Busy times, thus you have to do with this mesmerizing music video. Enjoy:

It seems to be sparking off a whole new wave: more…

I recently needed to uprez some footage from 160×120 to HD. I used the occasion to give Red Giant’s Instant HD a try-out. The results looked decent, but for comparison I also simply adjusted the motion settings in Final Cut Pro. Surprizingly, to me those results looked actually better.

Famous enhance moments

A fun compilation of all those films that use the (non-existing) enhance function that is part of any science-fiction/tech-thriller/computer-action movie. Enjoy!

(via)

Been a bit quiet on this blog, mainly because of work-load. Plus, I’ve been promoted to admin over at reduser, so I tend to spend computer time there.

It’s been a week now since the latest announcement by RED, and mostly people are very happy with the new information. Currently though there is some discussion about the naming of their new electronic viewfinder, the BOMB EVF. Some people tend to worry that the naming might cause problems at security checks. Matt Gottshalk promptly suggested an alternative name, the Warm Squishy Love Monster EVF, which inspired me to do a quick photoshop mock-up:

Since that wasn’t peaceful enough, Andrew Clemson also asked for a furry version. I just had to oblige:

The Anne Frank museum has publicized the only existing film footage showing Anne Frank. In this film you can see her leaning out of the window.

War is such a waste.

July 22 1941. The girl next door is getting married. Anne Frank is leaning out of the window of her house in Amsterdam to get a good look at the bride and groom. It is the only time Anne Frank has ever been captured on film. At the time of her wedding, the bride lived on the second floor at Merwedeplein 39. The Frank family lived at number 37, also on the second floor.

Anne Frank Museum home page. (via)

Enjoy:

Every few years I treat myself to something special, traveling in style that only one airline can provide. An airline that prides itself in being an agent of market forces, and the cleanest, easy-to use pricing structure. Where you are never far away from a smile, where your personal comfort is…

Ok, enough of the irony. Today I traveled Ryanair, something I had promised myself long time ago that I would never do. After all they did destroy my laptop (thankfully just a Vaio) and almost made my whole family miss a flight. Anyway, long story short, I am always amazed how a 1 Kroner ticket ends up costing much more than that. In the spirit of helpfulness and sharing, I would like to present this list to Mr. Leary, or whatever the name is of that Ryanair boss.

10 ways Ryanair could extract more money from their passengers

1. Want an experienced pilot? That’ll be 20 quid extra, sir.
2. Safety belts take 1 pound coins to open.
3. Life vests can be rented for 5 pounds per hour.
4. Seats where you are less likely to die are 50% extra.
5. Charge for oxygen consumed during the flight.
6. Surcharge of 5 pounds if you do not buy a Bingo ticket.
7. Charge 50 pence for every second you need to get off the plane.
8. Falling asleep and not listening to the announcements? 10 pounds, madam.
9. No change will be given.
10. Charge 10 pounds for every piece of luggage that did not get damaged during transport.

While researching photographies about the 1934 longshoremen strike, I came across these two pictures showing how press photographers looked like back then.

We can see both the gravity of the occasion – Police is about to attack the strikers, and the photographers prepared themselves with gas masks, goggles and rain hats – and a typical way of handling it – joking about.

Source: The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley.

Barb Dybwad has collection a nice list of online resources where you can find free multimedia content for your use. My favourite one would be the Creative Commons search.

I came across this beautiful shortfilm by a young film maker named Jesse Rosten, shot on no budget on a RED one.

Watch it in full quality on his website – but try not to read the story before seeing the film.

I just spent a week in the mountains with a group of kids. It was amazing how, and how fast, the news of Michael Jackson’s death spread into that remote corner of the world. Within minutes, all the girls had received a SMS from their friends, and everybody – regardless of age – was talking about “Jacko”.

I was never a fan of his, but liked his older music. I remember buying “Thriller” as a birthday present for my older brother. And that album really showed his potential, his amazing talent. Wish that he had had better friends to protect him from himself.

Here’s a great video shot in high speed, “Stranger in Moscow”.

Audio slideshow: Michael Jackson – man and music (BBC)