This is a flickr-style video I made this weekend for Jack Pribek’s “Market Street” (available at www.pribek.net). It’s nothing fancy, just a few random pics I pulled from the Creative Commons search at Flickr. If you’ve got Windows Movie Maker or IMovie, you could do much better than this. If you’re up to the challenge, post a link to yours in the comments section.

Alright,  I’m having embedding problems with video here at ol’ Edublogs.org, so if you want to see 26 seconds of amusement based on this post, click the following link:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05yo2811i1Y

Michael Langan is a promising new animator whose short film “Doxology” was featured in a film festival in Alabama yesterday.  Michael is originally from Montgomery, Alabama and I wish I’d made the trip up to meet him, but we had a full day of activities yesterday. 

On the movie site, http://www.doxologyfilm.com/index.html,  you can watch the trailer and see where the film is headed next.  In a recent interview, the filmmaker described recording the music for the Doxology (aka, Old 100th hymntune):

Perhaps my favorite part of filmmaking is designing the sound and music for a film. “Doxology” involved extensive original recording, for which I enlisted the help of a choir, two organists, a box of corn starch, and a mariachi band. The song which plays over the climax of the film is called “The Doxology,” which is an English hymn sung at the close of many church services. To achieve the full sound of an enormous church congregation, I had to multiply the sound of a single choir many times over. This required animating a sing-along video of sorts, from which the choir and organist could take their cues and sync up when joined by editing. I recorded the Higher Keys of Brown University in a large dance hall, asking them to sing the song ten times, changing their voices and positions after each take to add as much variety as possible to the recording. They sang like grandparents, children, opera singers, bored teenagers, and hopelessly tone-deaf churchgoers. On a separate day in another hall I recorded the organist playing the hymn with no choir. I then layered all of these sounds on top of each other, creating the illusion that the audience is listening to a single, gigantic congregation being led by an organist.

Sounds like he’s got some producer chops….pretty cool, eh?  Well, the movie is about the complex interrelationships between tennis, dancing cars and spiritual enlightenment.

Check out the synopsis:

Before reaching spiritual enlightenment, one sweater-vested young man must face a dancing Oldsmobile, endure a boozy encounter with God on a frozen tundra, and brush his teeth, comb his hair, floss, Q-Tip, lather and shave simultaneously. “Doxology” combines groundbreaking stop-motion animation techniques and unusual storytelling with the time-honored quest for spiritual awakening.

The really interesting thing is that this film is stop motion.  Like that series of stick-figure drawings you did in the textbook margin in elementary school.   Very old-school.

 Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may soon have to police your downloading habits.  This is due to increased pressure from content owners to control illegal downloading.  If only the RIAA had thought of this sooner… (Thanks, Future of Music Blog).  In the meantime,  the European Courts say that ISPs don’t have to disclose file sharers (via Hypebot);  so if you can’t catch the birds, chop down the tree?

Marc Cohen’s Ad-supported Music Central reacts to the Qtrax fiasco.  Good one, Marc!

Andrew Dubber discusses the boundaries of the new music industry (or lack thereof).  (New Music Strategies).

Guitar Flame shares a video from what has to be the world’s youngest fingerstyle guitar player.  Nice one.

ProMedia reminds us how to use the Xpand! plug-in as a metronome in Pro Tools.

Protooler reviews a free online sound source (did someone say “Free?”) for film, radio and tv sfx.

Wire-to-the-Ear makes me feel 100 years old as he shows y’all how we used to do things.

Didn’t find anything interesting, yet?   Then check out my wife’s latest zombie video review… 

Guess what Santa’s bringing the media industry this Christmas?  An affirmation that intellectual property has specific ownership and rights that supercede what some say is a public’s right to free content.  Read more about USB’s acceptance of  DRM checks for video content.  This means that Hollywood and multimedia developers can hope for a brighter future (unless you believe a hack is already being developed).

Read more about USB and DRM here:

What happens if the pirates win? 

  Read about China’s story here: 

(mediafuturist)

After learning about Armanda Costanza Inc. opening a branch office in Montgomery, I wondered what might be going on in the world of film-making to spur such a move.  After doing a bit of research, I’ve concluded that I need to start lobbying for matching incentives here in our state.  We have more to offer and could be reaping millions of dollars in industry spending & employment opportunities!

 If you’re an Alabama resident, shoot off a quick email and link this post!

If  your elected official makes their email address public, you might find your Alabama senator or representative here or  here.

Here’s what I found:

Alabama:

From the News portion of the Alabama Film Office’s website:

Tonya S. Holly, a film director based in northwest Alabama, who shot her feature film “When I Find the Ocean” all over the state in 2005, has said she feels compelled to shoot most of her upcoming movie about Depression-era bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in Louisiana.

“I would shoot as much as I could in Alabama, but the Louisiana incentives are amazing,” Holly told the Press-Register last year. “There’s no denying them. They have several things. They have the 25-percent tax credit, and they have an additional 10 percent for every single Louisiana hire. It can be 35 percent of your film.”

Golson said Mobile lost out on some major money when producers of “The Guardian,” the big-budget feature film starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher, decided to shoot in New Orleans rather than the U.S. Coast Guard station on Mobile Bay in 2005.

“They very much liked our Coast Guard base, and our Coast Guard people were really wanting them to come here,” Golson said. “It was a good match, but we didn’t have the incentives.”

When Hurricane Katrina made it impossible for “The Guardian” to continue filming in New Orleans, Golson said, the production chose to build sets from scratch in Shreveport, La., rather than relocate to the ready-made Coast Guard facility in Mobile.

(written Monday, April 16, 2007 By MIKE BRANTLEY)

Louisiana:

 Employment in Louisiana’s film industry has grown 23 percent per year since 2001 the highest in the nation.

The Louisiana industry supported 5,437 jobs in 2003. By 2005, an additional 13,445 jobs were created.

Wages have increased more than 31 percent each year.

In the United States, Louisiana ranks third in the number of films produced. This is the result of the state’s incentives programs geared to the industry.  (source )

Florida:

Florida offers a 10 to 22% cash rebate for filming costs associated with production in Florida.   Their “What’s Shooting” list is longer than Louisiana’s, but probably due to the industry presence in the Miami/Orlando area.

Georgia:

Movies, videos and commercials contributed $448 million in economic impact and put 7,870 people to work — “a record-breaking year,” according to Bill Thompson, director of the state’s film, video and music division.   (source)