TED: Chris Jordan: Visualising Excess

I love these kinds of visual displays. Chris Jordan makes a great pictorial display to question some of the paths Americans take. His musings could be applied equally here in Australia. I loved it. I showed it to a class on the last day of school and whilst they were working on other things - it had an impact running away in the background as it was. It stimulated some interesting discussion. Just the way I like it....

The Kite Runner

I loved the book 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini, it was a great insight into human nature and the changes that have occured in Afghanistan. The film adaptation was great. I expected it to be more visually stunning though to be honest. The scenes I was looking forward to, the Kite festival and the Pomegranate tree, were not as vivid as I had imagined them, yet isn't that always the way when you read a book and furnish it with your imagination, the film usually disappoints in some way.
It has subtitles and was in all very enjoyable. I found the book illustrated more depth in the relationships as well.

Into the Wild

I absolutely loved this film. Sean Penn did the screenplay and directed it. It's based on a true story about a young man who adventures out into the world leaving behind comforts to travel and survive on his own smarts. It's a beautiful film, revealing natural and human treasures.
'Into the Wild' tells the story of my favourite kind of people. Self sufficient adventurers, I find very attractive. I highly recommend it.

Sex and the City

Went to see 'Sex and the City' tonight with a couple of girl friends. There was one man in the cinema. I felt sorry for him. It was very much like the TV show, I've watched enough random episodes to know who was who. It was light entertainment and I laughed a fair bit.

Indiana Jones and the Ageist Press

Every review I've read about the latest Indiana Jones film has made comment about the age of Harrison Ford. So what! I haven't seen the film myself, but my son and his mates went last night. They liked it. It was different, he said, possibly due to the aliens.

I find it kind of sad that the media has to make a big deal about the age of an actor in a film. I mean, big deal!

I will probably watch it on DVD in a few months time.

Tropfest Channel

Nine MSN and Tropfest have a site where you can watch this years films online. Watch the winning film "Marry Me" a love story. I liked it.

The Junior Tropfest winner is also accessible on this site.

Entries are open for Tropfest 2009.

Pangea Day

Saturday May 10th is Pangea Day. Watch films made by the world for the world. An amazing range of films that might just change your world. Get behind it.

Queenscliff Early Morning

Click to Play

Dawn at the Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia back balcony of the Queenscliff YHA.  

The Golden Compass

'The Golden Compass' is based on the fantasy novel 'Northern Lights' by Philip Pullman. It is the first in the trilogy 'His Dark Materials'. The production of the other two will apparently depend on the success of the first. People who have read the book are apparently displeased with the film. I am not one of them. I intend to read the book one day though.

I enjoyed the film. The acting and settings were great. I liked the fast pace and variety of action. I especially loved the song 'Lyra' written and performed by Kate Bush.

Juno

I enjoyed Juno. The characterisations were refreshing. I liked seeing the Paulie character, shy and railroaded by a stronger Juno. It was realistic of many young men at that age. The characters were well written.

The relationships were lovely and not stereotypic, yet more real than many screen relationships we've viewed.

For example the following dialogue:

Ultrasound Technician: I'm an ultrasound technician, maam.
Bren: Well, I'm a nail technician and I think we both ought to just stick to what we know.
Ultrasound Technician: Excuse me?
Bren: Oh, you think you're so special because you get to play Picture Pages up there? Well, my five year old daughter could do that and let me tell you, she's not the brightest bulb in the tanning bed. So why don't you go back to night school in Mantino and learn a real trade.
Juno MacGuff: Bren! You's a dick! I love it!

For once a step mother that doesn't suck!

For more great dialogue IMDB

My Pick for Top Gear Australian Audition

I am not into cars for the record. Quite impressed with Michael's clip. He's come a long way since "Carpark".

Tank Girl 1995

One of my favourite films 'Tank Girl'is based on a comic book by the same name. I showed some parts of it to my students in the last week of term as we were studying another film 'O Brother Where Art Thou' and looking at the similarities between 'The Odyssey' and these derivatives. It was fun, and she's an interesting female protagonist.

'Tank Girl' has a great sound track and is visually interesting. The setting 2033, a future where water has become a big issue was quite plausible to the students as well and the film has much to enjoy and muse upon.

Dan in Real Life

'Dan in Real Life' was an enjoyable romantic comedy about a guy who falls in love with his sisters girlfriend at a family gathering. I loved the family stuff in it most. Large family cultures are wonderful to me. As exasperating and trying as they can be to the family members, there is a real comfort and warmth that I experience in the large families I have belonged to.
I also enjoyed the 'single parent' with teenage daughter interactions. It successfully captured the awkwardness of a parent trying to work out the balance between putting your kids first and managing to have a personal 'grown up' relationship.
It's a truly funny and warm film, I recommend it.

Little Children

I'd heard nothing about this film, yet from the opening scene, I felt drawn into it. The thoughts of this mother and the narrators summation of the situations were effective in creating a remarkable clarity of storytelling. It was at once emotionally engaging and quite human.

I recommend 'Little Children' and I imagine this film will stay with me for quite a duration. It was quite an experience.

Rotten Tomatoes has a range of reviews.

Footy Legends

'Footy Legends' is a light uplifting story about the rise to self esteem for a bunch of unemployed young men. It's another Australian film and I enjoyed it. Urban Cinefile has a good review by Louise Keller. I am not really a football fan and have very little understanding of the game as played in this film. I enjoyed the story though.

Noise

Noise is tense. It's Australian and I liked it a lot. I liked it at the start when I realised it was made in Melbourne. Then the characters made me really intrigued. I thought I knew who was good and bad, then I was confused. Mostly I was surprised and that's what I always like in a film. I want those refreshing surprises in my entertainment. Those glimpses of the ordinary that seem honest if somewhat unattractive.

There are some really interesting scenes, like the conversations between the fiance of one of the victims and the policeman. The film revealed the characters quite thoughtfully and I was frequently startled by the action of the film, the twists and turns of the plot, the emotion shown by the male characters, the language used and the heavy smoking. There was actually a really clear shot of a brand of cigarettes at one point and this surprised me as well. I would love to know what the cigarette company paid for that advertising.

Tinnitus is horrible and if you've never had that annoying ringing in your ears, check out this film to get an idea of how harsh it is.

This film was a 2007 official selection Sundance Film Festival. It was popular,the following are a random sample of positive reviews Stale Popcorn, Aint it Cool and Applebox.

Great Ocean Road

Click to Play

Driving along Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia, January 2008.  

Formats available: Microsoft Video (.avi)

Tags: travel, drive, road, ocean, australia, coast

27 Dresses

Went to flicks with my mum to see '27 Dresses' last night. It was light-hearted entertainment. Typical feel good romantic comedy. As one who has been a bridesmaid only 5 times and had thought that excessive, I could relate more to the cynical journalist than the constant bridesmaid.


I laughed a lot during this movie and that's got to be good for you. The critics may mock and demean such movies as frivolous and fluffy, but laughter is the result I look for. It was a pleasant experience.

About Heath Ledger....

I have no idea how or why. Obviously - I don't know Heath Ledger. I admire and respect his art. I loved the characters and his playing in 'Two Hands', 'Ned Kelly', '1o Things I Hate About You', 'A Knights Tale' and others.

I felt he was a good person as far as I could see from such a great distance. I feel sad about his loss for his family, friends and for film. I appreciate the work he did and am grateful for that. I hope the media is kind to those close to him.

Music and Lyrics

I have to admit Hugh Grant plays characters that I find very likeable. I wasn't expecting much from this film and I was pleasantly surprised. It was true to its genre as a romantic comedy, I felt good after watching it.

I liked the way the 'pop' star was exposed as such a fraud too, with her spiritual 'glitter', yet underneath she thought the Dalai Lama was a llama. I liked the exposure of the 'famous' intellectual author as well.

It was just what I needed to watch last night.

Changes to Media Diet

Two articles today have drawn my attention to the fact that I don't listen to the radio or watch television any more. This statement comes from RIP Radio? an article today about podcasting growth, in 'The Age':

"He sees this streaming of genres, or "Foxtel for radio stations", as the future of radio. "Unless traditional radio stations look at these models, they will quickly find that they are irrelevant because young people just don't listen to the radio any more.""

The second article, Local TV to Profit from Writers Strike from 'The Australian', sounds like a boon for Australian Television Production, but this quote is telling :

"Mr Mitchell said this could lead to an Australian season of "repeats versus repeats", leaving networks with lower costs: "Presumably, they'd charge no less in ad rates." But he cautioned against taking viewers for granted. "People could
gradually drift away from free-to-air TV to pay-TV if it happened over a period of time," he said."

My son dropped our TV whilst I was on holidays. It died. He was stressed and thought I'd be upset, I wasn't. Possibly due to the way he framed the news.

Son: I've got some really bad news.

Me(interstate): Oh no, something really bad has happened....think recent teenage rampage in NarreWarren.... Just spit it out, tell me.

Son: I've killed the TV

Me: What in some freak underage drinking gathering?

Son: No, I was vacuuming and tried to move it and it fell off the stand.

Me: Really, that's it.

Son: True

Me: Thank God.

It could have been some other activity rather than vacuuming I guess, but, I really didn't care. He wanted to rush out and replace it before I got back, but we decided to use his small TV from his room, cause he rarely uses it and do some research before buying another.

He brought the TV downstairs and put it where the old one had been. I've watched a couple of DVDs on it, but I haven't even plugged the aeriel in. I don't listen to the radio in the car now that I have my iPod. I have an adapter I use. I download ABC radio and other podcasts. I buy DVD's of my favourite TV series and watch them as I want. I go to the cinema. I hire DVDs. I watch advertising on Duncans TV AD Land. Come to think of it I don't buy any print media except the occasional specialist magazine, I read enough online. Same goes for newspapers. Anyone else notice a change in thier media consumption?

Atonement

Last night I went to the Cinema with my mum to watch 'Atonement'. When it ended I felt I'd been too emotionally drained. It was an intense film and although the room was packed full, I frequently felt that shifting in my seat was too noisy due to the absolute stillness in the cinema.

I rushed outside and lit a cigarette, the main characters smoked mercilessly throughout the film and my addicted brain craved that kind of interuption to the tragedy unfolding before me.

