Would you like to add a new element of excitement and capture more viewer interest in your videos? Try using a green screen effect in your next video. If you do, here is what you will quickly discover…it’s quite easy to add new visually captivating effects to your videos by using a green screen background. It’s a lot of fun also. If you are involved in web video production at all, I think your mind will be filled with new creative ideas and how you can apply this technique. Today, I want to show you how I have used the green screen effect in the video below and give you some ideas on how to use a green screen for your own videos.

My Confession
My confession is that this is the first time I have ever used green screen myself. I’m always looking for ways to improve my online video production. Once you see what the green screen effect can have on your videos, I think you will want to give it a try. If I must say so myself, I think the video review below turned out pretty decent actually since it was my first attempt. If I can do it, so can you. Green screen can have so many uses in your videos. I believe that one of the main uses that I will be using green screen in the future is for product reviews. After viewing the video, what kind of ideas do you have for adding the green screen effect in your videos?

What is a green screen?
A green screen is simply a large piece of green fabric. That’s it, nothing special. Shoot your video by standing in front of a green screen and then when editing, replace the green behind you with whatever video element that you desire. You can place videos, special effects, or still photos in the background. The removal of the green is done with your video editing software.

Chromakey Green Screen
This is a fancy term for removing the green in the video. Once the green is gone, all that is left is a transparent, black background, ready for you to insert what ever element you wish. Most video editing programs will have a video filter that will allow you to remove the green screen background and replace it with your own images. I use final cut express to edit my videos. In final cut express, once your video is in the time line, just drop the chromakey filter on top of your video. Use the settings to fine tune and remove the green from all around you. It’s a very simple process that is all software based. Do it once, and you will become a pro. Chances are, the video editing program you are using now already contains green screen software.

Using a green screen
In one word, simple. My setup is very simple and you will be able to see it in the video. I give you several examples where I am standing in front of the green screen fabric and I replace the green with still photos and videos.

A professional green screen setup is surprisingly affordable. Good chroma key lighting, often referred as green screen lighting is essential. I set mine up in my office on a wall as you will see in the video.

In the video, I mention Allyn Hane from bloggerillustrated.net. He is my favorite video blogger and he recently did a series of videos on internet marketing where he used the green screen effect to teach his methods. You definitely want to visit his site to get more ideas and to learn about internet marketing from a Pro.

This featured green screen from amazon.com and light kit is a perfect setup for your home or studio. It features 2 7′ light stands with umbrellas. 2 light kits are important because if you use one light in front of you and one light to the side, it will eliminate shadows on the green screen and make it much easier for you to chromakey the green out of your video.

This affordable green screen kit also includes:
* Stands Extend to 8 feet height/Opens up to 10 ft wide
* 2 x 7ft light stands/2 x 105w daylight bulb
* 2 x AC light umbrella holders/2 x 32″ white umbrellas
* 3 x sectional cross bars/2 x 8 ft supporting stands with carrying case
* FREE carrying case for the background stand/1 x 10 X 20 ft Chroma Key green Muslin Backdrop

2010 Bloggerlens.com

This is a product review and video of the Switronix TL-50 video camera light. Lighting is such a crucial aspect of good video especially when you are shooting in low light situations. This light is currently on my wish list but I was so impressed with it, I wanted to share it with you now. I’m sure you will be impressed with this light after you watch the video.

This camcorder light is not a cheap accessory but how can one put a value on the video you shoot. Many moons ago I would shoot video of my children in low light situations because I didn’t know any better. I treasure those old videos now. When I watch them now, I’m disappointed in myself because some are quite grainy because of the low light. Technology has fixed that for us today. The TL 50 is an accessory that we can carry with us in our camera bag and always be ready to produce great quality video.

You can use this video light kit on cameras or video cameras. It is powered by it’s own power source and the LED’s can last for hours on a single charge.

