Here is yet another example of how DRM ultimately screws the end user and potentially drives people that are willing to pay good money for content to less-than-legal methods of acquiring it. This is the story of a user who subscribes to Netflix’s streaming movie service. When he upgraded his PC with an HD monitor, DRM said no-no.

“When I tried to launch a streaming movie, I was greeted with an error message asking me to “resetâ€? my DRM…
When I called them they confirmed my worst fears. In order to access the Watch Now service, I had to give Microsoft’s DRM sniffing program access to all of the files on my hard drive. If the software found any non-Netflix video files, it would revoke my rights to the content and invalidate the DRM. This means that I would lose all the movies that I’ve purchased from Amazon’s Unbox, just to troubleshoot the issue.”

It always amazes me at the steps companies make to ensure their content will be as hard as possible for users to access…in their haste to protect content from piracy, they potentially drive even more users to piracy out of sheer frustration. Fortunately, some major companies are starting to see that DRM hurts more than helps. A number of labels have dabbled in DRM-free digital music, and it seems that Sony BMG is the latest to agree that DRM can be bad for consumers.

Jonny Lee, the creator of the $14 Steadicam and other unique indie-tastic solutions has come up with a Virtual Reality proof of concept program that works with a Wii Remote and sensor bar. It has obvious implications in the gaming world, particulary on the Wii platform. However, I see this as a potential tool for 3D artists and compositors. The ability to simple jog your head left or right to view and navigate around objects in a comp might be very useful. Here’s hoping someone picks up the torch and runs with this idea. You can download the software at Jonny’s site. Video embedded below.
Continue reading ‘Head Tracking for VR Displays with the WiiRemote’

The whole production crew of NBC’s Scrubs helps with a surprise proposal. I got a kick out of Zach Braff running the boom mic. Video below.
Continue reading ‘Engaged on the Set of Scrubs’

We here at FreshDV would like to take a moment and wish our North American and International readers a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo, Glædelig Jul, Fröhliche Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr, Buon Natale or Buone Feste Natalizie, Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto, Srozhdestovm Kristovim, Joyeux Noël, Mele Kalikimaka, …..

We’re thankful for another fantastic year here at FreshDV, and look forward to many new developments and fresh content in the coming year. Thanks to all our sponsors and those who provided gear for reviews and tutorials. And of course thanks to you for reading, watching, and listening. Stay tuned at this space, the best is yet to come.

Kendal’s Update:
May all your productions be glitch free, diva free and highly profitable!! May you make many new friends who will stick with you for a lifetime! May all electronics function virus free and enjoy a long revenue producing lifespan! Merry Christmas God, bless everyone of ya’ll!!!

You know you want it. It’s Western Digital’s new 2.5″ notebook hard drive with a whopping 320GB of space, priced at a cool $200. Yeah, it only rotates at 5400 RPM, but what do you expect? It’s only 2007 after all! And they’ll have a 7200 RPM option out before you can say “Dang. I just upgraded my system with the 5400 RPM version and now I hate my life.” Here’s how to swap the drive in your Macbook or Macbook Pro with this new drive (or any other 2.5″ drive) using Leopard’s Time Machine.

NYT has a interesting video segment up, a short scene from “Revolver,” Guy Ritchie’s new film from across the pond. He talks about how they lit the scene with four 20K lights (!!!) and used a “special lens” that allowed them to keep both near and far subjects in focus. Sounds to me like a lens with an absurdly high f-stop rating. Ritchie also outlines the point he was trying to convey in the scene. It’s interesting to note that the Times gives the viewer the option of mixing the director’s voiceover with the film audio as they please.

(Via Flippant News)

So you know how in Corporate America it is somehow considered acceptable to use the painfully horrific (and equally unprofessional) Comic Sans font for memos, notices, and newsletters? Trajan is like that, only for movies. Goodiebag TV takes the font’s overuse to task in this humorous episode. “Russell Crowe has co-starred with Trajan three times now.” Video below. And while we’re dishing on design, Make My Logo Bigger Cream is not to be missed.
Continue reading ‘Trajan - The Comic Sans of Movies’

During production of The Shining, Stanley Kubrick’s daughter Vivian made a behind the scenes documentary on the process. Even at 17 years of age she was an adept filmmaker and apparently a quite good at the art of interviewing as well, considering some of the very candid comments made by the film’s stars. The resulting 35-minute film is included in The Shining two-disc DVD release (also on HD-DVD and Blu-ray), and also happens to be up at Google Video. There is a version with Vivian Kubrick’s commentary as well. That one is really interesting, her commentary is very revealing about the process. She talks about the early model video tap that was used for playback on set, Garrett Brown’s mods to her Aaton camera rig, Jack Nicholson’s door-smashing technique, and much more. Finally, more food for thought on metaphors and “mistakes” in The Shining can be found here.

