So, instead of my last post I deleted.. I decided to talk about something I once discussed with one of my teachers… “To Catch a Predator”… Is it OK/ethical to do or not?

Many of you have seen the Dateline NBC special. It’s one of NBC’s biggest rating shows…

For those of you unfamiliar, I don’t suggest you watch it because of the obscene and rather shocking things these guys say and do, but basically they hire a watch group called “Perverted Justice” to catch Sexual Predators. They set up fake profiles posing often times as 12-year-old boys and girls and wait for one of these guys to IM them. They often talk to them for about a month and then the guy wants to meet the “girl” when she’s home alone… only to find Chris Hansen waiting for them to bust them.. then they end up going to jail.

Entertaining? Perhaps. From an Islamic point of view most of these girls aren’t really children. So they are basically getting caught trying to commit Zina. Which in all honesty they get what they deserve. A lot of the guys caught are married, teachers, bus drivers, a rabbi and convicted sex offenders.

Still want to send your kid to public school?

Perhaps the most disturbing thing is that MANY Muslims were caught on the show. One Muslim guy kept asking, “Is my family going to see this? Because this is going to ruin my life.”

Yeah.. not only your life, but your family’s life too.

I have mixed feelings about this show. On one hand I think these guys get what they deserve. But on the other hand. It is kind of entrapment. And more is being done to increase ratings now- like actually having the girl posed as a 13 year old talk to the guys for a while before Chris Hansen comes out saying.. “Why don’t you have a seat right there.”

One thing that I kind of really like about the concept of the program is that It’s actually making a REAL difference. A lot of the people that get caught have seen the program before.. and who knows how many people got too scared to actually go through with it after watching.

But then I got to thinking.. What if something like this were done in say.. Egypt? The streets of Egypt will finally be clear.. because most of the perverts outside and in internet cafes would be in jail. In any case it wouldn’t be something good to do as a Muslim, but it was a pretty amusing thought.

One thing I think “To Catch a Predator” should do is to do a report on the families of those people who were caught.. how their wives felt, what they will tell their children, etc. (which is actually another reason I have mixed feelings about the show… their families didn’t do anything wrong to be humiliated publicly like that.)

For once I wish a report could make just as much difference, be just as popular and not talk about sex, drugs and violence.

This is for you New Jersey Folk, guy got caught in Ocean County:

Maybe I should start a “To Catch a Hick”…for the Muslim crowd, and from behind the scenes catch ignorant people get caught saying something bigoted at the dawah table. Like this one guy who came up to me after I asked him if he knew anything about Islam and said, “A little. I know you guys chop off heads…. Good luck with that whole Je-Haaad thing” and walked away…

Islamic Journalism at it’s finest….

Wallahu ta’ala alem.

     

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 Life hacker has an excellent post on shooting with a camera. Below is an excerpt from the post:

Nothing brings out the camcorders like the holidays, which is why this is the perfect time to admit an ugly truth: You suck at making home movies.

No, really. I’m sure you’re a nice person and all, but there’s more to videography than just taking the camcorder out of the box and pressing Record.

As with photography, good videography requires a bit of know-how. Luckily, I know how, so here’s my list of ways you can improve your home movies. You won’t come out Soderbergh on the other side, nor even Singer, but your Uncle-Henry-dropped-the-turkey-on-Aunt-Edna’s-head submission to America’s Funniest Home Videos will look a lot better.

Check out the entire post: 8 Ways to Shoot Video Like a Pro

     

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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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