Author: Hastings

Prototype #3 – Kris Hastings

For this week I have more choices for logos, a definitive brand with strategy, a definitive name, and a few other things. I started using illustrator about two weeks ago, and I have definitely seen a little bit of progress. The font that I decided on which is being used in the blue background logos below, and the red background logo below, is called “flottflott” and it is free for commercial use. The other fonts I played around with are “airstream,” “buffalo-nickel,” and “teamspirit.” I got the idea from a font I have seen used on baseball jerseys and clothes centered around the sport. I really liked the way the letters roll together almost like cursive. As I stated before, I checked the availability of LLC names here: https://www.njportal.com/DOR/businessrecords and found out that “Origin Productions” is available. For domain names, i went to GoDaddy and found out that originproductions.com is not available but origin-productions.com or originproductionsnj.com are both available. The last big thing I have left to do is figure out how I actually want to lay out the website so that it makes sense, and isn’t just randomness with no structure, and for that I have a few ideas.

Prototype #2 – Kris Hastings

For my second prototype I worked a lot on the branding for the name and the logos for the business. I wasn’t able to make class, but attached are some of the logos I came up with. I decided that i want to go with “Origin Productions” because it implies the story-telling elements that I wanted to be included and productions does a good job of implying there is some video going on, but it is open-ended enough to where I could slightly change things later. I had to pick a font that was free for commercial use so I made sure to find one that matched the style I wanted while still being up for use, legally.

Prototype #1- Kris Hastings

For November 11th, I brought to class my ideas for the small business I wanted to start, how I wanted to present, and some ideas for names. I decided since I want to do story-telling through creative video and be able to tell people’s stories and how they got to where they are today, I was tossing around “Origin” and different variations of that name. Having started an LLC before with a name that wasn’t very clear on what we do I wanted something this time around that made more sense. Some of my ideas were “Origin Video,” “Origin Media,” “Origin Productions,” and so on. I had ideas for presenting that I didn’t really like, such as having a giant poster-board that outlines all the basic steps of starting a small business, or doing a video series about it. Lastly, I brought to class the vision that I had for the business which was doing commercial video to fund creative video.

Prototype #1 Notes – Kris Hastings

For the first prototype meeting I had the general idea for what I wanted to do, some options for how I could present my final project, potential names, logos I made in Illustrator, and a few other few things. One of the most important aspects of my project is its level of helpfulness to other IMM students. I want to do this in a way that other students can take the steps I lay out and apply it to their own interests. To clarify, I’m focusing on how to start a video production company, but the “guide” that I will be developing over the second semester should be applicable to other interests such as graphic design, photography, 3D modelling, etc. It was because of this that I knew I wanted to ask my peers what they felt they would need help in the most of they were to start their own business. What I learned from this was that several of the people I talked to wanted to know more about the legal process of starting your own business. Another common area of concern is accounting, managing any money coming in or going out, and things of that nature. I also came into the class meeting unsure of how I wanted to present everything that I do. I was unsure for a few reasons. For starters, I don’t know if I will be able to get a room to present in, so I don’t know if computers will be available. Considering the videos are digital I decided that the educational side should be digital too, as opposed to having a big board that explains all the basic steps of starting your own business. Some of my classmates recommended putting everything on my own website, so I decided that was how I wanted to present, along with the social media pages and whatever physical products I make along the way. A cool way to do this, then, would be do have business cards with a QR code on them so that people can come in and point their phone camera at the code and it will take them to the website where they can see everything that I did. I realized through this that the website would have to be optimized for mobile use, so that became a priority for me. As far as my names and logos go, I got a lot of positive responses about the names, and I got a lot of good feedback about the logos. I learned a lot about font selection which opened up a few more doors for me. I haven’t fully committed to one logo yet as it is not a necessary component to do the rest of the project right now. However, I’m leaning towards something that relates to video in one way or another. This includes a camera, a slapboard, an LLC name with “Video” in it. I learned a lot about what people are interested in which is very helpful to decide on what I want to do with this project.

