Shola Ogunlokun - My Space

Home Video Movie guide

2009-06-27T16:20:00.001+01:00

I have just written an article on Hubpages giving advice on how to make better home videos for those of you who have HD digital video camcorders.

The guide has 11 tips that would make you a better home video maker, so you can start practising for the next wedding you will be attending.
I hope you find it helpful, if so, why not share it with your friends or post a link on facebook if you think it might be of benefit to any of your colleagues who might think of themselves as the next Steven Spielberg.

Spam Email

2009-03-16T22:31:00.005Z

Spam Email - Don't help it spread!

No one likes spam or unsolicited email, so you would have taken some basic steps to avoid your email address from getting into the hands of spammers.

Don't enter your email address on websites you don't trust, particularly those that offer free downloads in return for your online details.
Use a contact form on your website or encrypt your email address so that spam email harvesting programs can not get your details and add them to databases that are sold for mass marketing.
If you get an unsolicited email from an address you don't recognise with a subject that doesn't mean much to you, delete it without opening, don't be curious as the email could have hidden code to tell the sender that your address is valid, and therefore worth selling to email spammers.

Having done all that you can do to avoid being a receiver of Unsolicited email, isn't it frustrating when you suddenly start get spam on a new personal email address and you begin to wonder how did these people get my details! Maybe you or a personal friend of yours actually gave it to them!

Chain letters

I remember getting one of these paper chain letters when I was in secondary school, nowadays with the internet, it is so easy to send spam chain letters, and they don't seem that innocent or easy to ignore.
How many of you have received an unsolicited email about a young girl that went missing from a small town in mississippi whose parents are desperate to find her and now need your help by asking you forward it to all people in your email contacts list. There is a photo of an adorable young girl in this spam email and even details of the detective working the case, so you automatically think this is authentic and forward it to all your mates! Well you've just helped to spread some spam email, but more importantly you could have just contributed to having your friends details ending up on a spammers database!

Getting on Spam Email Lists

Many people forward these chain letters (say a prayer for a friend, lost person, fight for a cause petition) to their friends, and these forward it on. If you've ever looked at any of these chain emails, have you noticed the number of email addresses that they contain as they get forwarded from one person to the other? Sooner than later, one of these emails gets forwarded to a spammer who glees as the addresses get added to their database and before you know it, people start get emails for viagra and stuff!
I know this for a fact, not only because I'm an email administrator whose had to deal with spam email for years, but also I've experienced it first hand. A personal email address which I've had for years and only share with close friends was forwarded to others in one of these facebook alerts, and within a week, I started getting spam!
So before you start forwarding these emails to others think twice, and if you do have to forward an email on to others, make sure you remove any existing addresses, and use the bcc field for all addresses! Don't be a contributor to spam email, think before you click send!

Pastor Douglas Goodman

2009-01-29T12:49:00.004Z

A sermon by Pastor Douglas Goodman of V2V Church, Wembley, London

Blessing Dzimati Video Tribute

2008-10-28T09:05:00.004Z

Here is a tribute our church video ministry did for a young man Blessing Dzimati who passed away after an accident in Oct. 2008.

Blessing was a member of V2V church based in Wembley, London led by Pastor Douglas Goodman which I attend.

If you are interested in similiar Video Editing services, please feel free to get in touch.

Video Production - Internet TV Show

2008-10-20T08:26:00.001+01:00

Video Editing and Post Production

This is an episode of an internet reality TV Show that I shot & produced, highlighting my video editing and Production skills, so if you need your wedding video polished, have an important event you want covered, then you know who to contact for your video production services.

I offer videography and video production services within London and the M25 area of south east england.

If you are into recording live events, you might be interested in BoinxTV software which is a field production software for the Apple MacBook.

Pastor Erica Goodman's Invitation

2008-08-30T23:38:00.001+01:00

Pastor Erica Goodman of V2V churh wembley, London would personally love for you to join her at this year's women of excellence conference.

V2V Church Purpose of the Anointing

2008-07-24T17:16:00.003+01:00

A video message by Pastor Douglas Goodman of V2V Church.

You can download this V2V Church Video message.

