Topic: the web
Greenscreen envy
For anyone working in the Internet video industry, walking into the Revision 3 studio is a little like stumbling into Xanadu (Khubla Khan’s, not Robert Greenwald’s). Live switching in a control room that sports a massive mounted flatscreen HD monitor alongside a row of compositing systems, multicam teleprompter-assisted shoots in a spacious greenscreen studio, and a fridge full of beer?
Senior Director of Marketing and Product Management and iFanboy producer and co-host Ron Richards tries to tell me that it’s all on the cheap—the monitor replaces the traditional window into the studio and was a sweet deal, small prosumer HD cameras are mounted on low-tech wheelie dollies. But coming in from a traditional production environment where we’re still shooting on BetaSP and trying to dress an old studio, this looks like paradise. And these guys aren’t even going out to traditional TV broadcast. Instead they’re part of a new generation of pioneering Internet broadcasters.
topics: bay area, digital filmmaking, technology, the web, tv
moreGreenscreen envy
For anyone working in the Internet video industry, walking into the Revision 3 studio is a little like stumbling into Xanadu (Khubla Khan’s, not Robert Greenwald’s). Live switching in a control room that sports a massive mounted flatscreen HD monitor alongside a row of compositing systems, multicam teleprompter-assisted shoots in a spacious greenscreen studio, and a fridge full of beer?
Senior Director of Marketing and Product Management and iFanboy producer and co-host Ron Richards tries to tell me that it’s all on the cheap—the monitor replaces the traditional window into the studio and was a sweet deal, small prosumer HD cameras are mounted on low-tech wheelie dollies. But coming in from a traditional production environment where we’re still shooting on BetaSP and trying to dress an old studio, this looks like paradise. And these guys aren’t even going out to traditional TV broadcast. Instead they’re part of a new generation of pioneering Internet broadcasters.
topics: bay area, digital filmmaking, technology, the web, tv
more
Planning the future of TV: "The first revision was broadcast TV, the second was cable, and we are Revision3, the next generation of television," says Ron Richards. (Photo by Scott Beale/Laughing Squid, licensed through Creative Commons)
Greenscreen envy
For anyone working in the Internet video industry, walking into the Revision 3 studio is a little like stumbling into Xanadu (Khubla Khan’s, not Robert Greenwald’s). Live switching in a control room that sports a massive mounted flatscreen HD monitor alongside a row of compositing systems, multicam teleprompter-assisted shoots in a spacious greenscreen studio, and a fridge full of beer?
Senior Director of Marketing and Product Management and iFanboy producer and co-host Ron Richards tries to tell me that it’s all on the cheap—the monitor replaces the traditional window into the studio and was a sweet deal, small prosumer HD cameras are mounted on low-tech wheelie dollies. But coming in from a traditional production environment where we’re still shooting on BetaSP and trying to dress an old studio, this looks like paradise. And these guys aren’t even going out to traditional TV broadcast. Instead they’re part of a new generation of pioneering Internet broadcasters.
topics: bay area, digital filmmaking, technology, the web, tv
moreThe basics of Web 3.0. Wait, Web 3.0?
What does “jaguar” mean to you? If you’re a fan of Bush’s tax cuts, it’s probably a brand of car. If you are a Mac user it might be an operating system, and if you’re hearing strange noises on the Mexico-Guatemala border, it might be a very big cat. But if you’re interested in the future of online technology, it is the evergreen example used to explain what’s called The Semantic Web.
Semantic web proponents argue several things pretty loudly, and one of them is that computers should be smart enough to understand the deep meaning of words by their context, just like hu-mans understand sentences. Computers should understand that when you ask “Are jaguars ex-tinct in Central America?” you are looking for an answer, and you mean the animal, not the car. They should also understand this automatically, without a user having to manually tag the con-tent where it lives (page or video) with the words “jaguar” and “mammal” and whatever hundred other keywords might make sense. Instead, it should be able to use its context, combined with the infinite informational pages on the web, and human interaction, to make its decision. This implies a level of artificial intelligence whereby computers are able to infer meaning from lan-guage—from the structure of a sentence, from the sentences on a page. Not “how frequently does this word appear” but “I get what you’re saying.”
topics: digital filmmaking, directors, distributors, technology, the web
more
The basics of Web 3.0. Wait, Web 3.0?
What does “jaguar” mean to you? If you’re a fan of Bush’s tax cuts, it’s probably a brand of car. If you are a Mac user it might be an operating system, and if you’re hearing strange noises on the Mexico-Guatemala border, it might be a very big cat. But if you’re interested in the future of online technology, it is the evergreen example used to explain what’s called The Semantic Web.
Semantic web proponents argue several things pretty loudly, and one of them is that computers should be smart enough to understand the deep meaning of words by their context, just like humans understand sentences. Computers should understand that when you ask “Are jaguars extinct in Central America?” you are looking for an answer, and you mean the animal, not the car. They should also understand this automatically, without a user having to manually tag the content where it lives (page or video) with the words “jaguar” and “mammal” and whatever hundred other keywords might make sense. Instead, it should be able to use its context, combined with the infinite informational pages on the web, and human interaction, to make its decision. This implies a level of artificial intelligence whereby computers are able to infer meaning from language—from the structure of a sentence, from the sentences on a page. Not “how frequently does this word appear” but “I get what you’re saying.”
topics: digital filmmaking, directors, distributors, technology, the web
more
"Using copyrighted images for social commentary:" Jeff Koons (b. 1955), Niagara, 2000, Oil on canvas, 120 x 168", Commissioned by the Deutsche Bank AG in consultation with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation for the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, DGT132.2000, © Jeff Koons.
What's fair is not foul
SF360.org editor’s note: This is the first installment of a new, monthly column by filmmaker and journalist Hannah Eaves on local digital media.
Earlier this month the Center for Social Media (CSM) and the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) at American University released a report called Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video or, as it was immediately zeitgeisted by boingboing, "HOWTO Make online videos without getting sued." For techies in the online world, "fair use," Creative Commons and net neutrality occupy the same level of heaven as bizarre sea creatures, steampunk gadgets and cryptozoology. But the paper also makes a very handy tool for ordinary Joes experimenting in the new creative freak zone of User Generated Content.
topics: art, digital filmmaking, the web
more
RECENT COMMENTS
Amy, 1)I only just saw your "Deliver Us From Evil" on Sundance cable channel. …
(Amy Berg, director of "Deliver Us From Evil") by Bob Drake
Amen! to the last paragraph! A well-written critique. I can’t wait to …
(Chilean film "The Maid" liberates a genre) by Barbara Johansson
Loved the event and did a quick write-up of it in my blog. …
(Gries is the word) by Bucky
I learned so much about the work and craft of acting from this …
(Gries is the word) by Rick Osmon
Really wonderful evening. Jon is a first rate actor who has honed his …
(Gries is the word) by Stephen Kopels