The show biz....

One challenge in showbiz is getting all of the professionals -- director, actors, camera operators -- together at the same time. Movie shoots are known to be delayed for days or weeks as everyone waits for schedules to line up.
But mobile phones may be a solution to these schedule woes.
Brian Keith Dalton, a video producer in the Los Angeles area, found a way to use his iPhone to put himself virtually "on set" to direct a shoot for the latest episode of his Web comedy series, "Mr. Deity."
The episode called "Mr. Deity and the Days" features Dalton in the title role as the creator of the universe. (Imagine God as George Lucas directing his first major motion picture.)
In the episode, "Mr. Deity" holds a video meeting with three assistants to work out how to implement the biblical six days of creation.
Dalton was able to personally direct and shoot (at his local studio) the performances of series regulars Tom Vilot and Jarrett Lennon Kaufman. However, another series regular, Jimbo Marshall, only had one hour available to shoot his part -- at a studio 130 miles away.
"We had a very narrow window," Dalton said. "If we missed that opportunity, it would be two weeks before we'd have a chance to shoot him again -- and that would have put the entire episode way behind schedule."
At their studio, Marshall and a camera operator set up for the shoot. As Dalton and Marshall spoke on the phone during setup, they realized a problem: How could Dalton properly direct that shoot?
The solution -- which they devised on the spot -- was Facetime, Apple's mobile video chat service. (Note: On Thursday, Skype unveiled video chat for Android, so this strategy need not be restricted to iPhones.)
Dalton explained: "The camera operator could hold the phone's camera right up to the video monitor for the shoot, so I could see the framing. On that monitor you can see where titles will appear, etc. So as a director I could get a real idea how the shot was going to look, what the product would be. We made little adjustments to the framing, then we started shooting Jimbo."
While Marshall was acting, the iPhone continued to display the video monitor to Dalton via Facetime.
"I'd watch Jimbo and talk to him," Dalton said. "When he was delivering a line, often I'd need that line to be read in a very specific way, since I knew what the other characters' reactions would be. For instance, I'd tell him: 'Wait a minute, here my character's reaction would be. ... So I need you to deliver that line a little more aggressively.' It's really weird shooting that way, since I wasn't also shooting my part at the same time. But that's what we had to do."
Audio communication alone would not have sufficed, Dalton said. "I really needed to see his face and body language in real time to get this just right," he said. This was especially true for the "b-roll" video they recorded, silent shots showing Marshall listening or visibly reacting.
"I'd tell him, 'Now just sit there and look uncomfortable for about 15 seconds.' But I'd need to see how uncomfortable he really looked," said Dalton.
A similar long-distance directing challenge arose during the production of a previous series Dalton and Marshall collaborated on, called "Words." At the time it was difficult for Dalton and Marshall to get to the same studio, so they collaborated in less-than-real time using a clunkier system. Jimbo would shoot his own footage, compress it and e-mail it to Dalton, who would then review it to check the framing.
"That was so much more time consuming. Plus I didn't have as much room to really direct," Dalton said. "This time it was great: Boom, there's the framing in the monitor! And I can give direction! As soon as we finished, Jimbo had to run to airport. Next morning, I downloaded all the footage from Dropbox, and I was ready to edit it all together."
Dalton plans to use this technique for future remote shoots. "It worked surprisingly well, and all things considered it saved everyone a lot of trouble. Without it, we really would've been screwed for this shoot."
Which is great. Because there are some things you really can't fix in post.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Amy Gahran.

Nokia says Apple to pay royalties, ending patent disputes

The world's leading mobile phone maker Nokia said Tuesday that its competitor Apple had agreed to pay royalties for use of Nokia technology in its devices, ending all of their 46 ongoing patent disputes.

"The financial structure of the agreement consists of a one-time payment payable by Apple and on-going royalties to be paid by Apple to Nokia for the term of the agreement," Nokia said in a statement, adding that the details of the contract were confidential.