2010 Switronix TL 50 Review

I made this video review of the Apple Mighty Mouse because it’s my all time favorite mouse and laptop accessory. I recommend the Mighty Mouse to everyone if they happen to use a bluetooth mouse. Let me say right now that you can use the mighty mouse if you use Mac or Windows. It’s not about the operating system, it’s about your equipments bluetooth capability. I have replaced all mouses that I use with the wireless mighty mouse and I will never go back to using the old ones. That’s good news for everyone, it’s mighty mouse for PC also.

I recently bought an iMac and it came with a wireless apple keyboard and the Apple Mighty Mouse. Once I put it into my hands, I was sold. When I fired up my iMac for the first time, the computer found it immediately and I started using it. The first thing I noticed was how well the mighty mouse fit in my hand. It was as if it were made for my hand. Apple engineers are brilliant. They make stuff that looks nice, works perfect and feels natural.

The second feature that I love is how this mouse scrolls. There are no roller balls, only a flat smooth surface that you gently stroke with your finger. The screen will scroll according to the speed in which you move your finger. Apple gives you a setup menu which allows you to perfectly customize how your mighty mouse works and responds to your input.

Battery power has not been an issue with me. I mostly use rechargeable batteries and this mighty mouse does not consume much battery power at all. You will not need any sort of a mouse pad to use this macintosh mouse. I simply lay mine directly on my desk. I certainly can’t recommend the mighty mouse without recommending the Apple Wireless Keyboard also.

This would make an awesome gift for Dad or a student getting ready to go off to college. Anyone who uses a mouse would be grateful to you if you made one of these a present.

2010 Bloggerlens.com

I love my Brother 6490 Wireless Printer. I love it enough to do a video review of the 6490 for sure. I have used many different brands of printers throughout my lifetime and I doubt that I will ever change brands again. Brother multifunction printers just plain work and they work outstanding. I first used a Brother laser printer a couple of years ago and it was one of the larger models. The only problem, I didn’t own it. When it came time to buy a new home office computer, I searched Amazon for one brand and decided upon the 6490 CW. This review is for the Brother 6490 inkjet.

I’ve owned this printer for almost a year and I have had zero problems with it. My first requirement is that it was wireless so that I could print to it from anywhere in my house. The wireless setup on the 6490 was a breeze and works perfect. You can set it up for multiple computers and it works Mac & Windows. Because I work with some graphics programs, I wanted a computer that printed in 11 x 17 and the 6490CW prints the larger size paper perfectly. The ink cartridges are super easy to replace and the cartridges are affordable.

I make a lot of photo slideshows and it requires me to scan a lot of old photos. One of the cool features of this printer is I can pull up the scan screen on my laptop and crop the picture before I scan it. This saves me an immeasurable amount of time and was a HUGE selling point to me. You can do the same if you need to scan photos for any reason. The 6490 is a very stylish printer also and looks great in my office. When the video finishes, there’s a link where you can check it out. I’m sure it will make a wonderful addition to your home or office.

2010 Bloggerlens.com

I spend a lot of time sitting at a desk while I try to make my living online. Anyone who has a job where they are not physically active must find the time to get in regular workouts. I’ve been using the Perfect Pushup for a long time and I sneak in very effective workouts every day in between my work. I can say that with authority. I’m an active person. I like to workout. I lift weights and go to the gym. I also like to ride my mountain bike. It’s not always convenient to get in a decent workout while at home. I found the answer a long time ago and I thought I would share what I do.

When I need to take a break and clear my head a little during the day, I just get in a quick workout with a set of perfect pushups. The blood gets flowing quickly and I usually get re-energized to keep working. I’ve been known to come up with some new fresh ideas after a few sets. You also can do these workouts almost anywhere, even at work. Now, there are no excuses.

If you need to tighten up a few things on your body, these are perfect and affordable. Guys, you want bigger arms and chest? These will help tremendously. Ladies, do you want to just firm up your arms and make them look sleek without building muscle? These are perfect for doing just that. Being able to get in a good workout at home is important to me. I accomplished that a long time ago when I purchased a set of Perfect Pushups. Because I am no stranger to exercise, I could definitely see the benefit when I watched the commercials on TV. I purchased a set and I’ve been very happy I did. The pushup is nearly the perfect upper body exercise and most anyone can perform one pushup. How about 100 pushups? You certainly can with these following the workout guidelines. In no time using the perfect pushup workout, your upper body will gain strength and I promise that you will start to look better in a shirt, man or woman. If you want to look sexy and not cost a lot, these are for you.

