are looking well! We'll keep you posted and as always, thanks for reading!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The Hunger Games vs Battle Royale
So with The Hunger Games being released on DVD, it really got me thinking about how the whole franchise is severely overrated. It's the same thing that happened with Twilight. A wholly unoriginal story with poorly developed characters and a story that actually had a chance to be good, but for whatever reason the author/director ruins it. In this post I will analyze the differences between The Hunger Games and Battle Royale in both movie and print forms. I will analyze several aspects of both works on a scale of one to five.
1. Overall Concept: Battle Royale (4), The Hunger Games (3)
While the basic idea of The Hunger Games isn't bad at all, Battle Royale's originality is superior. For one thing, Battle Royale takes place in an alternate timeline in the present. This makes the horror of the situation really hit home. The date is undisclosed, but this is to make it seem as though the story is present day, especially to the Japanese audience it was intended for. Hunger Games, on the other hand, takes place in a dystopian future that is highly unlikely to take place. When you add the element of the government being able to genetically engineer new species that behave more like automatons rather than animals, this reader was left feeling that the author was insulting the intelligence of her audience. Understanding the plausibility of the Battle Royale society requires a little bit of understanding of Japanese sociology, WWII propaganda and history that the average American doesn't have, but I encourage anyone reading this to experience both books and decide for themselves.
2. Characters: Battle Royale (5), The Hunger Games (1)
This is probably the biggest difference between the two books. By my count, The Hunger Games really only has two main characters and about 8-10 important supporting characters. Battle Royale follows an entire junior high school class, but has about 9 main characters that the reader follows more closely. The amazing part of Battle Royale is that even the minor characters (who only live about one chapter) have their time to shine. The reader gets to know these individuals on an intimate level and even the bad guys (with the exception of Kazuo) are able to be pitied in their death. Many characters intersect as well, making their ultimate deaths even more horrifying. Takami achieves this largely by writing in third person, so that the reader can be omniscient. Collins chose to write the entire story through Katniss Everdeen's point of view and I honestly think that telling such a grand story from in first person was her biggest mistake as an author. How different would Harry Potter have been if it had been written from Harry's point of view? Apart from the number of characters, Takami's are much more loveable. The ever-present optimist Shuya is a character everyone can root for, whereas Katniss comes across as annoying, moody and quite frankly a bitch with an attitude. Katniss refuses help and advice continually throughout the book and one must wonder why no one simply says, "Fine! Go out and die then!"
3. Story: Battle Royale (4), The Hunger Games (2)
This part is tricky because many will disagree with me, but please read the entire section before you skin me alive. The Hunger Games has a story that had the potential to be incredibly profound and carry some weight. That being said, it still packs a punch, I simply find it regrettable that Ms. Collins chose to focus more on the musings of a 16-year-old girl rather than the socioeconomic and revolutionary world that she created. True, the center of Battle Royale has to do with friendship and love, but survival and distrust of the government are a large part as well. Shogo's character serves to open the mind of the reader to the idea that maybe even our government (or rather the modern Japanese government) isn't so much better than the one portrayed in the book. At no point in The Hunger Games does anyone really take a step back and legitimately make the audience feel that the tribute system is wrong. In fact, the book seems to glorify the forces slaughter of children. Perhaps the author intended to show the horror of the situation in this way, but the way the story is written it honestly looks like the author got lazy. The ending is especially a cop-out with The Hunger Games. The horrible part of Battle Royale is that under no circumstances is there more than one survivor, ever. The Hunger Games conveniently change the rules to supposedly make the audience happy. I can't stress enough how disappointed I was when that happened. That development completely cheats the audience out of a real winning experience (Also this is the part where Katniss very suddenly begins to care for Peeta, it is so abrupt it shows real laziness on the part of the writer). So Katniss and Peeta win the day when the government reverses the decision, so they threaten to commit suicide together. Their logic is that martyrdom of the children would create dissent among the people of Panem (a lame-ass name if I ever heard one). Here's the problem: If you're a totalitarian regime, would you bitch out like that? Or would a more effective way of keeping order be to show that even love has no hope of winning? The one GOOD moment where dissent takes place and works is actually in the movie when Rue is killed. There is a beautiful series of shots that cut between Katniss treating Rue's body and the people of District 7 rising up and being beaten back by government police forces, but this shows the beginning of revolutionary feelings that will likely rear their heads in Catching Fire.
Adaptations: Battle Royale (4), The Hunger Games (4)
I rate adaptations the same for a few reasons. Allow me to explain. Battle Royale began as a novel, and I feel the novel is superior to the film and manga adaptations. However, the adaptations aren't bad at all. The only complaint I have about the manga is that at times the violence and gore seem a bit excessive and playing to the audience's desire to see it rather than working for plot. Plus there is a lot more "skin" in the manga. While there is sex in Battle Royale, the manga adds quite a bit more. Granted, it works but it still feels like pandering when reading these scenes and I wouldn't say it digresses to filth or pornography (especially by manga standards where nudity can be fairly commonplace). The film was done very well, but I have to confess to what seems to be a lack of quality likely due to a $4.5 million budget. To give you an idea, The Hunger Games had a budget of $78 million. However, Battle Royale would go on to become one of the top ten highest grossing Japanese films of all time and is considered one of the best ever made by critics with generally positive reviews across the board. The film also spawned an original sequel that was also pretty good for what it was. The Hunger Games movie was sooooo much better than the book mainly because we didn't have to be stuck in the mind of Katniss the whole time, but the film did showcase some of my biggest pet peeves. For one thing, this film does the very "in thing" of intentionally having an overly shaking camera (thank you Cloverfield) and likes to overly showcase simple moments like Katniss spending five minutes walking through the woods. Five minutes of walking. At least in The Lord of the Rings they were walking AND talking. Oh, but when she runs into Gail the spend five minutes sitting and talking. FUN! My biggest problem? They filmmakers really bitched out to get that PG-13 rating. It's a movie about children killing children. That's an R rating people. Since it's a PG-13 movie, any chance you have to hammer in the shear horror of what's going on is ruined because they can't show anything! This is particularly annoying at the beginning of the games when a veritable slaughter takes place and we see nothing except Peeta and Katniss running. We don't even hear it! Instead they play cheesy music that belongs in an elevator. We see no aftermath either. Everything is implied. However, despite all my complaints the film looks great and is still pretty good and worth seeing. Heck, I may still buy the thing and will probably still see the sequels, but Battle Royale is far superior.
