With devices such as Sony’s Bloggie and also the Flip camera, which musician Wyclef Jean recently used to capture earthquake footage in Haiti, it’s gotten down right cheap to shoot a film.  Shop around and you can buy one of these little cameras for between $100 and $200 bucks, if not less. As you go deeper into the craft of filmmaking, however, you’ll likely want to add more bells and whistles to your projects by bringingexperts on board so your projects look and sound their best.  But for now, just think about getting started.

To help you get fired up, I recently spoke with Mike Ajakwe, whose TV credits include Martin, Eve and The Brothers Garcia.  He’s taken his short comedy series, Who, to the web via www.AjakweTV.com.  He shoots 5-minute installments of the show–featuring two black women who dish about everybody and everything–in and around his home. He employs a small crew, and charges Internet viewers a nominal fee to check out his work.

I asked Mike to share with Heart & Soul’s website readers the secret of making a good film on a tight budget.

(1) “Start with a good script.  It is the foundation of your film.  You have nothing without it. I don’t care if you land Halle Berry as your lead.  Halle Berry does not make up her lines on the set.  She reads from a script that someone else wrote. A good script can become a bad one with the wrong cast, and a good script can become a great film with the right cast. A solid team behind you is also critical. Find people who have made a film before and can help you maneuver through rough waters.  They can support you without taking over.”

(2)  “If you want help writing a script, I suggest the books Screenplay by Syd Field or Story by Robert McKee.  Any filmmaking class at a reputable school is also worth the investment.  It helps if you like to watch films and have seen a lot of them.  In fact, if you want to be a filmmaker, get used to watching feature length films, shorts, webisodes—anything that tells a story visually.

(3) “If you’re wondering what should write, look within for stories that captivate you, however obscure or niche. Often, the more specific a story is to you, the more universal it is for others who see it, because they can feel the authenticity of the experience being revealed.  Anything that makes you uncomfortable to show or scares you or puts you on edge would probably make a compelling film.”

(4) “Don’t be afraid to fail.  Often, our No. 1 enemy to success is ourselves.  Nobody’s first film is a masterpiece.  So join the club.  You have to have talent, vision and courage  in the film game.”

(5) “The best advice I ever got on filmmaking came from the late, great African-American sculptor Tina Allen.  She told me: ‘Don’t be afraid to be naked and don’t worry about what other people will think.  Tell your story.  Sing your song.  Showcase your vision. Some people will love you and some won’t.  Be ok with that…’ And, like Nike said, ‘Just do it.’ ”

Pamela Johnson is a California writer.

Lights, Camera, Satisfaction! is a post from: Heart & Soul

Here are a few tips:

• Don’t reward negativity.  Attention is a big payoff for a pessimist.  Well-meaning people try to cheer the person up and halt her negativity.   Back to my school days again, I recall a basic Psychology 101 principle:  Behavior that gets rewarded gets repeated.  Don’t reward negative, complaining behavior with too much attention.
• Confront them.  Most negative people don’t know that they’re negative because no one ever tells them.  If someone’s negativity is affecting your ability to be happy, productive and focused, give them some straight feedback on the subject, or a copy of this blog!

One final thought.  REAL TALK:  Before you give yourself a mental pat on the back for being a positive person, ask yourself if you’re sure you’re not the dreaded negative person.  Oh, you’re not?   Are you “positive?”

Real Talk on Lessons in the Positive is a post from: Heart & Soul

Beauty Q&A With Celebrity Makeup Artist Roxanna Floyd is a post from: Heart & Soul

Patrice Gaines wears many hats. She is a mother, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, activist and mentor.  But perhaps one of her proudest accomplishments is founding the Brown Angel Foundation, through which she offers services and products aimed at healing and empowering teenage girls and women, especially women who have been incarcerated.  As a lecturer and motivational speaker she is a woman who knows from whence she speaks.  Gaines having been incarcerated, is a brown angel.

A peaceful and loving soul sister, Gaines has learned to act on her heart’s desire.  In fact, listening to her heart led her to her home on a plantation in South Carolina – a place she loves so much that she says she “aint never leaving.”

Gaines and I recently took it to the bridge, where we chatted about some of her favorite songs from the message-oriented music of the 1960s and 1970s.  Here is what she shared with me.

DJ: What are three of your favorite songs from the message-oriented music of the 1960s and 1970s ?

PG: That was such a great period in music — meaning it was a period wherein you could depend on a song to help lift your spirits or to make you feel that you weren’t alone in the struggle — so it was hard for me to narrow it down to three favorite songs.  But I did and  my first choice as a favorite song from that period is  James Browns’ “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothin’ (Open Up The Door I’ll Get It Myself.)”  It was just a little simple song with a little simple line and hook, but it was so powerful.

