Batman Begins and the Mighty Fantastic Four. Who’s Your Favorite?

Well, it looks like Hollywood keeps it continual pot of revenue filled with, guess what, comic book heroes. Batman Begins and The Fantastic Four have been duking it out on Hollywood and Vine. An age-old comic book company rivalry is yet renewing the heat this year. I guess all of us comic book aficionados always wonder who would win the battle between such and such superheroes.

Well at least in the next few months one way to keep score is to watch the revenues generated between the recently released "Batman Begins" and "Fantastic Four", which were both childhood fascinations of mine. Not only are there superhero "what ifs" going on here, but which comic book company will stand to gain the most economic substantiation? Batman Begins punches the daily time clock at DC Comics and the Fantastic Four was the brainchild of Stan Lee and crew at Marvel Comics.

And don't tell me there is a small comic book hero market. Batman Begins claimed the number one spot in gross revenue on its opening weekend. Hollywood is definitely increasing the thickness of its silver lining these days with comic book hero movies. Batman Begins took in almost $49 million it's opening weekend. How many mint condition old comic books would you have to sell to make that kind of dough? Are we in the wrong end of the comic book world (ha ha)?

The rivalry between Marvel and DC used to be a major dividing line amongst the tight knit group of comic book collectors. When comic book interest started to decline in the 1970s, this issue became largely irrelevant. But now as video games, online role-playing games and major motion picture productions are spreading across the globe, the classic Marvel-DC conflict is springing back to life.

Superman is coming back to life on the big screen as well as Wonder Woman. Marvel has been riding high off their major successes with the X-men and Spiderman. They are now digging deep into their catalog of characters and are working on screen adaptations of Iron Man, the Submariner, Thor and Silver Surfer, among others. Have we entered a new comic book age that will have to be defined around major motion pictures? Maybe it could be call the "Greenback Age". Do you have another definition?

And as computer literate as so many are these days, Marvel and DC will have to start developing more online games and virtual universes of all their characters that you and I will be willing to pay a monthly fee to access through our computers and game consoles. Ka-ching, Ka-ching. DC has already announced a deal with Sony Online Entertainment and Marvel is working with Vivendi Universal Games. With the massive successes of the X-Men and Spiderman movies, this has proven that the Marvel characters still have life and relevance in today's pop culture.

While DC may be playing a bit of catch up, they are quick to point out that they and Warner Bro. have been more successful on the small screen with TV shows like "Smallville" and several animated cartoon series. And further since their TV and film projects are filmed and aired by the Warner Bro. conglomerate, DC gets to keep more of the profit than Marvel does on their projects.

What do we, the consumer public, get out of all this? Well, for one, we get to see our heroes in a more realistic light than ever before. We can grab that popcorn and maybe an extra drink and watch our comic book heroes and characters come to life in a real world setting, at least for a few hours, and walk out with a little more joy in our hearts. Go out and get immersed in Batman Begins and hold your breath for the Fantastic Four. And besides, this new revelation in Hollywood may just increase the value of our old mint condition comics. We can only wait and see.

About The Author:

Dave Gieber is the owner and editor of a website built around one of his childhood passions. Learn the basic essentials to comic book collecting success with this free 5-day course:www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/5-day-course.html

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Choosing the Perfect Wedding Ring

Traditionally, a wedding band was worn on the ring finger of the left hand because it was believed that the vein in that finger went straight to the heart. A wedding ring is a piece of jewelry which will be worn everyday of your life to signify your love and fidelity to your significant other. That being said, you want to ensure you choose the perfect ring, which can be difficult for someone who is inexperienced in this area. Luckily we can help you through the steps of finding the perfect wedding ring for the special person in your life.

The first thing to consider is the kind of metal you want for your wedding rings. Most wedding rings are found in yellow gold, white gold or platinum. These forms of metal vary in price and most likely this decision will be quite easy since most women already know what kind of ring they want.

The next step is choosing the stone for the ring. You will need to decide which kind of stone you want as well as the shape of the stone. Diamonds are still the most popular choice when it comes to stones for wedding rings however colored stones such as emeralds, rubies and sapphires are becoming more and more popular.

The last step is to find a reputable jeweler who you will be comfortable purchasing such an expensive piece of jewelry from. Perhaps it is best to use a jeweler who one of your friends or family members have already used and would recommend for you because of such great results.

If you are like most couples who are marrying, you will likely choose a diamond wedding ring. If you are doing so, you may want to keep the four C's in mind while doing so. The four C's are the diamond's color, cut, clarity and carat weight.

1. Color – Diamonds are available in number of colors and shades including white, yellow, green, blue and pink. The color range starts at D and moves through the alphabet towards Z. The scale moves from white to yellow as it makes its way through the alphabet.

2. Cut – The cut of the diamond is what gives the diamond personality. Diamonds which are cut well will be bright and sparkly, however diamonds that are cut poorly may end up looking dull and boring. Choosing and making sure the cut is perfect is a crucial step in the overall outcome of your wedding ring.

3. Clarity – An inclusion in a diamond is an imperfection inside the stone which will greatly affect the overall worth of the ring. The size, color and position of the inclusions in your ring affect the clarity of the diamond. You want to ensure the diamond has good clarity.