Kris Hastings- Research Update #2

I’ve been learning a bit more about the size of the video industry and what is currently happening with video in general. In designing the idea that I had for the LLC I found that I was missing statistics. This came when I was in my class for media entrepreneurship. In this class we have been learning about different types of businesses, how they operate, and where they get their funding. In learning about funding I realized that having investment opportunity is always a possibility down the line. Then I thought that If I were to try to get investments tomorrow, what statistics or data would I use to get someone’s interest? I decided that I would look to the current state of small businesses and the video industry. Because these are my two main topics I want to learn as much as I can about both. I learned that there are over 800,000 small businesses in New Jersey alone. In my reading I found that that there is a high percentage of small businesses who lack social media, and content. This coupled with what I have learned about video leads me to believe this is a viable business opportunity. From what I read this week I gathered that the video industry has been growing the past few years. I learned that spending on video ads has gone up tremendously and is projected to continue growing over the coming years. In general, video is becoming more popular, with some statistics stating that 45 percent of people watch more than an hour of videos on Facebook or YouTube every week. Also, one third of online activity is watching video. Next, 81 percent of businesses use video as a marketing tool. Lastly, one of the most important statistics I have found is that mobile video consumption rises by about 100 percent every year. This data says a few things about marketing, business ownership, and video. It shows a direct correlation between having video content, and the success of a business. It seems that businesses that aren’t using video to advertise and have no video content are not succeeding, and businesses that do produce video content and market video are succeeding. I would say that the reason for this is seen in the consumption of video. The stat mentioned above shows that people are watching more on their phones than they used to. The way we use our phones and social media has dramatically changed over the past few years with the introduction of “unlimited data” and more access to the internet. Now people can stream video on their phones seamlessly wherever they go. What all this means to me is that video is growing and now is a good time to get involved in it in one way or another.

Kris Hastings- Prototype Plan

Nov. 11th- For my first prototype I would like to have the idea for the small business, potential LLC names, branding styles and strategies, and some example work of what I’m looking to do. I also plan to have a few examples of the way I want to present the final project.

Nov. 18th- For my second prototype I will make decisions on the name of the LLC, account names for social media, the website, and the way I am going to document and present the process of starting a content creation business from scratch.

Nov. 25th- I would like to have social media accounts created, A website or a wireframe for a website, a business plan, revenue model, goals for the future, and other odds and ends.

Research update – Kris Hastings

My project has a few key areas of study that will lead to my final presentation. The most important components of my project are video and entrepreneurship. For my project I have broken video down into two categories. “Commercial video” in this case is a term that can be used to describe any video created working with another person or business for a specific price. “Creative video” in this case is a term that can be used to describe any video not made for immediate financial gain. For my final presentation I want to have both elements displayed. Right now I have a goal set of 3 short films(5-20 minutes long) and 10 commercial videos, among the goals that come along with attempting to build an actual business.

What I have learned about creative video and short films: Through research I have found that there are a few key steps to script-writing. First is the ideation process and basic outline for your story. In this step you decide generally what is going to happen in your story, the characters, etc. Next up is the character development phase. In this stage you decide exactly who your characters are, what their background is, their mannerisms, how they speak, etc. From there you are able to write out a detailed script based around your character development and your general story that you have outlined. Once there is a finalized script, you can move to your storyboarding, which is a visual representation of how your shots are going to be framed, and what is going to happen in them. Finally you just have to find your actors, actresses, and your location.

I wanted to learn exactly what goes in to script-writing so that when it comes time to make a short film I will have an organized process that I can follow. What I have found is that a scene in a script is composed of some very basic elements, and is streamlined for efficiency. I have broken this down into 4 pieces, setting/time of day, characters, action, and dialogue.

Eg.

Int: Bedroom, night. Blue light from computer monitors fills a corner of the room.

Camera pans from a shot of the room to Jim at his desk.

Desk is covered in disheveled papers and empty water bottles.

Jim types furiously at his keyboard. He stops and looks at his watch.

Jim

This is ridiculous!

Entrepreneurship and small businesses: I have also been gathering statistics about small businesses in New Jersey that connect to the entrepreneurship part of my project. I have gathered two pieces of data that are very important to me. First, according to the 2018 small business profile from the U.S Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, in 2018 there were 861,373 small businesses. This is important to me because my LLC will be working directly with small businesses. The next statistic I have found is from Richard Carufel of Agility PR Solutions who has found that 38 percent of small businesses do not have social media. This means that around 327,321 small businesses have no social media or content online. That is my market. 320,000 small businesses sounds like a big number but in reality that number is going to be significantly less when the type of small business is considered. Not every business is going to be compatible with my LLC or the work we do. However there is still a massive amount of potential business to be done.

For starting up I have looked into an online service called “legalzoom” that is great for media based businesses. I picked out a package for obtaining my LLC, EIN, Operating agreement, and a few other little things. I learned that this package is going to run me about $400-$500 which isn’t terrible considering that amount can be made back easily in selling 1-3 videos at a cheap price. The other major component I am going to have written up is basic work contracts. This is just going to be an agreement between my LLC and the small business I am working for on pre-determined amount or a pre-determined hourly rate for my work. Either way this contract is an important piece of the business and when it has been drawn up once as a template in can be re-used for future jobs which is very helpful to the process.

Kris Hastings – Research Plan

  1. Literature that pertains to videography, photography, web design, graphic design, entrepreneurship, start-ups, legal requirements and practices, branding, marketing, social media, and others.
  2. Examples of current work in any of the fields described above.
  3. Dialogues with people in any of the industries mentioned, including but not limited to peers, entrepreneurs, professors, business owners, and videographers.
  4. Movies, short films, and all longer forms of video that are stylistically interesting and effective at conveying a message.
  5. Statistics and analysis about small businesses, entrepreneurship, the importance of content and social media for developing businesses, etc.
  6. Online courses, classes, other work that helps hone some of the skills mentioned.

Kris Hastings – Final Concept

When I started at my first job in high school I realized that I hated having to work and answer to someone else. I didn’t have any strong career aspirations at this point, just a bunch of ideas about myself and what I thought I might be good at. The one thing that has been consistent for me since I was little was making videos. Ever since YouTube first came out and I could get my hands on a camera that had a memory card I have been making videos. As high school continued I found myself starting to get into some entrepreneurial ventures with my friends and it made me happy to get to work as my own boss and do what I wanted to do, even if sometimes it didn’t work out. I knew then that my ideal life included me having my own company, being able to direct employees, make investments, and just create. From these interests came my project idea about entrepreneurism and content creation. My project is going to be an in-depth look on how to start your own business in media and content creation. I will be documenting the ideation phase, the basics in making your business a legal entity, how to get your first jobs, networking, video editing, and more. At the end of my final project my deliverables will include this documenting, the content I create along the way, and the other physical and digital pieces that come along with the branding of a business.

My project is interesting because it will be general enough that someone should be able to take what I have learned and will continue to learn and apply it to their own dreams and ambitions. I will be focusing a lot on videography, but the legal rules and regulations of starting a business focused around videography are mostly the same as starting a business around any other content creation. By this I mean that what is going to make my project interesting is that it will be educational, interactive, and attention-grabbing. I am sure that similar things have been done in the past and there is competition for starting a content creation business in New Jersey. However, I am only interested in what is the newest and most effective content, or what is on the cutting edge. I also know that where I want to go with this is a lot more interesting than what I am doing now, so I would like to cover as much ground as possible in my final presentation so that students and potential entrepreneurs can learn, while also getting to see some good creative pieces.

I have a lot of ideas right now on what I want my deliverables to be. First, I want to have the documentation and presentation of the early legal stages of a start-up. I could present this in a few different ways but I am not sold on anything specific yet. Next I want to present what content I have made in working over these semesters. The stylistic elements of my project include a few things. Most importantly is the branding of the company and how it runs, what it posts, who it associates with. Next is the style in what is created. For example, the videos I make should all be similar in that they should have a specific style that is unique to me.

Kris Hastings- Revised Concept

Myriad Media- myriadmedianj.com

Instagram-myriadmedianj

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/MyriadMediaNJ/

Revised concept

Myriad Media. If you want to, check out my initial concept below to get an idea for what we do. For my actual project I have a few different ideas that I want to get some feedback on but my overall plan as of now is to document the stages we’ve already been through in starting the business and getting our first sales. Then, hopefully, if we’re getting consistent business in second semester I want to use that to grow the business in a few ways like hire our first employee that isn’t a freelancer, or get our first office space, just little goals like that. So I would want my final project to be a display of where Myriad Media is at the end of 2nd semester, the content we’ve created, and how we built it and grew.

Initial concept

Idea 1: Media Production company

Myriad Media is my LLC based out of New Jersey.http://myriadmedianj.com We create content for small businesses in hopes of driving more internet traffic to their sites/pages, bringing in more customers to their store, and developing their brand. Eventually we would like to be able to pursue creative projects such as short films, traveling documentaries, cinematic trailers or promos, and more. I would like to take what we have now and turn it into an established company that gets more consistent work and has a complete legal structure, hire our first employees that aren’t freelance workers, and produce creative content. I think there are a few ways to make this project interactive and sharable. My strongest idea is to document the exact steps and growth that I can capture and share the different physical and digital media that we are responsible for.