Posts from — March 2007

The market has become saturated with hard-disk camcorders for some time. But recently, I’ve been reading up on the HDV camcorder that has an internal memory feature.

Take the Sony DCR-SR62 for example. It boasts having a 35mm equivalent camera mode (whatever that means) & a 30gb memory storage. It has a one-touch disc burning feature, plus a memory stick slot to easily connect the footage to a computer.

On the downside, it only mentions compatibility with Windows, but I’m sure it can be hooked up to an Apple computer too. I don’t think Sony could maintain its hold on the market without having some functionality with Macs.

I’m still a DV tape girl, but with HD perhaps it’s better to put everything on a chip. I could just transfer ito a hard drive from the camera directly. It kinda makes sense. These cameras start at about $569, which is a bit a pricey for a hard-disk camera. But it’s HD, so I guess the price tag isn’t really off the mark.

On BBC America, they have a new stylish “Robin Hood” series. It already premiered in the UK and is just starting its run here. I have on demand, so I watched the pilot episode the other day. It was a tad kooky for my tastes. The relationship between Robin and his sidekick was weird. I felt like there was some backstory that I was missing. They assumed the viewer knew too much about the story beforehand.

And the show got pretty heavy with the hangings for stealing rather quickly. By the end of the first episode, there was an ultimatum that would force Robin’s hand to defy the sheriff. He’d have to let 3 innocent men be hung and save the fight for another day. Or he could rescue them and live as an outlaw..in Sherwood Forest. He chose the latter.

Maybe it felt a bit rushed to me since it was only an hour-long pilot. Perhaps, if it was a 2 parter, the story could breathe a bit. The cinematography was decent. Not sure if it’s shot on film, it’s probably an HDcam. Don’t know if I’m ready to commit to the series. I probably will since I watch everything.

Thinking of other Robin Hood’s, I have to say I do like Disney’s version of Robin Hood. Kevin Costner’s take is on the other end of the spectrum. It was pretty dark with Alan Rickman and that scar on his face. I’d say BBC’s version is somewhere in the middle. I’m curious to see how they can stretch this out as a series. Jonas Armstrong who plays the title character is good, but they’ve got to find me some plot for me to commit.

The YouTube Video Awards were announced this week. I have no idea who the judges were (perhaps the creators of YouTube). I did know 2 videos from the list: the omnipresent OkGo video for “Here We Go Again” & the Ask a Ninja series. That Smosh video wasn’t that funny, but it was succint with the jokes.

I can’t believe that LonelyGirl15 didn’t win, they didn’t even say the runner-ups. Guess with so many videos uploaded daily on the site, it’s hard to keep track. They did say it’s been a “pioneering year for online video” made by ordinary people with low-priced camcorders.

I can’t believe there are so many “Ask a Ninja” videos. All he does is pontificate on subjects from the point of view of a ninja. I’m sure he gets a friend to film him with a Sony camcorder or something and just shoots a bunch of long takes.

Check out this one about Ninja Love.

I wasn’t all psyched about Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez joining forces in the beginning. But with the lack of quality cinema at the multiplex, I think I’m sufficiently excited! I watched some interviews on SciFi channel and needless to say, this s*&t is gonna be in insane!

These directors are quite the crowd pleaser (at least with my generation), so the countdown has begun for opening night. I still can’t wrap my head around Rose McGowan being in both films. Tarantino explains that in the 60s with the double-feature business, they’d go to one city and just shoot a bunch of movies back to back. I guess it was like Ed Wood-style, where they just switch the actors around. He says it would happen more often than not that you’d see the same actress in both films.

With the advent of miniDV, it reminds me of these online comedy troupes that make parody videos with the same set of actors. They’ve got a group of friends, and they just keep making skits and use the same cast. Sounds pretty economical to me.

With the accessibility of digital camcorders, people have been whipping up video flyers for parties. All you need is a great concept, then just edit it with iMovie or something simple to put some text over the images. Voila! An eye-catching video flyer that can be circulated around myspace or friendster or what have you.

One of the best I’ve seen was for a People-Food.com party. Those cats are wild. I still laugh whole-heartedly at “Paxilback“. This video flyer is a tad bit NSFW, but it’s execution is funny as hell.