4. Carat Weight – A carat is divided into 100 equal parts (also known as points). Therefore a one carat diamond equals 100 points; half carat equals 50 and so on. When the diamonds are loose (before they are mounted on the ring), the weight is easy to determine, however, after the diamond has been mounted only a gemologist can determine the weight of the diamond(s).

Take your time when choosing a wedding ring for yourself or for your significant other. A wedding ring is a sign of your everlasting love to one another and is something that will be cherished for the rest of your lives.


About the author:
Samantha Taylor spent several years working in the weddings industry as a wedding planner. When she isn't being a mom of two wonderful children, she works as a freelance writer for http://www.yourwedding101.com - a site that offers information about everything wedding related - from wedding rings to wedding cake toppers and more. 

by: Samantha Taylor

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Capturing Your Wedding On Video

Today professional videographers have become as natural a part of the wedding as the photographer. Because your wedding day goes by so quickly, recording all of the activities on video will preserve the precious moments for you and your family to enjoy for years to come.

Unlike photographs, a video camera records sounds, action and more of the overall atmosphere of the event. Rather than focusing on just a few people like photographs, video can easily record a little bit of all of your guests.

The typical wedding video package costs anywhere between $500 and $1500, depending on the quality of the equipment, the number of hours of coverage, the number of cameras, the amount of editing, and other factors. As always, remember what's most important to you, determine what you can afford, and go from there.

Recording Your Wedding on a Tight Budget
If you don't have money in the budget for a professional videographer, you have other options. You could ask a close friend or family member with a video camera to record your wedding. Of course don't expect the same quality and coverage that you would get from a professional videographer. Remember, is an awful lot to ask friend or family member to tape the bulk of the wedding day. So, the best way to ensure that your most precious moments get recorded is to make a list. Pick out only a handful of moments that you definitely want on tape, such as the bride walking down the aisle, exchanging vows and rings during the ceremony, the best man's toast, the bride and groom's first dance, etc. Then anything extra that gets on film is a bonus, but you have the important stuff covered.

Special Touches for the Video
A nice touch for your wedding video is to have your videographer or a friend wielding a video camera pull your guests aside throughout the night to record a personal message to the bride and groom. This is something that a friend did for us at our wedding, and it was absolutely wonderful to watch. This is a lovely way to record all of your friends and family who attended your wedding and adds a personal touch to the video.

Another nice idea for the wedding video is to record a short message from the bride and groom to each other. Arrange for the videographer to meet with the bride and groom separately right before the wedding ceremony. Each can talk to the camera as if they were talking to their soon-to-be other half. These messages truly capture all of the love and emotion of the couple on their wedding day. And they are so much fun to watch after the wedding and many years down the road! 

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Wedding Video Tips

Some of the same considerations involved in selecting a photographer for your wedding photos also apply to choosing the right videographer. Wedding video, however, is a newer art than wedding photography, and the two forms of preserving your memories cannot really be lumped together when shopping for these professional services.

Nowadays, nearly everyone has a home video camera, and the quality of pictures they produce is quite good; better, in fact, than professional equipment could turn out just a few years ago. This has led many people to neglect the importance of using a professional videographer to record once-in-a-lifetime events. Yes, your friend Bob's nifty new handy-dandy super camcorder can turn out some pretty good-looking stuff, but if you depend on friend Bob to provide your wedding video, you are setting yourself up to be sadly disappointed.

First of all, Bob's new camera, while quite snazzy, still will not be up to the level of equipment the serious professional videographer will bring to your wedding. When shopping for video, ask the videographer to explain to you what a 3-chip camera is, and why it makes better video than a home camcorder. Also ask him about the various tape formats used by the pros...SVHS, HI8, Betacam, and get him to explain the advantages of these over standard home formats. Oh, and wouldn't it be nice to have great sound quality on your video, so you can actually hear your wedding vows, and your music? Chances are pretty good that friend Bob won't own the sophisticated wireless microphones the professional uses to record even a whisper.

Ever sat and watched Bob's 6-hour production of Little Bobby's Birthday Party? This brings us to one of the areas where the pros really excel, editing. No, editing is NOT "cutting out" or throwing away any of your wedding video. Editing is an almost magical process whereby the professional videographer refines and assembles the pictures he carefully gathered at your wedding into a polished, pleasing record of your wedding day. Every videographer has his own style, and there are as many types of wedding video available as there are videographers. Look at lots of sample videos, find the videographer with a style that pleases you, and with a personality you can be comfortable with for six or eight hours on your wedding day.

After your wedding is over, all you will have to help you remember a very important day will be your wedding photos and your wedding video. Select these professionals with care and you'll never be sorry! 

by: Shawn Hickman

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Wedding Video - Selecting a Wedding Videographer

Selecting the right wedding videographer is very important because wedding videos hold special moments from your wedding day. Just like you need to find the perfect wedding dress, it should be without question that you need a quality wedding videographer.

Now I don’t mean a wedding videographer that asks Aunt Gretchen to say a few words about her little niece Sharon who is all grown up. And I don’t mean a wedding videographer that likes to force everyone to smile in the middle of dinner time because he is always in your face with that video camera. Run from those wedding videographers.

