Whoo-hoo!!!!

So happy birthday to you, Ryan!
And remember, 31 is 13 in reverse, so this should be a very good year for you.

 Red Digital Cinema recently released info on the their latest Scarlet/Epic/DSMC camera designs. (Check out the links here and here!) The future line-up they’ve rolled out is absolutely amazing. It’s more feature-rich and functional than what anyone is offering, and still at a price point that’s unbelievably low for a camera with similar specs. At the core of their new system, are the modular imaging-sensor/processing-engine units Red calls a, “Brain.” And all of this is even more amazing when you consider the specs that were just released still have a year or more to mature into something even better.

 But damn it Jim, I’m a broke indie filmmaker genius, not a non-broke indie filmmaker genius!

Read the rest of this entry »

 Immersion is that which takes a story and creates an experience. So critical is this part of design, it has become an artform itself. It’s the half of any construct we see and interact with, and some would argue, is the most important aspect of the entire design. Good immersion is typically praised as good design, because it doesn’t matter how complex a device/work/concept is, as long as it’s accessible to its intended audience/users. Read the rest of this entry »

 Just wanted everyone to be aware of a 40% off *secret* sale that Red Giant Software will be having next week. I don’t usually make “plugs” for other companies, but considering Red Giant makes some amazing plug-ins for Final Cut, After Effects, Premiere, Avid, etc. (you know, the usual suspects), I thought this would benefit us ultra-indie folks.

 That’s right, I’m doing it for the people.

 And just so you know, I use (and have been using for several years now) Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Suite. Ah, Looks and Colorista: Two of my most favorite things…

 (Answer: Any which-way ya want!)

 Panasonic just released a new “camera” this week. And it’s most notable feature is that it’s not a camera at all ! I’ve been waiting for something like this for awhile. It’s not perfect, but it’s a direction I would like “cameras” to go in. Read the press release here and then imagine hooking it up to your Red One or Scarlet (or why not… your DVX too!)

The Red User Forums at reduser.net are abuzz with news that revised details about the Red Scarlet, the “cheaper” next-generation high definition camera from Red Digital Cinema, will be released on Thursday, November 13.

And yes, we seem to be Red fanboys now.  It’s not like anyone else reads this, so what are you complaining about?

Seriously, though, the original specifications were fairly impressive for a “entry level” high quality, high definition camera.  Last month Red announced they’d revised their plans for both the Scarlet, as well as the super-high-end Epic camera, based on “market changes” in the HD camera space.  Many believe that this is in response to the latest Nikon and Canon (and as Trey pointed out in the previous post, Panasonic) still cameras that can shoot HD video with amazing depth of field capability.

We’ll be watching and waiting, and probably commenting on it ourselves when Thursday the 13th rolls around.

Just a quick update to explain our recent silence — not that too many of you have probably noticed.

A lot of things are currently changing behind the scenes, and we’ve both been way too busy to prepare a regular “on the nines” post.   Things should be settling down again soon, so it shouldn’t be too much longer before we rave about expensive cameras and film production, or the future of media.

Oh, and there may even be some new stuff, too.

Red Digital Cinema has recently posted some new renders of its upcoming digital cinema camera Scarlet. There have even been some exclusive images released (the latest one here) on scarletuser.com.

As exciting as this is, Red Digital Cinema has also stated that it aims to release Scarlet in April 2009 and added that they are still on schedule.

With 3K RAW imaging, 2/3 inch sensor, a big/fast zoom, teeming possibilities for add-on functionality, and a locked down price of $3,000 for an out-of-the-box ready-to-shoot camera, it’s easy to understand why people are already lining up and banging on RDC’s door for this ultra-indie revolution.

So the last several weeks we’ve been talking about how to deliver content in new and unique ways. We’ve talked about the various ways in which technology and the Internet are enabling media creators to bypass the regular television or movie gatekeepers.

So now, we have an example of someone doing it. Joss Whedon, the creator of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series, the short lived Firefly, and its movie continuation Serenity has unveiled Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog!

A three part experiment in online content with each Act being unveiled through out this week. Starring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, and Felicia Day it is essentially a Supervillain Musical.

The video is hosted by Hulu, which means it’s only available in the United States, and will apparently only be freely available online this week. After that it’ll be released as a paid download, or DVD.

I’m not saying this is the culmination of everything we’ve talked about, but it’s yet another step in that direction, but he does touch on many of the same sentiments in his Master Plan.

It’s a fascinating experiment, and it illustrates that we’re on the right track.