Reading time: < 1 minute

Earlier this month I had finished making some TV Spots for AlMaghrib to be shown on Islam Channel that would be used as a means of promoting the seminars in the new UK (London) establishment. This is one of the videos:

There are two more. To see them, check out GemReel.com

Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes

I spent the last two weekends in Houston with Eman Rush helping with the Recording of the Heavenly Hues seminar, when Sh Yaser suggested that I should make a GemReel for Qabeelat Hosna. After some internal discussion I decided to do it. and thus below was the result!

I posted the video on the “Oh So Fabulous!” AlMaghrib Student forums when one of the forum members (Taraqa) posted the following:

bismillah. is there a way to force the youtube page for a video to show only certain content?

because when i went to see the Durbah gem reel… which rocked by the way, mashaAllah

…there were some good videos and some obscene ones displayed in that righthand margin. I expanded the video size so that the screen was filled with the gem reel, but my basic rule is I do not visit youtube precisely because of how vulgar so much of the content on the site is.

so i feel bad that i have to answer for what my eyes glimpsed, and i think you should be aware that your links invite the eyes to a place that is good and bad. and the eyes are a gate to the soul.

sure, you may want more hits on that site so that these videos gain prominence. but here’s an alternate strategy to achieve that goal: if embedded videos also gain prominence, so that you could embed all the al Maghrib videos on one site that had no porn/obscenity — like a video blog controlled by you — then people could hit that blog all day long like a boxing bag, and drive up hits for the video without exposing Muslim eyes to what they should be protected from. and perhaps the hits would make the blog noticed by the kuffaar, too. wAllaho ‘Alim.

With that point made, I decided to make a website dedicated to hosting the AlMaghrib trailers and GemReels. I called it GemReel.com

Reading time: 4 – 7 minutes

gem·reel –noun

1. A cut and polished film reel (can be actual film, video, or digital) of precious quotes fine enough for use in benefiting people.
2. A series of reflections or thoughts held in great esteem or affection caught on camera.

How do you cut and polish a Gem Reel?

The above Gem Reel was cut and polished in less than four hours…from writing to the upload of the final cut. The result I must say am quite surprised with. How do you make a video like the above? Before I tell you, read the following short posts I’ve made in the past:

• Being a Camcorder Pro
• Professional Shooting
• Good Audio is NOT an Accident
• Attaining the “Film” Look

Step One – Concept & Writing

I got the original idea from a conversation I had with Ali (Baba Ali from Ummah Films). He mentioned that one time he tried making one of his video blogs in a way such that different people say one line of the video. In and of itself would work as a good marketing tool because each person in the video would email their friends the video, and them their friends. The video never made it to final cut. I figured I’ll give the concept a test…

I had an idea in my head and put it down on (digital) paper here: http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=24077

Step Two – Production

The idea was to come in and film the gem reel during the lunch break of the class (between duhr and asr salah). There are three aspects of production you want to keep in mind…social, technical, and creative.

• Social Aspect — getting people to be in the video. A lot of people are generally camera shy, even more if they don’t really know you that well. A technique that works is to greet the individual, shake their hand and don’t let go until you explain to them what you’re doing and they agree to be in the video. After they do their part, get their email address , and request from them to help you find the next person to be in the video. After the first few, people begin to fall in line. Do your best to do sequences in order. I helps in the post production.

• Technical Aspect — Knowing what tools you need is very important. You may or may not use the same tools as me. I believe you should have at least the following;
  • light source
  • microphone
  • camera
  • people to be on and off camera.

  The tools I used were the following;

  • Shotgun Microphone – Sennheiser MKE300
  • Makeshift Boom Pole – It was a broken window ice-scraper that I taped the microphone onto
  • Zoom H4 Handy- Audio recorder
  • Camera – Panasonic GS80
  • Lights – I used the sunlight from the window and two cheap homedepot portable construction lights. I used the lights in a three point lighting formation
  • Tripod – I had intended to use one on the day of the shoot…but I forgot it.

  Keep in mind, don’t let principals keep you from being creative. Some photography principals that I would recommend you follow if you wish:

  • Rule of thirds
  • Three point lighting
  • Framing and Composition

• Creative Aspect — Don’t stick to the norm. Be different. Be new. Challenge yourself. People always think or aspire to do things, but never actually do it. Don’t be like them. Be YOU. Don’t let the criticism, judgments, and discouragements of others keep you from doing it YOUR WAY.

Step Three – Post-Production

This part is quite simple and straight forward.

• You need to dump the footage (audio/video) from the camera onto the computer you will edit from.
• Have a video editing program. Free ones like windows movie maker (PC) and iMovie (MAC) can work great. You may need to make your audio into stereo if you used an external audio recording device. Use a program like Audicity (free) or get trails to professional programs like Protools (Avid), Soundbooth (Adobe), Sound Forge (Sony), or Garageband (MAC).
• Make sure the audio and video are synchronized. Especially if you used a separate device for recording audio.
• Play around with different color correction options if you have that available to you to get a certain look. With this video I simply increased the contrast of the video and desaturated the colors a little bit.
• Export the video. Upload it. Share with your friends.

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Share you thoughts and comments

Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes

Below is a testimonial from a brother on the AlMaghrib Forums

“Check this out, I’m walking in the large lecture hall, and between sessions, they would at times play commercials by sponsors…

One video commercial REALLY caught my eye and ears, I stopped walking and stared to see what it was and who made it (who the sponsor was). The video had awesome sound effects, great video effects, and it delivered a good message and in the end, the Almaghrib logo came up. I said…WOW! way to goooo!” – feras04

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Although I knew I wasn’t going to be at RIS this year it was nice to have a presence there with my work on the screen alhumdulillah.

Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes

Jewels of an Entertainment Eid Fest – Part 6

Ideas are jewels in rock. It’s up to you to break it out of its prison.

From our talk at Douglas Pizza, Hasan had pointed out that story telling is one of the finest forms of communication. Talking is just mechanics, but taking words and structuring it as story is a skill and art form in itself. If you want to get your message across in a way that people may listen, make it into a fine story.

This conversation gave me an idea. In the market today, you have lectures, music, nasheed, poetry audio. How about having audio in which stories are told, fiction and non-fiction, with stellar performance…all to deliver a message. A message that is produced as audio entertainment for people, and it contains a powerful and meaningful message at the same time.  Perhaps I can add this to my life list.

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Monday morning was the farewell of the artists. Zafar had the earliest flight, and I took the opportunity to use the ride up to the Airport to get some feedback and advice from an artists perspective.

One question that I had bubbling in my head since the beginning was, “For the poetry event that I want to throw, should I secure the funding first and then execute, or should I move forward with the event, with the hopes that sponsorships, ticket sales, etc would pay for the expenses due?“

Zafar stated that it’s best to secure funding first. It’s safer that way and less people come out sore from the deal. Putting together an entertainment gig is like cooking. Some ingredients go well together, others don’t. The challenge is to make it work.

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All in all, the Eid Fest weekend was a very beneficial one. I learned quite a bit and met wonderful people whom I’ve benefited very much from. I didn’t get to see off all of my brothers. If we don’t meet again in this world, may Allah-swt unite us again in the highest levels of Jannah…

…Ameen