Video photography and Editing services

2008-06-28T12:14:00.000+01:00

I am now offering video photography and video editing services to individuals.

Video Photography:
If you are looking for professional coverage of your special events, then I am your man, having submitted video documentaries to BBC and Current TV that have been accepted for publication, I have the knowledge to produce a product that will captivate your audience, unlike your average man with a camcorder who just points and shoots at everything happening.

The end result is a video that is short, entertaining with a balanced coverage of the whole event.
Fees start at £250, and depends on the time spent covering your event.

PS: I don't cover weddings at the moment due to the longs hours required for these and the unwillingness of most people to pay professional rates (min £1,000) for an excellent service.

Video Editing:
Do you have a long wedding video you need edited into something short that can be shown to your guests? Need to produce a video from photos and footage of your children or just need a video produced from various footage you have in old formats, then you have come to the right place.
Fees start at £50 and depends on the work you need done. Please note my editing is not about trimming done a long video into something short, but about telling a story using the footage provided.

Please have a look at my show reel to see the various videos I've produced and edited to have a feel for the quality of work undertaking.

I'm currently acting as a producer/editor on a project billed as Britain's first Internet Only reality show.

If you are interested in any of these services, then call 07956233032 or email sholao@meet-britain.org.uk

July is Party Time

2008-06-24T14:50:00.004+01:00

July is a busy birthday month for our family, so we will be having a big family party.

3 members of the family have their birthdays in July. First off is my Son's whose birthday falls on the 17th of the month, then we have a double birthday affair on the 30th of the month, with one of my daughters and myself sharing the same birthday.

I think this year in addition to the usual jollof rice, BBQ, my children should take advantage of the summer weather and a recently cleared out garden to have a bouncy castle party!

I'm going to keep that a secret from them though, as they would probably want to invite all their friends from school, and their isn't enough room for all of them and a hired Mill Hill bouncy castle.

CMX07 Cheap Video Mixer for Church TV Ministry

2008-06-10T19:20:00.014+01:00

The CMX07 is the ideal cheap video mixer to start a church TV ministry with.

While researching a low cost mixer to use for training purposes in my local church's TV ministry, I short listed 2 products, the Edirol V4 VJ mixer and Cypress's CMX-07 2 channel video mixer.

The CMX-07 came out as the cheaper mixer by £200, but the main reason why I chose it was that for my TV ministry training application I needed to be able to simultaneously preview all my input sources on seperate monitors, and the Edirol did not provide this facility. The CMX-07 video mixer also an Audio Mixer, but I don't use it and therefore will not be covering this in my review, as my audio is supplied from a proper standalone audio mixer and plugs into the professional XLR inputs of a Sony PD170 used as a recording VCR. If you are pressed for space and need a video mixer, then the Edirol V4 s a good option worth considering.

The CMX-07 video mixer is manufactured in Taiwan, the build quality is what you would expect for a mass produced item from the Far East, the joystick is particularly vulnerable, and there is no T bar for transitions (probably expected at this price range), instead an audio mixer type slider is used.

Mixer Layout
The mixer has a cheap look to it, a plastic case and very delicate controls, the unit is however very light and compact. In use the controls are well grouped, with the frequently used ones within easy access of the operator, and the audio mixer controls are on the far right.

Supplied Accesories
Included with the mixer is the Power Adaptor, a S-Video cable and a stereo phono RCA cable.

The mixer in use
To use CMX07 video mixer, you need to set it up which involves connecting the various video and audio sources to the unit, connecting the preview outputs to the respective monitors and mixer Audio/Video output to the recording device and program monitor.

There are 2 S-Video (4pin DIN), 2 Composite Video (RCA Phono) inputs, all 4 can be monitored simultaneously via their respective preview output (phono connection), 2 stereo audio inputs (RCA Phono) are also provided with the composite video sources, a stereo aux audio (RCA Phono) and a 3/4" Mic jack in the front panel completes the audio inputs. There are 2 S-Video, 2 composite Video and 2 stereo audio outputs, quite a lot of connections for a cheap unit that the CM07 is.

