Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Lottery Webchannel
Looking through cyberspace, I came across a facinating site. On the surface, it's just a pyramid lottery subscription service.
What's interesting is the way the website is being promoted. The key compentent of the site is video. There's a lengthy infomerical-style broadcast on the site, high production value, good encoding, well put together. You rarely see that level of investment on a website.
To have broadcast this through Sky would have cost £100,000 just to get started, let alone the annual bandwidth costs. It's another example of how I believe certain sectors will, within a few years, abandon TV broadcast altogether. There's just too much competition out there for schedule space, where as they can broadcast world-wide for a fraction of the start up costs. And add to that video-on-demand and you're surely on to a winner.
What's interesting is the way the website is being promoted. The key compentent of the site is video. There's a lengthy infomerical-style broadcast on the site, high production value, good encoding, well put together. You rarely see that level of investment on a website.
To have broadcast this through Sky would have cost £100,000 just to get started, let alone the annual bandwidth costs. It's another example of how I believe certain sectors will, within a few years, abandon TV broadcast altogether. There's just too much competition out there for schedule space, where as they can broadcast world-wide for a fraction of the start up costs. And add to that video-on-demand and you're surely on to a winner.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
A&B Events judging panel
We recently filmed the judges selecting winners of the Arts & Business awards. It was fascinating hearing the wranglings behind the selection of each winner, which in some cases was a very close call.
After than, we filmed the chair of each judging panel explaining what made the winner stand out.
And although we know who won, we're sworn to secrecy! The awards event takes place in March 07. This footage will be used on both the awards night, and then posted on A&B's website for people to watch again.
TV as we know it in critical condition?
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Online video 'eroding TV viewing'
Well, this on one hand startling, on another entirely predicatable. If you think about the shifts that are made in viewing habits, they simply take time. The young are embracing this, and I'd imagine for the young 16-24 year olds it's free, it's their parents or college or university that pay the broadband bill.
If you think about DVD, it was something you had to invest in, in terms of purchasing the software and hardware. Plus the player was in the front room, so young adults were restricted in what they could watch when.
If you look at the way DVD has envigorated the collectability and viewing of content, the TV via the internet will simply go the same route. Rather than a collection of physical DVDs, we'll soon end up collecting playlists and favourites on youtube, which at the momemnt is free.
In commerical terms, there's never been a better time as a small company to get an ad campaign; don't bother with traditional tv, go and shoot a low-budget but catching ad, then stick it on youtube. And how do you distribute it? Just add a link on your e-mail signature.
As with all new ideas, you have to be quick off the mark; youtube is fantastic but there's now SO much media being put up that it's almost impossible to find, and even with tags it can be difficult to find what you want. Ultimately, you have to push your clips out there, not just sit back and hope people will click on you.
Well, this on one hand startling, on another entirely predicatable. If you think about the shifts that are made in viewing habits, they simply take time. The young are embracing this, and I'd imagine for the young 16-24 year olds it's free, it's their parents or college or university that pay the broadband bill.
If you think about DVD, it was something you had to invest in, in terms of purchasing the software and hardware. Plus the player was in the front room, so young adults were restricted in what they could watch when.
If you look at the way DVD has envigorated the collectability and viewing of content, the TV via the internet will simply go the same route. Rather than a collection of physical DVDs, we'll soon end up collecting playlists and favourites on youtube, which at the momemnt is free.
In commerical terms, there's never been a better time as a small company to get an ad campaign; don't bother with traditional tv, go and shoot a low-budget but catching ad, then stick it on youtube. And how do you distribute it? Just add a link on your e-mail signature.
As with all new ideas, you have to be quick off the mark; youtube is fantastic but there's now SO much media being put up that it's almost impossible to find, and even with tags it can be difficult to find what you want. Ultimately, you have to push your clips out there, not just sit back and hope people will click on you.
Monday, November 20, 2006
BA's AVOD system
I've just come back from the States and enjoyed BA's new AVOD system while flying.
With the Audio and Video On Demand System, the small TV screen in front of your seat is touch senstive and you press it to work your way through the available options.
Rather than a series of rolling channels, you get to choose what you want to watch, when you want to watch it. And most importantly, pause it when you want to sleep or stretch your legs.
