More Digital Holograms [Verizon + Nokia + Star Trek]

My previous posts on digital holograms proved pretty popular [here, here, here].  So when I stumbled on this from Verizon Wireless + Nokia + Star Trek I figured it was worth a shout out.  I can't claim to understand what Verizon or Nokia have to do with the new Star Trek film, but that's another post for another blogger.

Go to the Star Trek promotional site - the instructions are very simple.

TIP: Rather than print the .PDF take a picture of it on your cell phone.  I used the rather substandard iPhone camera, which worked fine.

Picture 1

Long Tracking Shots

Daily Film Dose has a comprehensive [to say the least] list of the best long tracking shots of all time.  Full post here.  Below is one of the shots that made the list, from one of my all-time favorites, Goodfellas. 

According to Daily Film Dose, "The other granddaddy of the long tracking shot is Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco’s walk through the Copacabana in “Goodfellas”. This shot’s serves to put the audience in the point of view of Karen, who is about to be swept off her feet by the temptation of the gangster lifestyle. This introduction to Henry’s world will counterpoint their eventual downfall later in the film. The movement of the camera through the tight spaces and long corridors while maintaining constant dialogue makes this shot an impressive maneuver and a benchmark in cinema.

Jackass 2.5 Online Release

Rs861johnnyknoxvillerollingstonen_2On Dec. 19, Paramount/MTV will release a gratis stream of "Jackass 2.5" exclusively on Blockbuster's site.  Then on Dec. 26, it will be available for purchase on DVD at all major retailers, including iTunes [but rentals will be available only at Blockbuster].  Full WSJ article here. 

The "Jackass" franchise is nothing to sneeze at ... I think a lot of media folks will be watching the financials on this experiment.

[My friend Andy still believes that the original "Jackass" deserved to win the Oscar for "Best Documentary."  Sadly for Andy it wasn't even nominated]

Superbad

Picture_1Superbad opened to $31.2 million.  One of those movies that everyone seems to be talking about, even though no one seems to know what it's about or who stars in it.  That, to me, is true word-of-mouth.

I Met the Walrus [A Film]

This film is a bit tough to describe, so watch the trailer and then read below.

From the website I Met the Walrus:

In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview. This was in the midst of Lennon's "bed-in" phase, during which John and Yoko were staying in hotel beds in an effort to promote peace. 38 years later, Jerry has produced a film about it. Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack, director Josh Raskin has woven a visual narrative which tenderly romances Lennon’s every word in a cascading flood of multipronged animation. Raskin marries traditional pen sketches by James Braithwaite with digital illustration by Alex Kurina, resulting in a spell-binding vessel for Lennon’s boundless wit, and timeless message.

The Evolution of Creative Artists Agency

Picture_1_2Interesting read recently in the New York Times about Creative Artists [AKA CAA ... the talent agency juggernaut].   It talks about the agency's evolution in a time when:

"... new technology would combine to create growth even as the recording industry faltered, television networks fractured and studios clamped down on costs."

CAA is probably both a really interesting and really screwy place to work right now.  All at once they are dealing with the issues that the music industry has yet [!] to tackle; figuring out how to package TV shows that will be attractive to advertisers despite the evidence that viewers are leading a 'Tivo' lifestyle; trying to understand the issues that cable narrowcasting presents; and dealing with skyrocketing film production costs.  Just another day at the office for Lovett, Huvane, Light, Lourd, Nicita and O’Connor.

Read the article here.

Overhyped Will Ferrell Video

I’m going to say something that, based on what I’ve seen in the blogosphere, is not going to be popular:  The Will Ferrell “Landlord” video is not THAT funny. It’s funny, but I bet Ferrell himself would be surprised at being held up as a comic genius for this piece when his body of work includes Celebrity Jeopardy, Old School, The “Dear Lord Baby Jesus” scene in Talladega Nights [see clip below], etc.

I have a few theories [not mutually exclusive] on why it has caught on like wildfire:

  1. We are experiencing a serious comedy drought. What do I base this on?  Cut-rate "college humor" comics [name withheld as it violates my policy of slamming people who have not personally wronged me]; SNL [since Ferrell left]; Chappell’s leave-of-absence; etc. The public is thirsty for anything even remotely amusing.
  2. Being Will Ferrell matters.  This guy has a track-record of success, and our default assumption is that anything he does will be funny.  If this video were made by "Cut-Rate College Humor Comic" would it even come close in terms of popularity?
  3. The vast majority of original content on sites like Youtube just isn’t great unless you are seeking something very specific [e.g. kitesurfing in San Fran].  Some of it is good.  But not yet great.
  4. The mainstream media needs to attach a known personality to the user-generated-content story. Ferrell is just the guy [even though he's not your average "user"].

I think what we should celebrate is not the actual content, but rather the intent.  Ferrell has put himself out there like few celebs are willing to, and for that I applaud him!  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy "The Landlord," I'm just pretty sure his best is yet to come.

The Landord:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhGh6fEI8gY]

Scene From Talladega Nights:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKDC2iBQTYg]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Projection

Found this video on Chris Diclerico's blog today.  Apparently a Brazilian agency called Ginga Interactive created this full-building projection to promote the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.  I was suspicious when I first read the blog entry [I've seen a lot of projection buzz lately and I'm not a TMNT fan], but must admit that this is very well done.

Not sure what's more clever -- the projection itself or the fact that the agency is distributing a video of people's reaction to the projection ...

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXFYfqclMnI]