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.