Trudy Thomson

A Farmhouse Tribute: as a Tone Poem

2011-09-07T12:33:00.000-04:00

Check out this beautiful video at this link. It was shot and edited by my favorite videographer and associate! Notice the wonderful time-lapse photography. See how the camera gently dollies around corners to reveal each new nook and room. This is a model for the staging, shooting, and editing video. Of course, executed by one of the finest and brightest in our area.

This "farmhouse tribute" is where my design professor lives ... in Virginia. I have had the pleasure of being a guest at his house. And yes, just as you see in the video, the interiors are gorgeous. The colors are rich and antique collections of all kind abound. So enjoy.Play the video at this link.

(Don't be fooled by the arrow on the picture, which is a screen shot I took. To play the video, click the link above this.)

Making It Modern with Pictures and Prose

2011-07-24T15:04:00.001-04:00

This could be for me, the web site I most enjoyed creating. It is for an artist/writer whose work I find intriguing with its swirls, its innuendoes, and its modern stance. The artist -- Sarah Wilkinson -- and I worked very closely together to come up with a design that would properly anchor her work, while reflecting its modern tone. Choosing the color palette was quite the challenge, but we both finally approved of our final scheme. Another delight for me was to create each page with a distinctive look. For instance, the geometric grid and precise placement of elements on her Welcome page. The grey backdrop for the Gallery thumbnails --- large enough to see. And when selected, displayed side by side is the image with Sarah's provocative prose. Also, the rectangles of different hues cascading down her Exhibits page, so that each event is part of the whole but stand apart. The boxes inside boxes look of the About and Contact pages.
Go to this website to see more of my web design work.

What should the look and feel be?

2011-02-27T15:56:00.001-05:00

That's a question frequently asked as you start to design a website. A site I just finished creating was particularly fun -- because it was for a therapist -- and my undergraduate work was psychology. We both wanted a fresh clean style that is -- at present -- my favorite. We wanted it to feel "accessible", friendly, while accenting her professional accomplishments. We wanted it to have a warm look, suggesting that through her therapy clients could gain a positive outlook and achieve positive growth.

Susan -- the therapist from Durham -- and I had a great time looking over different stock images to find one with just the right feel to use as a banner. Not too feminine, not too weird, not too sappy or strange. So we chose an image of wheat in a field at sunrise. Suggesting, "it's a new day" and the light is lovely.

I also tried something new on this site and took part of the banner to make a vertical image that moves down the side of each page clicked on from the welcome page.

By the way, Susan has amazing background as a therapist. She has published a lot, presented a lot, and is versed in many different types of therapy. And she is also a painter!
Check out the details at http://www.susanheadphd.com/

Search Engine Optimization Can Equal Engaging Content

2010-07-11T17:52:00.003-04:00

Just found a fabulous and informative source that clearly defines and refines the techniques best used for search engine optimization, commonly referred to as SEO. It's a science and an art. I actually read all ten chapters and enjoyed it, because the layout was so fresh and the writing so friendly.

The article explains that any efforts you make to trick the algorithms used by search engines is not that easy to do these days. The engines are clever about noting anything weird, and they actually honor good old value systems. The more people that link to your site -- because you offer something interesting, unique, or valuable -- the higher your rating becomes. Now that can be tough if you are up there against the big boys who have been at it for a long time -- because they naturally have more connections than you. But it doesn't hurt to understand the basics when you design a website, and try your best to incorporate their suggested practices.

So I really recommend this article on SEOmoz:

Shooting with Style

2010-06-07T14:18:00.005-04:00

When you videotape a scene there is a lot you can do to take advantage of the medium. One could say with video you can create “poetry in motion”.

First, a zoom in or out can be useful, but be aware that it compresses the space. On the other hand, a dolly emphasizes depth. You can simulate the effect by slowing taking a few steps towards or away from an object in the scene. When we dolly, the dimensions of objects are much more dynamic, visually stimulating, and have what I call “verisimilitude”. You can also make the dolly more intriguing by moving the dolly in an arc, across the scene from left to right, and place it up high or low. So try not to overuse the zoom button. Vary your shoots by including dollies when you can. It is particularly useful to begin and end a scene.

You might ask, how can I do this without expensive equipment? Well the first way is to go “hand-held” and use your body and try to move smoothly in the pattern of your choice. It takes practice, but can be done.

