After I finished I mailed him a copy of the DVD. He called me and said,

“Belal, normally I don’t let people record me. But you, you can record me anytime. MashaAllah, you did an excellent job! I’m really grateful.”

Those were among the words of encouragement that motivated me to continue with my future projects.

Doctor Ibrahim Dremali has been great motivator for me I’m sure many other people through his speeches. He knows how to use the power of stories. He can move you to tears and he can make you smile.

Lately Doctor Ibrahim Dremali has gone through many trials in life. As some of you may know he’s been very sick. I was very sad to hear on MuslimMatters.org that he was recently arrested. You can read the full article here: ACTION ALERT! Sh. Ibrahim Dremali and Wife Arrested!

I encourage you to pray for Doctor Ibrahim Dremali and his wife and support them and their family in any way you can in this hard time. May Allah grant them both ease and remove their troubles.

The other day a friend recommended I check out Empire Magazine’s coverage of Christopher Nolan’s Inception and his past filmography. It took me about an hour to get through the whole thing.

One thing to point out is that this man is an excellent at managing PR. He’s also super disciplined and focused. Working on only one movie at a time and that it’s the only way he functions. Too many people do too many things at the same time and don’t do them well.

In business consulting McKinsey emphasize the 80/20 Rule, the Foundation of which is on clarity of objective, focus on prime actions and solid execution.

The difficult part isn’t finding out what to do, rather understanding what NOT to do. Below are just some of the obvious gems on leadership and creativity we can all pull out from the article.

For the record:
This is not a technical review of the features of the camera. There are plenty of those out there. This post is simply an overview of specific benefits this camera may or may not carry based on your level of familiarity with film-making.

If you are looking for a technical review then see the CamorderInfo.com review of the Canon HFS100.

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LET’S START WITH THE BOTTOM LINE

If you’re new to the game and have never purchased a camera before then this camera is NOT for you. I recommend this camera ONLY IF you are looking to upgrade your current system. A camera system usually consists of:

• Camera
• Filters – polarized, UV, etc
• Lens – wide angle, zoom, etc
• XLR Shotgun Microphone
• XLR audio adapter
• Wireless Mic Receiver
• Tripod
• Movement assists – Steadicam, Dolly, tracks, etc
• Lights
• Computer to edit
• Hard Drive – for storing footage

If you’re thinking about putting down $800+ for this camera and you’re missing some of those elements then my recommendation is to not purchase this camera. Rather purchase the Canon HG10 or HF100, both of which you can probably get for under $400.00 USD used from Amazon or eBay.

Spend the money you save on completing your camera system.

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MY REASONS FOR PURCHASING THE CANON VIXIA HFS 100

After spending over two weeks filming Ilm Summit 2009 with my Canon FS100, one thing I came to realize is that editing would be so much faster if I didn’t have to spend so much time cleaning up the images.

My old camera is really no good at filming in low light and you end up with a lot of “visual noise”.

The computer has to spend a lot of time in post-processing to reduce the “visual noise”. The resulting image tends to become very “soft” in nature which doesn’t really scream quality.

I had been experimenting with different HD cameras but none satisfied my desire to be able to shoot well in low light.

One camera I did like was the Canon HG10. I shot Hollywoodland – Browntourage Episode 2 with that camera and was quite satisfied, except in extreme low-light conditions.

When IlmFest 2009 came up I decided to purchase the camera. I figured I’ll have the weekend to really test it out. I took a walk out to NYC to purchase a much needed wide angle lens for the camera which ran me about $300.00 USD.

After the weekend I realized that this camera is great, but it’s not worth the $1,100.00 USD retail sticker price, so took it back to the store and returned it. The guy was nice enough to not charge me a restocking fee.

About a week later I found the same camera on eBay for about $830.00 USD and purchased it for keeps.

THE WINNING FACTOR

The lens it the best part of the camera. The lens is the same lens used on the old Canon GL2 DV cameras.

The images look brilliant and it’s ability to absorb light after sunset is great with the assist of a portable light.

The latest Browntourage episode – Hollywood Again – was shot with this camera.

THE KILLER

Canon doesn’t consider XLR audio adapters when they design their camera.

With the BeachTek attached to the HFS100, you can’t open the flash disc slot to eject the SDHC memory card.

It’s a pain considering I’m usually shooting with the Steadicam Merlin. To change the card I have to off load the camera from the Merlin and screw off the BeachTek to eject the memory.

What I end up doing usually is using my Laptop to transfer the video data via USB to a portable HDD. It’s a temporary solution, but it doesn’t give that quick satisfaction of having more recording space available.

The upside to this is you’ll be limited to shoot only 60 mins of video on a 16 GB SDHC card. On a day’s worth of shooting, be sure to make each shot count.

What I might end up doing is cutting up the BeachTek device to allow for the camera to open up the memory slot or get a 32 GB SDHC card instead.

Salaam alaykum all,

I wrote an article on MM about voice only music, my experiences with it, and how I’m personally dealing with the different issues that come up as there are at times unclear answers.  I also mention the AlMaghrib trailers because one of them was a turning point in what I did and didn’t listen to.

There’s no condemnation here, simply the going over milestones and how I’ve dealt with them, and looking for feedback from others.

- Siraaj Muhammad

You can check out the article by clicking the image below.

