Google Street View Camera Kit
For the street view nerds out there, you can now buy your own kit. It includes 6 cameras, GPS unit, 12-V power supply, and software. The Price: Contact Seller. DIY Street view
Film
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Maddie the Dog – Pawfect Poses
A dog photographed in crazy poses. www.maddieonthings.com
Some of my favorites:
+ Read more…Kodak’s secret nuclear reactor
So it looks like Kodak has a secret small nuclear reactor in their NY headquarters to test impurities in their chemicals. No wonder their film stock is consistent.
Kodak’s (sort of) secret nuclear reactor
+ Read more…Blue Busters – Apple’s ’84 spoof of Ghostbusters
Blue Busters – Apple’s ’84 spoof of Ghostbusters
WOW
+ Read more…RiP Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak, the renowned children’s author, has passed away on Tuesday from complications caused by a recent stroke. Sendak wrote and illustrated more than 50 children’s books–including “Where the Wild Things Are,” his most famous, published in 1963. He was 83. Maurice Sendak dead: ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ author was 83
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60fps video recording on iPhone 4S
SloPro is a video app for the iPhone that records 60fps.
+ Read more…Huge 11lb Nikon 6mm Fisheye Lens
With 220° angle of view, this ridiculously huge Nikon Fisheye lens (6mm f2.8) will go on sale for around $161,000.
Huge 11-Pound Nikon 6mm ƒ2.8 Fisheye Lens Goes On Sale
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Real life Akira iconic bike
This fan built the real iconic Akira bike. Took over 7 years to build and roughly 10 million yen ($121,000 USD). This bike is being used to raise money for charities like childhood autism and relief and rebuilding efforts stemming from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Hands on with the official Akira Bike
+ Read more…Mass Effects 3: New Ending?
I am a proponent for artistic expression and the integrity of the artist’s eye so when I heard the uproar by a small minority group who expressed displeasure in the ending to the video game “Mass Effects 3″, I was like “Come on people, let it be what it is.” Let me first preface by saying that I have not played ME3 yet. I still haven’t played the 2nd one so I can’t comment on the ending. But it got me thinking, is it not the purpose of games in general to have the player become the piece that is being played? And if so the total immersion of the experience requires a full conclusion whether happy or sad but satisfying none the less. Could it be that the team at Bioware somehow ignored this fact and created an ending that they felt was better. And maybe it was but the thing that they have that the players don’t have is the luxury of story creation. We as the player only know what is presented to us whereas the creator has all knowledge, before after and every little nuances and details that are not presented to the player. The sometimes ambiguity for the artistic expression from a creator’s point may be valid and I will stand by it but maybe in this case it isn’t really justified. They lost the engagement that the players have gone through and not provided a satisfactory conclusion.
This reminds me of the conclusion that I felt playing Halo 2. But the only difference was that I knew it was part of a trilogy and that Halo 3 would be coming out. Mass Effects 3 is suppose to be the finish, the conclusion to this trilogy. Hopefully when I get around to playing and finishing it that I will be satisfied.
+ Read more…Walt – pretty convincing
Paris based graphic artist Pascal Witaszek created this movie poster. I swear it looks real but it’s just another well done fan made image.
+ Read more…Temporal Distortion
Amazing time-lapse video of the night sky. Temporal Distortion by Randy Halverson.
+ Read more…Bad PETA commercial
I am all for being vegetarian and vegan dietary lifestyle but some groups like PETA rub me the wrong way. Here’s a commercial that they made that in essence is stating the dangers of their boyfriends’ burgeoning veganism and its relation to sex. I find this to be of poor taste and doesn’t do anything to promote ethical treatment of animals. This is a spot that just does disservice to females.
+ Read more…Underwater Dog Photos
Photographer Seth Casteel has a pet lifestyle photo gallery of dogs underwater. You can check out more of his works by going to his page www.littlefriendsphoto.com. Here are few of my favorites.
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’11 World Press Photo of the Year
Samuel Aranda (NYTimes) won the 2011 World Press Photo of the Year award for his image of a veiled woman holding a wounded relative in her arms. This was during the demonstration in Yemen during what we call the “Arab Spring.”
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Scion FR-S Close Call
Here’s a behind the scenes “close call” moment while shooting the new Scion FR-S commercial.
+ Read more…Mad Men advertisement inspire Graffiti
I love the show Mad Men and this NYC subway advertisement is genius. Advertisement company by Stark. Here are a few of my favorites. You can see more at gothamist.
