Category — Dvd Camcorders

I can see the opening scene now: Phelps shoveling down his 12,000-calorie breakfast, ending with those chocolate chip pancakes. There must be tons of footage available already thanks to all of those digital camcorders and video cameras that have been following him around.

I haven’t thought about swimming much since I was a kid, but watching Michael Phelps at the Olympics made me notice that something is missing from my life: the opportunity to eat whatever I want and not have it show.

Thinking of Phelps and all of the technology-assisted broken records as the subject of a film made me think of how Hollywood has looked at sports over the years. Here is a short list of my personal favorites:

1. Bang the Drum Slowly
2. The Natural
3. Hoosiers
4. Field of Dreams
5. Chariots of Fire

Rocky just rates an honorable message in my book.

What’s the next big thing in cable TV? I wouldn’t have guessed it, but it’s the docu-series. (Not this one, I hope) But don’t confuse this kind of programming with reality television though. These are well-scripted gems.

In these newly popular “narrowcasting ventures,” DVD video cameras are the real stars. The “talent” is just folks, people without agents and who won’t ask for points on DVD sales. These shows appeal to a smaller audience, but a demographically more interesting one.
Check out “High School Confidential” (WEtv) where teenage girls teenage girls struggle with drugs, sex, boys and the newly complex miniature world of high school. Or another series on the “Whale Wars” (Animal Planet), which is about a boatload of eco-do-gooders fighting whale poachers for months on the open sea.

The biggest difference between the docu-series and reality television is that the subjects in docu-series are far more interesting to watch. Networks take note, you don’t need to waste money on expensive video equipment, make quality content and you won’t waste the viewers’ time.

I have to confess that I have a tiny (okay possibly big) crush on Simon Pegg.

He’s just so hilarious and endearing with his self-deprecating, honest humor. I probably gave myself away already with all that Hot Fuzz hype from last year. So as such, it’s no surprise that I’m pumped for Pegg’s latest movie, Run Fatboy Run.

Trailer Check:

Per usual, it was released some time ago in the UK, and is just now premiering on our fair shores on March 28th. If you live in a big city, try and catch a sneak preview this weekend on March 22nd.

If you’re curious, I found there’s paparazzi footage of the London 2007 premiere. Even though it was most likely shot with a dvd camcorder, coolfotodudes.net got some quality coverage of Pegg and the director, David Schwimmer.

“A year from now, the 11 percent of American households that still get their TV over the airwaves will have their screens go black, unless they upgrade. Analog TV will be dead, as of Feb 17, 2009, and we will be living in an all-digital world” (source: CNBC).

Do people really still use rabbit ears?

I know at my parents house, when they decided to boycott the outrageous cable prices of time warner, they had to buy a tv tuner adapter that worked much like a cable box to get anything worthwhile. Of course, after about a year, they gave in and got cable tv again.

When did television become so expensive to watch? I swear, it would prove to be more cost effective to buy a dvd camcorder and make you’re own entertainment, which was the idea behind this blog actually.

And for the record, I totally started this blog before I heard about Michel Gondry’s movie, Be Kind, Rewind, with Jack Black and Mos Def where they have to remake their own version of popular movies for a video store.

Trailer Check:

In my mind, I compare camcorders to the family camera. You can capture so many moments in real time with a digital camcorder. You can take it to Six Flags to tape your dad getting off that new roller coaster. Or use it to film your daughter’s ballet recital. Then, you can send the tape to the grandparents who live far away. And you don’t need much training to use a dvd camcorder. Then, when you mail a disc, it doesn’t even cost that much.

I wonder if in the future, people will have digital movies in their wallets. Like how moms have that worn photo of their kids in their purses. With the advances of technology, in a few years, you could have digital movies in your watch or something. I wonder how many people put family movies on their iPods. Then, you could a keep a moving image of your memories with you at all times. I hope the iPhone will come with uploading capabilities.