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The issue of beat-boxing, vocal play and a capella in Islamic media has been an issue of some controversy. I think this is mainly due to the confusion on many people’s part as to whether it’s really permissible or not.

You can get the gist by the article linked above.

When I produced the last AlMaghrib promo – the one that features the instructors, student body locations and what AlMaghrib is – a lot of concern came about.

Several months back, Yaser Birjas and I had a talk addressing the concern and the discussions that were taking place. The following points were made:

The objective and purpose of sound in a video is like the objective of a carpet in a room.

It’s suppose to add warmth, pull you in and at the same time bring forth a specific emotion.  The carpet enhances the room and increases the overall impact and impression it has on you many folds.

There is of course the potential to choose the wrong carpet for a room and at times putting a carpet in a room where there isn’t suppose to be any.

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Assuming you got the analogy -

What’s the solution to people’s perception of vocal play and beat-boxing being looked upon as music” when in truth, by standards this society – “if its got rhythm then its music”?

Personally I think the solution is branding.

Fact is that the videos don’t use musical instruments and from my understanding its the instruments that are prohibited. Not the rhythm or sounds.

I think market education is a big part of solving the Muslim student’s concerns. Also pushing the bar on professionalism is also key.

A professional sound designer will deliver so long as the framework to work within is made clear.

I know for a fact that some of the non-Muslim film makers and producers I know love the sound scores of the AlMaghrib trailers, and they especially love the fact that it’s made from no musical instruments.

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I think the fact AlMaghrib videos don’t have musical instruments needs to be made more clear.

The only way I think it can be made clearer is in addition to the “No Musical Instruments” screen at the beginning of the videos, add a “no musical instruments were used in this score” as part of the “ending credits” of all future videos.

This way perhaps others who miss the beginning screen can catch it in the end.

Another solution is to teach a seminar about – or include the subject in a seminar of sort. Many people are unclear on the issue.

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As a follow up to Siraaj’s email, there was another email sent today via AlMaghrib’s HQ saying:

Recently our senior shyookhs and management team had this discussion. After going back n forth, we’ve decided that we will not use beat-boxing in our trailers anymore.

More importantly as time permits, we will be editing the past trailers in sha Allah.

It begs me to question, what will the stance be on the use of non beat-boxing sounds that are also non instrumental used in a rhythm? The effect is the same.

I guess time will tell.

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Posts in the past that address this issue:

• Muslims Acappella in English
• Who said you can’t make good music without instruments?

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Click the link below to read the interview article:

Marc Rosenbush’s Internet Marketing for Filmmakers

Yesterday I had an interview with IslamOnline.net. You can check it out here:

http://livedialogue.islamonline.net/livedialogue/english/Browse.asp?hGuestID=9t3PNc

New York times has an article about the producers of some of the top viral videos that have made it online and seen by millions of viewers.

Young Video Makers Try to Alter Islam’s Face: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/us/08video.html

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 11 — As Hollywood digs in for a second week of a strike, the screenwriters might want to send a few angry picketers over to Will Smith’s place. Or Steven Spielberg’s. And maybe the studio executives should think about joining them on the line. As it turns out, the pot of money that the producers and writers are fighting over may have already been pocketed by the entertainment industry’s biggest talent.

That is the conclusion of a surprisingly bleak new assessment of financial dynamics in the movie industry titled “Do Movies Make Money?” The researchers’ answer: not any more.

The New York Times has the full story: Hollywood on Strike

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Here is a video to summarize what its all about:

Click here to view the embedded video.

CONVENT, La. – This was not how Cindy Cole pictured her life at 26: living in a mobile home park called Sugar Hill, wedged amid the refineries and cane fields of tiny St. James Parish, 18 miles from the nearest supermarket. Sustaining three small children on nothing but food stamps, with no playground, no security guards and nowhere to go.

No, Ms. Cole was supposed to be paying $275 a month for a two-bedroom house in the Lower Ninth Ward – next door to her mother, across the street from her aunt, with a child care network that extended the length and breadth of her large New Orleans family. With her house destroyed and no job or savings, however, her chances of recreating that old reality are slim.

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Read the full New York Times article here: Road to New Life After Katrina Is Closed to Many

If you want to learn more about the struggle people are going through, just type “Katrina” in the NYT search.

When Labid Aziz of Natick thinks about “Never Mind Nirvana,” he sees a missed opportunity. A 2004 pilot for an NBC sitcom, it was centered on the travails of an Indian-American doctor, his pregnant white girlfriend, and his traditional parents, who move in. It was written by Indian-American novelist Ajay Sahgal, directed by “Friends” star David Schwimmer, and starred Kal Penn of “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.” But the show didn’t make NBC’s final cut, losing out that year to “The Office” and “Joey.”

South Asians like Aziz, 32, a Bangladeshi-American Muslim and aspiring producer, saw in “Nirvana” a wellspring of roles that didn’t involve playing a terrorist or convenience store clerk while portraying the South Asian community, or a slice of it, in a way that might inspire empathy rather than incite resentment. On this fall’s schedule, Aziz has a second opportunity: The CW network is unveiling a new sitcom called “Aliens in America” about a Muslim exchange student from Pakistan.

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Read  the full Boston Globe article here: Producer eyes better TV, film roles for Muslims