Education

Leading Creative Teams, 3D Printing Jewelry, and Merging Technology with Creativity for Innovation

Listen to our podcast episode with Jenny Wu, a designer and founder of the 3D printing jewelry line called LACE, and a partner at award-winning architecture firm Oyler Wu Collaborative! In this episode, we talk about how the connection between technology and creativity is important in the future and how learning new technologies create more innovative pieces. We also talk about how teaching can influence designers to create as well as be a source to practice developing your craft. Jenny also mentions the importance of trusting a collaborative team to execute and brainstorm creative ideas. To listen to the episode, go to Creative Haven on iTunes here: Leading Creative Teams, 3D Printing Jewelry, and Merging Technology with Creativity for Innovation

Why All Ideas Have Value- Marcus Gray Podcast Clip

Listen to this thought-provoking clip from episode 5 of our podcast! Marcus talks about the meaning behind Hip Hop Chocolates. From this idea of creating a communion in which self-reflection is present, he believed he could connect the two of creativity and spirituality into the hip-hop culture. Listen to more on Creative Haven on iTunes here: Hip Hop Culture As A Male Rite of Passage, Celebrating Parenthood In Hip Hop, and The Connection Between Creativity and Spirituality

Suitable Camera Equipment for Live Streaming

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Live-streaming is a way for a more authentic connection to your followers and viewers. If you’re considering filming a live broadcast, make sure there is nothing on the technical side deterring you from having a successful broadcast. You’ll need the proper equipment to ensure a well-executed broadcast, because you don’t have time during it to change the battery or fix the WiFi, for example. Your focus should be promoting an authentic experience and providing content for your viewers. This article has created a helpful guide on which external equipment to buy for your live-stream video. The audio, sound and video quality are all important to video making, so using smartphones with an internal microphone, may not give you that professional effect. The article recommends using an external microphone, a video encoder that uploads your live video, an internet device for a strong WiFi connection, a battery power system needed for long streams, and a tripod. The article also lists a variety of camera types; external webcams, DSLR/ mirrorless cameras, camcorders, and action cameras. This list includes budget-friendly cameras, cameras that capture high-resolution videos, and cameras with many functions such as color correction functionality and time-lapse options. With these choices and brands, you will be prepared for your live-stream on your preferred streaming platform.

Credit: Adorama What is the Best Camera for Live Streaming Video?

5 Best Laptops for Video Editing

Is your current laptop slowing down your editing time? Considering buying a new laptop to accommodate your editing software and video footage? It’s essential to select a laptop, catered to you, that can handle any post-production projects, whether you’re new to editing, are experienced, or need something on a budget. We’ve got the 5 best laptops ready, so you’re prepared for your next purchase!

Whether you are editing a feature-length film or a 30 second commercial, picking the right laptop for the job is crucial. Video editing, especially on more professional software, can be very taxing on a laptop. While this is a big decision, and can be stressful, we’re here to help you narrow it down to 5 great choices, so you can get into post-production as soon as possible.


1 - Dell Inspiron 14 5000

~$730 USD

CPU: 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-8265U Processor 

RAM: 8GB

Storage: 256GB

14 Inch Full HD Display (1920 x 1080)


While on the lower end of editing laptops, the Dell Inspiron 14 5000 should not be underestimated. It’s low price is great for new video editors, and clocking in at under 4 pounds, it is easy to take on the road.


2 - HP Envy 13

~$830 USD

CPU: 8th generation Intel Core i5-i7

RAM: 8GB - 16GB

Storage: 256GB- 512GB

15.4 Inch Full HD Display (1920 x 1080)


At just under a thousand dollars, and weighing less than 3 pounds, the HP Envy 13 is great first laptop with a Full HD display. While it’s not going to be editing 4K video, it’s still great for beginners, and has up to a half terabyte of storage, letting you worry about editing without the fear of running out of room.


3 - MSI GS65 Stealth

~$1220 USD

CPU: Intel Core i7 Processor

RAM: 16GB

Storage: 512GB

17.3 Inch Full HD Display (1920 x 1080)


Originally intended as a gaming laptop, the MSI GS65 Stealth boasts a maximum 8 hour battery life with a Full HD Display. The Stealth is on the heavier side for laptops, clocking in at just under 5 pounds. While it was made as a gaming laptop, it’s Intel Core i7 Processor can easily get the job done editing 1080P footage.