DJ: It was indeed and James Brown did that song in early 1969, during the period when he was still known as “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business.”

PG: That’s right, that was the follow up to his title as “Mr. Dynamite.”

I chose that one because when I first heard that song it made me feel so empowered. And I felt that Black people needed to feel empowered. The Civil Rights Movement was still going on, and that song came out after the riots that broke out in different parts of the country when Dr. King was assassinated.

We had gone through a lot as a people that could have left us despondent. There were days when the mood was sad, and so to hear that song – ”"I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothin’ (Open Up the Door I’ll get It Myself) — you just couldn’t resist the urge to straighten up and walk tall. 

DJ - In what way do you relate the message in that song to the Civil Rights Movement?

PG - The Civil Rights movement was the push and pull for justice, equality, and opportunity. Brown voiced what many of us felt which was hey, that’s all we want is an opportunity, open up the door we’ll get it ourselves.   So again, I’ll say it was just a little simple song but it was so powerful.

DJ – What’s one of your other favorite message oriented songs from that period?

PG – One of my other favorites from that period is Marvin Gaye’s “What‘s Going On?”  When I think back on it, I felt like what Marvin was going through – his artistry, his life, the meaning of life, war and poverty, trying to make some sense out of the world in such chaos — I think everybody who ran and bought that album felt like he was talking to them. I also felt like it was very personal — like he knew what was on every body’s mind.

I have “What’s Going On”  on my iPod, and play it all the time. In fact I play that whole album actually. JB [James Brown] I play once in a while. I don’t think anyone could come through that era — the 60s and 70s – without playing his music.

DJ - What is your third favorite song from that era?

PG – Now, when choosing my third favorite song from that era, this is where I struggled.  It actually had me thinking — oh my goodness  I could only pick one more. What will it be?  I’m torn but I think I’m going with John Lennon’s “Imagine.” 

DJ – Why was it a struggle for you to choose “Imagine” as your third favorite song?

PG – The only reason I struggled with whether to make that my third favorite  song from that era is because in a way “Imagine” reminded me of Marvin’s “What‘s going On?” 

DJ – How so?

PG - It has that same timelessness. But I also choose “Imagine” because I am an optimistic person.  Those lyrics, to me, inspire hope.  They invite us to consider what the world can be in terms of living in harmony and unity. I think that when you’re in a quandary about this world you can play “What’s Going On?“ or you can play “Imagine”  because the words and music are soothing.

DJ - Patrice you said that from the moment you heard Browns’ “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothin’…)” it made you feel good.  How did you feel when you first heard “Imagine?”

PG - “Imagine” is another one that made me feel  good from the first time I heard it. I felt — it’s just so me.  But it also makes me feel a certain kind of melancholy.  Sometimes when I listen to “Imagine” I think of when John Lennon was killed. I cried because I thought he was such an absolutely astounding poet … just with that song.  It’s one of those songs that has a very positive and symbolic impact on me.  As a matter of fact, at the front of my house near the door on the wall I have a sign that says “Imagine.”

DJ - Well that’s three of your favorite songs from the message oriented music from the 1960s to 1970s.  But I’m curious what other songs would you choose?

PG- Like I said, I struggled trying to choose only three favorite songs from that era.  I thought about Nina Simone. There are songs she did that I love.

DJ: Absolutely. As a matter of fact “I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free)” is one of the songs that inspired this project.

PG: Yes, that’s one of the songs she did that I love. And also “Mississippi Goddam” and “Why (The King Of Love Is Dead).” And then I thought about “Wake Up Everybody” sung by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes with the lead vocals of the late Teddy Pendergrass.  From beginning to end the music and lyrics of that song would just shake you and make you feel you need to wake up in  mind, body and spirit.

The music is lulling while the message is intense: “Wake up everybody no more sleeping in bed. No more backwards thinking time for thinking ahead. The world has changed so very much from what it used to be. There is so much hatred, war and poverty. The world won’t get no better if we just let it be. We’ve got to change the world yeah, you and me.” I’ve always liked that one.

DJ - I think that we could probably go on and on, but have you any others?

PG – One of my all time favorites is Pharaoh Sanders’ and Leon Thomas’ “The Creator Has a Master Plan.” It puts me in a peaceful place. The music and lyrics sends me into a space where I begin to think about my place in the world and what is it?  What’s going on in the world and how can I help? 

I know young people could point to some positive songs in the contemporary pool of music created today. But they seem to face a barrage of negative music too.  Back then there wasn’t the barrage of  negativity from music that went against the positive. We were so fortunate to have had  such an abundance of songs with positive messages of hope, and unity.  Also back then, you could depend on the music to not just have a funky beat, but motivate you, put you in a place where you felt like you could go on.