1. Overall Concept: Battle Royale (4), The Hunger Games (3)
While the basic idea of The Hunger Games isn't bad at all, Battle Royale's originality is superior. For one thing, Battle Royale takes place in an alternate timeline in the present. This makes the horror of the situation really hit home. The date is undisclosed, but this is to make it seem as though the story is present day, especially to the Japanese audience it was intended for. Hunger Games, on the other hand, takes place in a dystopian future that is highly unlikely to take place. When you add the element of the government being able to genetically engineer new species that behave more like automatons rather than animals, this reader was left feeling that the author was insulting the intelligence of her audience. Understanding the plausibility of the Battle Royale society requires a little bit of understanding of Japanese sociology, WWII propaganda and history that the average American doesn't have, but I encourage anyone reading this to experience both books and decide for themselves.
2. Characters: Battle Royale (5), The Hunger Games (1)
This is probably the biggest difference between the two books. By my count, The Hunger Games really only has two main characters and about 8-10 important supporting characters. Battle Royale follows an entire junior high school class, but has about 9 main characters that the reader follows more closely. The amazing part of Battle Royale is that even the minor characters (who only live about one chapter) have their time to shine. The reader gets to know these individuals on an intimate level and even the bad guys (with the exception of Kazuo) are able to be pitied in their death. Many characters intersect as well, making their ultimate deaths even more horrifying. Takami achieves this largely by writing in third person, so that the reader can be omniscient. Collins chose to write the entire story through Katniss Everdeen's point of view and I honestly think that telling such a grand story from in first person was her biggest mistake as an author. How different would Harry Potter have been if it had been written from Harry's point of view? Apart from the number of characters, Takami's are much more loveable. The ever-present optimist Shuya is a character everyone can root for, whereas Katniss comes across as annoying, moody and quite frankly a bitch with an attitude. Katniss refuses help and advice continually throughout the book and one must wonder why no one simply says, "Fine! Go out and die then!"
3. Story: Battle Royale (4), The Hunger Games (2)
This part is tricky because many will disagree with me, but please read the entire section before you skin me alive. The Hunger Games has a story that had the potential to be incredibly profound and carry some weight. That being said, it still packs a punch, I simply find it regrettable that Ms. Collins chose to focus more on the musings of a 16-year-old girl rather than the socioeconomic and revolutionary world that she created. True, the center of Battle Royale has to do with friendship and love, but survival and distrust of the government are a large part as well. Shogo's character serves to open the mind of the reader to the idea that maybe even our government (or rather the modern Japanese government) isn't so much better than the one portrayed in the book. At no point in The Hunger Games does anyone really take a step back and legitimately make the audience feel that the tribute system is wrong. In fact, the book seems to glorify the forces slaughter of children. Perhaps the author intended to show the horror of the situation in this way, but the way the story is written it honestly looks like the author got lazy. The ending is especially a cop-out with The Hunger Games. The horrible part of Battle Royale is that under no circumstances is there more than one survivor, ever. The Hunger Games conveniently change the rules to supposedly make the audience happy. I can't stress enough how disappointed I was when that happened. That development completely cheats the audience out of a real winning experience (Also this is the part where Katniss very suddenly begins to care for Peeta, it is so abrupt it shows real laziness on the part of the writer). So Katniss and Peeta win the day when the government reverses the decision, so they threaten to commit suicide together. Their logic is that martyrdom of the children would create dissent among the people of Panem (a lame-ass name if I ever heard one). Here's the problem: If you're a totalitarian regime, would you bitch out like that? Or would a more effective way of keeping order be to show that even love has no hope of winning? The one GOOD moment where dissent takes place and works is actually in the movie when Rue is killed. There is a beautiful series of shots that cut between Katniss treating Rue's body and the people of District 7 rising up and being beaten back by government police forces, but this shows the beginning of revolutionary feelings that will likely rear their heads in Catching Fire.
Adaptations: Battle Royale (4), The Hunger Games (4)
I rate adaptations the same for a few reasons. Allow me to explain. Battle Royale began as a novel, and I feel the novel is superior to the film and manga adaptations. However, the adaptations aren't bad at all. The only complaint I have about the manga is that at times the violence and gore seem a bit excessive and playing to the audience's desire to see it rather than working for plot. Plus there is a lot more "skin" in the manga. While there is sex in Battle Royale, the manga adds quite a bit more. Granted, it works but it still feels like pandering when reading these scenes and I wouldn't say it digresses to filth or pornography (especially by manga standards where nudity can be fairly commonplace). The film was done very well, but I have to confess to what seems to be a lack of quality likely due to a $4.5 million budget. To give you an idea, The Hunger Games had a budget of $78 million. However, Battle Royale would go on to become one of the top ten highest grossing Japanese films of all time and is considered one of the best ever made by critics with generally positive reviews across the board. The film also spawned an original sequel that was also pretty good for what it was. The Hunger Games movie was sooooo much better than the book mainly because we didn't have to be stuck in the mind of Katniss the whole time, but the film did showcase some of my biggest pet peeves. For one thing, this film does the very "in thing" of intentionally having an overly shaking camera (thank you Cloverfield) and likes to overly showcase simple moments like Katniss spending five minutes walking through the woods. Five minutes of walking. At least in The Lord of the Rings they were walking AND talking. Oh, but when she runs into Gail the spend five minutes sitting and talking. FUN! My biggest problem? They filmmakers really bitched out to get that PG-13 rating. It's a movie about children killing children. That's an R rating people. Since it's a PG-13 movie, any chance you have to hammer in the shear horror of what's going on is ruined because they can't show anything! This is particularly annoying at the beginning of the games when a veritable slaughter takes place and we see nothing except Peeta and Katniss running. We don't even hear it! Instead they play cheesy music that belongs in an elevator. We see no aftermath either. Everything is implied. However, despite all my complaints the film looks great and is still pretty good and worth seeing. Heck, I may still buy the thing and will probably still see the sequels, but Battle Royale is far superior.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Kickstarter!
