Great site
 

I just stumbled upon this great site...full of vintage video, music, and other what nots.

http://webdev.archive.org/

Be sure to check out this film

http://webdev.archive.org/movies/dow...ename=07894.rm

yep, great site i was thinking to post it but i'm sure it would've got overlooked. so thanks for posting it :) the "etiquette training" videos are the best. they also had a couple about the boom of the motor city (detroit, MI). man it was so weird to see not even half of the things that are there now. like the renaissance center, cobo hall, city airport.

Media2Go, new device
 

Has anyone got a look at one of these yet?

Developed by Chipzilla (Intel), software by MS

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/Emb...mp/default.asp

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...go_preview.asp

I don't know whether this is out yet. Looks like technology that
is "just" around the corner.

yea.....
 

It's not out in the retail market........
But that doesn't keep engineering samples from not being out there in the hands of someone we know from this board.....
I was hoping for the someone knows someone, who knows someone kind of thing <;~)

A bud of mine from Intel tested one of these before the final hardware rev........but with NDA's etc. it gets me limited info <;~)

Heading for Hong Kong
 

I'm heading for Hong Kong next Tuesday with my GL2 to see the Chinese New Year's celebrations. I've been to Hong Kong many times over the past 35 years but never at this time of year. I'm sure it will be both colorful and loud. I've rarely shot video there, only 35mm stills; any suggestions about special locations and the like?

Incidentally, I'm staying at the Harbour Plaza which has a very interesting bar. It is done in Formula One motif with photos of drivers and cars all over the walls and replicas of Ferraris in the inside bar section. The waitresses wear very much modified pit stop outfits and even the urinals are F1 inspired.

The whole trip should be very interesting.

Sandy

Have fun overthere! Be sure to bring a receipt with you from your
camera, so you can get it back with you as well without paying
import taxes etc.

Collaboration - - Present/future
 

Writing collaboration, to work, to sale - - > to more work...

New York based writer/director and seeks an active writing collaboration for independent production. Actively seeking a writer for current project and future work. (NYC location preferable.)

Experience in the North East fishing / Lobster industry a definite plus, however, not necessary.

Include a sample of your writing and a letter about yourself.

Please send to:

D.P. BEGIN
962 Saint Nicholas AVE, No. 4B
New York, New York 10032

Anyone using a Sharp Zaurus SL 5500 PDA?
 

I'm looking for user comments and experinces using the Zaurus SL5500.

MTV Harlem Hoops doc
 

For the most part i really can't stand MTV but if u like to see cams in action watch the docu on street ball championship. there was a 150 and XL1s in almost everyshot as it would cut back to the other cams angle as well as a 150 on one of the tortoise rig backpack suspension systems.

on-line sites
 

I was just looking at atomfilms.com I believe is the name of the site and watched a 12 min. short called "The last of the Cowboys"(If I remember correctly) with B.B.Thornton and was supprised by the amount of name recognisable actors who are useing this type outlet and how good this short was..
What other sites have you all checked out that are worth recomending and what shorts in particular did you enjoy at these sites?

Any PDA or PALM users???
 

Any Palm or PDA users amongs us know of any good camera sites, or one with latest news in camera\camcorder techno that work under Avantgo? Sp you can hotsync all the lastest news in media world direct onto palm as u can with avantgo???

Cool VR camera trick
 

Just saw a really neat trick on the Lord of the Rings Ext DVD set -

They put Peter Jackson (the Director/Writer) in a pair of VR eyeglasses so that he could go "on location"to any computer generated locations or characters in Middle Earth.

The neat part was that they gave him a wooden camera with sensors that he used to "film" the computer generated world as he walked around - quite interesting to see him "filming" while walking around a grid

Most of the shots of the computer generated Stone Troll in Balin's Tomb/Moria were all "hand-held" using the VR camera

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
 

I just saw the film, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. It has one of the most unique looks I've seen in recent history. It seems almost like it has the texture of film, but the feel of Digital, if that makes any sense.

I'm sure it's probably just film and then digitized and wacked up in post, but does anyone have any info on how they did this film? Could it be HD?

Can you point me to the exact location where this is at on the 4
disc extended DVD set? I've seen to have missed that piece!

Thanks!

Marilyn Monroe home movie
 

Anyone see the story today about the long-lost Marilyn Monroe home movie? A fourteen year old kid followed her around Manhattan back in '55, shooting her with his regualar 8 camera.
The film was "lost" untill recently, and the images are superb.

I was reminded again of the quality of small guage film, as I transfered some regualr eight footage this last week of old home movies from the 50's and early sixties. The kodachrome looks GREAT after more than 40 years, which is more than I can say about old vhs tapes I shot of my son in '84!

It's always good to remember in this digital world, that "small guage" filmmaking should not be left behind, especially since the moder NLE's make sound sync, foley and music so easy.

It's a good way to get that "film look" that people are always looking for.

