The Socialize Strategy - Mini Challenges
Welcome to the socialize strategy. Happy Friday. I have to say that this microphone stand that I'm using if you're watching, I recently inherited from my casting my my long time friend and casting director Donald Case Casting who was moving offices and he was getting rid of some equipment. And I happened to stop by and I saw these mic stands sitting in a corner and I'm like, who's getting those? And he said, I don't know.
Helen:We might be getting rid of them. And I said, can I have one? And I literally rode a city bike home with this mic stand never thinking that I would use it every single week. And when I say every week, every time I'm on a Zoom call, I have this microphone plugged in when I'm on podcasts. And the reason why I'm using the mic stand as opposed to the little microphone tripod that comes with this microphone is that the tripod sets it at a height that it covers my mouth.
Helen:So when I'm on camera, it's blocking my face. So I decided one day to try this and lo and behold, now this is part of my scenery. It's it's in everything. This mic stand. So thank you Don Case.
Helen:I'm really I'm really happy with it. Alright. Let's get started. For today, I am gonna be talking about transitions and how editing transitions can help your content and share an example. But before I get into that, I wanna say that today in my studio, when we had our we do a weekly live Zoom meeting and everybody gets to contribute.
Helen:We all everybody gets to ask ask questions. I I address all the questions and I also usually talk about a specific topic at first. So we really cover a lot in these meetings. It's amazing what gets packed into an hour meeting. I I sometimes I can't believe it, and I'm trying to think back to write notes and I'm thinking, oh my god.
Helen:We covered so many things. How do I condense this into an outline? But we talked one of this my studio members who's a creator, a very avid creator on Instagram and she does a lot of fashion videos, actually asked me if I would share some of my production experience. And that's a bit different than what I'm doing in the studio regularly, which is really talking about how to create content for social media, editing tips, strategy tips, ways to better your content and elevate what you're doing so that you have better engagement and a better opportunity to get followers. So that's the focus of what I'm doing in there.
Helen:So when she asked me to share more about the production side of things, I thought, oh, you know, this is a great topic to share outwardly and talk about what that production life looks like that is different than the social media production life. So I thought I would take an opportunity to talk a little bit about it at the beginning of today's podcast just so I can get my thoughts together. But I will start I wanna start with casting just because I mentioned Donald Case who is, a casting gentleman that I have worked with for many years, and he's also a dear friend. And there are other casting companies that, are in New York City and based all around the country that do cast for commercials. And I wanna talk I'll start with the casting part of it because I think a lot of people who are in social media and now becoming on camera presences, on camera talent in a sense, are interested to see, like, well, how does this work in the real production world and how did these people get in commercials and what's that process?
Helen:So I thought it'd be a good time to talk about it. And I will say that, in general, the casting business has evolved even since I'm in it from way back how it used to be to now due to the presence of social media and due to how easily findable people have made themselves by putting themselves out there on social media. So I want I think they do connect much more tightly than I have really thought about in the forefront of my mind. I know they do in the back of my mind, but now that I'm really thinking about it, they really do connect very tightly. So let's just dive in a little.
Helen:When I'm working on a commercial project, we typically there is usually a big commercial would have a budget for casting. And so typically, the production company and the ad agency work together on the casting and that is different case by case, whether it's more led by the ad agency folks finding the talent or if it's led more by the production company and the director finding the talent. But as those two entities are working in tandem, they together are seeking the talent for the commercial, for the roles in the commercial, for the roles in the show, whatever it is. And the typical process has always been that you would deal with a casting agency, casting agent, And in movies it's different because it's, you know, there's commercial talent and then there's also movie talent. So there's lots of levels to this.
Helen:So one could argue that it doesn't work exactly the way I'm saying it. I'm I'm speaking from experience in commercials. What we would do is contact a casting agent and the casting agent, aka company, would then speak to talent agents and they would go through and curate and pick people to to come in and try out and audition for the roles in the commercial. And that way the talent agents find their people is like a whole separate thing now. So let's say you are an actor of you've just come out of acting school and you wanna become, you know, you wanna become an actor.
Helen:You need to you need to secure an agent. And this is, like, always a tough thing because you have to prove yourself value to an agent. And so and so it's like there's that whole process. Like, how do you get an agent? You have to prove value just like in social media now, to get an agent for your social media presence, you have to be earning money because the talent agents aren't going to take you on unless you're already getting booked and sponsorships on your own.
Helen:So you're out securing your sponsorships and then once you have enough of those, you can convince a talent agent that you're worth taking on. So it's The process has evolved tremendously when it comes to the difference between one and the other. However, having value and being cast by a talent being picked by a talent agent used to involve lots of different things. Who you knew? You know, you'd have a meeting.
