"marINSANITY" returns via Zoom TONIGHT October 12

Submitted by jlessard on Thu, 06/11/2020 - 11:00pm

Join some of the Bay Area's best and brightest stand-up comedians for another virtual episode of "marINSANITY," Marin TV's crazy funny stand-up comedy show, TONIGHT, Monday, October 12 from 7 - 8 PM. Laughter guaranteed! Please R.S.V.P. to jill@marintv.org to receive a link to the event. Hope to see you in the "Zoom Room1"

Drake High School Graduation LIVE on Marin TV Friday, June 12 (2:30 - 6:00 PM)

Submitted by jlessard on Mon, 06/08/2020 - 4:15pm

Congratulations, Pirates!

The Sir Francis Drake High School Class of 2020 isn't letting the COVID-19 pandemic ruin their graduation plans. Seniors will receive their diplomas in an innovative "Drive Through" ceremony at the school on Friday, June 12 from 3:00-6:00 PM

Respecting social distancing protocol, Principal Liz Seabury, with Assistant Principals Chad Stewart and Nate Severin, will pass out diplomas to graduates, who will demonstrate their Drake Pride as they step out of their cars dressed in green caps & gowns.

Drake's ComAcad students will crew the production under the supervision of instructors John MacLeod (Director at XRLibraries and Marinovation Learning Center) and Omid Shamsapour (Director of Education & Production at the Community Media Center of Marin). The ComAcad team will then be assigned a Summer project to edit the live footage and create a final graduation piece later in the year. Stay tuned!

Don't Settle for Bad Sound. Like Your Mic!

Submitted by jlessard on Tue, 06/02/2020 - 11:30am

"There's a reason the A is listed first in AV. It's audio/visual not visual/audio," says Master Communications Group, a highly experienced team of Minneapolis video production professionals.

"Amateur producers often focus too much on the video side of a project and forget the importance of the audio. Poorly recorded sound will kill a video more than poor video quality. When you watch a video and the audio quality is not good, the first thing your brain says is, 'The picture looks bad.' Here is just a short list of what can make an interview sound like Charlie Brown's teacher:

• Using a camera mic for the interview
• Improper placement of microphone
• Wrong microphone chosen for the task
• Using a phone to shoot the interview

The bottom line is: your video is only as good as your sound.”

Our friends at PhillyCAM (Philadelphia Community Access Media) have created a few short videos that will help you choose and use the best mic for your video. Watch and learn!

Boom Mic Tutorial
Handheld Tutorial

Keep Your Skills Sharp; Learn New Ones Online

Submitted by jlessard on Wed, 05/13/2020 - 12:56pm

Has COVID-19 brought you to a creative standstill? Has the pandemic got you pondering how to keep your production skills sharp? CMCM's Education & Production Director Omid Shamsapour has put together a virtual library of videos you can download or view on Vimeo. Thanks to our colleagues at Cambridge Community Television (CCTV) for sharing the wealth.

A Historical Look at Cinematography
At Home Cinematography Mini Lesson
Audio Editing with Audacity
Digital Storytelling for Nonprofits: DIY Filming and Editing
Easily Learn to Video Edit with iMovie!
Editing with Shotcut - A Free, Cross-platform Video Editing Program
Living Room Lighting Mini Lesson
Video Editing Concepts | CCTV Online Class

RockSteady Fest Virtual Concert on Marin TV

Submitted by michael on Tue, 05/12/2020 - 8:24am

This promises to be interesting, a three day live 'zoom' music festival featuring Marin musicians running Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday will feature Marin Youth musicians. Tune in on Comcast CH 30, AT&T 99 and online at www.marintv.org/30. Thanks go out to all the festival organizers and participants!

Behind the Scenes

Submitted by jlessard on Wed, 05/06/2020 - 10:33am

Although CMCM has been closed due to the COVID-19 crisis, plenty of activity has been happening behind the scenes, including:

The production of several programs for Congressman Jared Huffman out of the Marin TV studio, including two important Virtual Town Hall meetings about the COVID-19 crisis.  The implementation of considerable technical adjustments and support necessary to keep our Town, City, and County meetings running on the Government Channel (27) and Education Channel (30). We also have some new K-6 educational programming content starting this week thanks to the folks at MCOE.

The configuration of RueShare, a content management system designed especially for community media centers like CMCM, which will replace our current system for member, equipment, workshop, and payment tracking. We'll launch this in the coming weeks along with a newly refreshed web site.

And on an aesthetic note, a chroma-key blue curtain has been hung in the Marin TV studio.  Add a new splash of color to your set!  (It looks great with the blue chairs donated by Soroptimist International.)

CMCM CLOSED through May 31

Submitted by jlessard on Wed, 04/29/2020 - 3:34pm

The Bay Area-wide “Shelter in Place” order has been extended through May 31. In accordance with that mandate, CMCM will continue to be closed to members and the general public until at least that date.

CMCM studio reservations, equipment checkouts, workshops, and events are suspended until further notice. But since a large part of the work CMCM performs is Government services -- covering local meetings and operating the related government channels -- this work will continue since it is an essential part of public health and emergency communications between local governments and their constituents.

Programming will continue to be scheduled across all three channels, and you can submit programs to air on Marin TV electronically -- without having to leave home -- then tune into Channel 26 to see the results.

If you post your videos to YouTube, Vimeo or DropBox - just send the link. If you want to upload files to our dropbox, just ask.

To submit programs, please fill out the form found at this URL: https://cmcm.tv/online

To contact staff, please use email only. Thank you!

General Center questions, Member Services: jill@marintv.org

Congressman Jared Huffman Coronavirus Virtual Town Hall

Submitted by michael on Wed, 03/25/2020 - 1:21pm


In this virtual Town Hall meeting shown live on Marin TV Education Channel 30 and live-streamed on Facebook on Tuesday, March 24, Congressman Jared Huffman fields questions posed from Californians on Facebook Live about COVID19 from the county, state, and federal perspectives, and shares important information about the pandemic's impact from a medical, educational, and business standpoint provided by family medicine physician Dr. Lisa Santora, Marin County Superintendent of Schools Mary Jane Burke, and the U.S. Small Business Association's Bill Koontz.

April 13 "marINSANITY" canceled

Submitted by jlessard on Sat, 02/29/2020 - 7:53pm

Due to the COVID-19 Shelter in Place order, Marin TV's crazy funny stand-up comedy show will not tape the next episode on Monday, April 13 -- the first time we've ever had to cancel!

Thanks for supporting CMCM during these difficult times. Stay safe -- and keep laughing!

April 22 Earth Day 50th Anniversary tentative

Submitted by jlessard on Sat, 02/01/2020 - 12:12pm

Due to the COVID-19 Shelter in Place order, CMCM's Marin Earth Day event, scheduled for Wednesday, April 22 from 2 - 9 PM, is now tentative.

Please check back for updates. Thank you for supporting CMCM -- and Mother Earth. May we all stay safe and well.