Six Tips to Help You Clean and Organize Your Photography Studio

1. Photography Studio Organization - Use good old fashion hanging files.

Believe it or not, in this digital age, the classic green hanging folder is still a great organization tool. Using manila folders to organize your photography studio's bills, invoices, and receipts is a good start. It is a lost cause however, if you don't have an organized place to put them. The hanging folder is the perfect place to put them

Don't have a filing cabinet to put the hanging folders in? Not a problem. There are several options available at your local retail store. I prefer the clear Rubbermaid bins. They are about 8 inches wide. This means they are easily stored in closets or on a bookshelf. Since photography studio space is usually valuable real estate, these smaller file boxes might be the way to go.

2. Photography Studio Organization - File your files

A great way to keep your files organized is to keep a file of all your files. What do I mean by this? Keep a piece of paper in your photography studio with all of your file folders on with their names. If the folders have sub-folders, list those too.

This will let you see if you have folders that overlap so that you can condense your folders. For example, there is no point in having studio file and a studio equipment file.

You could have this list written on a piece of paper, but that would just be one more piece of paper to file. Try keeping this record in a word or excel document. That way you have one less piece of paper in your office and you can update it much easier when you add new folders and files.

3. Photography Studio Organization - Throw things away

For some reason most photography studio owners have a fear of throwing client paperwork and photos away. There are certain things that you just don't need to hang on to. If you are a digital photographer there is no reason to hold on to basic prints. Create a varity of back-ups and toss the prints. You can always re-print them. If you aren't a digital photographer and have a traditional photography studio, invest in a scanner. This way, if you must hold on to prints for color purposes, you can scan them and toss the print.

There are some things you need to hold onto though.

Tax items are one thing you should hold onto. You should save your tax returns forever. The rest of your tax reports and receipts should be saved for no longer than six years.

Throw away papers that you don't have an immediate need for, can get a copy of easy, or that don't have any tax or legal reason to hold on to.

If you feel like you need to hold on to all your photography studios paperwork, than try scanning it all onto a portable hard drive. Then you can throw all the papers away. It will take more time than growing through all the papers away, but at least the hard drive will take up less space in your office.

You can scan model's head shots for reference later. You can scan pose ideas from magazines so you don't have clipping all over your photography studio.

4. Photography Studio Organization - "Assorted" Folders

How many other, assorted, or misc files do you have in your photography studio? You know, the folder that you put everything in that you just don't know where else to put it. That isn't organization. Odds are you can just throw it away altogether. A good rule of thumb is, if you haven't needed it or touched it in a year then toss it.

5. Photography Studio Organization - Get rid of business cards

There are so many ways to organize all your business cards, model head shots, and contact information. There are plenty of ways to get rid of it altogether as well. A simple approach is to take the business card or headshot and tape it or staple it the file folder it is associated with. At least then it is filed away instead of in a pile on your desk or in a drawer.

There are lots of gadgets out there made for scanning in business cards to your computer. If you are a digital photography studio, you probably already have a scanner, put it to good use. If you don't have the money for one of these than just take some time to enter the contact information into your electronic address book. Outlook has a great address book or you could even use your email clients address book. Anything is better than having them just laying around waiting to get lost.

6. Photography Studio Organization - Use the computer

Try using your photography studio's computer as much as possible. Use it to make your to-do lists, create address books, file documents, and more. The more you keep or put into your computer the less you have in your photography studio.

As I mentioned before, there are plenty of gadgets out there that can help you scan your files into the computer. Take advantage of them!

Historic Coliseum Cinemas Movie Theatre Hosts Film Club, Shows Art Films

Thanks to merging interests of a Washington Heights resident and Coliseum Cinemas business owners, Northern Manhattanites get to view first-run, non-commercial art, documentary, and independent films close to home these days.

Together, Michael Kassin and the owners of the historic Coliseum Cinemas on 181st Street launched, against industry odds, the successful Coliseum Cinemas Movie Club on a cold January night in 2005 and will screen as their first club film of 2006, the Oscar-hopeful Johnny Cash story, “Walk the Line,” Thursday, January 26 at 8 p.m.

Kassin, husband and father of three-year-old twins, part-time screenwriter and full-time public relations partner, courts a full schedule and was looking for a way to streamline commitments when he approached Coliseum owners in late 2004 asking what it would take to get some of the movies he’s required to vote on for awards as a member of the Screenwriter’s Guild.

Co-owner Mark Burgios explained that he and his business partners Jesus Nova and Nick Guadagno who had recently purchased and renovated the theatre had already been considering the idea of devoting one of their screens to art movies when Kassin approached them, so it was a no-brainer to give a green light as long as he could attract enough interest to make it financially feasible.

Kassin proved the neighborhood was eager for this type of venue by bringing in 180 people for a screening of “Ray,” and the film club was off to an illustrious, red carpet start: They had to use two theatres that first night to accommodate everyone.

