December 2009
66 posts
Obama admin: Mandated exemptions can strengthen... →
In voicing initial support for a WIPO draft treaty, the US makes clear that “better copyright” does not always equal “more copyright.”
The Obama administration has offered up a strange mix of copyright policies in its first year (both ACTA and Creative Commons, for instance), but it has at least made clear that “better copyright law” does not always mean...
“Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it.”
– Mark Twain
Analyst: Intelligent 3-D TV design will avoid... →
MANHASSET, N.Y. — DisplaySearch’s research indicates that LED backlighting and 240-Hz LCDs will serve as an enabling technology for new feature developments in TVs in 2010, specifically for 3-D TVs, an area of intense interest to TV manufacturers.
Manufacturers are developing a wide variety of design elements and performance features to differentiate products and slow price declines.
...
Netflix Envoy Pitches Online Films to Wary Studios... →
By Adam Satariano, Ari Levy and Ronald Grover
Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) — Netflix Inc. Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos bypassed Hollywood to jump-start the company’s online film-rental business last year. Now he has to convince the studios the company is a friend and not a foe.
Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings is counting on Sarandos to cut deals with studios giving Netflix rights to...
Some studios moving digital releases ahead of DVD... →
Movie and TV studios are experimenting with online distribution by releasing some content ahead of DVDs. This is a good sign, but other studios are holding back industry progress by hiding from the Internet at every turn.
Digital distribution is getting a little more love from some content providers this season as they experiment with releasing digital downloads of shows before the DVDs become...
“In summing up this publication’s record, I shall say that I am not primarily an...”
– Ayn Rand - The Objectivist 1971
tuneage:
The Silver Seas - “The Best Things In...
“Everybody thinks they have good taste and a sense of humor, but they...”
– Marry | “When Harry Met Sally”
WatchStarting my day off with “Lucky Man” by The Verve.
HDMI 1.4 spec getting freshened up in preparation... →
The drumbeat for HD 3D continues to pick up the pace, and with broadcasters around the globe pushing forward 2010 plans to bring 3D home HDMI has updated the course of its latest 1.4 spec to ensure compatibility between displays and boxes. Quite simply, existing cable and satellite hardware isn’t going to be held to the same requirements as Blu-ray and videogame equipment rocking the 3D...
“It is important for PR to involve regular people through social media to provide...”
– Richard Edelman, CEO, Edelman PR | via strumpette.com
WatchCurrently listening to ‘Too Young’ by Phoenix. Too bad lala won’t let you embed complete songs, unless you log in.
Correction: you can embed complete songs, but you can only listen to them once, unless you log in and own / buy the song.
“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.”
– Pat Riley
2 tags
How 3-D Movie Projection Works | via wired.com →
Pictured: Dolby® 3D glasses
Every few years you’ve probably watched a mainstream movie through a pair of glasses that make creatures, people and explosions pop out of the screen. And if you’ve bought into the massive hype, you were probably lining up this past weekend for James Cameron’s Avatar, which is screening in 3-D.
You might wonder, why can’t more movies be shown in 3-D? It would just...
3 tags
James Cameron, Avatar and a 3D Future | via... →
“Avatar” answers this question: what has James Cameron been doing since sinking “Titanic” and walking away with all those Oscars 12 years ago? BFD asked Cameron a new question: what does his 3D breakthrough mean for everybody else?
BFD: It is rare when top directors see a peer’s film and call it a game-changer, which Michael Mann, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and executives like Jeffrey...
1 tag
Visualizing the Recording Business | via... →
Here is a great info-graphic from the New York Times showing the relative performance of various music formats over the past 37 years. Unfortunately it does not show the impact of free music online. That would be an interesting addition to see how big file sharing and torrent downloads really are, relative to the physical formats of the past and the new “paid” digital formats.
3 tags
‘Avatar’ blasts off with $232 million worldwide |... →
James Cameron launched his science-fiction epic “Avatar” into a safe orbit as the costly film soared to No. 1 with $73 million domestically and $159.2 million overseas, for a $232.2 million…
3 tags
Watchmerlin:
jackcheng:
A film by Charles and Ray Eames for Polaroid. Beautiful in a million different ways. I could watch this over and over again.
Amazing.
This is the benchmark by which all product promotional films should be judged. Even by today’s standards, this product is amazing, but the promo film strikes the perfect balance between technical information and conveying a...
Cinedigm Reports on the State of Digital Cinema |...
“Avatar” Release on December 18 Shines Spotlight on 3D Readiness in U.S. & Canada
MORRISTOWN, NJ, Dec 17, 2009 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX News Network) — Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. (NASDAQ: CIDM) today issued an update on the state of digital cinema in the United States. In 2008 and 2009, the digital transition — defined as the industry’s conversion from analog to...
Avatar Review: We Have the Technology. Now What? |... →
Avatar: Fox
It’s an intriguing paradox—the success of a film as technologically elaborate and ambitious as James Cameron’s Avatar will come down to a simple question: Will audiences marvel at the movie’s groundbreaking production methods enough to forgive Cameron’s curious choice to frame everything on a script that is, almost above all else, obsessed with the evils of technology in...
Watch
Skywalker Ranch | by Philip Bloom
Filmed at Skywalker ranch on the Canon 5DmkII conformed to 24p and the Canon 7D shooting native 24p.
Please make sure to read Philip Bloom’s blog post about this project: “The tale of Lucasfilm, Skywalker Ranch, Red Tails, Star Wars and Canon DSLRs on a 40 foot screen!”
Watching this video makes me reminiscent and appreciative of my time at...
define: Brand | Seth Godin's BLOG →
— The clearest elucidation of the concepts of brand and brand value…
Here’s my definition: A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread...
WatchInterview with an unknown legend | via cnn.com
(CNN) — “It was cool on one level, and then on another level it was kind of like getting gum on the bottom of your shoe.”
Steve Kimock remembers when the Grateful Dead’s legendary front man, Jerry Garcia, hailed him as one of his favorite unknown guitarists. To Kimock, it was surprisingly bittersweet praise: The emerging...
Managed Copy on Blu-ray little more than serial... →
Blu-ray’s “managed copy” feature has been a long time coming, but studios are now being asked to support it on their discs even without test hardware. One industry insider describes the process to Ars. So does it work? We won’t know until some time in 2010!
“I started panicking about a month ago,” says Jason Rosenfeld, the founder of Scenic Labs. The company...
Digital Cinema’s First Decade |... →
The case could be made that digital cinema has been around much longer than just the past ten years. For example, I wrote an article for Variety in 1990 about electronic cinema’s potential to transform the movie industry. The consensus at that time was that any serious implementation was a decade away. However, cut to May 1999. That was when Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace opened with...
“The things we fear most in organizations — fluctuations, disturbances,...”
– Margaret J. Wheatley
Awesome 3D achievement, not so awesome technology... →
Researchers demonstrate, as they describe it, “A large-size and full-color three-dimensional (3D) display system without the need for special eyeglasses.” After drooling over the description for a while, we take a closer look and find all is not as it seems.
3D is, as far as I am concerned, the next big step in display technology. But current-generation 3D technology need not...
WatchWah-wah-wah… | via @MovieClips
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Title Sequence (2:00)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly are introduced in the opening title sequence.