The Right Wedding Videographer
Albert Ling of Encore Weddings, was the right videographer for me. He was unobtrusive (we hardly knew he was around), he didn’t use crazy special effects in his previous wedding videos and he had a demeanor that made it easy to feel comfortable around him. Don’t worry, the right wedding videographer for you is out there. And once you find him, hold on tight because he is an important part of your wedding budget and he (along with the wedding photographer) has your once in your lifetime moments in his hands. Make sure your wedding videographer is experienced. You wouldn’t believe how easy it is for someone to just call themselves a videographer. Do you really want to be one of their early wedding video mistakes? Albert had hundreds of video that my husband went through with him during the consultation but even though he had done so many wedding videos, our wedding video was still different from all the others.

I just popped in my wedding DVD (that’s right, I didn’t get my wedding video on VHS) in order to give you some important tips on what to look for in your wedding videographer’s portfolio. Yes, you need to see the wedding videographer’s portfolio.

The Wedding Videographer’s Portfolio
You need to make sure he hasn’t done 1,000 wedding videos that are exactly the opposite approach you want. It also matters if he clearly understands what you want from him. Can he produce that? And has he done that before? You don’t have to see all his videos but you don’t want to see a video montage of what he thinks are his best clips. You want to see what he has done from start to finish. See if the videos were steady if he uses a hand held video camera instead of a tripod. Watch for editing – do they make sense? Are you going from the wedding ceremony to the reception or from the reception decorations to the ceremony? Has he captured all of the members of the wedding party? Was he too slow and didn’t get the “here comes the bride” entrance? Where the close ups “too close up”? Are you having an outdoor wedding? What if it is windy? Does he have unobtrusive mikes for the wedding party? Or will you end up with the sound of wind on the wedding video and muted voices? You also want to be able to speak with happy clients from the wedding videos you liked the most.

One Videographer or Two? One Video Camera or Two?
For my wedding, we had one videographer with one handheld camera. Having a second camera can help obtain extra points of view which may be needed during editing and sometimes if the first camera man is unable to get a shot, the second camera will hopefully be able to pick it up. Our wedding videographer was experienced so we didn’t feel like we needed a second camera or videographer.

Wedding Video on DVD or VHS?
After watching the wedding video once, most people don’t sit through it in full many times after. They usually fast forward to parts that they like which over time wears out your wedding video. If you choose to have your wedding video on DVD, you can easily jump to the parts you want to highlight instead of having to sit through a few hours or constantly fast forward and rewind your videotape.

And speaking of wedding videos that last a few hours - please spare your friends and family. You don’t need every single moment from your wedding day on the wedding video. My wedding video is 30 minutes long. It was set up like a story book with scenes from throughout the day highlighting the wedding ceremony, my father’s speech and the cutting of the cake. The other scenes were played with one of four songs we chose.

Special Additions to Your Wedding Video
The wedding videographer will probably offer you a few additions to your package. I personally felt they were unnecessary but you may feel differently. You may include a prelude of some wedding planning, commentary about the couple from their family and friends, photo montages and video from before the couple met and special effects (slow motion and fading in and out).

Wedding Videographer Cost
You can expect to pay anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 for your wedding video. The wedding videographer will be one of your biggest wedding budget expenses.

And now some advice that was given to me that I want to share with you.

My matron of honor gave me some advice when I was planning my wedding … even if you are on the fence about a wedding video – just get it! You may never watch it or your grandmother may be the only one that watches it but one day if you want to watch it and you don’t have a wedding video, you will feel incredibly sad about not having one to watch.

One last thing! Make sure you include your wedding videographer (and camera man) on the list for a meal at the reception or else you risk having them take an hour break so they can get some lunch/dinner. (Remember they are working straight close to 8 hours if not more! Feed them! No exceptions.)

About the author:
Find more articles at www.media43.com

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Choosing a Videographer

In , one that would be working on my wedding, I'd be most concerned with one thing, experience. The person behind the camera would have to prove to me that he's not practicing his craft on my special day, that he knows what he's doing and is capable of being creative as well as detail oriented. Many amateur videographers or those that are trying to get into the business start out by working on weddings, and like in most things, you learn from your mistakes. Unfortunately they make mistakes on somebody's wedding day, a day that unlike TV and movies, cannot be recreated.

But, it is easy to avoid the pitfall of using an inexperienced videographer or one that will do a less than desirable job. Don't hire someone without speaking with him/her first, knowing their background and seeing a sample of their work. It is also advisable to ask others you trust about who did their wedding videography and if it came out the way they wanted.

Many couples outsource a wedding company that specializes in making wedding videos, and these companies have a list of videographers that they feel comfortable using. Even though a wedding company will use a videographer it doesn't mean that person is going to do a good job on your wedding, it just means they know how to use a camera, which is a good start. Really the most important part of choosing is to make sure you trust the videographer, that you like him. You should talk with him and make sure you get one that is experienced, detail oriented and one that likes what he does. It might cost a little more but at least you'll get something that in the end should make you very happy. 

by: Shawn Hickman

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