Greetings everyone. This quick update is to tell everyone about our Kickstarter campaign. For those of you who don't already know, we've recently discovered Kickstarter! I can't believe we didn't know about this site before. Anyway, help us raise some additional funds for our upcoming web series by visiting our Kickstarter page and sharing it when your friends! If you can give money, great! If you can't, simply passing the word along will help! Thanks to everyone in advance for helping out!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1628324602/web-paige
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1628324602/web-paige
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Update
Hello faithful readers! I'm terribly sorry for not posting for a long, long, long, loooooong time but I've been very busy. Which is what brings me to this update.
1. We are done casting for our web show and I must say we found some very talented people. We have almost all of the scripts done and things are moving right along.
2. Our first sales reports for Luke Robbins: Real Men Wear Vests online distribution came back. I was disappointed and then I realized I was looking at the dates wrong and the money brought it was only for that week, so now I'm excited to see more.
3. Wayne Campbell, the artist, has a new patent coming out soon and we'll be doing a video for that along with a new drawing/painting DVD for beginners, so look for that!
4. USGBC Alabama Chapter has asked us to do another video for their annual Gala. We're currently working with their executive director on that.
That's all for now and I promise I'll have another fun post coming soon.
1. We are done casting for our web show and I must say we found some very talented people. We have almost all of the scripts done and things are moving right along.
2. Our first sales reports for Luke Robbins: Real Men Wear Vests online distribution came back. I was disappointed and then I realized I was looking at the dates wrong and the money brought it was only for that week, so now I'm excited to see more.
3. Wayne Campbell, the artist, has a new patent coming out soon and we'll be doing a video for that along with a new drawing/painting DVD for beginners, so look for that!
4. USGBC Alabama Chapter has asked us to do another video for their annual Gala. We're currently working with their executive director on that.
That's all for now and I promise I'll have another fun post coming soon.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Casting Call
Vision Video, LLC is holding open auditions for women 18-27 for our new web comedy/drama series.
We're casting two supporting female characters who will be prominent throughout the show.
Bethany (18-27) - A twenty-something aspiring reporter. She is caring and supportive of her friends' endevours. She's very frustrated at her job since she's used primarily to get coffee.
Cassie (18-27) - A twenty-something elementary school teacher. She is crude and has no social barometer often coming off as rude, but in reality she's just honest.
We will be at The Fairfield Inn Conference Room (5905 W. 86th Street, Indianapolis 46278) on May 20th 10 AM - 4 PM. Anyone and everyone is encouraged to come out and audition.
ALL APPLICANTS MUST BRING A VALID PHOTO ID AND A HEAD SHOT. Everyone is encouraged to bring along a portfolio and resume if you have one. This is a non-paid position, but we will re-negotiate after the first six episodes should we film more.
If you have any questions or can't make the audition, please e-mail us with your head shot and we'll make arrangements for you.
We're casting two supporting female characters who will be prominent throughout the show.
Bethany (18-27) - A twenty-something aspiring reporter. She is caring and supportive of her friends' endevours. She's very frustrated at her job since she's used primarily to get coffee.
Cassie (18-27) - A twenty-something elementary school teacher. She is crude and has no social barometer often coming off as rude, but in reality she's just honest.
We will be at The Fairfield Inn Conference Room (5905 W. 86th Street, Indianapolis 46278) on May 20th 10 AM - 4 PM. Anyone and everyone is encouraged to come out and audition.
ALL APPLICANTS MUST BRING A VALID PHOTO ID AND A HEAD SHOT. Everyone is encouraged to bring along a portfolio and resume if you have one. This is a non-paid position, but we will re-negotiate after the first six episodes should we film more.
If you have any questions or can't make the audition, please e-mail us with your head shot and we'll make arrangements for you.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
BIG Update
Okay, so a lot has been happening lately. First of all, the latest project.
Vision Video recently did 10 video segments or motivational speaker, Jerry Ackerman. You can see all 10 on our You Tube channel or check out www.jerryackerman.net.
The second big thing is that we FINALLY got our website up! Same domain as the store used to be: www.visionvideollc.com. To go directly to the store you can go to shop.visionvideollc.com. We're very excited about the site and we're dramatically expanding our services!
Thirdly, our web series is really starting to come together. We have two scripts finished and finalized. We're copyrighting them as they come in. We have our leading actress signed on and we're having an open casting call on May 20th! For more information please contact our producer, Andrea at andrea@visionvideollc.com!
Vision Video recently did 10 video segments or motivational speaker, Jerry Ackerman. You can see all 10 on our You Tube channel or check out www.jerryackerman.net.
The second big thing is that we FINALLY got our website up! Same domain as the store used to be: www.visionvideollc.com. To go directly to the store you can go to shop.visionvideollc.com. We're very excited about the site and we're dramatically expanding our services!
Thirdly, our web series is really starting to come together. We have two scripts finished and finalized. We're copyrighting them as they come in. We have our leading actress signed on and we're having an open casting call on May 20th! For more information please contact our producer, Andrea at andrea@visionvideollc.com!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Rurouni Kenshin: The Movie?!