I’ll be interested in hearing what three message-oriented songs people choose as their favorites from that era because like I said we had a lot to choose from in terms of positive music. It was just a glorious thing to have had those choices.  Again its all about the lyrics and the kind of tone that is set in the message of these songs.   So it’s good to keep this music in our minds and on our iPods, if you can.

Note: The photo is of the author’s mother Gladys D. James,  in 1971 at a rally in Washington, D.C.

Taking It To the Bridge: A Chat With Patrice Gaines is a post from: Heart & Soul

Brown Bag of Poems: Imbalanced Meal

In my kitchen nook

in the red terry cloth house coat

from two Christmases ago

my elbow out

the window to flick ashes

from an old, self rolled, habit

made new again.

Mismatched house shoes.

One snug yellow

the other six sizes too

blue, like a velvet drape

over Ellington’s late piano.

Unevenly I shuffle across

checkerboard linoleum to put

the shot glass in the recycle bin,

the bourbon bottle in the sink.

In the morning,

milk for the cereal. Hot water for the tea.

No more honey butter to spread over my brown bread.

Brown Bag of Poems: Imbalanced Meal is a post from: Heart & Soul

Spa Treatments to Die For is a post from: Heart & Soul

Haven’t we been fighting it all of our lives?  I remember my mother had a saying, “No child of mine is going to be ashy.”  This statement was usually followed by a heavy slathering of Vaseline (sometimes mixed with Jergen’s lotion, with extra attention paid to my elbows and knees.  After her inspection,  I could be seen by the world again.  I’d be so greased down that at Sunday school, I would just about slide off the pew! That was fine by mom.  Better to get blinded by the glare off my legs, then to spot the least bit of ash.  Back then, folks didn’t know much about preventing dry skin, nor getting rid of it.

“One of the most important things to do for your skin is to exfoliate,” says Germaine Williams, aesthetician and owner of The Red Bloom Wellness Spa in Bethesda Maryland.  “Moisturizers can not do their job if dead skin isn’t removed first.”  For the body, use salt scrubs and your facial scrub should be a gentle formula.

Germaine offers more cold weather cautions:

• Watch your water temps!  We all love long hot showers, but it’s dehydrating to the skin.  Use warm water instead.
• Moisturize.  While skin is still damp, apply moisturizers.  Germaine’s favorites include jojoba, grape seed and sesame seed oils.
• Protect.  Sunscreen is a must!  The sun is still damaging in colder months.
• Humidify.  It’s a good idea to keep a humidifier in your bedroom.  You’ll reap the benefits while you sleep.  Also, remember to close the heating vent that is nearest to your bed to minimize dryness in the air.
• Replenish.  Drink lots of water to build moisture within your body.

And what about mom’s beloved petroleum jelly?  “It’s not that bad,” says Germaine, “but it has absolutely no moisturizing benefits because it only seals in moisture that is already there.” Good enough.  After all, THAT was mom’s mission.

Real Talk: Bad things do happen to good skin, but not always for the reasons you suspect!  Don’t blame it all on the cold weather or “that time of the month,” because when it comes to healthy skin, what you put in your body is just as important as what you put on it.  Take responsibility for your skin.  Invest in grown up, “big girl” facial products.  Schedule regular facials with a qualified aesthetician. Revamp your diet to include nutritious, fresh whole foods that will feed your skin what it’s starving for, and in return it’ll give you glowing clarity!  Remember, your body’s largest organ is only as good as how YOU treat it!  That’s real talk!

** Join “Real Talk with TC LIVE” on Wednesday, January 27^th at The Red Bloom Wellness Spa in Bethesda, Md!  7215 Arlington Road from 6-8 PM.  Meet TC’s Sistapreneur, Celebrity Aesthetician Germaine Williams, network with other sista-preneurs, get a free personal  consultation and skin assessment from Germaine, and have free refreshments too!   Sponsored in part by Heart & Soul magazine!

Real Talk on Winterizing Skin…Bye-Bye Ash! is a post from: Heart & Soul

March is …

… International Women’s History Month. Read about inspiring women who have paved the way for us!

… National Nutrition Month.

… the beginning of spring! Peel back the winter layers and pick some flowers.

… time to visit shut-ins in your neighborhood or at nursing homes and assisted-living centers.

… Multiple Sclerosis Education and Awareness Month

More things for your must-do list …

Must-do: Spring clean your finances before income taxes are due.

Must-hear: Erykah Badu’s “New Amerykah Part II: Return of the Ankh,” in stores March 30

Must-see: “Our Family Wedding,” starring Regina King and Forest Whitaker

Must-read: My Times in Black and White, Gerald M. Boyd’s memoir

Must-watch: “Zane’s Sex Chronicles: The Complete First Season,” the racy series about the lives of five sexy women navigating turbulent relationships. Read about on page 74 in Downtime.