A second way to deal with it is to make your own dolly—out of PVC pipe and roller skate wheels. You simply attach the rollers—at opposing angles—to the four corners of a large piece of plywood, and place the plywood on tracks you have laid using the parallel PVC pipe. Then the videographer hops on the platform with a tripod and camera, a crew member attaches a puller of sorts (part of a C-stand used for lights work fine). A member of the crew pulls or pushes the videographer along the path as the scene is shot.

Another way to simulate a dolly is to use a wheelchair. The videographer sits in the chair with the camera and a crew member pushes the camera person in or out.

Are there other useful tips about artful shooting? Yes. You should always shoot from a variety of angles…high, low, to the left, to the right, and pan across a scene or object. Also, if you shoot into corners, or diagonally across a scene you get a look that is more dramatic. Diagonal lines in any medium create energy. Vertical and horizontal lines create stability.

And the last word of advice relates to the beauty of a motion medium. Plan every shot so there is action in the foreground (people walking through the scene in the front), mid-ground (usually the subject), and background (people or activity). Then as you move with various dollies and pans you can achieve a satisfying visual experience.

To see examples that illustrate a variety of visual compositions and motion, see my website.

Does Your Website Work? A Way To Step Forward on the Right Foot or Revamp.

2010-03-03T20:44:00.004-05:00

Yes, it is important that you have good clean design. That your logo, font, and colors reflect the nature of your business. Big and bold is what I was taught to do. It still holds true and is almost exaggerated in visual design today.

But, a critical question remains after all the professional photography and graphics are finished: when your potential customers get to your site, are they frustrated by scrolling right, then back up and down? Do they have to dig so deep they give up before they contact you about your services?

Usability is not hard to do. You can employ someone to run a few tests for you—or you can do it on your, for nothing but time. Here’s how…

First, you need to figure out a task that someone might try to accomplish when using your site—such as find out how foundation repair should work and learn to recognize the common pitfalls, find that gift item that matches the user’s criteria of utility and price, or get the haircut they need at a reasonable price.

Once you have the task laid out in one short statement—just one—you can proceed with the actual testing. Through colleagues and friends, find eight people that represent your target audience. It is ok if demographics vary but be sure they have a need to find out more about your product or services.

After the first mock-up of the website, you conduct short 30 minute sessions with each person. Begin by giving them the one critical assignment, sit back, and document each thing they click on anywhere on your website. Now, usability is not about whether they like the look or the colors of the site—that is relegated to focus testing. You are after an answer to the question, “How easy is it to use this site?”

After the testing you will find that two people are completely out of the ballpark (referred to as outliers) and had no luck finding anything. But six out of eight will have valuable information that you can give to your website designer to revamp only the things that caused problems.

After the second iteration of website design, hold one more six person usability test to find out if the new design improved the speed and ease of answering the most common question. If the confusion has diminished you can consider the site ready to go and launch.

Design and usability go hand in hand. Design grabs and focuses attention. Usability ensures that someone will follow through and call you for products or services. On both counts, keep it simple, and direct. To be trite: less is more.

To see examples of my work for small businesses and artists, see my website.

Any Thing Can Happen—So Be Prepared

2010-02-11T12:22:00.006-05:00

I was on the crew of an elaborate “stage show” held in Hawaii by a major corporation. It brought five thousand of the company’s most loyal customers together to receive awards, get a glimpse at new products, and grab lots of give-aways.

It was held in Hawaii. And so, it was only fitting that we would have a fake volcano and surround the stage with a fake lagoon. Hola dancers, singers—the works. The night before the event was scheduled to take place our lagoon broke and water starting pouring into the seats through out the theatre. So part of the crew were dispatched to purchase as much equipment as possible in order to quickly vacuum up all the water. Near the end of that effort I volunteered to crawl under the stage and try to vacuum out the remaining water. I was the one most suited for the job because I happen to be only 5 feet tall and it would be easier for me than for my buddies who were at least of normal stature.

Funny. My mother used to brag to her friends about how I was a big shot producer with my own entourage. I thought it was fitting that I was only the “assistant stage manager”--out of a crew of one hundred--and my job was not in fact glamorous. To complete my assignment, I spend most of my time crawling on my hands and knees in the dark.

Now back to the story. We did not put new water into our so-called “lagoon” because we were afraid it might leak again overnight. We just used staple guns to tack up the extra plastic and cover it with real palm leaves.