Since “Ray” the film club has screened at least one movie per month, often more. Burgio elaborates, “We don’t just show movies. We try to get one of the writers, directors, or one of the main actors to come speak.” When the club viewed “Mad, Hot, Ballroom,” the acclaimed 2005 documentary featuring Washington Heights school kids, the film’s director Marilyn Agrelo spoke and fielded questions from club members.

The club strives to make the film events social and community-oriented, often serving wine and cheese beforehand. Kassin remembers one of the couples who joined last year said the movie was their first night out since having a baby three months earlier and that they were excited that they could walk just a few blocks to get away for a date in their neighborhood.

The club creates a win-win situation for everyone. Burgio notes, “It exposes the theatre to people who wouldn’t necessarily be interested in Hollywood flicks.”

Kassin emphatically details the irony of the club’s success, “This club is everything Hollywood says you can’t do. Here you have people over twenty-five making advanced reservations to come to art films on a week night.”

And it is pretty remarkable considering also that movie theatres today usually show either commercial hits or art films, rarely daring to mix competing audiences as the Coliseum does.

Viewed in historical context it seems apt that Coliseum Cinemas should be experiencing stellar heights with their movie club. The once grand theatre opened in 1920 was then the second largest movie theatre seating-wise in New York City, second only to Madison Square Gardens. Though now the theatre is split into four theatres sporting stadium seating for 125-177, back then it sat nearly 4,000 and took up all the current adjacent ground floor business spaces. Today it is the only movie theatre in the city north of 125th Street and the only theatre showing art movies on the West side north of 66th Street.

The club’s future is bright. January and February the club will devote to their Oscar series. After January’s “Walk The Line” they will feature two or three club nights in February. March is slated for short documentaries and beyond that they are discussing a classics series. In the future Kassin hopes to have a whole year’s worth of club films scheduled, and a club website is currently in testing. Kassin excitedly reported that New Line Cinema approached the club and expressed interest in working with them.

You can join the Coliseum Cinemas Film Club for an annual fee of $25 per individual or $35 for couples and families. As a club member you receive discounted rates ($6 per person, $4 per senior) on films the club screenings. For more information or to join the club contact Michael Kassin at mkassin@stantoncrenshaw.com or call the Coliseum Cinemas at 212-740-1541.

Making Movies for the 48 Hour Film Festival

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So you fancy yourself a filmmaker, but you don't know how to get yourself known? Are you just a great big hulking load of moviemaking talent looking for the opportunity to present yourself as an alternative to the constant stream of dreck that Hollywood keeps forcing down our throats? Or hey, maybe you are one of those unfortunate types who thinks that Hollywood has finally hit its stride and you want to showcase your talent by jumping headlong into the great big pool of mediocrity that is American film today.

The Blair Witch Project pretty much changed everything for independent film. The profit that film made proved that no matter how crappy a film you actually make, as long as you can make it as cheaply as possible and turn a big profit, then you will get noticed. And DV technology has brought that ability to make a film with a ridiculously small budget into the home of every wannabe Spielberg alive today.

But just because you can make a cheap film is no guarantee that anybody but your friends and family will see it. Until now, that is. A trio of guys living in LA has made it possible for anyone reading this article in even the most remote village in Croatia to have their eight minute masterpiece potentially viewed by movers and shakers in the business.

And by the business, of course, I mean the industry.

The 48 Hour Film Festival is the brainchild of Mark Kochinski, Keith Matz and John Parenteau. All three are involved in the film industry in various ways and all three have long dreamed of being filmmakers themselves. One day while sitting around bemoaning the state of the industry and how things were going to be different once they start making those dreams inside their heads come to life on celluloid, Matz casually mentioned that a friend of his had entered a one day filmmaking contest. By the end of the day the gauntlet had been thrown down and Kochinski and Matz-along with three others-spent the weekend making a movie to see who could do it best within a strict 48 hour time frame. Although by Kochinski's own admission all five of the films were less than spectacular, lightning had struck and history was born. Interestingly enough, if you just change the names, that story also details exactly how the Academy Awards was born. Go figure.

The budding film revolutionaries held a screening of those famously bad two day movies and much in the way that most people who ever actually attended a Sex Pistols concert wound up starting their own bands, those people who watched those movied wanted in on the action and demanded another two day film festival in which to showcase their own visions. Three months later enough participants had submitted a film that the renting of a screening room was required. Which immediately sold out. It probably goes without saying that most of those attending that screening also wanted a shot. It didn't take a psychic to see where this was heading.

At that point John Parenteau was brought it to help develop an actual film festival. First the trio founded ExtremeFilmmaker.Com. The first order of business was to get in touch with the other similar concepts around the country and make sure nobody's toes were being stepped on. After all, America is a litigious country if it is nothing else. After that potential mess was rooted out, the 48 Hour Film Festival was born.

The rules are simple. And they can be found at ExtremeFilmmaker.com if you want all the details, but the basics are these: All movies must be filmed from the first shot to the final edit within a 48 hour time period. Film can be no longer than eight minutes, though certain exceptions are made in the case of extraordinarily well-made movies. And by extraordinary, they mean it. The content cannot be considered deserving of a hard R or NC-17 or XXX rating. All preproduction efforts, including screenwriting, are exempt from the 48 hour time limit.

