Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

I saw an email today from one of the AlMaghrib’s London student body leader (Ameerah of Qabeelat Shams) that had a video and a message that I’d like your thoughts on.

First the video:

And the email that followed:

Uluisoc started as a one man band back in 2001. The first charity week ever held was in 2005, raising £30,000 – I owe a lot of my training, experiance and contacts with the people I met there. Since you guys in the states were discussing the effect of joining the MSA student card, I think this might be a different way you could reach out to your student communities.

The hallmark of this organization was drive, incredible vision – even when the chips were really down. Against all the odds, they have continued to grow – a genuine grass roots student movement that has totally changed the way MSA’s operate in London especially, but now throughout the country.

The brother who founded it is a massive fan of AlMaghrib, though he has never been to any seminar or DiscoverU Life training due to work commitments. However, the elements are simple – unity through action by competition in khayr (there are over 20 university campus’s in London alone – so each one acts as a tribe)

There are 2 reasons why I am sharing this with you:

• I think something like this would work well amongst the student population of your tribes, so if you want your impact team to get in touch with them, you can let me know or go to them direct (but it might take a while for them to respond as it is about to get started on this years CW)

• The opening of the video pays homage to the skills of brother Belal – and it is in sharing the khayr in the passing on of innovating marketing and communications that is one of our hallmarks. But on the flip side, the shi’a tv station, ahlul bayt has also taken some of the material and made edits to reflect their ideals. I know the graphics etc can be bought, but the copying of whole videos directly (like the Torch Bearers one) is something that is something that I find very distasteful. So I am begining to wonder if we should start to copyright our videos and be serious about prosecution just like eman rush products?

My Thoughts RE Point #1 –

I think competition between MSAs competing in good is a great idea. The idea of tribal competition is something that the righteous successors of the Prophet Muhammad-sal Allahu alayhi wasallam implemented and it worked brilliantly in progressing Islam beyond what anyone ever expected at that time.

The only thing is that competition need to be consistent with an overall strategic objective in mind.

My Thoughts RE Point #2 -

It’s a great feeling that some of the work I’ve done has pushed others towards positive action and it truly gives me that much more energy to continue to raise the standard.

When it comes to copyrights, it would work if the videos produced were completely original. Most of the videos are made from either modified templates or tutorials. Both of which anyone with enough technical knowledge can duplicate on their own.

The good thing is that since AlMaghrib’s brand and identity was the first on the market with those specific templates and tutorials, anyone else that uses those very templates and designs will look like they’re copycatting which is great for AlMaghrib because that is what’s in the minds of people first.

Only lately have the videos been completely original. I must admit that the recent videos that have come out aren’t up to par with the standards that have been set, they do fulfill the objective of letting people know about the brand and what it has to offer.

Even if the videos were completely original, what would be the solution? Law suites or differentiation?

Both cost money, energy and time. Personally I think differentiation is presentation is the better spending of resources. Staying ahead of the game is what counts.

My two cents

Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes

Amir has been running a blog for quite a while now titled “Mujahideen Ryder” – on it you’ll find some quirky posts, as well as some profound content from himself.

Recently Amir released a video that he himself put together to promot an event taking place in September sponsored by Islamic Relif and United for Change against Malaria.

Amir requested that I give his video a critique, so here goes:

What I liked:

• Its HD -
  Makes the image quality of the video look real nice mashaAllah.

• Made use of Prominence -
  Featuring many prominent Muslims on screen from different organizations.

What can be improved:

• Eye candy -
  Use B-Roll footage instead of simply talking head. Add more pictures.

• Tell a story -
  I think Imam Zaid’s part should have been in front. It seems the most visually and audibly impact-ful. He’s telling his story as opposed to saying “come to the event” – a call to action which should be in the end.

That’s it for now. Amir, for your next video try applying these two factors with excellence and watch the quality of your video improve massively inshaAllah.

Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes

I want to give props to Baba Ali for launching two totally seperate business projects back to back. MashaAllah bro. The focus of this blog post on Ali’s new game Kalimaat.

I had the opportunity to play this game back when Ali was testing it out and getting a feel for how people would respond and react to his newest invention.

My personal experience was that this is an EXCELLENT party game. Certainly will make for a great Eid activity.