The deal constitutes a massive victory for Nokia and ends years of tit-for-tat suits filed by the two companies, with both agreeing to withdraw all complaints they had filed with the US International Trade Commission.

"We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees... This settlement demonstrates Nokia's industry leading patent portfolio," Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop said in the statement.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces Apple's internet storage service iCloud during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on June 6, 2011 in California. Nokia said Tuesday that Apple had agreed to pay royalties for use of Nokia technology in its devices, ending all of their 46 ongoing patent disputes. AFP PHOTO

The Finnish company, which has been struggling to maintain its position as global market leader, also said the deal should have "a positive financial impact" on its second-quarter performance.

Just two weeks ago, Nokia warned that its sales for the quarter would be far worse than previously expected and that it could no longer give a full-year forecast, sending its share price to its lowest level since early 1998.

10 Reasons You Aren't Rich

The reason why you aren't a millionaire (or on your way to becoming one) is really quite simple. You probably assume it's because you aren't earning enough money, but the truth is that for most people, whether or not you become a millionaire has very little to do with the amount of money you make. It's the way that you treat money in your daily life.

Here are 10 possible reasons you aren't a millionaire:

10. You Care What Your Neighbors Think
If you're competing against them and their material possessions, you're wasting your hard-earned money on toys to impress them instead of building your wealth.

9. You Aren't Patient
Until the era of credit cards, it was difficult to spend more than you had. That is not the case today. If you have credit card debt because you couldn't wait until you had enough money to purchase something in cash, you are making others wealthy while keeping yourself in debt.
8. You Have Bad Habits

Whether it's smoking, drinking, gambling or some other bad habit, the habit is using up a lot of money that could go toward building wealth. Most people don't realize that the cost of their bad habits extends far beyond the immediate cost. Take smoking, for example: It costs a lot more than the pack of cigarettes purchased. It also negatively affects your wealth in the form of higher insurance rates and decreased value of your home.

7. You Have No Goals
It's difficult to build wealth if you haven't taken the time to know what you want. If you haven't set wealth goals, you aren't likely to attain them. You need to do more than state, "I want to be a millionaire." You need to take the time to set saving and investing goals on a yearly basis and come up with a plan for how to achieve those goals.

6. You Haven't Prepared
Bad things happen to the best of people from time to time, and if you haven't prepared for such a thing to happen to you through insurance, any wealth that you might have built can be gone in an instant.

5. You Try to Make a Quick Buck
For the vast majority of us, wealth doesn't come instantly. You may believe that people winning the lottery are a dime a dozen, but the truth is you're far more likely to get struck by lightning than win the lottery. This desire to get rich quickly likely extends into the way you invest, with similar results.

4. You Rely on Others to Take Care of Your Money
You believe that others have more knowledge about money matters, and you rely exclusively on their judgment when deciding where you should invest your money. Unfortunately, most people want to make money themselves, and this is their primary objective when they tell you how to invest your money. Listen to other people's advice to get new ideas, but in the end you should know enough to make your own investing decisions.

3. You Invest in Things You Don't Understand
You hear that Bob has made a lot of money doing it, and you want to get in on the gravy train. If Bob really did make money, he did so because he understood how the investment worked. Throwing in your money because someone else has made money without fully understanding how the investment works will keep you from being wealthy.

2. You're Financially Afraid
You are so scared of risk that you keep all your money in a savings account that is actually losing money when inflation is put into the equation, yet you refuse to move it to a place where higher rates of return are possible because you're afraid that you will lose money.

1. You Ignore Your Finances
You take the attitude that if you make enough, the finances will take care of themselves. If you currently have debt, it will somehow resolve itself in the future. Unfortunately, it takes planning to become wealthy. It doesn't magically happen to the vast majority of people.

In reality, it is probably not just one of the above bad habits that has kept you from becoming a millionaire, but a combination of a few of them. Take a hard look at the list, and do some reflecting. If you want to be a millionaire, it's well within your power, but you'll have to face the issues that are currently keeping you from creating that wealth before you will have a chance to call yourself one.