With a bit of space between the experience and myself I must say it was a very well made film and delivered a real emotional punch. Kiera Knightly's acting with her grace and beauty were breathtaking. The green dress has to be seen. It was vivid and so realistic I had to turn away from many of the war scenes.

Amazing Grace

I wanted to see this film at the Cinema. Today I watched it on DVD. It was an experience. I was totally inspired by the story of William Wilberforce and his passionate life, devoted publicly to abolishing slavery and privately to fully experiencing life. It is a film containing many exquisite moments. I especially enjoyed Richard the Butlers relationship with William the politician and his quotes.
There is much to see and learn in this film and I highly recommend it.

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth was pretty scary in parts, but I guess that's what can be expected from fascism. The frightening captain who was the stepfather from hell to Ofelia, the child protagonist, was more than I could bear in parts. This is a fairy tale in the tradition of the Grimm Brothers. It takes you on a dark journey, which at times I doubted could end well.

There is a great selection of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

It has a haunting soundtrack. It was beautiful in many parts though, the fantasy and natural world contained magic and spirit. This Mexican film is one of my favourites of this year. I will watch it again.

Factory Girl

Factory Girl was a sad tale, yet I enjoyed it. I have read some critiques on Rotten Tomatoes and agree with some of the complaints of the movies, yet not all. Sure there were gaps and questions but sometimes I think telling life stories, particularly recent life stories, needs to be like that.

If you have any interest in Andy Warhol, or the musician (he who doesn't want to be named), or Edie Sedgewick, it would be interesting to watch.

Once (2006)

Tonight I went to see Once. I loved it. I hadn't read anything about it cause I was in a rush before I went to the Cinema and I couldn't find a lot of info.
It was a treasure, described as a modern day musical, the music was breathtaking and fused with the story. It was a simple, yet very touching story.
It is an Irish film and has a realistic and unpolished feel about it. The lack of glamour gave the story intimacy to me. It was about broken hearted people joining to make their dreams come alive. It was uplifting.
The music was amazing. I intend to get the soundtrack as it moved me to tears in places. Glen Hansard, the main actor is also the musician on the soundtrack. He has an awesome voice.

Death Proof

I loved Death Proof. I love the characterisations and the stylised violence of this film, although parts I had to turn away from, I'm really quite chicken to the core when it comes to violence.

I am possibly too simplistic in my movie watching stance but I love the way, when I watch a Tarantino film, I know not to expect anything, yet find myself from habit having those expectations, I knew not to have splintered. I like his treatment of women. I wouldn't go so far as to say that is accurate, but it is fun to watch. I liked the references to previous films as discussed in the review below.

My favourite review: Film Intuition

Revver has Revamped

Revver has become Revver 2.0. The landing page has changed. They have brought back categories, which pleases me, because I liked having an easier way to find things of interest. There is the capacity to provide video responses, which will be interesting to watch.
The stats pages have changed a little.
It seems quicker loading to me and a lot more interesting. I like it.

You Tube Copyright Developments

In the news today is YouTube unveils copyright protection tools (The Age). I immediately wondered who would continue to go there if they couldn't find mainstream media. It would give video sites like Revver and Blip a real chance to compete.
However, YouTube has a number of record labels and other legitimate ways to include sought after video for the public. It will be interesting to see. I wonder if they will be as tight as Revver. I once submitted a holiday video to Revver that was rejected because a song was playing on the radio, that I thought was irrecognisable, and I didn't have the rights to it. I wasn't cranky about that though, if anything it just demonstrated a high level of integrity to me that I like.

Kate Bush's label, EMI UK, is publishing on You Tube so thanks to that here's a treat:

I love the latest "Arial" album and this is the single from it. Enjoy!

Tropfest Tuesday - Bad Yoghurt

"Bad Yoghurt" directed by Shaun Beagley is an experience. It's a 13+ experience by the way.



This is stylized yuck in my opinion, yet some of my students highly rate it. It's kind of shocking in a funny, revolting way. You have been warned. What do you think of it?

Tropfest Tuesday - An Imaginary Friend

The winner of the 2007 Tropfest, An Imaginary Friend by Steve Barker.




PS: Sorry about last week. School holiday funk happening.

Tropfest Tuesday - The Von

'The Von', directed by John Maverty.
This is one the kids appreciated. Not for the weak stomached though! A playground story about a boy who imagines himself a superhero, with disastrous consequences for a kid. This short stars Jacob Bicknell was the '2007 Young Talent of the Year'. 'The Von' is from the 2007 Tropfest

Tropfest Tuesday - Road Rage

'Road Rage' directed by Mark Bellamy


This film is surprising and touching, yet also humourous. It was one of the finalists for 2007 Tropfest. Road rage doesn't have to end up as we expect!

Pangea Day Needs Your Videos

An amazing new project brought to life at TED Conference, Pangea Day. Watch this trailor, it's inspiring.

Revver Pays out $1 Million on Anniversary of Launch

What If...

Tropfest Tuesday - Between the Flags

'Between the Flags' directed by Jayce White



I love this Tropfest 2007 clip. It is ironic and refers to the riots that occurred in Sydney,in a gentle and humourous way.