4 - 15-Inch 2019 Macbook Pro

~$2230 USD

CPU: 2.6GHz Intel Core i7 9750H (six cores) or 2.3 GHz Intel Core i9 9980HK (eight cores)

RAM: 16GB-32GB

Storage: 256GB- 4TB

15.3 Inch Retina Display (2880 x 1800)


While certainly on the pricier side, Apple’s 15-Inch Macbook Pro is on the higher end of video-editing laptops. While it’s retina display is not quite 4K, it is able to edit 4K video. Clocking in at just over 4 pounds, it is great for editing on the go. Unfortunately, the Macbook Pro only has 2 USB-C ports, meaning other devices may need to be purchased for things such as SD cards.


5 - Acer ConceptD 7 

~$2300 USD

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-9750H processor Hexa-core 2.60 GHz

RAM: 16GB

Storage: 1TB

15.6 Ultra HD Display (3840 x 2160)


With a 4K display, the Acer ConceptD 7 is perfect for experienced editors often working with 4K video, especially those doing extensive color-grading. At just over 4 and a half pounds, it is on the heavier side, and like the Macbook Pro, has no SD port. But when it comes to 4K editing, the Acer ConceptD 7 is hard to beat.

Channeling Your Emotions With Music To Create Art And The Importance Of Freestyling Your Creativity For Authenticity

Introducing episode 11’s podcast guest, Flekz! Flekz is a street artist who creates geometric designs using painters tape and an Exacto knife. This episode, we talk about the authenticity of creating freestyle art and the purity of art by not drawing inspiration from other artists. We also talk about how exercise and music can encourage creativity and be an outlet to express yourself to further create art. To listen to the episode, go to Creative Haven on iTunes here: Channeling Your Emotions With Music To Create Art And The Importance Of Freestyling Your Creativity For Authenticity!

What Love Really Means- J-Kay Podcast Clip

Here is an inspirational clip from episode 6 of our podcast with J-Kay! J-Kay weighs on the meaning of love and how love can be universally applied to your work and relationships in your community and industry, regardless of their skill level. Loved hearing this clip? Listen to the whole episode by going to Creative Haven on iTunes. here:Empowering Women Through Dance and How To Make Dance Your Full-time Career

Comprehensive Twitter Image Sizes Guideline

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Do you have the right Twitter image sizes? This article mentions the updates made to the platform and shows the differences between them by showing graphics as examples. It covers the images sizes for the Twitter avatar/profile picture, header/banner, tweet, and linked images. The article also lists the sizes and the author’s recommendations for promoted tweets (ads), summary cards, and which file sizes and types you can post on Twitter. The author also describes how to create Twitter cards and moments, and post on mobile to accommodate your audience. Some key takeaways are making your profile picture at a 1:1 aspect ratio at 400x400 pixels, banner sizes are at a 3:1 aspect ratio at 1500x500 pixels, tweeted images are at an aspect ratio 16:9 at a minimum of 600x335 pixels, previewed link images are at an image size of 1.91:1 and more included. Twitter accepts landscape and square images and JPEG, GIF, and PNG formats, but not GIF on banner images. No need to have your images cropped when you update them with these specifications.

Credit: Louise Myers Twitter Image Size and Specs: This Is All You Need to Know

7 Basic Shot Sizes in Filmography

What do you think about when you watch close-up shots? Is it the emotion the character is feeling? What about wide shots? Are you providing context to your scene? It is important to use any of these 7 basic shot sizes in your film as they can come up in the beginning, middle, or end of your scene. Invoke the same powerful message through different shots by using our list and examples from famous films.

Framing is a lot of effort. It can be hard to decide exactly how much you want in any given frame, and we're here to help you by explaining the 7 basic shot sizes, what they show, and their purposes.

Extreme Long Shot (ELS): Extreme long shots are often used as the first shot of a scene to establish the setting the scene will take place in. The characters may not be shown at all in ELS’s, and even if they are, the focus is overwhelmingly placed on the environment.

Long Shot (LS): Also known as a wide shot, the long shot shows the characters in full from head to toe, allowing for extensive body movement. A large part of the focus is still placed on the environment, but more is now placed on the characters.

Medium Long Shot (MLS): Medium long shots show the characters from approximately knees and up, still showing most of the body, which allows for some body movement.

