Exam Week

So. What do I do to refresh between exams. Well Gabrielle turned me on to this toon. Any facy writeup will have to wait, but do enjoy if you have not seen this.

Your facebook, your career

Well, people say this all the time:  "be careful what you put on social media because it can come back to haunt you." Do we listen?  Depends.

For now, let's put some numbers behind this proposition

A Semiotics of the News

Warning: Video contains profanity


If John Stewart and Stephen Colbert viewers actually are politically sophisticated--as a Pew research report indicates, then  perhaps we should teach news production using comedy as well.  Hmmm.  That might be a bad idea considering that I'm not actually funny.  However, Charlie Brooker is:

3D TV

"I want my 3D TV!"  


Why isn't this the battle cry for a new era in home entertainment?  After all, a similar cry brought M(usic) TV into our homes in the early 80's.  


Ogg's article makes a valid point.  A gimmick is merely a gimmick: We just bought new plasma and LCD TV's.  I still have not invested in BlueRay because I don't want to repurchase my DVD collection (and I know I will, unless the threat of divorce is real...and it may be).  While waiting for the whole shebang to be iTunes, Amazon and Netflix (not a bad bet), thus getting rid of the physical thing in favor of code, I do want to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D--just for the fun of it.


However, Ogg's right: We need more.  Just as surround sound is underused for content (I read a dissertation that suggested the multiple personalities in Fight Club were rendered opaque throughout the film if one paid attention to the surround sound (how cool is that?), so too is 3D.  I want to see plot points revealed in the depth-layer of the 3D experience.  At the same time, polarized 3D is really great, much better than red-blue.  It's a good thing when done right (watch Shark Boy and Lava Girl...no really).  




If people, like myself, cannot afford to buy new surround systems or televisions with every technological development (imagine, I only have 5.1, DVD, and plamsa..so yesterday), the technology may die a premature death in accordance with the theory of diffusion of new technologies.  


 I [do] want my 3D TV." I just can't buy a N(ew) TV.  

Interlacing vs Deinterlacing

What constitutes a good video image? Of course there are many factors: focus, frame and focal length...composition, rule of thirds, 180 degree rule...content...and, as well, the technological make-up--or drawing-of the screen image itself. While interlacing served a purpose in the early days of TV, it is no longer needed, and is probably better let go all together.


Here's a very well executed test. It's hard to see the difference when you put two images of the same thing side by side. What Mark Empry does is show us the same image focusing on a small moving object. That moving object clearly reveals the difference in the two types of images.


Take a look...

Deinterlacing test from Mark Empey on Vimeo.

The March of the Penguin

When I was a kid, the penguin was a character on Batman, or a type of suit one wore to fancy events. That was all before The March of the Penguins, or An Inconvenient Truth--apparently.

I'm reading Andrew Keen's The Cult of the Amateur, and perhaps in great deference to the thesis of the book, want to bring attention to an an example of the cult of the amateur, with its abolition of the gatekeeper and erasure of truth, allows us to perceive a professional work of political communication as an amateur work of expression.

Maybe you've seen the Al Gore's Penguin's Spot on YouTube. If not, here it is:





It's funny. Some said it was poorly made,but it is exactly the kind of movie our free software (moviemaker, iMovie) does pretty well (the compositing might be a giveway). We are clearly meant to believe it was made by somebody on the Right with a legitimate beef against Gore's movie. Not so.

Keen notes that nothing could be further from the truth. The movie was sponsored by DCI Group, a conservative D.C. PR and Lobbying firm whose clients include Exxon Mobile (Keen, 2007, 18; Antonio Regalado and Dionne Searcey, "Where Did That Video Spoofing Al Gore's Film Come From?" Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2006.

Dig it
k

Midi in Blender

At the de-Center for CNM we're doing work in music video and animation. While these two topics are covered in separate classes, they have potential to be integrated (as a few students have already done). This animation uses Blender with a MIDI script and music. I think you'll enjoy it.

Cynicism

Patrick Kennedy ripped into the press today. His anger was directed not at the press coverage of congress, but the lack of it. Cynicism, Peter Slotterdijk tells us in his book, Critique of Cynical Reason, is "enlightened false consciousness." He means that we know what is going on (enlightenment) but we laugh at it rather than do anything (false consciousness). What do you think?

We Are the World -YouTube

I've always known that there was a certain measure of luck behind those who become starts.  I mean nothing against them.  I just know so many really talented people. 

Just as the web democratizes information, so too (it seems) it democratizes talent.  The original "We are the World" was a hit when I was in college (and yes, some us actually wore those hair styles....well, maybe not the Cindy Loper --and she had the best).  That was the era of Michael Jackson's Thriller.  This time the song was re-cut by a new set of artists (I downloaded it but have yet to actually view it).  AND, a second new-version, or a third-total version (are you keeping count) has appeard.

This version is a compilation of YouTube signing stars (OK, honestly, I did not know there was such a thing).  It is really cool, not just because these people can sing, but because of the way it was made:  Your computer is not just a machine, it's a portal to the world.

Brand MTV Unplugged

MTV unplugged brought us an alternative presentation of some fantastic artists.  I have been hoping to catch a rerun (or purchase of copy) of Aerosmith's set since it first blew me away (these guys truly do have 9 lives).  I collect a good number of DVD rock concerts and it seems like everybody these days needs to throw in an acoustic set.  However, we need to remember that MTV--no matter how cool--was always an economic engine and a marketing force to be reckoned with.  MTV unplugged is getting a new twist on its brand and an integrated marketing, advertising campaign.  Take a look and this, and let me know what you think of brand "unplugged."
Starburst!

Kairos -it's not a city in Egypt

Higher Education, at Shepherd and across the nation, is undergoing rapid and radical change.  We are looking for new ways to teach, better models to build curriculum, interesting ways to integrate classic subjects (such as standard written English) into new media.  In the Department of CNM, Monica Larson (new technology guru and COMM MOM) has instituted a blogging across the curriculum program.  Andrea Lunsford is a professor of writing and rhetoric at Stanford University who has championed the writing abilities of undergraduate students.  If teachers have ever made you feel irrelevant, you'll want to read this: http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-09/st_thompson#ixzz0hJlq9d9s

Viral VW

One of the most controversial (and early) viral ads was composed for VW.  Legend has it that VW actually produced the ad, but claimed it did not.

Perhaps more important is the ethical and politcal dimension of the ad. What do you think?

View article and ad

Early Viral iPod Ad

A very partial history of vital ads and internet overnight sensations.

This iPod ad was one of the YouTube hits that led to the growing awareness of what we now call "viral" ads.  At the time the work was heralded as ushering in a new age of marketing.

Wired Magazine

iPod ad on YouTube

How many people today earn fame by self-publishing on YouTube or similar sites?

From MTV to YouTube

While MTV may have dumped the music video, music videos are still an important form of musical (and commercial) expression.  However, the new place to tune in and turn on is YouTube

 

After the success of OK Go's treadmill video:

We have a few more to add. Please watch another by OK Go, 

 

"This too Shall Pass."

"This too Shall Pass" Another version

Remember the game Mouse Trap???

Also check out these similar videos:

 

The Way Things Go

Do I Want My MTV?

The famous MTV logo is getting a face-lift to finally reflect that it is not "music" television. The MTV brand is a powerful marketing force, but today movies and TV shows play a more important role than the music videos that made it famous.

Here's an article: http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/mtvs-big-change--981

You might have to look very closely to see the change which is minimal yet significant.
k