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