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VW Dog Strikes Back
Here’s a sequel to last years VW little Vader spot. It stars a fat dog that loosing weight.
+ Read more…Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is back
Superbowl week is here. And to celebrate, I will be highlighting some of the commercials. First up is Matthew Broderick reprising his role as Ferris Bueller for a Honda CR-V commercial.
+ Read more…FCPX update
Apple today released Final Cut Pro X v10.0.3. It brings back multicam editing of up to 64 angles; advanced chroma keying; enhanced XML; and broadcast monitoring support out via Thunderbolt port and PCIe cards.
I hope this means Apple is serious about Pro market again. Now when can we expect new Mac Pros?
+ Read more…
Digital Amputee
Mr. Berry was a struggling actor. One day he did a gig where he got paid to do a simple photo shoot. That photo got sold to stock photo library service. Later it was licensed by New York Citys health department for ad campaigns to bring awareness to diabetes. So they altered the image and that went live. Now Mr. Berry is very upset that this will negatively impact his career.
What do you think?
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Celebrity Death Trap
If celebrities star in a foreign commercial, does that mean their career is pretty much over? Here’s a commercial for CCAA staring Megan Fox and Mike Tyson. I think it’s over.
+ Read more…George Lucas to Retire?
"I'm retiring. I'm moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff."
–George Lucas, New York Times
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Has Lucas officially announced his retirement? It seems that Lucas is tired and jaded by the constant struggle to get his movies made the way he wants within the confines of the Hollywood Studio system. His latest ill treatment was with the Lucasfilm produced featured called “Red Tails,” which hits theaters today. He told the “Daily Show” that Hollywood didn’t favor the all-black major role action film.
Lucas might be looking to pursue other creative venues like experimental indie films a la “THX 1138″. But his retirement from this industry won’t be an overnight change. He is still mulling over Indiana Jones 5. Either way I feel his glory days as a story teller is over and maybe a time off from this industry will do him good.Around the World
After quitting his job, photographer Kien Lam took a trip around the world. Over the course of a year, 17 countries, and over 6200 photographs he turn them into a time-lapse video to share his epic journey with the internet. Enjoy:
+ Read more…Vacuum Love
I want to first give a shout out to my friend Ian Kim who posted this on his Facebook.
It’s a fascinating portrait series by a Japanese artist who goes by the name Photographer Hal. Couples were vacuum-packed together and then photographed. Here are few of my favorites:
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Famous Paintings as Photographs
Here’s a new take on famous paintings. These photographers recreated the paintings into an actual live photographs. Check them out: www.Booooooom.com
+ Read more…
GoPro HD Hero 2
Folks at GoPro are showing off couple cool new devices. First the HD Hero 2 with better sensor, 11 MP photo, and roughly about 2 hr battery life. They have also introduced the new Wifi BacPac which allows you to wirelessly control camera as well as be able to interace with mobile devices like the iPhone for instant playback of recorded content.
+ Read more…
Engadget Hands On Video PreviewRIP Bob Anderson
Bob Anderson, Olympic fencer and movie sword master, passed away on January 2nd, 2012. He is famous for donning the Darth Vader costume and battling Luke Skywalker in 2 of the original Star Wars films. We celebrate his life by revisiting the famous lightsaber scene in the Return of the Jedi.
+ Read more…Action Movie FX iPhone App
Here’s a fun must have app for your iphone. It’s called Action Movie FX. Produced by Bad Robots Production, it allows users to insert realistic special effects into live videos shot using the onboard camera. Check it out
+ Read more…Hines Ward – The Dark Knight Rises
Hines Ward is featured in an awesome sequence for the new Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Trailer. Check it out:
+ Read more…Avatar – iTunes Digital Extras
I have to admit that I’m probably one of the few that haven’t watched James Cameron’s Avatar. And to be frank I don’t really have the urge to watch it. The whole been there done that story plot line just wasn’t appealing for me. But I thought this was blog news worthy – Avatar is being released on iTunes with digital extras like scene deconstruction. And the one extra feature that really got me intrigued is the “Greenscreen X-Ray”. Basically you use the cursor to move around the scene and it shows you just that portion in it’s raw greenscreen format (the way the camera initially recorded it). This has never before been done especially on iTunes delivery and may be the new it feature for future titles. Will this make me want to finally see it, nah, but I think it’s a great idea.