Regards,
Bill

Rats, I returned it to Blockbuster - but I know it's on the 2nd Appendices disk. There's a video there called "Cameras" or something like that.

Hunk of Burning. Love? CD-R quality explained!
 

Very interesting overview of CD-R media quality. Enjoy.

XL1s, Xbox, and the game Apex racing
 

All,
I picked up the new game Apex yesterday and was playing it last night after I pried the controller from my oldest boys hand.
(Since he recently turned 18 and is a senior in high school it's kind of hard to tell him "OK time for bed" =)

In the game you have a shop to build prototype cars. In the shop there are shelves where you edit your game settings/save/load/etc.

On the top shelf there is a Canon XL1s sitting there as part of your gear !

They (infrogames) did a really good job of detailing the camera.
I was actually surprised at the details. It's a stock XL1s with the stock 16X lens.

I just wanted to pass it on to the group for the sake of nostalgia.

Here is a link to the game for those of you that have an Xbox and like racing sim type games.

http://www.apex-game.com/flash.html

That last Columbia tape
 

What sort of camera do you suppose the final videotape recovered from the Columbia orbiter was shot on?

I remember that a few years back NASA selected the XL1 to serve as the official mission camera, but the way the camera moves it looks to be a smaller handheld MiniDV cam, perhaps Laurel Clark's personal camera?

The only thing I can find about it is that "The video was shot with a small onboard camera"... I'm just wondering if it was a consumer device or something custom built for the shuttle.

Why was this, the final tape to be shot, the only one to survive? Was it because it was still in the recording deck?

I don't know but the Astronauts were using a Sony DSR PDX-10 durring the flight. I couldn't imagine them carrying something as big and clumsy as an XL1 on a space flight, maybe on the ground in mission control but small and simple is the tool for space flight.
The recorder in question was a built in wall unit and I doubt there was any reason other than pure chance that it survived the entry, just luck, but I would bet that like the black boxes used in airplanes, the video recorders are built a little sturdier than your average consumer deck and probabaly not something any of us could buy even if we wanted to.

What I was thinking about was, they found this tape a few days later in east Texas and the last 11 minutes was gone. Or was it? The tape they showed on TV looks real good, but they said the last part was burned up! I think the whole tape was found in good shape. But they just don't want to show the last few minutes of the tape and probably they shouldn't.

CineALTA 24P Training Class
 

There is a three day "hands-on" workshop using this camera.

750 bucks to Denver, CO plus R&B/Plane Ticket is a significant amount of change. I was wondering if anybody here has gotten their hands on that camera?

Thanks!

Cheers!

Derrick

If you're interested in the CineAlta platform and don't want to travel you might check with local rental houses to see if they hold training classes. (In NY there must be several.) I know that Fletch, here in Chicago, rents this gear and periodically holds classes to promote the platforrm.

Megacon Orlando
 

Did anyone from the dvinfo community besides me make it to Megacon last weekend?

Talk about culture clash....
We have Megacon with geeks and freaks and outsiders, many dressed up in strange costumes (Anime, Star Wars,Fantasy...).
At the same time was the National Cheerleader finals all mixed in, in the same general area. The Cheerleaders (from tiny tots to teen agers) were all nervous, but their moms were absolutely paranoid, hehehe. Watching them freak out as someone dressed up as a murdering psycho carrying fake handguns strolled into their mists was hilarious. Or the women dressed up in a skimpy skimpy outfit with a slave chained behind her, and her beating him every five minutes. good family fun!

Top it off with a meeting of East coast ISP and apparantly several hundred people in business suits, and it was quite the weekend.

Things noted.
Two anime groups, called Anime Sushi and JACO, were both showing movies all weekend. They had converted movies to divx or downloaded directly off of the web and were using those cool little shuttle PCs hooked up to a projector and AV receiver. No DVD, no tape. All digital.
And I got Erin Grays' autograph. Finally.

Video projector requirement?
 

I have $5,000 to spend on a video projector (that has to include a spare bulb).

The intent is to optimize the projection capabilities for video even at the expense of the computer projection capabilities. I intend to drive the input with S-Video (unless I can find a firewire input projector)

The venue is a room of about 60 by 100 feet with a raised stage on one end. The projection screen is a glass bead of about 12' diagonal measurement. The room lights are not bright but have to be off when the current projector is used. Projection distance is flexible but is at least 20 feet and can be as much as 50 feet.

All of the usual features need to be present . . . keystone correction, preferably in 2 axis, Black screen when the input is idle, suppression of any menu items once it is up and running, reasonably quiet fan, low light
leakage.

Weight is not a major issue although I have to be able to schlep it into a venue.

Right now I'm thinking around 3,000 lumens or so. I like the Sony VPL-PX40 LCD but wish it had a DLP panel. It can be had for just under $5,000 and Sony is offering a free spare lamp.

Any input would be very welcome.