On switch on, the CMX07 mixer which will go to its default settings. Even though the mixer has 4 video sources, you can only switch or use 2 at a time, this could be S-Video only, composite only or a combination of both. This means you need to configure both A and B buses with the required sources for switching. It should be noted that the mixer does not save any settings used during a recording session, so you need to set the sources each time you switch the unit on. Cutting between 2 sources is accomplished by just pressing the required source button on the A or B bus.

Basic Transitions (dissolve, wipe and PIP) are provided, again using the "T" bar on A bus, select Video1, choose the transition, on B bus select Video2, move the "T" bar from bus A to B and you have your transition. An auto take button is also provided with variable speed control.

This is not a broadcast quality video mixer, and therefore the performance is not going to be mind blowing.
The CMX07 specifications say that it has "Dual Time Base Correction for glitch-free source-switching", however in use I have found that when perfoming straight cuts between Video1 to Video2 there is a visible freeze on Video1, this occurs about 80% of the time, the transitions on the other hand are pretty smooth and look professional to me as viewed on a 28inch widescreen CRT TV. The processed output of the mixer had a little bit of gain, as the same scene viewed from the camcorder recorded on to tape (ISO) has a lower contrast/Brightness level.

There are various digital effects (Negative, Mosaic, etc), which I've sampled, but they generally don't get used in the real production environment. There is a Bluescreen Key mode which is supposed to allow compositing work, I haven't tried this, but doubt the quality of the key would be very good. The Picture In Picture mode works quite well, and could be useful, a set of Background colours is also provided, though I have found no use for these in my application of the unit.

Summary
For the price, the CMX07 is actually very good value for what it does, the main pitfalls being the absence of a professional 'T' Bar, and the glitches encountered during straight cuts. I have overcome the glitch problem by using the wipe transition in auto mode at its fastest setting.
Though the unit is advertised as a cheap 2 channel video mixer, I have been able to use it to switch/mix a 3 Camera setup with a little bit of fiddling.

Having used the CMX07 video mixer for over 4 years in a mobile setup to produce my local church videos, I must say it provides good value for money, and would suit churches who want to startup a video/TV ministry, wedding videographers might also find it useful for mixing 2 cameras live at a reception. I think it can even be used for low budget corporate work. If you need something smaller, then I woud recommend the Edirol V4 video mixer as an alternative or the V8 if you fancy some more inputs.

V2V Church - Eagle stirs it's nest

2008-02-23T07:52:00.007Z

A message by Pastor Douglas Goodman of V2V church London on the eagle.

Download the file to your media player.

Software used to edit and add graphics to this church video was Final Cut Express on an Apple MacBook.

My cycle adventure on Current TV

2008-01-14T17:56:00.001Z

The last video I submitted to Current TV about my cycling adventure in Nigeria from Kaduna to Bida is now airing here in the UK on SKY channel 193. It might also be shown on Current TV in the US

The 250km journey took me 3 days to complete, and I was exhausted at the end, suffering malaria fever a week later

Here is the link to the broadcast edit.

Free driving lessons- Reality TV Show

2008-01-07T08:02:00.007Z

Do you know anyone learning to drive a car in the UK, someone thinking of having driving lessons soon or a foreign licence holder who would like to pass the UK driving test? There are free driving lessons up for grabs to participants on the following Learner Driver TV reality Show website.

Anyone interested in participating in this internet learner driver reality tv show should be in possession of a current british provisional licence, and for the pilot show needs to be living, working or studying in North London.

I'm the producer and editor of the reality tv show, and look forward to it being a success on the internet, as well as the challenges that go with producing a reality TV show with learner drivers not only for entertainment but also educational purposes. I'm also looking for anyone currently working on or training to becoming a driving instructor, as I would like to feature them on the television show as well.

The free London driving lessons being offered are designed to assess your current ability and get you in a better position to pass the driving test.

Christmas greetings from V2V Church London

2007-12-10T19:56:00.003Z

From everyone at V2V Church here in London, Merry Christmas to you all, hope you have a nice holiday period, and wishing you the best for the year 2008.

Merry Christmas

Another video going on Current TV

2007-12-06T13:28:00.000Z

I have another video of mine being prepared to air on Current TV both here in the UK and the US.