The first big time 48 Hour Film Festival was held at the Chaplin Theater at Raleigh Studios, a 150 seat venue that soon proved too small for the growing audience eager to attend. Currently, the festival is presented at the Arclight Theater on Sunset Blvd. All proceeds go to the Starbright Foundation.

The ExtremeFilmmaker web site not only gives all the pertinent information regarding the 48 Hour Film Festival, but provides a wealth of information for budding filmmakers. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter so you can keep up to date on the 48 Hour Film Festival updates. Also included on the site are guides for picking the right equipment and the right software for editing your masterpiece. In addition, you will find fabulous tips on the actual process of making a movie; for instance, such things as framing, lighting, and using the camera itself as an actor are covered.

Perhaps nothing is a better teacher of how to make a film than watching a film. Heck, there's no perhaps about it. You can read all the theory you want and listen to all the seminars and read every word ever written about film from DW Griffith to Quentin Tarantino, but if you haven't watched a lot of movies, you can't hope to make an original movie. It has been said that Orson Welles prepared to make Citizen Kane by watching Stagecoach dozens of times. Although the story is probably apocryphal, the idea has merit. If you don't watch a lot of movies you can't make movies. (Which, of course, is going to present some heavy duty problems to the next generation of filmmakers who, instead of being exposed to daily doses of Hawks, Welles, Ford and Stevens are instead being treated to three showings on three straight nights of You've Got Mail on TNT and nothing but James Bond movies for a whole week on American Movie Classics.)

But I digress.

The point is that if you really want to learn what it takes to make a 48 hour movie, then you should check out what has been submitted before. And the site makes that possible by listing many of the best submissions according to the festival in which they were shown. This is your classroom. Watch these films and learn. And then grab your camera and go out and make your own and, who knows, you just may find your own flick available for download.

Lest you think this is all just an exercise in wishful thinking and that nobody is ever going to get noticed by making a movie in 48 hours, consider that no less a proponent of independent film and the digital revolution than writer-composer-editor-director Robert Rodriguez (Once Upon A Time In Mexico) took notice of the 48 Hour Film Festival and asserted that it represents the very essence of independent filmmaking.

Once upon a time, Cannes was just a beach where women walked around topless. Once upon a time Sundance was just the quiet guy in a funny western movie. Right now the 48 Hour Film Festival is taking place inside a 450 seat venue.

Once upon a time it took place inside a small room at a special effects house.

Why Not Let Your Baby Cry

celtics baby clothes

New moms and dads seem to feel that they have to keep their baby from crying. Every time their little one cries they come running. But in my own personal opinion it is perfectly ok to let your baby cry a little. Of course you do not want to let them cry all day long. Crying themselves to sleep is perfectly normal and ok. I have tried this with my children and it has really worked out well, especially at bedtime. What I do is follow my usual bedtime routine. 

Give them their bath and then one final bottle or nurse them one last time for the night. Them I put them in their crib and let them cry just for a while. Every 15 min or so you will want to go and comfort them. It is important that if you are going to let your baby cry themselves to sleep that they are given comfort. I would also recommend covering their little hands so that they do not scratch themselves. They sell little mittens for infants or the shirts with the little hand covers attached. It is also a good deterrent if your child is starting to suck their little fingers.

No one is quite sure why we exactly do cry. Did you know that there are actually two different kids of tears? One is the Basal or continuous tears that moisten the eye, and the other is reflex tears which are caused when your eyes are irritated by some type of object. Some researchers believe that emotional tears or crying actually relieves the body of harmful and excess substances, in the same way the kidneys, and the lungs do. They are not exactly sure of the reason but evidently the body produces a tear in response to emotion that is different from the kind in response to irritation. From the moment a baby is born they need tender care. Many people feel that if they respond to a crying baby they will be spoiling them. I am not sure, but I do know that no harm can come to them by just letting them cry. 

But you should keep in mind that when a child is hungry, uncomfortable or upset, the will begin to cry. You will want to make sure that you check all of these things before you let your baby cry themselves to sleep. Some researchers seem to believe that babies who are responded to quickly during the first 6-8 months of life actually cry less than babies who have been left to cry. Of course they cry less since they are constantly being picked up. There are times when just acknowledging their cry with your own voice will be sufficient. Just a simple touch can help to provide comfort.

Believe it or not it is a baby’s job to cry. At least that is what many of the parents that I have spoken to seem to thing. You do not want to let the baby cry all the time. For example I only allow my baby to cry at bedtime for an extended period. I believe this will help him to learn what bedtime means. When the baby is constantly being rocked to sleep, as they get older they will not understand why you will suddenly stop. And you will probably have a very difficult time putting your one year old baby to sleep. Keep in mind that crying is how babies communicate what they want. The bottom line is you need to help them understand when it is time to play and when it is time to sleep.