Medium Shot (MS): Showing characters from around the waist and up, the medium shot now places focus primarily on the characters. Body movement is more restrictive, but as the shot is closer to the subject, facial expressions are more prominent. Very little focus is placed on the environment.

Medium Closeup (MCU): The medium closeup is now almost entirely focused on the subject’s face, showing only the shoulders and potentially parts of the torso aside from the face. Body movement, aside from the shoulders, is extremely limited as nearly all the focus is on the face.

Closeup (CU): The closeup is focused entirely on the subject’s face and nothing else, making body movement nonexistent.


Extreme Closeup (ECU): In an extreme closeup, only a certain aspect of the face, often the eyes, has focus. The ECU can also be used to focus on a specific object in a scene.

Using Creativity To Distinguish Humans From Robotics and AI, While Utilizing Technology To Enhance our Artistic Expression

Our next podcast guest talks about the effect technology has on creativity and how technology has led to more creative innovations. Alec Ross is a New York Times best-selling author, technology policy expert and was a Senior Advisor for Innovation to Hillary Clinton during her term as Secretary of State. Throughout the episode, we discuss the possibilities advanced technologies can have to stimulate creativity in the future, evolving innovations such as AI, and how being physically active is a factor in creativity. Check out episode 10 on Creative Haven on iTunes here: Using Creativity To Distinguish Humans From Robotics and AI, While Utilizing Technology To Enhance our Artistic Expression.

How Relationships Create Value- Yoshino Podcast Clip

Listen to this relevant clip from episode 7 of our podcast! Yoshino offers his advice on how to create real value to strengthen relationships. He also shares how creating a transactional value for others can be a bad part of living in a capitalistic society and consumerism. For the full episode, go to iTunes under Creative Haven here: How to Be a Pure Artist By Letting Go of Your Ego and Detaching from Capitalism

Recommended LinkedIn Image Sizes List

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Want a professional-looking LinkedIn company page? Take a look at your company images! If they are not updated properly with LinkedIn’s guidelines, they may fall short in your page’s appeal. It is important to convey your brand and company appropriately through images that are sized well on multiple devices. LinkedIn has a helpful chart to let you know what their specifications are on company photos, cover, logo, and main images. You can post images less than the recommended size; however, the photos you upload on the company photos section may appear smaller if they are at the minimum size guidelines. For example, the minimum image size for a cover image on a page is 1192x220 pixels, but LinkedIn recommends 1536x768 pixels. For cover photos, you may need to trim the image to fit the screen. The platform suggests uploading a high-quality image using formats of PNG or JPEG. You can also replace the static image on the main/image section with a video link from Vimeo or YouTube. Once you adjust your photo settings, your customers and followers will be able to recognize who your company is amongst the competition!

Credit: LinkedIn Help Image Specifications for your LinkedIn Pages and Career Pages

5 Basic Camera Movements in Film

Gearing up for shooting a scene and don’t know which camera movement is right for your production? Experimenting with a shot and are looking to approach it from another angle? Positioning and moving your camera can let your audience know more about your scene. We’ve generated a list of the five basic camera movements you can experiment with in your films!

Cinematography becomes more complicated as you go from static to dynamic shots. We're here to help you understand the terminology and functions of the 5 basic camera moves in filmmaking.

#1 - Pan. The pan movement, short for panorama, is a horizontal camera move where the camera is stationary, but the direction it faces moves left or right. Pans are usually made through the use of a tripod, but can also be made through other methods, such as handheld.

#2 - Tilt. The tilt movement is similar to the pan, but is a vertical move, where the direction the camera faces moves up and down. Similar to the pan, tilts are usually created on a tripod, but can be created through the use of handheld. 

#3 - Tracking / Trucking. Tracking shots, also known as trucking shots, are created when the camera is physically moved left or right, often to follow a subject. These shots may be created through the use of dollies, steadicams and other equipment.

#4 - Dolly. Dolly shots are created when the camera is physically moved forwards or backwards. They created a similar effect to zooming, as they change how big or little a subject is in the frame. As the name suggests, dolly shots may be created through the use of an actual dolly, but may also be created with steadicams, gimbals, and other equipment.

#5 - Pedestal. Pedestal shots, likely the least used on this list, are shots where the camera is physically moved up and down. They could be created through the use of adjustable tripods, monopods, or cranes. 