Next Internet Millionaire Stats and latest episodes

Episode 2

Episode 3



Stats from tubemogul

If you missed it: Episode 1. If you want to learn more about the whole deal check out

The Next Internet Millionaire

Tropfest Tuesday - Australian Summer

"Australian Summer" Rated PG 13+ (language I think)



This 'Tropfest' short film from the 2005 Tropfest Finalists is a poignant and touching clip. Directed by Luke Eve. The actors are amazing and it is great entertainment. It reminds me of the power of imagination. Bruce Spence is featured in this clip.

The Next Internet Millionare

The Next Internet Millionaire series on Revver is quite popular right now. In the style of reality TV shows (my least favourite genre I might add), 12 individuals compete for an online opportunity. There are a series of tasks they complete as individuals and teams. There are some interesting individuals. This first episode goes for an hour. The man behind Simpleology, Mark Joyner, participates in this first episode.

Tropfest for Kids

If you're under 15 and aspire to be a short film maker, what are you waiting for? Quickly go to TropJr, read all the details and get started. Go on, move it, why are you still reading this?

What is Jeff Skoll up to?

Participant Productions

Making Films to Make Change: Jeff Skoll on TED.com

Magnify Summer Updates in Winter

Know your Viewers better with Ease
It's still winter in Australia, yet the Summer updates from Magnify.net are certainly warming. The ability to email members for channel administrators as well as receive email notifications when comments are made will certainly improve the channel owners ability to market their site to their audience and build relationships.
Ads & so forth
The advertising control is working great as previously discussed here. You can select remember me to save logging in each visit. The trash option is more functional.
Creativity
New widgets and colour scheme's are available to tailor your channel more to your preferred style and taste.

Magnify certainly listens to feedback and is constantly improving the ease and control over your video stock. I love it.

Senses of Cinema

Senses of Cinema is a rich and vast Australian online journal. It has to be seen to be believed. If you are serious about learning about the Australian cinematic experience from a range of approaches, you can't go past it. The articles are lengthy and researched and I am so delighted I have found it. The links are extensive. It is the find of the year for me. I can't believe it's taken me so long to find it! I can see literally hours of pleasurable reading and learning from this discovery. So I thought I would share it with you.

Tubemogul - Revver stats

If you make videos and want to track their performance, you want to try tubemogul. This is a chart of my videos performance on Revver for a couple of weeks. If you want to keep this updated there is an option to do that. You can get all kinds of charts. These charts can be embedded such as the example above I like it!

Thank You for Smoking

Watched 'Thank You for Smoking' last night in my friend's home cinema. It was a lovely experience. The home theatre idea is just decadent and lovely enough to totally appeal to me. It's lucky I don't have one because I may never attend work!
Thank You for Smoking was a hoot. It was very funny in a shocking kind of way. It was both light-hearted, yet a little thought-provoking. I enjoyed it. The MOD squad (short for merchants of death) particularly tickled me.

Magnify - Now you can choose your advertisers!

This morning I put some of my latest clips onto my Falling Brick Magnify.net site and noticed that Magnify have a new tab for channel administrators - Ads. You can now select from many of the Ad networks available to monetise your site. This is expanded choice from the past where you could only participate with Adsense and Revver.

There was mention of this on the blog late last month: Should we open Adnet?. Yet I had heard nothing more of this until discovering it today. This is great news to me. I don't have an Adsense account.

If you haven't looked at Magnify, I recommend it. There are so many great videos online now. It's a great place to create and share your collections or your own videos.

Stardust

Amnesty on Switch

Switch TV sent me an email today about this award winning Amnesty International ad. It is certainly powerful so make sure you watch and better still, make sure you sign.

Signature - Amnesty International

Port Welshpool

Click to Play

A fishing village in South Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. It's a windy day.  

Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv), Flash Video (.flv)

Tags: wind, sea, fishing-village, port-welshpool, australia, victoria

Clubland

I saw Australian film, Clubland this week. I laughed, cried, cringed and was enraged during the course of it. There were moments when I just wanted to leave the theatre. I'm glad I stayed for the cheery ending though. It was released in America under the title "Introducing the Dwights".

There was a lot of relationship drama and discovery packed into this film. All varieties of relationships and the range of behaviours and emotions.

Here's a link to an interview with the director Cherie Nowlan. I appreciate the job she did.

Testing TubeMogul

Today I am trying out TubeMogul. I read about it on the Revver Blog a week or so ago. It is a new service that allows you to upload your video and have it put on 6 sites (Revver, YouTube, Google, Yahoo, Metacafe, MySpace) all at once. Then it will track the statistics from those sites and you can look at graphs and get analytics from your video.

I have uploaded a video and although I generally only put my videos on Revver, I have accounts with all 6 places, for viewing purposes mainly. I have uploaded to all 6 for the purposes of checking out how this works.

The latest TubeMogul blog post:Universal Upload Creates Measurable Lift in Viewership shows a report on how a video maker has seen an increase in views using this service.

At this point I can say it is easy to use and get started. I haven't been doing much video lately. I could see this would be a great quicker and easier way to get distribution. I'll keep you updated as to how I find this service.