Check out some of the videos he’s got up:

I love the Kinetic Typography that the motion artist did in this video.

These are some commercials that were shot a short while back:

Reading time: 1 – 2 minutes

This is a spotlight on Adam Sbita from AlMaghrib’s Qabeelat Nurayn.

Some of you may know of the recent condition of Shaykh Waleed Basyouni’s son Yousuf. If you don’t know already, read about it on the AlMaghrib Forums thread “Our Son Yousuf“.

Shaykh Waleed requested that people send videos that can be used to cheer up his son. This following video is my favorite of all the ones sent so far.

All I have to say is MashaAllah Adam. “Great job!” and “Get well Yousuf!”

Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

:: Secret #1 – Build off the Shoulders of Giants

Why do more work then needed if someone has done most of the hardwork for you?

This is a shout out to Cassidy Bisher of DropDrop.com for the AWESOME Adobe After Effects templates that he produces as well Andrew Kramer of VideoCopilot.net for the equally awesome After Effects training and tutorials he’s laid out.

One of the stepping stones to developing your skills as a master of your craft is to start by mimicking and learning exactly how the master does it. Once you get a hang of it, mix and match appropriately for your own projects.

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:: Secret #2 – Understand Fundamental Principles & Tools

Learn the the basic functions of Adobe After Effects and learn the basics of design. Master the basics and you’ll learn to manipulate the advanced stuff quickly. Yes, its difficult to make the flashy attractive stuff in these early stages, but its a good stage to start playing with already completed project templates to get you moving along the way.

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:: Secret #3 – Develop a Work Flow Process

Know that processes lead to the development of procedures which lend you and your project the ability to be duplicated so that others can carry forth your work.

I’ve discussed the concept of work flow process in one of the sessions over at MessageMastery.com titled: Eight Pass Process of Post Production

The basic process of work flow and tools I’ve used for the trailers is as follows:

• Gather Ideas
• Develop Concept
• Research template options which can house the concept being communicated

• Mold the template in Adobe After Effects to carry the message visually
• Export to uncompressed AVI
• Import to Premiere to assemble the different parts to tell the message visually

• Gather and sample audio elements in Sound Forge and export them to AIFF files
• Import and assemble them in the Premiere sequences to carry the message in audio
• Tweak the audio in Premiere to enhance the visual message

• Export the project via Adobe Media Encoder and pass it to key individuals for feedback to make changes towards a final draft.

- — -

:: Secret #4 – Get yourself an appropriate computer to edit on

You may be able to get by on an Intel Core2Duo or slower PC/Mac but you’ll be losing a LOT of time. Speed is the key to timely delivery and profits.

Get yourself a Intel Core i7 system with 6GBs of DDR3 RAM and you’ll be good to go – especially if you want to produce HD content. You can build a system like that for about $1,500 today from NewEgg.com. Here’s a breakdown:

• ~$550 USD = Motherboard + 6GB DDR RAM + Intel Core i7 920
• ~$130 USD = 850 Watt Corsair Power Supply (via Amazon.com)
• ~$260 USD = 1 TB Hard Drive + 150 GB HDD Western Digital Raptor
• ~$100 USD = Video Card
• ~$160 USD = PC Case + Keyboard + Mouse
• ~$220 USD = SAMSUNG 2343BWX 23″ monitor
• ~$80 USD = Pair of good head phones

Total cost = ~$1,500

This is the cost if you were to build it from the ground up or purchase from a vendor like Dell. It prob will cost you only a fraction of that if you just upgrade your existing machine.

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:: Secret #5 – Patience

I guess you can say that’s not much of a secret. Video editing, motion graphics, media production takes TIME. You have to keep at. Many times you may even find yourself staying up three to maybe even four nights back to back so that you can make the deadlines.

If you don’t have a passion for this sort of stuff then you’ll absolutely hate doing it and will be ready to literally pull your hair out or shoot yourself

- — -

:: The Showcase

I can confidently say that the development of these trailers – approximately eight minutes of total content – took 450 hours of work. Every minute of content took 56.25 hrs.

Project Reflection: Torch Bearers Trailer

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Project Reflection: Focus on Your Strengths – A Light of Guidance

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Project Relfection Coming Soon

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Project Reflection Coming Soon

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Project Reflection Coming Soon

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Project Reflection Coming Soon