Thanks,

Mike Rehmus

Hi Mike, you might want to look into the Canon LV-7355 at http://www.canonprojectors.com/lv7350_55/index.html -- it's an LCD projector though. There's a handy comparison matrix at that link. Hope this helps,

The joys of Autocue
 

rtsp://media.channel4.com/channel4/n...ne/1autocue.rm

I know, I know, it's realplayer.. but it's worth it :)

Here's the gist of it: Tony Blair is about to give a speech and is assured that all he will have to do is read it off of the autocue. Not so easy!

Shallow Hal
 

I just watched this movie last night, and noticed something I had never seen before. During the end credits, where they usually show outtakes of the actors screwing up and goofing, they had nothing but crew credits and video clips.

Instead of the actors getting even more spotlight, they honored the people behind the scenes. Very cool.

I agree. It's one of the coolest things I've seen for credits. From this point on, I will be doing credits in all of my movies in this fashion. I think it's very fair.

I thought the movie sucked though. :)

Vancouver "Hero" DVD showing party
 

I know some of you are in Vancouver. I have just the occasion to get together if you're interested in seeing some great cinematography. That's when my roomate and I show the really beautiful DVD "Hero" this Sunday March 16, a film by Zhang Yimou and photographed by Christopher Doyle. Details here:

http://www.keithloh.com/video/hero/

Hero is up for a best foreign Oscar. I've previewed it and it really is a stunningly lensed picture. The link contains a trailer I cooked together.

Wish I could make it. I've got an old buddy of mine from Ontario in town for the next week. Might turn into an old-school drinking binge.

Tears of the Sun
 

Best Bruce Willis movie ever - and yet it's not really a bruce willis movie ... sort of ...

Anyway I thought it was a very good movie, worth watching in a theatre. There's a few "what the f#$@, why did they do that?" moments in the plot, but it's fairly believable through the whole movie. And of course no one can play the tough talking/sensitive officer in charge - better than Tom Skerritt.

One of the reviewers got a good read on it, they called it a cross between Apocalypse Now and Top Gun. Or to put it another way it's a "serious" Top Gunnesque movie

If Tears of the Sun and Chicago are any indication of the movies coming out, I'm absolutely ecstatic about going to the movies this year.

Love to hear what you think.

Achieving the look of "Blow"...
 

Does anyone know how Ted Demme got the look of Blow, specifically the scenes that take place in the 1970's. It looks like it might be a little desaturated..but there's something more I think. Thanks!

The best advise I can give you here is to try and get hold on
the DVD with behind the scenes on it (rent it?). I've seen it and
they do explain how it was made. If I remember correctly (and
this I'm really not sure on) it was through a chemical effect or
the lack thereof. I think it was the latter. They didn't develop
the movie fully or something to get the mexico scenes....

* * Ifp/new York - - Ifp/los Angeles * *
 

I am looking for information regarding IFP.

I plan on joining the organization to network and develop my business.

What have your experiences been regarding IFP?

Has it helped?

What do you deem as advantages to joining IFP?

Disadvantages? Besides the 100 bucks or so...

Thanks in advance!

Cheers!

Derrick

it's only $85 bucks to join ifp/la

networking, equiptment and room rentals cheap, networking, director/producer series - did i mention networking? free movies!

check out the website http://www.ifpwest.org

biggest disadvantage for me at least is the resourse library isn't open on the weekends and I can't get there durning the week before it closes.

they have free member orientation meetings, check it out and decide for yourself

Mark,

Thanks for the response...

I am going forward and join here in New York, with the intent to join IFP-West in the near future.

Have you found work via this route?

I'm fixing my budget so that early next month I can join. Its just nice to know if, "Yeah, I joined IFP, and met some great people, and they saw my work, and I found employment!"

Thanks!

Cheers!

* * Just Tears Please * *
 

MEDIOCRITY - - The script of the film needed some work. Its seemed very redundant, seeing the same similar images over and over again. Good versus Evil. This film is a cliche after a cliche etc. Nothing new hear folks.

The jungle scenes at night were very hard to watch. Because I was struggling to make out any semblance of detail in the blacks and shadows. I hope that was a choice of the filmmaker/cinematographer. The editing was probably what salvaged this film.

The characters were skipped along the top of the water and for the most part a hollow shell. The featured under-fives and extras were good, but then they were shot.

I think Bruce Willis was better in the original, "Die Hard" and "Pulp Fiction."

My 10.00 bucks could have been spent on something better than this mechanized film.

Cheers!

Derrick

dolby 5.1 in audio discs?
 

I know there are some pro audio people in this forum, so here goes:

Is it possible to have 5.1 sound in an audio disc (played on a set-top DVD player) ?

Does it have to be a DVD or can it be used on a CD?

The subwoofer channel works just like the other channels, right? The output frequencies will not be cut by the decoder, right?

(If this sound stupid, it's because I'm planning a 6-speaker setup in an exhibition. I don't need the classic 5.1 setup, but what I do need is 6 similar channels I can pan the sound with).

Thanks.