The Transformers

This week I went to see 'The Transformers'. It was highly recommended by my secondary school students as a must see! It was action packed and adventurous. It was long, however due to the non stop action and amusement, I didn't feel the time so to speak. There was nothing deep or meaningful here, it was a pure escapist time to be had.

Stranger Than Fiction

Emma Thompson is magic in Stranger Than Fiction, as an author struggling with the right ending for her character. This task becomes seriously challenging when the "character" arrives in person, having heard the author narrating his story in his head, to save himself. This is a must see film complete with succulent characters and pretty scenes. I loved it.

Revver Launches Preroll

Revver announced yesterday, it would be launching a new advertising option. Preroll and postroll advertising will be available to advertisers and content owners. Content owners have been asking for this for a while and as has been the case, Revver has listened and responded.
I have had an account with Revver for over 12 months now and have over 400 clips uploaded. I can't speak highly enough of the integrity of Revver and have found them to give great service and be honest and constructive in resolving difficulties and sharing information. They have constantly upgraded and improved their services in the time I have been with Revver. If you have video and are looking for a way to distribute it, I couldn't recommend Revver highly enough to you.

Babel

Babel tells a tale of connectedness between the characters who are mostly unaware of one another and spread across the globe. It highlights how different realities even the closest such as the parents and their children can be. It was an interesting film and I would recommend it.

The Queen

Stephen Frears has made some great films, yet I think 'The Queen' has to be his best. I totally enjoyed it. Great scenery and interesting perspective on historical phenomena most are familiar with.

Helen Mirren portrayed the Queen in an award-winning performance. The film was much better than I expected and I'm glad I watched it.

A Brief History of You Tube

Informative, Inspiring, brief........



I discovered this clip thanks to'How to Live Online'.

Tropfest and AFI news

I got an update today from Tropfest news. An Imaginary Life, the winner of 2007 Tropfest has been nominated for the AFI Best Short Animation Award. The AFI website has more details about the awards.

Entries for next years Tropfest close 10 January 2008, so less than 6 months to go if you intend to enter.

Do Something Real

The Age: Rich Pickings spreads the news of this great YouTube clip that highlights the divide in the world between the haves and the have nots.

Casanova

Director Driven Choice
'From the director of Chocolat' That line,splashed across the top of the DVD, drew my attention to this one. I had overlooked it quite a few times. I loved Chocolat. It was an amazing and beautiful story and the film managed to do it justice.
Romantics Delight
Casanova contained similar delicious moments. The legendary Casanova and the alluring Francesca have their moment of truth and intimacy in a hot air balloon, floating through a sky littered with fireworks over the city of Venice. Romance on a stick.
Action and Adventure
The film contains battles of wit and muscle as well as wild chases and escapades. I laughed and clapped with glee.
Heath Ledger
This is the second Heath Ledger film I've watched this month. Heath has effectively become both Ned Kelly (2003) and Casanova for me. Such diversity, such a delight!

Digital storytelling - File conversion link

Converting your Quicktime to Media Player:File conversion link

It's Time for a New Bottom Line

Ned Kelly (2003)

Ned Kelly has been the subject of quite a few films in Australia's history and The Age:Kelly Gang Rides into History tells about the worlds first feature film "The Story of the Kelly Gang" and its inclusion as a United Nations heritage register. I had a 'Ned Kelly' excursion with my English and Humanities year 9 classes this year.

Today by coincidence we watched the latest film Ned Kelly (2003)based on the book by Robert Drewe 'Our Sunshine' in the humanities class. It is a heroic legend and the film is quite well made. The students commented on the darkness of the film and we discussed the parts that we felt were not accurately based on historical sources. For those interested this site The Iron Outlaw, contains a wealth of information. There are 11 Kelly based films listed on this site with details about the films on most of them.

Mel Gibson's Apocalypto

ApocalyptoWhat a haunting film! The scenery was spectacular.I wouldn't say I enjoyed it. I was facinated by it. I can't enjoy watching so much hardship and cruelty. The tribe, as they were in the beginning seemed like a wonderful community and I was thinking how amazing it would be to live like that in the beginning. Stories by the fire with your family, living, working and sharing everything. It all changed pretty quickly though. It gives an insight into what the Mayan world could have been like.

$1000 on Revver

Before Revver switched to the new channel, last year some time, I had earnt around 100 odd dollars. Then they reset the earnings to date. I think it was about June last year, but I could be wrong. Anyway, since that reset, I have just today made $1000. I am happy with that. I haven't added a clip for ages. I have some ideas I am working on, but they will take some time. I haven't been taking a lot of video lately. I'm not sure why.

Robin Good seeks Grassroots TV Reporters

Robin Good's blog is an absolute favourite for me. His latest article: Live Online Television: New Emerging Formats - Robin Good TV Calls For Grassroots News Reporters offers an opportunity for those who would like to be a part of something new and worthwhile. The article says he is looking for reporters in Australia, as well as other places. Read it all if you are interested. It would be such an exciting opportunity.