I started watching Lady In The Water but this being a supernatural thriller mainly set in darkness, it was hard to really get into on a 5" screen, so I gave up and tried Pirates of the Carribean instead. This was a much more watchable, both in terms of entertainment and suitability to the small screen.
Also available are CDs, TV programmes and BA inflight information videos.
Doubtless this AVOD system will roll out across BA's fleet, and I'm sure there must be a saving to be made here. There will be all kinds of data captured about the kinds of things people like to watch inflight. Also, this data might be used for billing purposes; ie rather than buy a licence to screen Lady In The Water regardless of how many people actually watch it, the costs may be linked to how many times its actually requested from the AVOD system.
With the Audio and Video On Demand System, the small TV screen in front of your seat is touch senstive and you press it to work your way through the available options.
Rather than a series of rolling channels, you get to choose what you want to watch, when you want to watch it. And most importantly, pause it when you want to sleep or stretch your legs.
I started watching Lady In The Water but this being a supernatural thriller mainly set in darkness, it was hard to really get into on a 5" screen, so I gave up and tried Pirates of the Carribean instead. This was a much more watchable, both in terms of entertainment and suitability to the small screen.
Also available are CDs, TV programmes and BA inflight information videos.
Doubtless this AVOD system will roll out across BA's fleet, and I'm sure there must be a saving to be made here. There will be all kinds of data captured about the kinds of things people like to watch inflight. Also, this data might be used for billing purposes; ie rather than buy a licence to screen Lady In The Water regardless of how many people actually watch it, the costs may be linked to how many times its actually requested from the AVOD system.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Steadicam for DV Cameras
We've just got a new piece of camera kit, a Steadicam Merlin. W've been trying it out on our little Sony HDR-HC3 HDV Camcorder. It took a fair bit of fiddling to get it set up on the Steadicam rig, which is highly sensitive to changes in the balance. However, the results were immediate. Up and down movement was as smooth as a jib, except with far more control. Sideways movements are proving hard, since you're fighting the camera's own momentum, so you have to pitch your control of the camera just right to draw it to a halt without a sudden jerk. We'll post some clips when we've got the hang of it!
CrackBerry
Well, I've had my BlackBerry for a week now, and I'm ready to delivery my verdict. Having completed a BlackBerry training video, I knew all the promises of instant e-mail, web access and life-changing PDA functionality.
I have to say, I have been completely converted to life BlackBerry. It was a doddle to set up with my e-mail accounts, and it's within a few days I was writing like a pro on its two-letters-per key keyboard. Synching it with Outlook's tasks and memo was a simple as "click here." When creating my contacts, I simply created a new folder withing contacts and put all the contacts I wanted in my phone. And since Outlook is all kept up to date with Plaxo and my BlackBerry phone is now synched with Outlook, for the first time the details on my laptop and phone are in synch and also available online.
The BlackBerry Pearl's screen gives amazing picture quality and readability, and the pearl itself it light to the touch and easy to navigate with. My only slight reservation is that the phone's speaker quality is not quite up to the standard of my old Nokia, but it's still clear.
If you're looking for a solution to e-mail on the move, I'd whole-heartedly recommend one.
I have to say, I have been completely converted to life BlackBerry. It was a doddle to set up with my e-mail accounts, and it's within a few days I was writing like a pro on its two-letters-per key keyboard. Synching it with Outlook's tasks and memo was a simple as "click here." When creating my contacts, I simply created a new folder withing contacts and put all the contacts I wanted in my phone. And since Outlook is all kept up to date with Plaxo and my BlackBerry phone is now synched with Outlook, for the first time the details on my laptop and phone are in synch and also available online.
The BlackBerry Pearl's screen gives amazing picture quality and readability, and the pearl itself it light to the touch and easy to navigate with. My only slight reservation is that the phone's speaker quality is not quite up to the standard of my old Nokia, but it's still clear.
If you're looking for a solution to e-mail on the move, I'd whole-heartedly recommend one.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
The Switch Twitch
We've just finished creating some support material for Douwe Egbert's Cafe Switch campaign. In mockumentary style we see four characters tell of how their love of Cafe Switch caused "The Switch Twitch," an involunatary twitching of the thumbs that's brought on when they think about having a Cafe Switch.
Check them out here:
Check them out here:
