New Media Killed the TV Star

Not according to Cable service providers...

First, this article on the Business Insider makes some pretty obvious predictions about where the Television industry is headed.

"...[E]ventually the cable-satellite-airwave monopoly over TV content in local markets will be circumvented by simple, global Internet distribution. You won't have 5 channels, or 50 channels, or 500 channels. You'll have millions of channels. You'll be able to watch anything you want, live or taped. You'll be able to watch it wherever you want--TV, computer, mobile device. You won't have to sorry about "slinging" video content around or programming your DVR. You'll just plug a pipe (Internet) into a box (device) and watch. This is where the future is going."

For many, this future is practically here. A combination of Hulu and Streaming Netflix has already rendered my TV useless. But, I've been really wary about Time Warner's pay-per-use shenanigans. Using the internet for streaming video content could sadly turn out to be far more expensive than Cable TV.

Yesterday it was announced that, believe it or not, Time Warner (along with Comcast) plan to distribute TV shows online.

"The concept, known as "TV Everywhere" or "On-Demand Online" is viewed as a way the pay-TV industry can allow customers to watch TV online through personal computers and mobile devices without enticing them to drop their cable TV subscription."

I'm hoping this is an alternative to their ridiculous metered-use experiment, because it seems absurd to charge customers for a Cable TV subscription, and then charge them AGAIN to transfer the data through their computer.

I feel like the Cable industry is stunting the progress of technology. Streaming web video has been a really powerful propellent in spreading information. It has increased the ease at which consumers can find and share entertainment, and video programs with educational and artistic value. It's changed the way companies market, and it's opened up endless opportunities for new business. And to me, the potential of extending this power to mobile devices is exciting.

- Flash 10 is coming to mobile devices in its beta form in October. This is great news! No more getting that pesky question mark cube (you know what I'm talking about), and video content will be even more portably accessible.

- But in the meantime, there is a website called Tappity designed to help you search and navigate mobile-friendly websites from your phone's browser. Instead of using an ordinary search engine, Tappity yields only results that can be viewed properly on your phone.

- Also, unrelated: It has been rumored (for a while now) that Apple is scheming a tablet computer. It's not really something I'd use for video editing, but it's still kinda cool.

kicks

A while a go I stumbled upon a site that I thought took web video to a level we've never seen before. On KickLight.com, users can create and synchronize a mini-web page or application to run in a box below a video during playback. The site is now powered by Youtube, so you have to upload a video to Youtube, and then give it a "kick." In the "kicklight" box, you can include facts about the video you are watching, images, clickable links, relevant rss feeds-- anything that you could build into a website, but as something that is timed and tied to the video.

The site doesn't seem to have gotten a lot of press yet, but I think it's an interesting way to make embedded video more effective, by adding interactive content and enhancing the overall viewer experience. Right now, it looks like they're encouraging users to make "Kicklights" out of existing viral videos, so obviously there is potential for entertainment value. But I think there's also an opportunity here for web video marketing campaigns.

This makes the iPhone look like a pile of poop.

Pattie Maes discusses cutting edge technology that will give the next generation of "smart phone" users a so-called "sixth sense." Her device is now cobbled together using an ordinary cell phone, portable projector, and a web cam. The device allows you to interact with the world in ways we've only seen in science fiction. I am particularly excited about how this device could change the way we read newspapers-- by projecting relevant video content right onto the paper itself. 

The Back Room

For those of you who missed the screening, here was our submission to the 2009 New York City 48 Hour Film Project:



Benjamin Grimes' first day at his new job goes horribly awry.

Yay! One Glass Video won the Audience Choice Award for THE BACK ROOM, our 48 Hour Film Project submission this year! This means that we made it into the Best of New York screening. Come check it out if you can:

When: Friday, June 12th @8pm
Where: Cantor Film Center, 36 8th St. NYC
Tickets: $10 (buy in advance)

A big thank you to our incredible team: Ben Relf, Ayinde Howell, Alan Kistler, Kendra Cunningham, Gerry Sievers, Chris Jamros, Lawrence Paone, Chelsea Noll, Can Yanardag and Ryan Cooper. And special thanks to Susan Woods of Aswoon, Jason Stevens of ReBar and The Brazen Head for donating their locations for the shoot.

We did it! After negligible amounts of sleep, we emerged from this year's 48 Hour Film Project with excruciating migraines, inexplicable bruises, and our best 48-Hour submission yet!

In THE BACK ROOM, Benjamin Grimes' first day at his new job goes horribly awry.

Our genre this year was Fantasy, and the required elements were "keys," "a professional organizer" and the line of dialog "You're not going to believe what I just heard."

Come out and see our film (and other team's submissions) THIS SATURDAY!

Saturday, June 6th @ 6:15pm
NYU's Cantor Film Center
36 East 8 Street, NYC 10003

Tickets: $10, and good for a free drink afterwards.
Buy tickets in advance. (be sure to select the Saturday - 6:15pm screening, our film will not be screened at any other time)