On Location In Gippsland

Well, my secret has been discovered. Film Gippsland, launched this week, with pictures in the local papers of Sigrid Thornton and other locals launching Film Gippsland, to showcase the awesome locations available in Gippsland Victoria.
Much of my collection of 450 odd clips on Revver have been taken in Gippsland. You can check them out here: Revver Film Gippsland Victoria

Happy Feet etc

Does this film remind anyone of Moulin Rouge musically? Perhaps it is Nicole Kidman's voice?

I know, it's an old film and an animation and I haven't quite been able to watch it all yet. I have watched most of it twice now though so that counts it as done for me. I like that it highlights Antarctica's fragile nature.

I haven't watched a great movie for ages.

I think since it's the pretend Queens birthday today, I will get 'The Queen' out from the video shop, unless the hoardes have had the same lame thought as me, and watch it.

Magnify - Stats are Back

Well Magnify have returned the stats. In the recent Magnify.net Blog post: New Features: New Toys, the improvements are listed. I missed the stats so I am pleased about those. I don't have an adsense account so those advertising option improvements mean nothing to me, however I am sure many will find these improvements to be great.

yourCut - Coming Soon for Aussies

Revver and Ninemsn will launch on June 11 the first Australian video sharing online service that pays creators: yourCut. You can go and check it out now before everyone else gets wind of it.

This is exciting for Australian video sharers as well as viewers. I have looked around the site and it is using Revver to serve the ads and possibly for most of its usability. I have used Revver for over a year and have made over a thousand US dollars from my video's online. Revver are great to work with, they are fair and constantly improving.

From the FAQ of yourCut:

What is your mission:

"yourCut supports independent media artists. We believe that a free and open, democratised media environment is good for everyone. Our goal is to empower video makers and sharers to do what they do best."

Empower they will.

TV Series DVDs

Ok so I'm a bit slow. I don't watch TV very much. My kids have been purchasing TV series on DVD. They have quite a variety of TV series box sets. They bought us Battlestar Gallactica for Christmas and I got a taste of watching it in my own time, without ads and as much as I wanted. It was good.
For Mother's Day, I was given Season 1 of The Gilmour Girls and I am hooked. I had to rush out and buy the next two seasons on special. It's too convenient and indulgent.
It's winter here on Friday!

Video Site Updates

Blip TV has rolled out some new functions and if you are interested the blog post: Release Notes for Geeks should be right up your alley.

Magnify stats that I raved about a little while back are down. This has been the case for a while so I hope it restores itself soon.

Revver is quietly moving along for me. I am enjoying the new stats and my 415 clips are getting a little traffic.

I was surprised to read The Next Net: Top Video Sites during the week that Metacafe came in at 7. I am not a convert at all to Metacafe. Revver doesn't even get a mention. Ah well, I know nothing.

More Shins

Here are the rest of The Shins videos on Revver:

So Says I - The Shins
Another classic sounding track. Great animation.


Pink Bullets - The Shins

Love the origami cows in this one!



Saint Simon - The Shins

Wikipedia - The Shins can tell you all the little interesting details about this band.

Enjoy!

Amazing Movie Countdown 100

100 Movies, 100 Quotes, 100 Numbers,
Unbelievable

New Slang

Here is the clip for that great classic sounding song. It has been used in a number of TV shows and a well known company commercial as well as in "Garden State".

YouTube Founders Still At Work

In The Age:Empowering People One YouTube Clip at a Time, founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley discuss their current projects at YouTube.

It seems life hasn't changed a lot, although they are obviously wealthier:

"They both received Google stock now worth more than $US325 million, but their lifestyles haven't changed that much so far, they said.

"Hopefully, we come across as accessible and humble," Chen said. "I try to spend as much time with the same friends and people that were around before the whole user phenomenon started. I do pay for more dinners now than I did.""

The article states that YouTube is seeking to clean up their current stock by getting rid of the clutter and copyright infringing material. They don't intend to compete with some of the slicker new sites coming online and realise people want to watch themselves. They recognise that YouTube has empowered the individual to have an audience and they intend to continue to support that.

Revver Improvements

Revver has recently made improvements to their site. I have to say they really work at improving their service constantly. I like the new statistics. A Little Housekeeping outlines all the changes.
The main improvements are introduction of a service for the hearing impaired with a closed-captioning service. This is great. The statistics are now presented more meaningfully allowing easier manipulation. This can give you specific feedback and will make it less hit and miss.
They have put the number of views back so you can easily see how popular a video has been at a glance. There are a number of other improvements that you can check out if you read the article.
Makes life interesting.

The Shins on Revver

The Past and Pending - The Shins


The great film "The Garden State" featured the Shins song 'New Slang' and from the first time I heard it, I loved it. The Shins are great and I love this clip. The countryside is the type I see freedom in.

Recent Aussie Film Blog Finds

I found an interesting blog today: Australian Film. I really liked the article on film posters and also the link to the fishy story about 'Jindabyne'. I can't work out the dates though. The blogs' date is 15 Dec 2006, but the link to the article is yesterday's date. The 'Jindabyne' is a disturbing fish story on Red Orbit looks like it is filed in the Science tab of the website. It's clearly a well written movie review on the film Jindabyne. Good information, yet a confusing blog.