This one is a journey back in time to when I rode my 5 speed cycle from Kaduna to Bida. At the time I was studying at the Federal Polytechnic Bida.

The video is currently in post production, and once I have the dates it is airing, I'll post here. My apple mac came in handy for editing this video.

Drive down UK petrol prices

2007-10-18T07:45:00.001+01:00

Could UK drivers force the oil companies to lower the price of petrol in the UK by taking action? With the cost of crude oil rising by One Cent every second, what option do we have?

UK Petrol prices video

11am

2007-10-15T08:15:00.000+01:00

A documentary I edited for my church V2V in London. Software used final cut express, with the music composed in soundtrack and opening indent done in livetype.

Tour D'Afrique

2007-10-01T11:26:00.000+01:00

The staging of the Tour de France 2007 in London reminds a Nigerian of a cycling adventure he undertook many years back in Nigeria.

This adventure began when he bought a 5 speed racing cycle in Kaduna, and then proceeds to start riding to Bida 300kms away with no previous training.

How do you cycle 300kms in the northern Nigerian heat with no training and little preparation? This video tells the story. Did he make it?

A Nigerian bicycle adventure

2007-09-09T23:11:00.001+01:00

Watching the 2007 Tour de France cycle race live in London reminded me of a cycling adventure I made in Nigeria some years ago.

This video recalls that african adventure.

The good old days

2007-07-03T11:09:00.000+01:00

I'm talking about the 70's and 80's when there was some good music around.

Check out this guy as he rocks to 'Let's grove tonight' by Earth, wind and fire.

Vote for me please

2007-06-28T16:29:00.000+01:00

Can I ask you to please vote for my video about Afro-Carribean Leukaemia suffers and the low number of donors from our community. You might not want to join the bone marrow register, but you could spare a few minutes to vote for this to get on current TV.

You need to register, but only a few details are required. Thanks in advance.

You can also take a look a some of the other work I have submitted to Current TV at

http://uk.current.com/community/people/sholao

First flight 2007

2007-06-06T10:20:00.000+01:00

On saturday 2nd June 2007 I had my first hang gliding flight of the year 2007. Due to one reason or the other, I have not been able to make it out to the hang gliding field.

I'm still building up experience for my challenge, and it is taking longer than I would like, but I really can't do much about that. Many thanks to all members of the Suffolk coastal floaters hang gliding club for their support.

First flight 2007.

I hope very soon I will be experienced enough to attach a camera to my hang glider, for now you'll have to make do with shots taken from the ground.

Fake Dutch reality TV Show

2007-06-03T15:33:00.000+01:00

Many of you would have seen or read in the media about the fake dutch reality show that wanted to highlight the shortage of donated organs, well this is a reminder that you don't need to wait till you die before you can save a life.

I did a report early this year about the shortage of bone marrow for Afro-Carribean Leukaemia suffers, and to help all you need is to do a simple blood test.

Watch Sarah's story, do your part to save a life. Someone who could do with your help is 13 year old Yvette Gate, and there are many others as well, with some losing the battle as they ran out of time.

Could you help save a life?

Igbobi college Yaba, Lagos. Video

2007-05-31T15:23:00.000+01:00

My dad graduated from Igbobi college Yaba, Lagos in 1956, and I was admitted into form 1A of Igbobi college in september 1975. I left Igbobi college after 2 years, as my parents moved to Kaduna in 1977.

In early 2007, Igbobi college, Yaba, Lagos celebrated its 75th founding anniversary, and my dad and I visited the college and swapped stories of our days at the college.

The video clips below show the state of the college now, a far cry from it's days of glory.

Igbobi college main gate January 2007

ICOBA House, Igbobi College. My dad is in the foreground.

Igbobi college IT centre.

Igbobi college sick bay, I was lucky not to have to vist it during my 2 year stay at the college.

Igbobi college founded in 1932

It is the year 2007, and the Igbobi college prinipal's PA is still using a manual typewriter!

Joel and Kemi

2007-05-28T14:17:00.000+01:00

A video of my two youngest children, posted for my parents to see what they currently look like.

The video was taken using my Sanyo xacti C40 handy digital camcorder.