VideoStory News

The Original PC, The Pre-PowerPoint “Electronic” Slide Show, and Physical vs. Digital Cut and Paste

The video below is a capture of the computer screen and interface for the programming language named “ProCall”, the name given to the software used to control multiple slide projectors in order to sync slides to sound and create a slide-show, or “Multi-image” show, as it and the industry built around it was known. What is seen here is the sequencing of a few speaker support slides, and then a “run”– a looping segment that will run onscreen for announcements, introduction, or to kill time until the loops is broken, and the slide projectors advanced by the next command.

Anywhere from 3 to 15 (or more) projectors were focused on a screen, timed to music, with sophisticated graphic effects, photo sequences, title animations all happening in a careful sequence. Timing was precise; manual operation was possible (next slide, please), and even infinite loop sequences for backgrounds or logo animations used during live speaker sequences were possible.

This was in effect a video-like immersive experience for audiences. Sound came off of multi-track magnetic tape recorders, so the sound was full fidelity. Film projectors could be controlled as well. In fact, all elements of a meeting could be controlled via these computer programs– speaker support, multi-image slide shows with sound; film rolls, lights, flash bulb effects, and more.

Why does an old guy like me know computers? Well, I had to program slide shows.

I also had to find a solution to the innumerable script changes I and my clients made.

Before computers, a-v scripts were written on “copy paper” cheap newspaper typing paper that was easy to cut with a ruler. Cutting and pasting was a matter of literally cutting and pasting. Cut the paragraph you wanted to move out of the paper, past it with a big glob of glue past underneath the paragraph were it was destined to go. Because the editing process is very important, my scripts were sometimes hundreds of paper paragraphs reordered and  glued together.

But there were more miracles to come. The popular operating system at the time was CP/M. It was not meant for portable computers but AVL and others (Most notably, Adam Osborne) adopted it for portable and stationary computing. AVL’s computers were at first in a big desk hogging chassis, then reduced to a one piece screen, two drive, computer configuration, and finally, to a luggable portable.

People began putting word processing and accounting programs on their AVL’s, and the personal computer era began. And of course there was Apple. Put a CP/M card in an Apple, and you were able to use WordStar, the word processing giant of the day.

Soon we were using the computer to cut and paste, I was writing a “how to compute” column for A-V / Video magazine, and slides were big business.

But video was coming, and I jumped out of the slide apple cart and into the video fire before other slide producers and began adapting what I had learned producing slides to the art of video.

Pacing, strong soundtracks, good stories– those things never change.

To Slide or Not to Slide, That is the Question: Or, Why PowerPoint Doesn’t Have to Suck.

Slides are how we made our money and made our name.

I love slides. Grew up with them, made shows with them., started a business with them, made friends with them, won awards with them.

Today, the word “slides” has a revised but logical meaning: Powerpoint slides (or Keynote, if you prefer.)

On linkedIn, there is an ongoing discussion on whether speakers should uses slides or not. Actually, the very thought is even more daunting to these “Presentation Gurus” (the name of the group): the question was really “Is there ever a time when a speaker shouldn’t use slides?”

Here’s my quick answer:

Average speaker: No. Always use slides.

Good speaker: Maybe, depending on the size of the crowd. But take advice from a pro PowerPoint person or consultant.

Great Speaker: Yes, go without slides if you can see the eyes of everyone in the room. Or….

Great Speaker: No, use slides, if you’re speaking before 500 or up. Great speakers can use slides effortlessly, have slides that are appropriate and not overwritten, probably don’t even look at them during the presentation, and in many cases have an a-v technician changing the slides for him or her.

The best speaker I ever saw– and he always used slides– was former Chairman and CEO of Walgreens Dan Jorndt.

He could hold a room of 5000 or more in the palm of his hand. No podium. He danced across the stage, in a whirlwind of positive thought. His speeches were carefully written, but delivered in a breezy style that allowed for adlibbing, which he often did– or seemed to at any rate.

But Mr. Jorndt had a secret weapon. Behind the screen, or in the booth, and– for much of his career– behind a computer, was the head of the Walgreens Meetings and Media department, David Harnish. David is an important person at Walgreens. I fear the executives still don’t know HOW important. He is the keeper of the flame, the corporate culture, and the internal audio-visual face of Walgreens. He knows video, interactive, asset management, and of course, slides. And he knows creative communications as good as any client I ever had.