Optimizing Your Creative Flow State And Productivity With Meditation, Journaling, and Getting Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Hey everyone, here’s our next podcast episode with John Lee Dumas! John Lee Dumas is the host and founder of the award-winning podcast EOFire. In the episode, he encourages entrepreneurs and creatives to get out of their comfort zone by exploring different mediums to find sources of inspiration as well as relieving creative blocks. He also mentions how committing to certain activities that make you happy and relax you, such as reading, meditating, or journaling can spark fresh creative ideas and increase productivity within your work. Listen to the episode 9 on iTunes under Creative Haven here: Optimizing Your Creative Flow State And Productivity With Meditation, Journaling, and Getting Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Epic Sci-Fi Movie Timeline of Star Trek Into Darkness

Epic Sci-Fi Movie Timeline of Star Trek Into Darkness by Avid Media Composer 🎥

Watch the timeline here!

Being Inspired to Achieve Your Dreams-Leo Black Podcast Clip

This next clip from episode 4 of our podcast will be sure to make you feel supported in whatever stage of the creative journey you’re in! Leo Black shares how there isn’t any failure as long as you keep learning from your mistakes and use that motivation to feel inspired to fulfill your dreams. Listen to the full episode on iTunes under Creative Haven: How To Become a Successful Artist Through Consistency and Utilizing Digital Platforms

The 180 Degree Rule

Are your films lacking consistency within your scenes? Have you heard of using the 180 degree rule? Positioning your camera and subjects within the shot of a semi-circle, will allow your scene to flow better and your audience to understand the scene. Our video describes the rule and provides excellent examples from well-known movies so that you can apply the guideline for your future films.

The 180 degree rule is something that brand-new filmmakers don’t take into consideration all the time, and can have radical effects on continuity. If you’ve ever watched a movie that broke the rule, you may not have noticed it. But if it was pointed out to you, it would be impossible to miss, and can be quite jarring. 

So what exactly is the 180 degree rule? Simply put, the rule states that all of your shots in a particular scene must exist in a 180 degree area around the subjects. You could imagine it as a semi circle. The first shot in a scene establishes the rough “side” that the rest of the shots must be in.

For example, let’s say you are filming two people having a conversation. The first shot takes place from one of the sides, making it so Person A is facing to the left, and person B is facing to the right. If you film using the 180 degree rule correctly, the placement will be consistent. But, if you suddenly shoot from the opposite side, now Person A is facing to the right, B to the left. This will be disorienting to the audience, as it seems like the subjects are in different places.

Like many filmmaking rules, the 180 degree rule does not have to be followed absolutely 100 percent of the time. There are exceptions. One exception is if you as the filmmaker want to confuse the audience, and so break the rule to do so. Another is if an event happens, and so the rule must be broken to capture that event. The last is if you have a moving shot that moves past the 180 degree area in real time.

Find Out YouTube's Video Resolution and Aspect Ratio Sizes

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Are you wondering how your video will display on YouTube using a different aspect ratio? YouTube is where millions go to get their daily source of entertainment. If you’re a business owner or an aspiring creative and you’re uploading YouTube videos, you’ll need to know the recommended formats and aspect ratios for the platform. If you are uploading on a computer, the standard aspect ratio size is 16:9. If your video has a different aspect ratio display, YouTube will change the video to the standard size. The video player also automatically adjusts to meet the size of your video. For vertical videos, who have an aspect ratio of 9:16, YouTube adds white or dark grey borders to fill the screen. On mobile devices, portrait videos are displayed without black bars to fill the screen on mobile devices. Viewers can press the full-screen button to view the full vertical video. YouTube also features a list of recommended video resolutions, for the 16:9 aspect ratio, so that your videos can be shown at optimal viewing quality!

Credit: Written by YouTube Help YouTube Resolution & Aspect Ratios

Being Your True Self To Stand Out From The Crowd While Consistently Learning & Practicing To Find Flow State

Check out the interview we did with Woody’s Produce! Woody is a music producer, artist, video creator, and founder and CEO of the creative agency, Super Tight. In this episode, we chat about prioritizing your skills to improve them, the ability to find your creative flow state at any time, and not worrying about getting your ideas stolen when they are public because someone can make their own version. We also talk about how the ultimate goal for artists is to find out who you are. Listen to episode 13 here on iTunes under Creative Haven! Being Your True Self To Stand Out From The Crowd While Consistently Learning & Practicing To Find Flow State