Oh my goodness you all have no idea how excited I was when I saw this trailer on YouTube. I thought maybe it was a fake one at first (like the April Fool's Legend of Zelda trailer -_-). Fortunately, it is not a fake and it's totally going to rock. For those of you who haven't seen the trailer yet, it's right below.
Aside from the fact that Rurouni Kenshin is an awesome story, there are several great things that I see in the trailer alone. First and foremost the audio is still in Japanese (notice the Warner Bros. logo at the beginning). Don't be fooled, the film isn't being distributed by Warner Bros., it's actually being produced by them. For Warner Bros. (an American studio giant) to actually produce a film like Rurouni Kenshin all on their own is a real tip of the hat to anime and manga's cultural influence here in the West. Another tip of the hat is the fact that the production itself is entirely Japanese. No American director, actors, etc. It looks like Rurouni Kenshin will be a world-wide release made soley by Japanese cinema, which has been overlooked far too long in my opinion.
The second awesome thing I see is the wardrobe. Typically with comic book movies (both American and Japanese) I've found that the costumes are one of two extremes. They are either nothing like the original comic, or they're so similar that they look cheap and cosplay. Rurouni Kenshin has achieved something rare. They've managed to translate from comic to live action seamlessly. The costumes are all dead ringers for their manga counterparts, but don't look so ridiculous that they scream costume.
Great thing number 3? American kids are finally gonna learn some history without knowing it. For those of you who haven't seen or read Rurouni Kenshin, it's set shortly after the Meiji Restoration in Japan and tells the story of an assassin from the Bakumatsu who changes his ways and tries to make up for his past deeds. The Kenshin character is a great vehicle to learn about the very fast and large changes Japan underwent during this time. Kenshin is very much a moderate. While he doesn't necessarily let go of the old ways, he understands that those like him must step back and let the new generation take over. Many characters from the series are based on real people like Saito Hajime, who was a real samurai turned police man and educator in his later years. Kenshin himself is based upon the mysterious assassin, Kawakami Gensai. The upshot to the movie being in Japanese is that people will hear the real vocabulary associated with these people. One of my biggest annoyances with the show (not the manga) was the translation of some of the words and concepts. Kenshin is often referred to as "Battosai the Manslayer" in the English anime adaptation. This is a poor translation. Kenshin's real title is "Hitokiri Battosai". Battosai is just a warrior name, but "hitokiri" essentially means assassin. Manslayer sounds like a singular title given to a particular assassin, but really it's just a occupational title. Also, words like Shinsengumi don't appear too often in the anime, but are rampant in the manga. Learning about the Shinsengumi confuses most Westerners because they have a hard time understanding that there really weren't good guys or bad guys, just people with different ideas of how the country should be run. There are several other manga titles that are sympathetic to the Shinsengumi, so this film should be a great opportunity for viewers to learn a little bit of history that is often overlooked.
Oh, you thought I was done? I saved the best for last. As a live action movie, Rurouni Kenshin promises to deliver some of the coolest, most awesome, kick-ass sword/fight scenes you could ever hope to see. In the story, Kenshin is a master of the fictional sword fighting style "Hiten Misturugi-ryu". This style calls for speed, agility, master swordsmanship and a lot of aerial moves that will leave your jaw on the floor. Of course, this style is physically impossible (or at the very least impractical) but for a movie it should be a treat. From what I can see in the trailer, they've kept the story pretty well intact. We see characters from the manga like Sanosuke, Jin-E, Yamagata and Saito. I only hope characters like Yahiko and Aoshi are present as well.
Aside from the fact that Rurouni Kenshin is an awesome story, there are several great things that I see in the trailer alone. First and foremost the audio is still in Japanese (notice the Warner Bros. logo at the beginning). Don't be fooled, the film isn't being distributed by Warner Bros., it's actually being produced by them. For Warner Bros. (an American studio giant) to actually produce a film like Rurouni Kenshin all on their own is a real tip of the hat to anime and manga's cultural influence here in the West. Another tip of the hat is the fact that the production itself is entirely Japanese. No American director, actors, etc. It looks like Rurouni Kenshin will be a world-wide release made soley by Japanese cinema, which has been overlooked far too long in my opinion.
The second awesome thing I see is the wardrobe. Typically with comic book movies (both American and Japanese) I've found that the costumes are one of two extremes. They are either nothing like the original comic, or they're so similar that they look cheap and cosplay. Rurouni Kenshin has achieved something rare. They've managed to translate from comic to live action seamlessly. The costumes are all dead ringers for their manga counterparts, but don't look so ridiculous that they scream costume.
Great thing number 3? American kids are finally gonna learn some history without knowing it. For those of you who haven't seen or read Rurouni Kenshin, it's set shortly after the Meiji Restoration in Japan and tells the story of an assassin from the Bakumatsu who changes his ways and tries to make up for his past deeds. The Kenshin character is a great vehicle to learn about the very fast and large changes Japan underwent during this time. Kenshin is very much a moderate. While he doesn't necessarily let go of the old ways, he understands that those like him must step back and let the new generation take over. Many characters from the series are based on real people like Saito Hajime, who was a real samurai turned police man and educator in his later years. Kenshin himself is based upon the mysterious assassin, Kawakami Gensai. The upshot to the movie being in Japanese is that people will hear the real vocabulary associated with these people. One of my biggest annoyances with the show (not the manga) was the translation of some of the words and concepts. Kenshin is often referred to as "Battosai the Manslayer" in the English anime adaptation. This is a poor translation. Kenshin's real title is "Hitokiri Battosai". Battosai is just a warrior name, but "hitokiri" essentially means assassin. Manslayer sounds like a singular title given to a particular assassin, but really it's just a occupational title. Also, words like Shinsengumi don't appear too often in the anime, but are rampant in the manga. Learning about the Shinsengumi confuses most Westerners because they have a hard time understanding that there really weren't good guys or bad guys, just people with different ideas of how the country should be run. There are several other manga titles that are sympathetic to the Shinsengumi, so this film should be a great opportunity for viewers to learn a little bit of history that is often overlooked.