Helen:A talent agent might evaluate. Are you do you do they think you have the look that they need? Maybe they're trying to fill out their roster and they have a lot of this type of actor and they need more of this type of actor. So there's all these factors. You would potentially submit a headshot and then you would they would review that and say, oh, here's a look that we could use and we have we they set up a meeting with you and you'd pitch yourself.
Helen:So there's lots of different ways that that would happen, that you would secure a talent agent and then the talent agent would get called by a casting agency to say, oh, we're casting for this role. Do you have anyone? And then the talent agents, they would call multiple talent agents. The talent agencies would then send them people that they felt were would fill the role. So they know their people and they submit to the to the casting agency.
Helen:And then the casting agency would either set up, a casting session where the people would actually come in person. Or now, since COVID and thereafter, it's a lot of it is done virtually where you do a casting submission. It's called the self tape where the talent would self tape themselves doing the, you know, saying who they are and why they're good for the role and doing the performance and then that gets sent to the casting agency. Then the casting agency compiles all those videos and they send them off to the talent, to the client, the agency, the production company who's ever hired them, and then they get reviewed and then selected. And then, of course, it's 1st round of selects.
Helen:Did you make the first cut? And then it's callbacks. Do you get a callback to try again as they hone in and hone in? So that is typically how the process works and it still works very much like that in projects that I work on. The difference that I'm finding is that a lot of the creative ideas for the commercials are changing and they want more real people.
Helen:So they're looking for people who really use a product to do testimonials. For example, in my case, I'm looking for real dentists who actually recommend Sensodyne in a lot of cases. So where the traditional casting has changed a lot, whereas the casting agents before would just call talent agents to get talent submissions, now the casting agents aren't gonna find real people that have talent agents necessarily. So now they've they're tasked to going on to social media and looking for scrolling through and finding dentists or asking friends of friends of friends. And so now talent is secured for these real people in quotes but they are real people.
Helen:That's what we call them in the industry when it's real people versus actors. So if you're looking for real people talent, it's it's there's an opportunity for a lots and lots of people to be able to get into an industry that before was much more difficult to crack into because of the hierarchy that you had to go through. So in a sense, the social media, putting yourself out there and being present on social media really does give you an opportunity for something that you may never think would be in your, on your bingo card as we like to say. So I'm gonna just add that a couple of times my casting agents has called me now and I've always been the client or the agency or the production company that would secure him to find talent. He's actually, oh, they're looking for someone that's this age that knows how to do and he knows I'm on camera now.
Helen:So he's, like, ask he's asking me to cast for things, which is crazy funny how the tables have turned. But I've only done it once or twice because a lot of times I'm like, no. I don't think it's I don't it doesn't feel right for me or it doesn't seem like I'm not an actor. I am a real person. So he tends to reach out to me on occasion when it's something where they're looking for someone who could be real and to, you know, shop in a grocery store and do such and such and act normal.
Helen:And I'm like, oh, I can do that. I've shopped in a grocery store. You know? So I just so some of the things it's funny that I would be considered for. But for the most part, what I'm sharing with you is that there is a process that that was very traditional that has now evolved and it's very, very, very heavily based on what the creative and the agency and production company are looking for in terms of those people.
Helen:Do they want actors to portray these roles, in which case they're going to talent agents? Or do they want real people who have experienced these things? A real runner, a real bike rider, a real person who shops in a grocery store. And they were looking for a grandmother, by the way, but that's another story. Anyway, just funny stuff.
Helen:So that's how the production casting process has always worked. But the the point of this, I guess, tying it together into the socialized podcast today is that now when you put yourself on social media, you are opening up your world into possibilities where you might have never thought you would be in an on camera role in your life. Like, I would never. I'm always like, nope. I'm behind the camera.
Helen:That is my role. And now because of social media, so many different doors have opened up. And so I think that we all need to realize that content creating content and sharing expertise can open up doors that we we just don't know are even there. They're the invisible doors. They're hiding.
Helen:They are hiding. So consider that when you're when you're thinking like, oh, what's the point? I don't know how to start. I don't know where to I don't know what I have to add to the social media space. Or in the case of a couple of clients that I work with, they don't even know they have different areas of expertise.
Helen:And when I talk saying clients now, I'm not even talking about production clients. I'm talking about personal when people book me for 1 on ones. They sometimes don't even know where they wanna start. They've you know, this person might wanna talk about their, health journey, but they also feel that their mindful and meditation skills are important and they wanna talk about that. So I think I think that my main thing is always just start doing something because something will get you in motion And then you will start doing different things.
