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Showing posts from 2015

Around the library

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This is a short showing a tour of the library & some of it's exhibits.  Done with an Android Galaxy 5 cell phone, and Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015.  I had a problem of seeing myself in a reflection of the art on the wall, but I went with it just because it was a test.  Wished I had a better camera, and one that was a bit heavier so I could be a bit steadier.  The phone had no weight to it at all, and I could see every bump, so I slowed down some of the footage to minimize it.    But this was done quick, and cheap, so I'll be testing more out in the coming days.

Connectivity in a Digital World

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One of the most interesting seminars was called "The evolution of AV Connectivity: Past, Present & Future".  Joe Cornwall from Legrand gave it, and he really did a great job in explaining what was, what is, and what will be.  With the talk being all about 4K, UHD, and even 8K coming to a screen near you it was interesting how he dug through the technical to explain how and why some things have to happen first before the technology comes, but I am told with certainty that this future is coming. Since the advent of TV, engineers have always sought better resolution of images we are producing.  Now with the advent of 4K our image is more detailed then ever, and of course with the talk of 4K there is 8K.  But a lot is hype because in order to get there there has to be certain changes in our connectivity. DVI (digital visual interface) died in 2015.  It is no longer manufactured.  HDMI ports have become the norm now.  I remember DVI ports in my old non-linear editing d

Content and Communications Expo 2015

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This last week I had the opportunity to head on over to NAB/CCW Expo at the Jacob Javits Center in New York.  Two days of seminars and meeting manufacturing and service vendors of all types. Each year there is new and different technology appearing on the video production landscape This expo is an excellent place to learn and catch up with technology. The expo has something for everyone.  Engineers, filmmakers, advertisers, broadcasters, IT and A/V specialists can all come away with something here at the expo. Being an A/V specialist I came across a plethora of technology which may help me in the future.  The expo is also a good place to talk to others who are in the same field as you and also people who share their problems and solutions to various scenarios that may be of value to you professionally. The industry changes  rapidly and there are an assortment of problems we all face. IT wrestles with their problems and A/V has their own to deal with , and sometimes the two dep

What it really costs to make films....

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The following article is insightful and something I'v e been talking about for years.  You can still shoot on film, and make it affordable.  I took it even further and finished on film due to the fact that I had the equipment. I edited my film on and off for around 5 years.  Pretty long time, but when one needs to pay the bills and get jobs to pay those bills one does not have the time to consistently work on his or her project, Take a look at the article.  It's well done, and has some good points in it.  Thanks Jacob Dodd   for writing it. https://jamesriverfilm.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/the-true-cost-of-filmmaking-in-the-21st-century/

Jurassic World (2015)

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What can be said about Jurassic world that hasn't been said by other critics.  my youngest son said it in one word: "AWESOME".  We have enjoyed the series throughout the years, but I asked my boys which do you like, and they all go back to the original.  The others felt like repeats of the same they said, and my boys aren't half wrong.  When Jurassic Park came out way back in 1993 we as an audience had not seen anything like the film.  The effects were breathtaking, and the creatures were very real looking.  That is because a lot of hard work went into the effects.  Some of the CGI was groundbreaking.  So how does one out do the original?  Simple, you don't even try. Jurassic World is a movie that is unlike the others.  It's new.  The story picks up more then 20 years latter and tries to spin it's own tale.  It seems as though Jurassic World the amusement park has been running for 20 years and without one incident.  What the other films were trying to

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

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It looks like the summer movie blockbuster season is opening up early with the opening of " Avengers: Age of Ultron ".  The second Avengers begins with a promising opening.  It seems that the Avengers are once again battling the forces of Hydra.  From there the story develops into creating another baddie named Ultron . The film is fun, and works well, but the one problem was that it seemed overly long when it didn't need to be.  The theater was packed, and everyone seemed to enjoy it, but there were some younger children in the audience that seemed bored when there was no action on the screen, so the movie may not be geared to them particular.  But then why does the studio gear the merchandise to small kids.   I enjoyed the movies little jabs at itself.  The humor in it was funny, and it endeared us to the characters.  Such as Captain America's purity, or the Hulks anger issues, or even Iron man's love of one-liners and even Thor's good looks. L

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

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    I won't give out too much details about the movie for those who still want to see it.  With over 100 million copies of the trilogy sold and the books being translated into 52 languages I would think there is a built in audience for this movie.  So no matter what the critics say people are going to go see it and so this review really won't matter, but as a movie does it stack up to others of it's genre.  That genre being the erotic film. Erotica is a genre that dates back a long way.  From books, to films the genre has been a popular one and a very lucrative one too.  The film tries to be, but it isn't at all erotic.  There is a scene in the film where our heroine ( Dakota Johnson ) and Jamie Dornan (Mr Grey) sit at a piano and are whisked away in a passionate embrace, which is as close to erotic as the film gets. But to say that this film is devoid of any redeeming value is a lie.  Ms Johnson's performance is what makes the film.  She does a good job at