A blank slate: the PowerPoint Editing Interface

Slides more recently means PowerPoint.  But David started at Walgreens literally making “real” physical slides, first primarily on an early computer graphics system using Zenographics software, later  via video on the TVL electronic presentation system, and today, on PowerPoint. Don’t get me wrong: David no longer pushes buttons; but he continues to set the standard for how slides should support speakers, not dominate them.

He knows how many words to use, what photos or graphics are necessary, and what fonts work and don’t work. He knows layout and balance, much of it which might “break the rules” of the way PowerPoint wants you to lay things out.

Whether it was multiple slide projector speaker support, or TVL electronic slide speaker support, videodisc, or PowerPoint speaker support, David and Dan Jorndt made each other look great.

Now understand, I think Dan is a great speaker without slides. But with slides? oh, my.

So, to slide or not to slide, that is the question. When you’ve got a great speaker and a great support team, the answer isn’t so black and white.

Are Audiences Stupid? Why Dumbing Down is a Dumb Thing to Do

In my decades-long video and meeting production career, there was one phrase that sent chills down my spine:

“Close enough for government work.”

This was another way of saying, “Good enough for those stupid people”, or “This audience doesn’t deserve my best work, or “I want to go home.”

What it said to me about that employee or colleague was that he or she didn’t care– about the audience or their own integrity. And that shortsightedness came from a stereotype of the average viewing audience: They’re impatient, stupid, and need everything spoon-fed.

Wow.

I mean, wow.

Is there any chance that these producers were right? Simply, are audiences stupid?

Look in the mirror. Are you?

The answer is no. Just because an audience doesn’t know the difference between a Red camera and a DVcam; Klieg lights vs. Kino-flo’s, or iambic pentameter from Mother Goose doesn’t mean they don’t know what is good. They are the audience. They are the biggest group of critics around, and they know what they like.

They like stories.

In Hollywood, they approve with their dollars. In business, they approve with action, commitment, or a bit of both.

They are us; we are they– if it’s too complicated for us, its too complicated for them. If it’s intriguing to us, it’s intriguing to them.

Examples? Christopher Nolan; Orson Welles; M. Night Shyamalan. Their work challenges the audience and keeps them intrigued.

Corporate examples? Videos that don”t preach, meetings that don’t pander, speeches that reduce the PowerPoint to clear, illustrative, intriguing pictorial elements.

Why simply say “We need better customer service” in a video, when kids in a Lemonade Stand can better or more arrestingly tell “the story?”

Why preach about miscalibrated machining equipment and the resultant costs when you can produce a film-noir-like mystery?

Why have the CEO of a corporation sit at his or her desk and lecture on building brand loyalty when interviews with real customers can make that case more convincingly and more humanly?

It’s the story, stupid.

Even the stupid audience knows that.

On Mentoring

Brien Lee

I’m a mentor. I don’t know when I figured it out, but it is what I’ve been doing most of my life.

I’ve been the owner, creative director and head writer for three of my own companies, and people working at those companies left a lot smarter than when they came in. (Of course, one thing they may have learned is “I’ll never work for that guy again!”)

I’ve taught creative theory, writing, direction, sound design, industrial theater techniques, short and long form video editing, and much more.

My past employees have gone on to success– some running their own creative companies of note and accomplishment.

I’ve helped clients improve their communications efforts, taught both the creative and technical at workshop and university levels, and started friends, relatives and customers on their way to achieving their dreams of being writers, producers, and entrepreneurs.

And this is what I want to do now that I’ve relocated to the New York / New Jersey metro area. Teach. Cajole. Foster learning by doing. Create a few success stories.

You’ll soon see more about this on my various websites– videostory.com, videostorysecrets.com, moderngeezer.com, and avsquad.com (I think that’s all of ‘em.)

I plan on offering a lot of quick-start knowledge for free. Some podcasts, some tutorials, reviews and recommendations, and some running off at the mouth.

It’s taken a while to settle down. Now it’s time to saddle up!

Sincerely,

Brien Lee

10 Things I Learned From ‘Frea…

10 Things I Learned From ‘Freaks and Geeks’ http://bit.ly/cHut2G. What a cast– where are they now? Everywhere!

Check out my latest articles: …

Check out my latest articles: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Brien_Lee

The edit of the full length do…

The edit of the full length documentary goes well. We’ll be submitting it to a major festival for consideration this weekend.

Check out my latest articles: …

Check out my latest articles: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Brien_Lee

Check out my latest articles: …

Check out my latest articles: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Brien_Lee

iPhone 4 is amazing, but it’s …

iPhone 4 is amazing, but it’s sales video is very un-Apple. It’s more like a Microsoft vid, with less corpspeak. http://tinyurl.com/24btnuy