2010 Bloggerlens.com

Brad Paisley may be the coolest guy in country music. I’ve been a fan of his since he started. I caught this video on CMT while clicking through the channels. Found this video online. I hope it’s hot wherever you are at this weekend and you go out and enjoy the water!

Are you using your existing multimedia for effective SEO on your hyperlocal blog? Generally, I think we all fall somewhat short getting the most out of what we have. It can be a little tedious to SEO your hyperlocal blog but today I want to share some SEO Tips to generate traffic to your hyperlocal blog.

For this illustration I am optimizing for the term “Your Neighborhood Produce in Monroe, NC.” I will illustrate simple ways to do it that takes little effort and time on my part. I want this article to give me traffic for years to come. If I do a little extra, I’m pretty sure my efforts will pay off.

This is a real life example of what I have done to a particular article on my hyperlocal website in Monroe, NC, The Monroe Scoop.

I recently went out and shot a video of an event called Your Neighborhood Produce. I want to show you the ways I have used the video to give my article and site an SEO and traffic boost.

Hyperlocal Social Media

The first thing I did while editing the video was to take a short segment of the video and post it to the Monroe Scoop Facebook Page. I was editing the video anyway. I took an extra 3 minutes to post a snippet of the video. I wanted to generate some buzz for the article before I published it. Below is a screenshot of my Facebook Page.

The next thing I did was to take a snippet from the video I was editing and upload it to YouTube. This takes virtually no time whatsoever because I’m already sitting and editing my video. It takes just a few moments to grab a piece of the video and upload to YouTube to give your site and article the SEO boost for some long term traffic to your site.

Below are the 2 videos I uploaded. The first video was a short clip and the second video was the completed version. In the video description on YouTube, I linked out to my site in Monroe, NC. YouTube is awesome for the links and traffic. Hey, you already know that though.

The next thing I did was to grab a few screen shots from the video and upload them to my Flickr account. I use the handy Flickr uploader and it took a total of about 3 minutes to upload and tag 7 photos. I did this while I was still editing the original video. I have posted a couple of the photos below just to give you an example.

Since I’m showing you these photos, I will also put in “alt tags” on these photos and they will link back to my original article. Might as well do it since I’m writing about it, right? The links from Flickr are no-follow but they may send me some additional traffic based on searches. I made sure I placed appropriate tags on the photos.

The next thing I did was to grab the embed code from Flickr for my 7 photo slideshow. You can see that below. Your readers love photos, video and slideshows. Give them what they want, it’s easy and takes very little time to do a little something extra.

I hope you are still following along. Writing this article has taken a lot longer than what I actually did. Since I have more than one hyperlocal blog, I did a little extra work to send more links back to my original article. I placed a couple of the still photos in a new article. I placed the photo slideshow into the article on my second site.

Here is where I got a little fancy, I placed a screenshot of my video into the new article. It looks exactly like the video but instead will hyperlink back to the article on Monroe Scoop. This created even more links to the article and will also count toward my traffic. I’m hoping to get traffic to both sites because of this little maneuver. Below is the screenshot I used to send traffic back to the original article. If you click it, it will take you to the original article also.

I actually host my own videos on my own hosted server on my sites for the most part. I occasionally post a youtube embedded video when I’m pressed for time. YouTube is great for the links but I do not like how they stream video. I don’t think they operate on enough bandwidth and cause videos to stop and stutter.

I estimate it took me an extra 15 minutes of work to do what I have described above. It’s important that you use what media you have and turn it into multimedia. The SEO benefit for your hyperlocal blog will be long term and beneficial. There are SEO Experts out there that would do more and are much more talented than I am, but for the citizen journalist trying to get more out of your articles, these few extra steps will help immensely.