Oh, you thought I was done? I saved the best for last. As a live action movie, Rurouni Kenshin promises to deliver some of the coolest, most awesome, kick-ass sword/fight scenes you could ever hope to see. In the story, Kenshin is a master of the fictional sword fighting style "Hiten Misturugi-ryu". This style calls for speed, agility, master swordsmanship and a lot of aerial moves that will leave your jaw on the floor. Of course, this style is physically impossible (or at the very least impractical) but for a movie it should be a treat. From what I can see in the trailer, they've kept the story pretty well intact. We see characters from the manga like Sanosuke, Jin-E, Yamagata and Saito. I only hope characters like Yahiko and Aoshi are present as well.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Another Quick Update
Hello readers. I apologize for not posting in awhile, but I've been extremely busy! I promise I'll make it up to you in the next few days though. I thougt I'd take a second here and bring you all up to speed and give you a little preview of what to expect!
First thing's first, the Luke Robbins DVD and CD are available on Amazon.com now! I've posted links to each one so you can see for yourself!
DVD: http://www.amazon.com/Luke-Robbins-Real-Wear-Vests/dp/B007EDWG3K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332423078&sr=8-1
CD: http://www.amazon.com/Luke-Robbins-Real-Wear-Vests/dp/B007EE4CMM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1332423078&sr=8-2
Also, we've finished up the first video for IndyFeral Inc. Enjoy it below!
Now, last but not least, I've already come up with some blog topics for you to look forward to, but the next one slated is going to be The Hunger Games vs Battle Royale. I know that Hunger Games will be the next HUGE sensation in the U.S., but I hardly think it will be nearly as good as they say. I feel like they have a really good opportunity to tell a great story, but based on what I've read up on it they ruin the whole thing. I'm talking about the books as well as the movies too so I don't want to hear any of this "read the book it's better crap". Now to be fair, I will obtain a copy of Hunger Games and read that sucker, I'm also finishing up re-reading Battle Royale so everything will be fresh in my mind.
Now! A list of topics you have to look forward to:
Hunger Games vs Battle Royale
Rurouni Kenshin: The Movie!?
The Big Bang Theory and the Evolution of Television
Apple vs PC: The Paradox
The Butterfly Effect: Chaos Theory for Your Everyday Life
Brokeback Mountain: A Tale of Sin (But Not The One You Think).
The Wonder Years Problem: Copyright Law vs The Consumer
AMD vs Intel: The Never-Ending Battle
To Upgrade or Buy New?
There's Only One "One Tree Hill"
There will be more added of course and the order will vary, but these are some of the topics you have to look forward to. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!
First thing's first, the Luke Robbins DVD and CD are available on Amazon.com now! I've posted links to each one so you can see for yourself!
DVD: http://www.amazon.com/Luke-Robbins-Real-Wear-Vests/dp/B007EDWG3K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332423078&sr=8-1
CD: http://www.amazon.com/Luke-Robbins-Real-Wear-Vests/dp/B007EE4CMM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1332423078&sr=8-2
Also, we've finished up the first video for IndyFeral Inc. Enjoy it below!
Now, last but not least, I've already come up with some blog topics for you to look forward to, but the next one slated is going to be The Hunger Games vs Battle Royale. I know that Hunger Games will be the next HUGE sensation in the U.S., but I hardly think it will be nearly as good as they say. I feel like they have a really good opportunity to tell a great story, but based on what I've read up on it they ruin the whole thing. I'm talking about the books as well as the movies too so I don't want to hear any of this "read the book it's better crap". Now to be fair, I will obtain a copy of Hunger Games and read that sucker, I'm also finishing up re-reading Battle Royale so everything will be fresh in my mind.
Now! A list of topics you have to look forward to:
Hunger Games vs Battle Royale
Rurouni Kenshin: The Movie!?
The Big Bang Theory and the Evolution of Television
Apple vs PC: The Paradox
The Butterfly Effect: Chaos Theory for Your Everyday Life
Brokeback Mountain: A Tale of Sin (But Not The One You Think).
The Wonder Years Problem: Copyright Law vs The Consumer
AMD vs Intel: The Never-Ending Battle
To Upgrade or Buy New?
There's Only One "One Tree Hill"
There will be more added of course and the order will vary, but these are some of the topics you have to look forward to. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
5 DO'S and DON'TS When Dealing With a Small Business
It's very likely that at some point in your life (whether you knew it or not) you've worked with a small business. On the surface, we may not seem all that different from the big guys. We may have employees, most of us take credit cards and we may have a big facility. The similarities end there. Most people have no idea just how hard it is to keep a business up and running. A small business owner generally puts in about 80 hours a week and wears many different hats. Here are just a couple of pieces of advice when dealing with a small business.
DO: Deal with a small business over a large corporation.
While it is true that some small business are more expensive than their corporate giant counterparts, the fact is that most of the time small business are less expensive. Really we have to be to stay alive. It doesn't make sense for us to have less advertising power, a small territory and higher prices. Even if the initial price is higher, often you'll find that the long term investment will save you money in the long run. For exampe, I recently had to purchase a new DVD writer for my computer. I did comparison pricing at both Best Buy and a little computer store. The little computer store was a little more expensive, so I bought from Best Buy. Turns out, the DVD writer from the big guy was missing a very important power cable. I checked with the little guys and they told me that not only did they include the power cable (for free) but they offered a serpate warranty in addition to the manufacturer's. So basically I could've have spent $5 more and ended up with a single trip, an extended (2 more years!) warranty and helped out my local economy. I go to the small guys now. Not to mention, I had to do all the work myself at Best Buy. I told the clerk what I needed from my writer and I may as well have been speaking Greek to the guy.
DON'T: Try To Haggle With Us!