An interesting blog about film making Aussie Film makers (in development) has some interesting articles, but unfortunately I couldn't find a feed button to keep up to date with it. I will check back perhaps (if I remember).

I found the LAMP site (Laboratory for Advanced Media Production) bulging with media information and articles that could possibly keep me busy for another week. So if I don't post for a while, you'll know where I am. I don't think you can go past it.

Tuesday At the Museum

Click to Play

The Melbourne Museum on a Tuesday morning in May

Formats available: Microsoft Video (.avi)

Tags: melbourne, museum, australia

You Tube to Pay Top Producers

Steve Bryant gives Three reasons YouTube's pay scheme will change the media marketplace on his Reel Pop blog. I agree. In general the population wants gatekeepers and score keeping. If there is no competition, no height to reach, the brightest and the best won't stretch. This may legitimize online video.

I imagine it will have an effect on Revver also. In NewTeeVee: YouTube Starts Paying Star Users.

"YouTube is the latest video site to start sharing revenue with its users; Revver and Metacafe are two companies that jump-started the share-the-green movement. ..............And creators such as Lonelygirl15 and Ask a Ninja actively promote their Revver uploads as opposed to their YouTube ones because Revver viewings earn them money."

Will these creators abandon Revver? Will more producers line up to submit better quality work, now that it has become rewarding? Will online video remain independent or will it become commercialised? It all remains to be seen.

U2 Remix

HelloHello - U2.com versus EclecticMethod.Net
U2 asked Eclectic Method to remix Vertigo
Good music remixed.

Lockie Leonard TV Series - Coming Soon

I was delighted to read the following article about Tim Winton's Lockie Leonard. IF: Tim Winton's Lockie Leonard winning hearts around the world . Winton's Lockie character is sure to be lovable to teens in Australia. We read this text last year in class. As someone who grew up in the 80s I appreciated much that the students didn't get.

New Stats for Magnify.net Creators

Magnify.net channel creators have new and improved user statistics to check out for their sites. I am really impressed with how constantly Magnify brings improvements to this site.

Although I don't participate on YouTube (other than as a viewer) and don't have Google Adsense, if you do, there is a lot for you at magnify. You can monetize your YouTube videos by creating a magnify channel and use your Adsense account to collect from the advertising.

There are so many potential uses for Magnify if you want to participate in online video.
There are

Hot Fuzz

Finally managed to watch 'Hot Fuzz'. I loved 'Shawn of the Dead', but if I am honest about it, it was probably because I was almost forced to watch it and thought it was going to be a horror movie(can't stomach the horror genre)and was relieved, cause I wasn't horrified. I laughed a bit during both movies. They were quite clever and amusing.
I am not really a fan of spoofs either, yet these were tolerable.

Magnify News

Magnify has brought yet more improvements to channel creators this week. Read all about it here.

As promised here are some channels that seem promising:

Climate Change: I like the way they have created areas on their channel for the different types of videos.

NLP : Neuro Linguistic Programming. This channel is full of all kinds of information about NLP. I watched this one with great interest: Quit Smoking. I have made a time with the school counsellor to get hypnotised. I am like this guy on this clip, people have bought me cigarettes to stop me from being cranky. I am not sure if they are all ads. There are some really long videos of seminars, so you could get all the info you want I imagine.

And
Watch and Learn

Make Internet TV

A new site Make Internet TV looks like an awesome new resource for creators. It has the potential to become an absolute guide, with opportunities for learning, sharing and promoting in this field. Put together by The Participatory Culture Foundation it is a wiki that aims to support your participation.

I first read about this on the Revver Blog, encouraging revver users to get involved.

I like the layout and the clear step by step instructions it gives on the processes involved with making and distributing videos. It has clear explanations of important things like Creative Commons. If there is something you could add there is opportunity to make suggestions. This is where it has the further potential to become a great resource.

I like it.

Magnify.net Adds More Features

Today I finally had the chance to check out some of the changes I have been hearing about on Magnify.net. These changes were announced about 12 days ago, and are discussed on the Magnify Blog post. The blog says it better than I could and goes into detail about the range of features.

I had a play with the Falling Brick Channel today.
I attempted to create a feed from this blog to the channel, yet didn't manage to do it successfully. I will have another play with it tomorrow. I would also like to check out the chat feature on another channel I have created.
I added a Paypal donate button. I wonder if anyone does ever donate? It will be interesting to see. I am getting steady traffic on this channel, far better than this blog. I donate so perhaps it will return to me. I enjoy donating. It makes me feel happy to give someone who doesn't know me, yet has freely entertained or informed me, a financial blessing.
I love Magnify.net. It is such fun to play around with. So many cool features, yet not too many choices, so at to make it difficult. I suggest you check it out. If you're not interested in creating, you're bound to find a channel to entertain or inform you. I will check out some new channels, there has been such a huge growth in the number of channels since I began Falling Brick, and put some up this weekend.

300

I went to see 300 last week. It was based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller about an ancient battle. It was fantastic. In the beginning I found it difficult to determine if it were a cartoon or had actors. It was a gripping and heroic film. I totally enjoyed it. I love David Wenham. He's a great Aussie actor.