+ Read more…AFM’s 20 Most Outrageous Movie Posters
The Hollywood Reporter picked the 20 most outrageous movie posters of 2011. I am utterly speechless. Here are few that I liked.
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You can view the rest by clicking on this link: AFM’s 20.
2012 Color of the Year
Tangerine Tango or specifically PANTONE® 17-1463 has been named the 2012 color of the year. According to their site, Tangerine Tango is a spirited reddish orange and continues to provide the energy boost that we need to recharge and move forward.
+ Read more…Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it… Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.
–Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®
Can you take photos even when you’re blind?
Craig Royal is a fine art photographer. He is also blind. He lost his vision due to a congenital form of optic atrophy.
My vision loss is due to a congenital form of optic atrophy. My peripheral vision is blurred and the central vision is obscured by a white blindspot.
–Craig Royal
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And yet he still manages to overcome his handicap to take beautiful photographs that can only be imagined and captured by a unique artist like himself.
You can check out Craig’s work on Flickr.
iPhone Lens Dial
Photojojo has released a new case for the iPhone that has a dial with 3 lenses attached to it. In essence it is turning your iPhone into a camera with interchangeable lens – a la Bolex Turret cameras. Priced at $250 for the case, it isn’t cheap but the jury is still out on how useful this case will be. Personally I’m worried about the weight of this case and wether or not it will fit inside my jean pocket. Then again its application may not be for everyday use. Check it our for yourself at:
Photojojo Store!
Buy the The iPhone Lens Dial at the Photojojo Store!
+ Read more…Best Camera
I always get asked what cameras I’d recommend. In the past I would do a brief research and make a recommendation based on their needs and budget. Today, however, I tell them the best camera is the one in their pocket – the one that they carry around all the time… iPhone or other smartphones. Moments are spontaneous and coincidental. It happens because you werent expecting it. A professional with his tens of thousands of dollars worth of gear will usually plot what he wants and spend hours and hours trying to capture it. To the average person, they dont have this luxury. They go about their business and really stumble upon these moments and want to capture it to share with others. 99.9% of the time they arent carrying DSLRs or even point and shoot cameras. For this person, its just a memory.
+ Read more…
The beauty of having a device like the iPhone is that its with you at all times. You see something and boom, its out ready to take photo or video. And with the advent of cellular Internet (3G), you can share it with the world via twitter, Facebook, YouTube or other social forum.
Annie Leibovitz, a professional photographer, was on the Rock Center with Brian Williams and shared the same opinion. She even pulled out her iPhone and had an impromptu photo shoot with Brian Williams.
The best camera is the one thats on you at all times.
Here’s a list of few apps that I love for the iPhone:
instagram
Hipstamatic
Pro HDR
360 PanoramaAdobe to Flash, “You are ceased”
Adobe made an announcement via ZDNet that from here on out, they will be ceasing development of Flash for mobile platforms and focusing more on its html5 development.
Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores. We will no longer adapt Flash Player for mobile devices to new browser, OS version or device configurations. Some of our source code licensees may opt to continue working on and releasing their own implementations. We will continue to support the current Android and PlayBook configurations with critical bug fixes and security updates.
–Adobe
So what does this mean for us content creator? I for one have agreed with Steve Jobs’ statements earlier regarding Flash being an outdated platform and a computer processor hog. Everything is going smaller and mobile so having a platform like html5 is great since it also is compatible with standard computers. I only wish they would optimize Flash on desktops so that my computer fan doesn’t kick in when watching videos. But back to the topic, it means for the most part 1 encode (h.264) MP4 format for videos and html5 based animations for sites. I still remember when Apple introduced h.264 and the codec Pixlet when they introduced Mac OS X 10.3 “Panther”. Hopefully this means that h.264 will have a longer shelf life before they introduce the next format – which by then should still be backwards compatible.
+ Read more…Casting Session
Im currently on my way to Center City to conduct some auditions at the agency. As I sit here I just had a thought, actors are by far the most willing and eager to travel. A good percentage of candidates are coming down from NYC. Weve even had few submissions from outside the country – Canada and India.
I dont think there is any other profession that people are this willing for a position that is not guaranteed. As a director, I have major respect for them. Thats why I really want to be an Actors Director.
+ Read more…Let the Flood Gates Open
So just posted for casting call on few sites. Now just sit back and let the flood gates open.
You got mail!
+ Read more…
