SiL

Here are two wedding videos I did with a 8mm “look.” The first was shot on actual super 8mm negative film, which was ridiculously expensive and time consuming. I chose to shoot negative film (as opposed to reversal stock) because it gives a little more latitude with low light conditions. But this meant I got a negative image back from the lab, and had to invert the film in Final Cut Pro (Effects > Video Filters > Channel > Invert). This resulted in a bluish tint, so I had to apply a sepia tint and do some color correcting. Because the cost of the film is so expensive, I chose each shot carefully.  The result was  I only had about 20 minutes (maybe 30) of raw footage to be edited down to about 10 minutes, which made for a much easier edit. Compare this to video–I had 7 hours of footage .

The second video was shot on a Sony PD-150 with the look achieved by color correcting with native FCP tools and with this free plugin from CGM. I decided to go for the reversal film look, as I really like the color saturation of that look and it matched the couple’s music choices.

To my eyes the real super 8 looks superior, but not for price.  The final cost for the final 10 minute (or so) 8mm film  was about $1,500. The video shot on the PD-150 cost about $42 (7 tapes at $6 each). Which looks better to you?

Download Video

Download Video

Here is a re-edit of my interview with Larry Shore and Tami Gold, the makers of “RFK In The Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope.” This one is a little shorter. There are some screenings being planned sponsored by the Roosevelt House Institute of Public Policy at Hunter , so make sure you go to their website to keep an eye out. The film’s website is is here

This is a really nice profile of Amanda Hick. Video produced by Jonathan Park and Beethoven Bong. Reporting by Neill Rosenfeld.

Dear Kodak Gallery: You stink (harsher word replaced).

I had one of the worst customer service experiences of my life today with Kodak Gallery. They deleted every single one of my pictures I had with them. My 2004 trip to DR. My trip to Paris. Even the photos from an emotional going away moment with a friend who I have not seen since (that’s you Alison Brown). All gone.

What’s worse, back in the days of film Ofoto (as the service was called back then) required that you send the original film if you wanted it converted, but they keep it. The justification? The pictures will be preserved ad infinitum digitally. There is no need for actual film anymore.

Well times change. Kodak claims they sent out emails and if it was sent to a spam filter it is not their problem. When I asked for a name of a person to contact they refused. I asked for the VP of marketing (thinking he may want to read my blog or twitter posts), which is public knowledge but she said she doesn’t have his name. So I gave it to her. It is Jeffery Hayzlett.

I gave the poor customer service agent hell, but Kodak refused to give me anything except a $10 credit to purchase my pictures on their website–which they deleted. Here is a pdf of the complete chat.

“Well, wait a minute, Boutros!” you are saying. “This might be just one bad experience for an otherwise good service.” Nope. The service sucks. Here’s what others are saying.

10,000 children died when schools collapsed in China’s 2008 earthquake. Hunter’s Peter Kwong and College of Staten Island’s Ming Xia explore the tragedy in the Oscar-nominated “China’s Unnatural Disaster.”

We’re ramping up our video efforts at work, and that means more Youtube. We’re calling it the CUNY Channel. A lot of these are lectures, interviews with profs and the like. In our office, we lovingly call this one “Chicken Man.” It is one of my favorites and not only because I shot it along with Young Cheong from Brooklyn College. While we’re giving out credit the video was produced by Cathy Jedruzek and edited by Jonathan Park.

The fact that Metuchen, NJ has a pub might not seem like breaking news, but trust me, it is. Hailey’s Harp and Pub’s newly open door, located at 400 Main Street in Metuchen, NJ, has made many residents very, very happy.

From Metuchenmatters.com:

They’re open with a minimal menu for now but the place looks fabulous and everyone there is as excited as everyone is in town. Amy Brooks will feature a few pieces of original glass art inside the restaurant as well – there are 100 nice community stories surrounding the Pub. The grand opening will be announced for later in the month but be sure to stop by during Saturday’s fair.

I already posted about Indie Music Night, so let me cut to the chase. The next one is October 10, 6pm-9:30pm at the Griggstown Pavilion in Princeton Township (not borough), NJ . Admission is a donation, and baked goods and coffee are $1. From the Indie Music Night Myspace page:

The evening leans towards and eclectic array of singer/songwriters and bands. We tend to get an attentive, well behaved, clean, and “freakishly attentive” audience of 50 or more. They like walks on the beach and red wine. The show is hosted by singer/songwriter Sarah Donner with her sidekick sound man Handsome Joseph McLean. Very casual, rustic, cozy, and Norwegian.

DIRECTIONS to GRIGGSTOWN PAVILION:

From Princeton: Take Rt. 1 North, Take jughandle left onto New Rd. (by Red Roof Inn), Follow New Rd. down a few miles and cross over Rt. 27. This becomes Bunkerhill Rd. Continue a 1.5 miles past golf course and Lutheran Church. Take left onto Washington Ave. The Pavilion is the yellow building set back off the road on the right.

From New Brunswick: Take Rt. 1 South, Take right onto New Rd. and follow directions above.

The Pavilion is next door to 373 Bunkerhill Rd., Princeton, NJ 08540

So my experiment with an online community newspaper for Edison, NJ yielded mixed results. Of the successes, I was able to create a completely aggregated online newspaper. On the not-so-successful side, content is still king and relying purely on aggregation still requires a great deal of effort.

Edison Informer became a victim of a long, long to do list that includes work, raise a baby, learn MySQL (and related geek things) and apply to MLIS programs. To make the aggregation really work, the incoming feeds should be carefully edited (or to use the buzzword du jour, “curated“). This proved to be too labor intensive for this one man band.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, here is Jeff Jarvis talking about aggregation in a surprisingly low quality video:

OK, dude, if you are going to interview a “guru,” a don’t use a couple of dirty jackets as a backdrop. A microphone might be nice also.

In the meantime, www.edisoninformer.com redirects here, at least for now. But, true believers, don’t worry about the implications. Silradio.com will live on (for better or for worse).

In my review of Indie Music Night I was a little cheap on the love for Kate Klim, Christopher Morse and Kiernan McMullan..

Kate, Chris, Kiernan, let me make it up to you.

The very cute Kate Klim,

Christopher Morse playing Super Me.

And finally Kiernan McMullan, whom I should add closed out the evening and had more than a few loyal fans in the audience.

kiernan MCMULLAN – Grace and Love from beyond MEASURE productions on Vimeo.