Helen:So the things can change just like I started. I got on the social media app. I started making content in my house, baking videos. I'm not making baking videos now. But it did it inhibit me from making these videos and being and becoming a tutorial teacher of social media and whatnot?
Helen:No. It actually jettisoned me here. So it didn't start with me doing that. It started with me doing something completely different and just experimenting and putting one foot in front of the other until the footsteps led me to where I'm where I am now and who knows where I'm going next. Oh my god.
Helen:This is like an existential kind of crisis thing, but not really. I'm not in a crisis. It's just funny how we can easily look back and say, oh, I see why that all had to happen for me to get to this place. But when we're doing when we're in that place, it does nothing seems clear and nothing and it always seems like you have to make a decision. And the truth is you don't have to make a decision.
Helen:The truth is you can just start and then you can decide to change and you can turn left and then you can turn right. So it's like getting on getting in a car and you're not sure where you're gonna go, but you just start driving. A lot of times I do this in the city. I think I just wanna go for a walk and I start with one task. I'm gonna I'm gonna stop at the post office.
Helen:And then when I walk out of the post office, I just take a right and then I just start walking. And sometimes I don't know where I'm headed. I just know I wanna get some fresh air. I wanna be out in the city for a little bit and that and then things will happen. I'll maybe I'll run into someone or I see a story I never never saw before and I wanna stop it.
Helen:So maybe it's partly how I live my life, but I also think it's how you can think about your social media of that. It's walking out the door and then just taking a few footsteps and then seeing where it takes you next. And this is what we're doing so much of in the studio, so I'm gonna transition into what we've done this week as a challenge and how it works. Because I think talking about a challenge, why a challenge is good, and then this specific challenge just to describe it to you because I wanna give you an example of what is considered a challenge and how it gets executed. Alright.
Helen:So this is what we do a lot. I will come up with an idea and I think, alright, this is a nice easy lesson. I think I can teach beginners this and I if somebody already knows how to do it, I can advance and elevate how they're doing it. So what I like to do is pick a challenge that I think is great for all levels of creators. And it's almost like when you go to an exercise class and, let's say, the person can't lift this much weight or they can't do push ups because they have a shoulder problem, so then they adapt and they do the push ups on their knees.
Helen:So it's the same kind of thing. I pick a thing where I know it's adaptable. So there's a very beginner way to teach it and explain it slowly and clearly. And then there's also little nuances that I know from production, how to make things better, like slicker, cleaner edits, how to really nail it. That is just, a step up from just doing it okay is like making it great.
Helen:And that's what I like to do and I push for the studio creators to like, oh, if you already know how to do this one, try and do a double or instead of having 1 piece of clothing fly on, try having 2 or try and have one thing and then another thing. So I'm always offering like to push you to advance yourself. So if you wanna move past the beginner level, there's ways to make it better. And I'm always teaching those little those little things because those are the things to me that make good great. So you can be good at something, but I wanna teach you how to be great at it.
Helen:I wanna be so proud. And it's been so much fun to watch people's videos and see how well they leveled up and did the thing and feel good about it. And it's much more rewarding for me than I expected. Alright. So the challenge for this week, and I'm gonna tell you the steps, and if you're interested in joining and seeing, you know, the demonstration and seeing everything about how we get to this in the studio, you can try it out for a month.
Helen:We are offering a 15% discount code just for this challenge kind of thing and it's called and the code is challenge 15. So you just put that code in and we'll put all the links in the show notes and everything. But if you use if you go to try it out for a month in the studio and then you say, alright. I'm gonna commit. Before you put in any credit card information to pay for the studio for the month, you put in the code.
Helen:It says add discount code and then it will lower the price and that's when you put in the credit card info. Please put the code in before you do anything. But here's this challenge that we're doing and it's very simple and I've done it a couple of times in videos. I've even made very quick tutorials about how to do it. So I'm gonna slowly break it down.
Helen:This is pulling on your shirt and then when it magically flings off, revealing you in something different, whether it's a whole different outfit or just a different shirt. And it's so nice and simple to execute if you know the 2 different steps. So the first thing is you're going to decide what your look is gonna be. You're gonna set up your camera on a tripod. This is important.
Helen:When the camera does not move, your transition will look chef's kiss perfect. Okay? Tripod. Camera doesn't move. Lighting doesn't change.
Helen:Nothing in the room changes. Make sure behind you if there's a wind blowing and your curtains blowing, shut the window. Okay? You don't want anything moving in your background. So set that so lock that camera off and ensure it's consistent.
Helen:And then you're gonna shoot shot number 1 where you're going to wear the first outfit, do whatever it is you wanna do on camera before you tug on your shirt, and then you're gonna do the thing and you're gonna tug on your shirt and fake a throw. So fake like it came off. Wing it. Alright? Then you're gonna, you can do a little finishing out of your your dance, but that part's not gonna be used because we know that when this flings off, you're gonna be in your second outfit.