(Via Ticklebooth)

A few 133t H4X0rs have found a way to enable video recording on the iPhone. Right now the app only records five seconds of 15fps video to the iPhone’s RAM, but the developer says a future version will be able to record “somewhere from 15-30+ fps” with length only limited by the device’s storage. Video below.
Continue reading ‘Hackers FTW - IPhone Gets Video Recording’

In your off-topic news of the weird, it seems that Fox execs allowed Mike Judge’s latest film Idiocracy languish without an audience or proper promotion (just like his cult-fave Office Space), yet are running with the film’s idea of an energy drink that ultimately destroys the human race. Drink Brawndo, the Thirst Mutilator!

“Fox wouldn’t support a film about Brawndo, the energy drink that destroys plants, debases the human race, and makes those who drink it ‘win at yelling’, but they are now putting wholehearted support behind the actual drink.”

“There’s no beating that kind of corporate rationale. More rich absurdity, meanwhile, surely lies in Fox’s choice of business partner: Redux Beverages having until now been best known for the last vastly caffeinated energy drink they launched - the interestingly named Cocaine.”

And people wonder why the entertainment business seems to be faltering… Watch Brawndo’s viral ad below (which happens to be a complete Powerthirst ripoff clone):
Continue reading ‘Win At Exercise With The Thirst Mutilator’

Mike Curtis has written a nice long piece on where he sees the high-end post-production industry heading. I agree with many of his points, and also think the same lens can be expanded to apply to much of filmmaking and certainly high-end production work. The tools to smoothly create high-quality work continue to become more and more accessible, and access to training and education is ever on the rise. It is interesting to note that these same advancements that benefit independent filmmakers will at the same time probably cause some pain in the high-end post-houses who resist change and have high-end equipment investments.

Slashfilm reports that the annual Black List was released last week, containing a ranking of the hot screenplays of 2007 that are making the rounds and stirring up buzz in Hollywood.

The Veterans History Project has been collecting interviews and first-hand service accounts from veterans since 2000. Now in a partnership with PBS and Ken Burns, they have expanded the project and are requesting audio and video interviews from the community at large. They have broken the process down into 5 relatively simple steps, and offer a kit to get you started. So if you know a vet or civilian with a wartime story to tell, here’s your opportunity to preserve their account of history before it is lost forever.

Despite what seem like endless negotiation meetings, the WGA and studios have not yet reached an agreement. Writers Guild of America members are still striking, and the whole mess is hitting the entire TV and Film industry hard. At the center of this argument is the question of what content is worth to the Studios, and ultimately the writers creating the content. It is unfortunate that so many other production positions are affected by the strike. Consider the following e-mail to the LA Times from Dale Alexander, a grip on the set of “The Office” (which shut down after only 5 days into the strike):

“…On my show we had 14 writers. There were also 2 cameramen, 2 camera assistants, 4 hair stylists, 4 makeup artists, 7 wardrobe people, 4 grips, 4 electricians, 2 craft service, 4 props people, 6 construction, 1 medic, 3 art department, 5 set dressers, 3 sound men, 3 stand-ins, 2 set PAs, 4 assistant directors, 1 DGA trainee, 1 unit manager, 6 production office personnel, 3 casting people, 4 writers assistants, 1 script supervisor, 2 editors, 2 editors assistants, 3 post production personnel, 1 facilities manager, 8 drivers, 2 location managers, 3 accountants, 4 caterers and a producer who’s not a writer. All 102 of us are now out of work.”
“Everyone should be paid their fair share, but does it have to be at the expense of the other 90% of the crewmembers. Nobody ever recoups from a strike, lost wages are just that, lost. We all know that the strike will be resolved. Eventually both sides will return to the bargaining table and make a deal. The only uncertainty is how many of our houses, livelihoods, college educations and retirement funds will pay for it.”

Continue reading ‘Where the WGA Strike Stands’

LATimes has a nice analysis of the finances behind the film Sahara, widely generally regarded as major budget bomb after it recorded a $105M loss. It’s hard to grasp the scale of a production that required over $100,000 for “walkie-talkies”, $81,375 worth of camels, and $1.6M for boats (sadly, many of the boats perished in the film). No wonder they had to write in script changes to accommodate sponsors. Perhaps they should have re-dubbed it $ahara while they were making revisions.