Although I haven’t followed the race all that closely, I just saw Barack Obama on The Daily Show and wanted to know about his stance on certain issues, as well as whatever I could find for the other candidates. Of course, with the web the way it is, someone’s made a nice chart:
Click the pic to view larger.
I also wanted to find a place that might list their religious beliefs and/or affiliations. Any suggestions?
I read an article today in Creative Cow Magazine (www.creativecow.net) about the “war” between hi-def and lo-res. You wouldn’t think those two factions would have so much animosity towards each other, but who am I to dictate cultural policy?
As it stands, the “war” centers on the fact that, contrary to supposed opinion and many long-held prophesies, the adoption rate of hi-def content viewers is vastly inferior to the numbers of the lo-res youtubers. The article cited the following as barriers to more hi-def viewers:
On the other hand, Youtube has ushered in the age of democratic video – by the people, for the people, all the time, anytime, with any content, at resolutions heretofore unwanted by professionals. They’ve had tremendous growth. If your video goes viral, you could have millions of viewers, worldwide. Youtube is an independent content producers’ best outlet, and, as with the web itself, content is king. Content trumps clarity.
As long as your story is clear, today’s kids don’t care how it looks – just that it speaks to them. Make them laugh with singing silk trees, make them cry with an old man singing a Coldplay song, make them think, make them stop. Whatever it is, just make it and get it on the web – that seems to be the moral of this “war.”
As the article asked, will this year be the year of hi-def? Like last year and the year before it were supposed to be? I doubt it. The solution now, as the article also suggested, is to be ready for both. If you make content and have the ability, create your movies with both technologies in mind, in hi-def and web-ready. If you lack the equipment, shoot lo-res, upload, and call it a day.
What do you watch more? Your hi-def TV or that certain youtube video that everyone’s seen a million times?
It’s amazing to me that with the number of entertainment choices we have, we still manage to fall into watching a reality TV series during the summer. It’s unintentional, but it seems to happen every summer. This summer we’ve fallen for a couple of cooking shows, Hell’s Kitchen and The Next Food Network Star. We know it’s not really real (do all chefs cry?), that the surprises may only be surprising to the contestants, and that conflict and flailing arms apparently make for good television. Well, maybe not good, but at least entertaining. Remind me to never become a chef.
I should add On the Lot to that list, but it’s been given fairly bad reviews. Reformatted, it could do well and be much more engaging, but otherwise, in the words of Carrie Fisher, “um…it was good…not great…not bad…it could have been somewhat, somehow, someway, better than…well, just, uh, yeah, good job.” That about sums up the way most of the critics feel too.
The ad of the day is for truck accessories, which, if you have a truck, I assume you need accessories.
I think I can wait for the day when Reality TV actually lives up to its name, where you can tune into anyone’s live feed (a la Justin.tv). I had the thought the other day, and I expect royalties now if this become a reality, that a tiny camera should be implanted behind our eyes that continually records the last hour we’ve seen, thus capturing those moments otherwise lost, like the time your dog missed the turn and ran into the wall. And then you’ll be able to stream that to the Internet. And that will be Reality TV.
Thank God for books.
I’m in the early stages of starting a video ministry at the church. We’re looking at cameras. I have some great ideas from the Willow Creek Arts Conference. I’m talking video editing with one of the guys from Austin’s own eleven72 here in a few weeks. I bought In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch, a bible, of sorts, for video editors. I’m getting The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing via Netflix in a few days. Obviously, I’ve got the bug, the fever, and what can cure my fever? More cowbell. Or a nice camera. Or both. Also, a MacBook Pro, a few hard drives, new network cables, Final Cut Pro, and a book on how to use Final Cut Pro.
As such, I’ve taken to watching On the Lot. It’s an American Idol-type show, but for filmmakers. It’s not bad, but it’s not great. I read an article just yesterday detailing how the show could be better and I agreed with every suggestion. (Of course I can’t find the article at the moment). Right now, it’s just a short film festival show (you can see the contestants’ films on their site), with no behind-the-scenes on how the directors actually pulled off shooting a 3-minute comedy in a week, or showing the tensions and frustrations and confrontations that are sure to have happened; isn’t that reality programming at its core?
Sure, the films are entertaining, whether they’re truly good or good in the same way movies on Mystery Science Theater 3000 are. But you’d think it’d be better with Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg’s names attached to it. Maybe Steve’s too busy trying to make Harrison Ford young. I’m glad the show is on. It’s showing me that it is difficult to be a filmmaker. Pointing a camera does not a filmmaker make.
I don’t want to make films, but I do want to tell stories. Stories that demand a reaction.
I’ve told a few people now that I feel close to that time that comes in every young man’s life – the time to buy a hi-def television. Why is that? I keep watching more and more Discovery shows. It began slowly with Dirty Jobs, which led to The Deadliest Catch, which snowballed into Man Vs. Wild.
The last show centers on Bear Grylls showing the audience how to survive in the harshest of environments. It’s enthralling, thrilling, and needs to be experienced in hi-def, but, even without that (as I’ll be for many moons), it’s a fascinating show. The scenery, the landscapes, the true reality of the show, the bravery of Bear, the knowledge he passes on…it’s fantastic.
So I had to find out more information and was pleased to read this Q&A with Bear, although this question is the last one on the last page of the show’s website. I guess I should be glad it’s there at all.
Q. What do you always take with you?
A. Flint and striker, so I can light a fire however tough it gets — lifts my spirit always and has often saved my bacon! My Christian faith: high mountains and my time in the military taught me that it takes a proud man to say he needs nothing, and I need my faith. And, finally, a laminated picture of my family tucked inside my shoe.
I’m still looking for more information on the camera crew. How in the world do they film this show?
And now for something completely different: Canvas on Demand is offering me a 16×20 photo enlargement canvas of my favorite photo. How could I resist? Maybe you should check them out too.
The views expressed on this blog are solely my own and are not representative of my employer.
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