Of course I will also send out a few tweets to get visits to the site.

I have no idea when you, the reader, may stumble upon this article. Why don’t you test me out and type in Your Neighborhood Produce in Monroe, NC into Google and see how I did. If I’m not outranking the actual site, hopefully I’m just under it. I could certainly go after the top ranking with more links but that is not necessary for my purposes.

Give this a try the next time you are working on video or posting some photo’s on your hyperlocal blog. Try to get the most out of your multimedia.

I’d like to announce a new project I am involved in with 3 of my buddies, Allyn Hane, Josh Whitford & Brian Matson. We have teamed up together and formed Echelon Media, a Social Media Consulting Business.

Most of you will immediately recognize those names. Over the last few months, we have all realized the fluff and the garbage floating around out there where Social Media is concerned. The so-called A-listers talking fluffy cloud scenarios but never actually giving real life examples and help to those who may be struggling.

The 4 of us have our own specialties in regards to our online work and participation in Social Media. We felt we could give our individual and group thought on how we use Social Media successfully from our own perspective. Thus, Echelon Media was born. Feel free to check out “About Page”, on Echelon to read individual Bio’s about our group.

One of the first things we hope to accomplish is to give you straightforward, no fluff examples of how to use Social Media to your benefit. The 4 of us are real people who actually do what we preach and teach.

The website is about 1 month old now and we have experienced a very successful month of traffic for such a new site. It is our intention to provide businesses and individuals with solid, practical advice on how to build their businesses and brands. We will offer our consulting services to individual and business online through the use of technology or we are available to speak directly to your group onsite.

Echelon Media has just kicked off a series of what we call “Social Media Shorts.” These are quick one minute video tips designed to help you in your daily efforts in Social Media. These are the things that we do everyday and we are sharing these practical tips with you.

Below you will find the first 2 quick vids of our Social Media Shorts series of tips.

If you need Social Media Consultants, or if you just want to brush up on some handy tips, please give us a visit. If you like what we are doing, help us spread the word. We would love for you to follow us on Twitter @echelonmedia. Become a Facebook Fan and ask us to answer a specific question you have about Social Media.

2010 BloggerLens.com

My buddy Josh Whitford, from Unconventional Marketing was recently livestreaming on uStream about his new project, Who’s Got Room. By using his new website for booking motel rooms across the country, you will be able to snag some really good deals. I also know he’s working on an affiliate program where you and I can make a few bucks when we embed his widget on our sites.

A couple of things I’d like to point out. Josh really knows how to interact with his target audience. His livestream is just an example of how he uses multimedia and social media to connect with his audience. Josh is one of the most successful users of Twitter that I know. You can learn a lot from him by following him and observing how he uses Twitter.

Check out the video of his livestream. Follow Josh at @therealjosh on Twitter.

2010 bbloggerlens.com

This is a very limited review of this cool new Map My Ride App I downloaded today. I’ve been having some fun with my new iPhone and one of the Apps I downloaded was Map My Ride. It’s a free App that is GPS based on your iPhone internal GPS. I decided to take my mountain bike out this afternoon so I quickly downloaded the App just before I left the house. I headed toward the mountain bike trail and I had not yet even opened the App.

I wish I could give you a full review at this time but I can’t because I don’t yet know enough about it. It seemed to work pretty good for me today and I wanted to share with you because it has a cool feature with the WOW factor.

When I got back home and went online, it shows my route on the map. This particular ride I made today was 3.03 miles at a local mountain bike trail. Don’t laugh because today, I admit, was a weenie ride. It’s my first trip on the bike this year. My legs were rubber and my heart was wondering WTF was going on. I’ll slowly get myself back in mountain bike shape.

What I really liked was an option to show your ride from Google Earth. When you click it, it animates your ride from the satellite view. This was the WOW factor that captured my attention. I recorded it so you could see it in action. I thought it was bad-ass. If I learn more about it, I’ll be sure to share it with you.

2010 BloggerLens.com