Must-try: The latest spa trends, including a Stress Relief massage, a Hungarian Mud Wrap or a detoxifying deep sleep treatment

Must-DVD: Wanda Sykes’ laugh until your sides hurt HBO special “I’ma Be Me”

For more must-read details, pick up the February/March issue of Heart & Soul.

More great dates …

3/25: American Diabetes Alert Day

Where to Find Us …

Work out with Heart & Soul fitness pro Mocha Lee at Life Time Fitness in Columbia, Maryland.

Your Must-Do List for March! is a post from: Heart & Soul

Real Talk: Many of us don’t have a clue how to make a reasonable resolution, which is why we fail to keep the ones we make. We set high goals for ourselves, and then wonder why we never reach them. I reign as the undisputed queen of the broken resolution. Lose a few pounds. Exercise. Relax. Take time for me, myself and I. They all failed, and not because I wasn’t sincere when I made them. I’d say it. I’d mean it. I’d even write it down.  But, within a week, the treadmill had become a substitute coat rack,  the diet books were sitting on the shelf and I was “super-mom-career-woman” again with the “S” on my chest, grabbing my cape and neglecting my resolutions.

“Resolution” comes from the word “resolve,” meaning to make up one’s mind or decide firmly.  There’s something about a new year and a fresh start. It’s a powerful feeling to know you have a new year ahead of you, and you can choose what to do with it. But some people falter, because they don’t make plans for dealing with temptations. Here are some ideas that may help you in 2010:

*  Form a support system of friends and family who will cheer you on and challenge you to stick to your goals.  Steer clear of the “spirit-killers” who don’t have your best interests at heart.

*  Think positive!  Counter those negative ideas, such as “I’ll never succeed,” with positive thoughts: ”Today I made some progress!”

*  Surround yourself with people and situations that encourage good habits. Join a support group. Ask a friend to be your exercise partner.

*  Give yourself rewards and pats on the back for your progress.

*  Please ladies:  If you backslide one day, don’t throw in the towel and give up ’til next year! Dust yourself off, and get back on track. As the song goes, “we fall down, but we get up.”

The most important secret to keeping those New Year’s resolutions is to take the process of change one day at a time.

Real Talk: Big changes begin with small steps!  Do just a little bit to get going and soon you’ll feel the benefits of the change, which can lead to long-term, healthy habits that last far beyond New Year’s Day.

Give it a try. Get started. Set goals, and make a REAL effort to reach them. If nothing else, you’ve made a decision and tried your best, which means you’ve already succeeded! And that’s Real Talk!

Resolve to Win … in 2010! is a post from: Heart & Soul

The new mammography guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force have left women confused, frustrated and in some cases just plain angry. The Task Force’s new recommendations were a complete reversal of the guidelines women have followed, and relied on, for years: Getting mammograms annually, starting at age 40, was your best protection against breast cancer.

Task force recommendations say women should wait until age 50 for their first mammogram and then only have the test once every two years, until age 74. For all women, but especially black women who have a higher risk of getting breast cancer in their 30s or 40s, the new advice was a shock that left them unsure of how best to care for themselves. Here, experts weigh in on what possibly led to the recommendations and what we should do.

1. What were they thinking? The Task Force, a group of 16 health experts convened by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality that makes recommendations on all types of preventive services, “looked at the decrease in the number of deaths from breast cancer related to mammography and compared that statistic to the number of false positives and unnecessary biopsies performed as a result of mammograms,” says Carol Lee, M.D., attending radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “Their interpretation was that the benefit from mammograms given to women under age 40—a 15 percent reduction in breast cancer-related deaths—was small compared to the anxiety suffered by women receiving unnecessary biopsies and false positives.”

2. Is it really about anxiety? “To some degree,” Dr. Lee says. “A primary care physician might only have two patients a year with breast cancer, but several who need biopsies and do not have cancer. I think it’s about medical care costs.” The Task Force has denied this charge, though its Web site clearly states its recommendations are, in part, for insurance companies and guide what preventive services should be covered.

3. What should you do? Several studies have shown black women are more likely to get breast cancer when they are younger than 45 than women in other groups. “It’s very important for them to be screened by age 40,” Dr. Lee says.

Just as important, “take that mammogram seriously and be prepared to follow up,” says Olufunmilayo I. Olopade, M.D., a researcher and clinician at University of Chicago, who is an expert on breast cancer in African-American women. “The most important part of the recommendations is the suggestion that women talk to their doctors. Black women are at higher risk for early-onset, aggressive breast cancers, so some may need more than a mammogram. If your mother or sister had the disease, you may need a mammogram and an MRI. So learn your risk as well.” —Sheree Crute

To Mammogram or Not to Mammogram is a post from: Heart & Soul