The next morning when the curtains rose promptly at 9 AM all went well. The announcements and awards went off with out a hitch. Then it was time for the finale. And a finale of fake fire is what it was.

While the real Hawaiian Don Ho was out in the audience crooning to the spectators, the volcano on stage was spewing lava. However, the lava caught the volcano—made out of Styrofoam--on fire. Very realistic indeed. Fortunately the stunt men each had fire extinguishers in hand and as the assistant stage manager I had tucked extra fire extinguishers under the left and right stage steps. So we had a very spectacular ending to the show and all was finished to satisfaction. The moral of the story: Be prepared and safety first.

An Imaginary Circumstance

2010-02-03T13:01:00.005-05:00

Meisner came up with an idea that creates a reality for an actor. It is referred to as an imaginary circumstance. When a director explains what is going to happen in a scene, the director asks the actor to image something similar that might have happened to the actor.

For instance, the person in the play has committed a transgression of some sort--such as cheating on a test. The actor is asked to think of something similar that happened to them. If it were me, I would think about how I used to cheat at monopoly. It was kind of fun moving all those hotels around the board on every move so I always won! Actually, you should think of something that has bad consequences.

Back to the main idea. Every time the actor in the play has to deliver her line, she remembers that very private and personal event. And, then she will respond with authenticity—because that is how she would surely act when she thinks about the supposed guilt associated with that so-called transgression.

Now about “raising the bar”.

Once in an acting class, the director told me that I should use the following imaginary circumstance: Concentrate on the idea that my father was in prison in Russia and that the authorities told me he would be dead in 24 hours if I did not write my father’s biography in 23 hours. In that scene I was at a typewriter (old-fashion type—pre computers). And I typed my fool head off. Another actor came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder and believe it or not—I actually hit him in the face!

Now valence is about the consequences that will occur in the imaginary circumstance if you do not perform as needed. If the director had said to me, “Your dad will die in that jail in one year if you do not write his biography in 364 days” I would have messed around and continued to change the phrasing and corrected my spelling errors—with white out. (Pity the poor fools that do not remember doing that. Look it up in Wikipedia.)

Anyhow, this is what the imaginary circumstance is about. It has to be real to you as an actor. And the valence (the level of the bar) has to be exactly right to get the most authentic and “honest” response from any actor.

It Takes Talent to Make a Video

2010-02-02T19:56:00.003-05:00

First of all, it depends what kind of talent you need. “Talent” is a word used in the video biz to refer to actors. They are definitely needed if you need people to memorize dialogue and get it right the first time, and for three continuous takes. You also need actors if you need a particular accent, or there is some very dramatic scene that needs emotion.

About emotion. I prefer actors that were trained in the Meisner school. That is later than the method approach. It provides the director with a performance that is what is referred to as “honest” versus “manneristic” where someone “acts out” what they think they should look like on the screen or stage.

Here is an example. I took an acting class from someone who was trained in the Meisner technique. I was part of a skit where a guy was distressed and sad because someone in his family had died. I walked up to him and gently put my hand on his shoulder. I did not go up and throw my arms around him, or say, “poor you.” After the skit we had the normal critique and boy was I blasted by the other students of the class. They said, no one acts like that when someone dies. The teacher said, “I know Trudy, and that is exactly what she would have done in that circumstance.” If you would start licking their face like a dog and that is what you usually would do, that would be honest on your part. Essentially, there is no right way to respond to the other person in a scene —as long as you respond like you would if that were you. Now there is a lot more to Meisner, such as creating an imaginary circumstance and as a director you set the bar at a certain level to create the right valence, but basically, watch out for people that over act. More about the subtleties in another blog.

Now, here is when you do not need “talent”. If you are shooting a research facility with scientists doing experiments or you are shooting a grocery store with every day customers, you can get by with much cheaper “talent”. I have now probably alienated most of my acting friends that will not get jobs because of what I tell, but they are needed for the word that implies “talent”. If you just need people to walk through a scene or do something they would normally do, you can just hire your friends or neighbors, or better yet—go to a temp agency and hire anyone that you think fits the demographics you need. Hire a few extra people in case somebody walks in that looks so weird they are distracting.

So, to sum up, there are two kinds of talent. Use each kind wisely and you will get a great looking production at a reasonable fee.