There are over 10 pages worth of articles about 3d on this website. Some of them are excellent. If you are undergoing a 3d based research task I recommend checking this out.
http://www.slate.com/search.html?q=3d
Category Archives: Media
Piracy roundup
There have been several interesting contributions to the piracy debate recently, too many to give each one an individual post. This Oatmeal cartoon has been circulating widely on Twitter and elsewhere, encapsulating the commonly held view that piracy is worsened by the fact that it can be very difficult to legally buy digital content in some cases, an argument also recently expressed by Matt Gemmell. An older Boing Boing post is also relevant here, about how much more frustrating it is to watch a legal DVD copy than a pirate one due to unskippable anti-piracy messages and trailers.
Reasoned responses have come from Andy Ihnatko and Craig Grannell who both make a similar point – that difficulty in buying something doesn’t mean we are entitled to steal it – whilst acknowledging the point The Oatmeal post makes.
The essence of the argument is as follows:
- Pirates – media institutions make it too hard to buy digital content, by making it more expensive than DVDs, not available in all regions at the same time, not compatible with a wide range of devices, or simply not available at all. Piracy would be reduced if it was easier to be a legal consumer.
- Non-pirates (if we are sticking with the established nautical metaphor, is this the navy?) – we are talking about entertainment products here, not food or medicine required to save lives. Difficulties in easily obtaining a media product legally does not mean that we are therefore entitled to steal it instead. It is possible to simply wait until it is available, buy a DVD copy or just go without.
Finally, reports yesterday also said that The Pirate Bay may well soon be blocked in the UK, much as Newzbin2 was, as attempts to censor the internet in order to protect the interests of media institutions continue.
Everything is a Remix, Part 4
iPhone brings cinematography to masses – Entertainment News, Technology News, Media – Variety
This Variety article looks at the impact of the iPhone 4S camera on film production:
The introduction of video recording options on Digital SLR cameras opened a lot of doors for budding auteurs on a budget, but advances to the camera quality of the latest iPhone could bring a flood of new offerings from people who haven’t previously been able to afford quality video equipment.
Apple put a heavy emphasis on the iPhone 4S camera, adding high-def 1080p recording capabilities (the iPhone 4 had 720p), updating the maximum aperture and improving the auto-white balance, while also offering image stabilization and temporal noise reduction. The result is a handheld video camera that shoots nearly as well as Canon’s EOS 5D Mark II at certain settings. And that’s already encouraging people to see what they can coax from the $200 device (not including two-year phone service contract).
“I foresee a lot more people experimenting with short film,” says Dmitry Kozko, CEO of OpenFilm, an online community for independent filmmakers whose advisory board includes actors James Caan, Robert Duvall and Scott Caan, along with director Mark Rydell. “I see it growing online, and I see a lot of festivals coming up that will cater to (the 4S), if only because of the ‘cool factor.’ “
via iPhone brings cinematography to masses – Entertainment News, Technology News, Media – Variety.
Don’t break stories on Twitter, BBC journalists told | Media | guardian.co.uk
This week has seen two major news outlets change their policies on use of Twitter by journalists.
BBC journalists have been told not to break news stories on Twitter before they tell their newsroom colleagues.The new rules, which apply to all of the corporation’s correspondents, reporters and producers, were announced on Wednesday a day after it was revealed Sky News had told its journalists not to repost information from any Twitter users who are not an employee of the broadcaster.
The new BBC guidelines are intended to ensure that stories are fed into the BBC’s newsgathering machine as quickly as possible and without the delay of a 140-character update on Twitter.
Chris Hamilton, the BBC’s social media editor, said: “We prize the increasing value of Twitter, and other social networks, to us and our audiences as a platform for our content, a newsgathering tool and a new way of engaging with people.
“Being quick off the mark with breaking news is essential to that mission. But we’ve been clear that our first priority remains ensuring that important information reaches BBC colleagues, and thus all our audiences, as quickly as possible – and certainly not after it reaches Twitter.”
via Don’t break stories on Twitter, BBC journalists told | Media | guardian.co.uk.
Hang The Pirates — But Start With The Movie Moguls And Record Execs « Nosey Parker
This piece by Al Parker of the Toronto Sun is well worth a read for anyone interested in the MegaUpload shutdown:
Law enforcement agents smash their way into a private building with sledgehammers and crowbars as part of a broad organized crackdown on “pirates” and “outlaws” who are brazenly flouting U.S. copyright and patent law, supposedly costing the legitimate copyright and patent holders a fortune in lost — “stolen” — revenue.
The legally mandated enforcers cause extensive, malicious damage and confiscate equipment, files, material and money that are the legal property of the building’s owner, who is charged with a variety of offences related to the alleged theft of intellectual property in the form of motion-picture films and technology.
Having shut down the business of the building without the necessity of a guilty verdict in court and having appropriated private property, again without a court finding of guilt, the enforcers leave the victim of their legally sanctioned invasion to pick up the broken pieces of his life.
Sounds a lot like Kim Dotcom (nee Schmitz), the Internet tycoon currently sitting in a New Zealand jail waiting for the U.S. government and its Hollywood backers to finally, slowly (the U.S. won’t actually produce documents for another month) get around to filing a formal extradition request on copyright infringement conspiracy charges.
But it’s not.
The victim could have been Carl Laemmle or William Fox or one of the dozen other independent producers who were later glorified as the founders of Hollywood. The legal enforcers were hired thugs representing Thomas Edison’s motion picture trust, a monopoly combine that controlled almost all aspects of movie technology, production and distribution in the U.S. before World War I. And the time was 1910 — more than 100 years ago.
Hang The Pirates — But Start With The Movie Moguls And Record Execs « Nosey Parker.
Naxos Blog » To stream or not to stream?
Useful article on music streaming, particularly useful for A2 Media students look at music distribution for their coursework or case studies.
Naxos Blog » To stream or not to stream?.
Infographic: Hollywood’s long war on technology – Boing Boing
This infographic looks at the ways the film industry have repeatedly feared the very technologies that have turned out to generate much of their revenue (65% of revenue in 2010) .
Infographic: Hollywood’s long war on technology – Boing Boing.
The Sky is Rising: report shows that entertainment industry is thriving; anti-piracy laws are about profit-maximization, not survival – Boing Boing
Whilst we face a radically changed internet in order to try and limit piracy, this Cory Doctorow post links to a report showing how entertainment revenue has risen during the period it is supposed to have been harmed.
Pirating the Oscars 2012: Ten Years of Data – Waxy.org
Andy Baio’s annual Oscar piracy post contains lots of great data useful for AS Film students and any A2 Media case studies or coursework related to film piracy.
Every year, the MPAA tries desperately to stop Oscar screeners — the review copies sent to Academy voters — from leaking online. And every year, teenage boys battling for street cred always seem to defeat whatever obstacles Hollywood throws at them.
For the last 10 years, I’ve tracked the online distribution of Oscar-nominated films, going back to 2003. Using a number of sources (see below for methodology), I’ve compiled a massive spreadsheet, now updated to include 310 films.
This year, for the first time, I’m calling it: after three years of declines, the MPAA seems to be winning the battle to stop screener leaks. But why?
via Pirating the Oscars 2012: Ten Years of Data – Waxy.org.