Believe me when I say that we price our products/services the way we do for a reason. We're not trying to screw you over. We're trying to cover our cost, overhead and make a little profit. If you don't like the price, check somewhere else. Most of the time you'll be coming right back. We do everything we can to be competitive and if a small business isn't competitive, they will close. Rest assured, we understand competition brings life to the economy and business. One more thing. Stop asking us to wipe the sales tax for you. Taxes are one of the most expensive parts of running a business. Sales tax is only one of the many taxes we have to pay, so help us out and pay it like you're supposed to. If you have a problem with sales tax, talk to your Congressman, don't bother use by being cheap.
DO: Tell Your Friends and Family.
That's right, we want you to tell everyone you know. Heck, tell people you don't know all about us. This includes the good, the bad and the ugly. A good business owner understands that word of mouth is the most important and effective method of advertising out there, and we rely on it. If a small business has done you wrong, tell people about it! If they're smart they'll remedy the situation and make sure you leave happy and satisfied. If they don't then they shouldn't be in business. The consumer is the driving force in our economy. If someone is doing bad business, then they should close. Simple as that. If someone is doing good business, then the whole world should know. Take time to recommend a good business.
DON'T: Act Like You're Our Only Customer.
We understand you want your stuff now. The problem is, so does everyone else. As a small business we have to keep all of our customers happy. This means that we try to take care of everyone as quickly and efficiently as possible. Please, make it easier on everyone and wait your turn like your mother taught you. Nothing is more annoying than a customer acting like a child because THEY WANT IT NOW!!! Belive me, it says a whole lot more about you than it does about us. Sometimes things go wrong. Every small business is well acquainted with Murphey's Law. You have a right to be upset and/or frustrated, but please treat us with respect. We never want to purposefully make you wait. If you're polite and respectful about your complaint, we will usually find a way to make it up to you. If for some reason we don't make it up to you, see the previous DO.
DO: Ask Us What Form of Payment WE Prefer.
This is one of the more important facts that the public is generally unaware of when it comes to dealing with a small business. There was a time when everyone preferred cash, but sometimes it's not the case anymore. Some businesses prefer to have a paper trail rather than save on card fees. Some businesses refuse to take personal checks anymore and if they do it still makes them nervous. One thing is for certain, if you're paying with a debit card, ask us if we prefer to run it as debit or credit. We know you want your points, but let's be honest. This little transaction won't get you that many and it will cost us quite a bit of money. Card processing rates are usually much lower to run a debit card than a credit card. Mine for example is 6% on a credit card and about 60 cents for a debit. So if I run a $100 transaction as credit, it costs me $6.00. If I ran the same transaction as a debit, it costs me $0.60. See the difference? Run your credit card to get your points at the big, corporate guys who can afford it (and often get a lower fee from the card processsing companies!)
DON'T: Come in Just To Talk To Us Or Our Employees.
Humans are social animals, but there's a time and place. Think about it, you can't generally just go into a big store and cut up with their employees for two hours, so why would you do it with ours? Productivity is so important to a small business owner because if the employees don't get around to it, guess who gets to do it after hours? If you have a question for us, we're more than willing to help you out. Heck, a little chit-chat never hurt anyone either. However, there's a differnence between small-talk while being productive and coming into the shop and telling us everyone you've done from 1968 onward. Time is money, so please respect that.
DO: Ask Us Questions About What We Do.
A good small business owner doesn't start a business for their health. We do it because we are passionate and we feel like we can better serve our community as leaders rather than as an employee. We love what we do and we love to talk about it. That being said, ask us ANY questions you have. We also love having happy and informed customers. Asking questions before you buy a product or service doesn't make you look stupid. Actually it does the opposite. We know that you, like us, work hard for your money and we want you to be happy with your purchase.
DON'T: Call Us Honey, Son, Boy, Gal, You Get The Idea...
This particularly applies to younger business owners. If a person is in their 20's and starting a business it means they've accomplished something that a vast majority of the public (any age) will never do. We are living the American dream and we don't need condescending comments like this. We don't ask for special treatment, but do recognize that we do deserve respect. These names aren't all that offensive to the average person, but kids don't start profitable businesses and it's unprofessional at best. So show us the same respect we show you. We have names, and if you don't know them Sir or Miss will suffice.
DO: Participate In Social Media With Us.
There has been a great and rapid change in the way businesses advertise. Wesites have become the norm, but sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and so many other social media sites are becoming cornerstones of online marketing. Small businesses love them because the initial services are free, the advertising is cheap and we reach a potentially infinite number of potential customers. Simply Liking a Page or writing a review, or even saying something positive on a social media site is a very powerful action that takes you mere seconds. So please take a break from posting funny cat pictures and help out a small business that's done right by you.
DON'T: Assume That We're In It For The Money.
Don't get be wrong. Everyone works for money, but if all we wanted was money we'd just go get a J-O-B. Most small business owners had a J-Word and it's become so taboo for them they just created their own. We start businesses because we love what we do and we want to be THE person to do it. Small businesses have to fight to survive when they first open and rarely become profitable within the first 5 years. We put in 80+ hours a week starting out because we can't afford to pay other people to help us. Start-up costs are staggering for even the smallest business. Believe me, we would love to run our business for free because we love it so much. There are just these little problems called food, shelter, taxes, transportation, overhead, cost, materials, labor, supplies, insurance and all sorts of troublesome things we have to pay for.
DO: Deal with a small business over a large corporation.
While it is true that some small business are more expensive than their corporate giant counterparts, the fact is that most of the time small business are less expensive. Really we have to be to stay alive. It doesn't make sense for us to have less advertising power, a small territory and higher prices. Even if the initial price is higher, often you'll find that the long term investment will save you money in the long run. For exampe, I recently had to purchase a new DVD writer for my computer. I did comparison pricing at both Best Buy and a little computer store. The little computer store was a little more expensive, so I bought from Best Buy. Turns out, the DVD writer from the big guy was missing a very important power cable. I checked with the little guys and they told me that not only did they include the power cable (for free) but they offered a serpate warranty in addition to the manufacturer's. So basically I could've have spent $5 more and ended up with a single trip, an extended (2 more years!) warranty and helped out my local economy. I go to the small guys now. Not to mention, I had to do all the work myself at Best Buy. I told the clerk what I needed from my writer and I may as well have been speaking Greek to the guy.
DON'T: Try To Haggle With Us!
Believe me when I say that we price our products/services the way we do for a reason. We're not trying to screw you over. We're trying to cover our cost, overhead and make a little profit. If you don't like the price, check somewhere else. Most of the time you'll be coming right back. We do everything we can to be competitive and if a small business isn't competitive, they will close. Rest assured, we understand competition brings life to the economy and business. One more thing. Stop asking us to wipe the sales tax for you. Taxes are one of the most expensive parts of running a business. Sales tax is only one of the many taxes we have to pay, so help us out and pay it like you're supposed to. If you have a problem with sales tax, talk to your Congressman, don't bother use by being cheap.
DO: Tell Your Friends and Family.
That's right, we want you to tell everyone you know. Heck, tell people you don't know all about us. This includes the good, the bad and the ugly. A good business owner understands that word of mouth is the most important and effective method of advertising out there, and we rely on it. If a small business has done you wrong, tell people about it! If they're smart they'll remedy the situation and make sure you leave happy and satisfied. If they don't then they shouldn't be in business. The consumer is the driving force in our economy. If someone is doing bad business, then they should close. Simple as that. If someone is doing good business, then the whole world should know. Take time to recommend a good business.
DON'T: Act Like You're Our Only Customer.
We understand you want your stuff now. The problem is, so does everyone else. As a small business we have to keep all of our customers happy. This means that we try to take care of everyone as quickly and efficiently as possible. Please, make it easier on everyone and wait your turn like your mother taught you. Nothing is more annoying than a customer acting like a child because THEY WANT IT NOW!!! Belive me, it says a whole lot more about you than it does about us. Sometimes things go wrong. Every small business is well acquainted with Murphey's Law. You have a right to be upset and/or frustrated, but please treat us with respect. We never want to purposefully make you wait. If you're polite and respectful about your complaint, we will usually find a way to make it up to you. If for some reason we don't make it up to you, see the previous DO.
DO: Ask Us What Form of Payment WE Prefer.
This is one of the more important facts that the public is generally unaware of when it comes to dealing with a small business. There was a time when everyone preferred cash, but sometimes it's not the case anymore. Some businesses prefer to have a paper trail rather than save on card fees. Some businesses refuse to take personal checks anymore and if they do it still makes them nervous. One thing is for certain, if you're paying with a debit card, ask us if we prefer to run it as debit or credit. We know you want your points, but let's be honest. This little transaction won't get you that many and it will cost us quite a bit of money. Card processing rates are usually much lower to run a debit card than a credit card. Mine for example is 6% on a credit card and about 60 cents for a debit. So if I run a $100 transaction as credit, it costs me $6.00. If I ran the same transaction as a debit, it costs me $0.60. See the difference? Run your credit card to get your points at the big, corporate guys who can afford it (and often get a lower fee from the card processsing companies!)
DON'T: Come in Just To Talk To Us Or Our Employees.
Humans are social animals, but there's a time and place. Think about it, you can't generally just go into a big store and cut up with their employees for two hours, so why would you do it with ours? Productivity is so important to a small business owner because if the employees don't get around to it, guess who gets to do it after hours? If you have a question for us, we're more than willing to help you out. Heck, a little chit-chat never hurt anyone either. However, there's a differnence between small-talk while being productive and coming into the shop and telling us everyone you've done from 1968 onward. Time is money, so please respect that.
DO: Ask Us Questions About What We Do.
A good small business owner doesn't start a business for their health. We do it because we are passionate and we feel like we can better serve our community as leaders rather than as an employee. We love what we do and we love to talk about it. That being said, ask us ANY questions you have. We also love having happy and informed customers. Asking questions before you buy a product or service doesn't make you look stupid. Actually it does the opposite. We know that you, like us, work hard for your money and we want you to be happy with your purchase.
DON'T: Call Us Honey, Son, Boy, Gal, You Get The Idea...
This particularly applies to younger business owners. If a person is in their 20's and starting a business it means they've accomplished something that a vast majority of the public (any age) will never do. We are living the American dream and we don't need condescending comments like this. We don't ask for special treatment, but do recognize that we do deserve respect. These names aren't all that offensive to the average person, but kids don't start profitable businesses and it's unprofessional at best. So show us the same respect we show you. We have names, and if you don't know them Sir or Miss will suffice.
DO: Participate In Social Media With Us.
There has been a great and rapid change in the way businesses advertise. Wesites have become the norm, but sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and so many other social media sites are becoming cornerstones of online marketing. Small businesses love them because the initial services are free, the advertising is cheap and we reach a potentially infinite number of potential customers. Simply Liking a Page or writing a review, or even saying something positive on a social media site is a very powerful action that takes you mere seconds. So please take a break from posting funny cat pictures and help out a small business that's done right by you.
DON'T: Assume That We're In It For The Money.
Don't get be wrong. Everyone works for money, but if all we wanted was money we'd just go get a J-O-B. Most small business owners had a J-Word and it's become so taboo for them they just created their own. We start businesses because we love what we do and we want to be THE person to do it. Small businesses have to fight to survive when they first open and rarely become profitable within the first 5 years. We put in 80+ hours a week starting out because we can't afford to pay other people to help us. Start-up costs are staggering for even the smallest business. Believe me, we would love to run our business for free because we love it so much. There are just these little problems called food, shelter, taxes, transportation, overhead, cost, materials, labor, supplies, insurance and all sorts of troublesome things we have to pay for.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Quick Update
Hello everyone! I thought I'd just post a quick update and bring everyone up to speed. First off, the Luke Robbins web teaser is finally done! You can watch it here, but please direct your friends to our You Tube channel as we can get more ad revenue that way.
We're finally pending iTunes approval and just playing the waiting game. Amazon sales will be coming soon, but now we still have Ebay and the Vision Video online store.
Speaking of Vision Video, our website will be up and fucntioning within the next few months. Check back often because we'll be adding a lot of cool services for everyone over the next year (even some free ones!)
Probably the largest update is we have the first script finalized for our web series. We have our head writer and most of the casting done. We have the first 6 episodes planned out and we're getting the scripts started. I have to say, the show's going to be better than I thought. We have so many creative and talented people involved, it's gonna be great.
Lastly, I got another piece of good news the other day. They've finally set a release date for Green Lantern: The Animated Series along with the return of everyone's favorite DC Universe animated shows. I'll be updating later so be sure to check back!
We're finally pending iTunes approval and just playing the waiting game. Amazon sales will be coming soon, but now we still have Ebay and the Vision Video online store.
Speaking of Vision Video, our website will be up and fucntioning within the next few months. Check back often because we'll be adding a lot of cool services for everyone over the next year (even some free ones!)
Probably the largest update is we have the first script finalized for our web series. We have our head writer and most of the casting done. We have the first 6 episodes planned out and we're getting the scripts started. I have to say, the show's going to be better than I thought. We have so many creative and talented people involved, it's gonna be great.
Lastly, I got another piece of good news the other day. They've finally set a release date for Green Lantern: The Animated Series along with the return of everyone's favorite DC Universe animated shows. I'll be updating later so be sure to check back!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
The Apple, Fall From Grace and The Return to Paradise
Oh Apple, what a double edged sword you are. On the one hand, you provide a stellar product that is unmatched by anything else on the market. On the other hand, your tech support, customer service and compatibility leave much to be desired.
Months ago, I moved into a new apartment. After a few days we finally got around to getting AT&T to our new place to get our Uverse back online. The tech was very quick and efficient, and after getting all of our Ethernet ports back online, he tested all the computers to make sure they connected to the Internet. Everything checked out fine and he went on his way. I immediately jumped on the Mac to get some work done, except that the website wouldn't load.
As it turns out, my homepage had been cached, so it loaded with no connection. However, when I typed in a new URL, there was no connection so I got the disheartening error. Here's where the trouble really started. On a Windows machine, there are about 100 different ways to solve various connection problems. Macs are a little more tricky. First I figured my ethernet port was fried, but I wasn't sure how to disable it on a Mac, so I decided to go wireless. Finding a wireless adapter that that was Mac compatible proved difficult. The first one I bought said it was compatible with apple OSX, but the package proved otherwise. Luckily the second one I bought was actually a universal that worked on both PC and Apple. The software was installed, but the thing still wouldn't connect.
I turned to the aid of the Internet. As it turns out, Apple's support forum was useless. All they ever said was how to fix Airport. I wasn't using Airport so that wasn't helpful at all. I tird everything. I tried creating a new location, renewing the DHCP lease, using a static IP, I even tried converting to an IPv6 connection. Nothing worked at all. WhenI had almost given up, I found a random blog article that fixed my entire problem.
Apparently, when AT&T renewed our connection, they renewed our router information. Nothing actually changed, but the Mac saw it as a new connection. The answer was so simple, I almost couldn't believe it. It turns out that Apple computers tend to be a little less adaptive than a PC. When they changed the router information, the Mac's information was outdated. For some reason when the new connection showed up, the Mac retained its old information. All I had to do was to boot into safe mode and delete the Internet connection file. Once the computer ebooted it created a new one with the current connection information.
So now I have my Mac back online just in time for school to start. Hopefully I won't have anymore problems. If you're having problems connecting your Mac to the Internet, feel free to comment and I'll try to help out. Lord knows there isn't enough information out there to help the average user.
Months ago, I moved into a new apartment. After a few days we finally got around to getting AT&T to our new place to get our Uverse back online. The tech was very quick and efficient, and after getting all of our Ethernet ports back online, he tested all the computers to make sure they connected to the Internet. Everything checked out fine and he went on his way. I immediately jumped on the Mac to get some work done, except that the website wouldn't load.
As it turns out, my homepage had been cached, so it loaded with no connection. However, when I typed in a new URL, there was no connection so I got the disheartening error. Here's where the trouble really started. On a Windows machine, there are about 100 different ways to solve various connection problems. Macs are a little more tricky. First I figured my ethernet port was fried, but I wasn't sure how to disable it on a Mac, so I decided to go wireless. Finding a wireless adapter that that was Mac compatible proved difficult. The first one I bought said it was compatible with apple OSX, but the package proved otherwise. Luckily the second one I bought was actually a universal that worked on both PC and Apple. The software was installed, but the thing still wouldn't connect.
I turned to the aid of the Internet. As it turns out, Apple's support forum was useless. All they ever said was how to fix Airport. I wasn't using Airport so that wasn't helpful at all. I tird everything. I tried creating a new location, renewing the DHCP lease, using a static IP, I even tried converting to an IPv6 connection. Nothing worked at all. WhenI had almost given up, I found a random blog article that fixed my entire problem.
Apparently, when AT&T renewed our connection, they renewed our router information. Nothing actually changed, but the Mac saw it as a new connection. The answer was so simple, I almost couldn't believe it. It turns out that Apple computers tend to be a little less adaptive than a PC. When they changed the router information, the Mac's information was outdated. For some reason when the new connection showed up, the Mac retained its old information. All I had to do was to boot into safe mode and delete the Internet connection file. Once the computer ebooted it created a new one with the current connection information.
So now I have my Mac back online just in time for school to start. Hopefully I won't have anymore problems. If you're having problems connecting your Mac to the Internet, feel free to comment and I'll try to help out. Lord knows there isn't enough information out there to help the average user.
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