Helen:So shot number 1, you just tug on the shirt as you're doing the thing. Shot number 2, you're gonna put on your whole second outfit. You're gonna hold the piece of clothing that you pulled off. So if it was a hoodie or if it was this vest, for example, that I'm wearing, I would hold this, like, ball it up in my hand and hold it in front of me So that when shot number 2 gets started, I'd fake the beginning. I'd fake the beginning to do the same move I did before.
Helen:And then instead of pulling on my shirt, now I have the shirt in my hand, I put it to my chest and I fling it from the same spot. So I do the motion twice, once without the shirt in my hand and then the second time it's in the second outfit, the shirt is in my hand holding it and I fling it. And then, we go into editing and we're gonna cut those 2 clips together. And I demonstrate all this in a really nice challenge video in the studio. So if you wanna watch the video of it and not listen to my explanation, you can go and do that.
Helen:But the editing tip is that you put your 2 videos in, you're gonna trim the clips so that the motion and you're gonna cut it right when your hand is tugging, right here. And then, so clip number 1 gets cut off at the tug and clip number 2 starts at the spot where you're holding it and you're throwing. And this way, it will be one seamless motion of pulling and flinging that gets cut right in the middle right in the middle of the action. And that will make it seem like your shirt just magically came off and you've landed in a new outfit. It is so much fun to do transitions because they're empowering.
Helen:You feel like you just made magic on film. And the fact that we can do this type of magic now with a camera in the palm of our hands, that's enough to make me too excited because I have been in the edit room I have been at the shoots. I've been at the edit rooms. I know what it takes to make these magical things happen in commercials. And all of this technology, a good part of it is now available right to us.
Helen:Like, who knew this would happen in my lifetime? Not I. Not I, said the wise man. I think there's some kind of a thing that's, like, not I. But, anyway, my point is doing a transition can make you feel successful, empowered.
Helen:It makes you feel, like just like a real creator, and it's it just takes you to that next level. And a lot of people are really good at it, and a lot of people think this is impossible. This is not I could never do this. And I'm here to tell you that I can walk you through it because I know how to teach it in a manner that anybody can learn. I don't go too fast or assume you know things.
Helen:I explain it. And I think that Julie and I were talking about this recently about just about the studio in general, that what I realized recently is that there are a lot of people out there in the world that are teaching social media strategy and showing the tips and tricks to editing and tons of them. You could find them. I mean, just go go and look. But there's not I can't find anyone that's teaching it in a way that I I wanna say, like, a beginner could really learn it.
Helen:They they a lot of these people that are teaching it, they assume you know all of these things that lead up to it. And so they're starting almost like in the middle. And then and then you have to catch up and figure out what why? I'm actually I'm explaining it. So every time I teach a lesson, it's like a blank slate in a way that you can figure it out even if you know nothing about editing.
Helen:And that's what I I think is my my sweet spot, and that's what I really love is just knowing that I can just help people who think that they can't do this or maybe they don't feel seen or maybe they feel like, not me. I'm not good enough. I'm not smart enough. I'm not talented enough. I don't know how to edit.
Helen:Well, all the things that the voices in your head tell you about what you can't do is is something that I know that I have a skill that will help you get over that. That's it. I don't know. So challenge 15, that's a discount code. Come and join us.
Helen:You will enjoy it. The meetings are so much fun and I if my studio people are listening, let me just say I adore every single one of you. I love when I see the faces and I know who's who and what's what and I know who everybody's what everybody's account is. And I've seen all the videos in my feed because I'm watching all your stuff all week. I enjoy it so freaking much, so I'm gonna say thank you.
Helen:And I hope that we see some new people in next week because that'll be fun. We have a fun meeting on Wednesday of next week at 5 PM EST where we're going to talk about different tips that everyone's gonna be a BYO bonus tip that they have learned that has been successful for them in their content. So we're gonna learn from not just me this time, from a few others who have had, like, a success because they did this type of video. So we're gonna find out that. And I love that because then I might learn something new, and so it's like a win win.
Helen:So I hope to see you there next week. We also in the studio this week are working on and this month, I should say, are working on YouTube and how to be present and effective on YouTube because we learned a lot. We need to be prepared for whatever may happen. Right? So we're gonna start with YouTube and then we're gonna work our through our way through different platforms month to month.
Helen:Hopefully, I'll see you soon and thank you as always for listening. This is my this is my happy place. You know, I like to just talk it out in real time, unedited on the podcast. Have a great weekend.