Children of Men

Children of Men is set in England in a not so distant future and was a gripping political thriller. It held my attention from start to finish. A world where there are no births makes for miserable and hopeless lives. It was a highly acclaimed film and most reviews I have read were positive. It frightens me because many aspects of the future painted seem all too possible and seeing it there in front of me is too much to bear. I would highly recommend this film and it is one I will be watching twice.

"The future's a thing of the past"

The Prestige

I have been longing to see The Prestige for a number of reasons including David Bowie and Hugh Jackman. I am a longtime fan of Bowie. I like watching him act as well as his musical creations. I have been fascinated in Tesla for a long time also and although I know this film is not factual, I enjoy any reference to him and his work.
The movie was not as easy as I was expecting it to be, it was enjoyable. I wasn't able to watch it all in one sitting and when I started watching it the second time, I rewatched some parts, which led to a greater enjoyment and appreciation of the film. I nearly didn't watch the end, but I am so glad I did, because I really enjoyed the second viewing.

Subscribing to Revver Videos and Feeds

Revver have included a new feature in their latest rollout, which is the ability to subscribe to a feed. If you wanted to be regularly updated on my most popular videos on Revver for example, you would just need to click on the feed button which is a little orange button with white dot and two white waves emitting from it. In the widget above my header is the symbol. It only works for me in my Internet Explorer feedreader. To learn more about feeds go to this post.

I have several feedreaders and it has revolutionised my Internet experience allowing me to keep up to date with all the blogs and videomakers I am interested in. I regularly update them and unsubscribe from blogs that I have lost interest in and found new ones etc. It doesn't take to long to scan a feed to see if there's something of interest to you.

A year with Revver

Today when I logged in to check my stats on Revver, I was delighted to find the new accounting stats are working well. I can clearly see now, which of my videos are being watched and how many clicks they are receiving. I haven't been uploading many clips on Revver for a while. I have been busy elsewhere in my life. My results have reflected this lack of activity. I have uploaded a few in the past few days to get to a rounded off number of 410. I think I may delete 10 at some stage later.

I uploaded my first Revver video on 31/3/06. A year ago tomorrow. There have been a lot of changes since that time. I have $894.80 total earnings to date, yet I think I earnt a hundred or so before the site changed and the stats were restarted. I am delighted with this result. My clips are not very popular and they haven't been edited, as I have said before. I began as an experiment to familiarise myself with the technology. The ease with which the results came in the beginning has stunted my growth. I haven't continued to do what I intended in the beginning, which was to create short edited clips to share places and stories with the world.

The Revver staff have been helpful and have made so many improvements to the site that I couldn't begin to mention them all. There have been times when things have changed more than I wanted them to, yet in reflecting on the year that's been, the majority of changes have been improvements. I really like Revver and those involved with it. I appreciate the helpfulness of the staff and their patience with complaints and requests. I appreciate that they have allowed people from all over the world to participate, even though it means extra paperwork for them.

I intend this next year to go back to my original goal. It will mean that I don't upload as many clips. I have uploaded 410 clips this first year. I don't expect there will be anywhere near as many in the next year, but who knows.

Free Hugs

Today I have read about the disgraceful threats made to Kathy Sierra: Creating Passionate Users, who is one of my favourite bloggers. I am not linking to the post because I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It is quite horrible and saddening. It would be great if by bringing this to light, as Kathy has done, that we can somehow change the way people behave, or take more responsibility about what we tolerate. I guess I see bullying every day in the school yard, but adults are extreme and horrific in comparison.

I hope that I see more inspiration, hope and joy online rather than the shadowy dark side of human nature. It worries me because I guess up to this point I have been thinking that on the Internet, you can hit delete, or close a window if you come across you don't tolerate.

I want to see more of this Free Hugs Wins Youtube Award: The Age

Emu Crossing

Click to Play

In a creek bed a few kms out of Broken Hill, these two emu's crossed the road. They make a distinctive noise.

Formats available: Microsoft Video (.avi), Flash Video (.flv)

Tags: emu, broken hill, australia, animals

The Gift of Nothing

A much under-rated and utilised gift. I have been sharing this gift with you for the last few days.

Weekend Viewing

I watched 'The Jacket'today. Adrien Brody is lovely. It was tense in the beginning, but got lovelier.
On Friday night I watched 'A Good Woman' and found it delightful. Oscar Wilde is a great writer.
I haven't watched many films lately or have began watching only to be dissappointed.

Echidna

Click to Play

    This prickly little echidna shuffled past.

Formats available: Microsoft Video (.avi)

Tags: echidna, australia, animal

Tropfest Deadline Day

This little clip is about the deadline for Tropfest. It's on Revver.

Nadia Tass News

One of my favourite filmmakers Nadia Tass is mentioned in IF News today as being chosen for Aurora. I'm pleased. I love many of her films, especially Amy, Malcolm and Rikki and Pete. Love them!

"Nadia Tass, who has made many iconic Australian films including Amy, Malcolm, Mr Reliable and The Big Steal as well as several US productions including Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story, is to direct Six Weeks of Heaven. Writer is Chris Philips and Producer is Dennis Kiely. The film tells of a nine year old girl who seeks to fulfil the dying wish of her brother for one last summer holiday."

Something to look forward to.