Here are a few tips for getting the most from your new camcorder. Plus, predictions for 2006.
If you were very, very good this year, Santa might have brought you a digital camcorder for Christmas. He might have even brought you one if you weren't so good: In November, I saw a survey that found that 6 percent of those polled were considering giving a video camera as a gift. If you're one of the lucky recipients, read on: Here are my tips for getting the most out of your shiny new camcorder.
Make a short video. You've just gotten a fancy new toy, so make the most of it: Don't just point it at people and yell at them to do something interesting. Instead, sit down and think about what short videos you can make with your new camcorder. Why not, for instance, replace thank-you letters with a thank-you video? Film the kids saying thanks and playing with the gifts, then edit it, post it on an online video hosting service such as Ourmedia or Youtube, and send the link to friends and family. The video you shoot doesn't have to be an epic: Creating a short movie is the best way to get familiar with your camcorder and video editing.
With the new year just a few days away, it's time to think about what 2006 holds for camcorders and video. Here are my predictions for four big trends that we will see this year.
4. Video blogging goes mainstream. Video blogging is one of the big success stories of 2005: More and more people are starting to document their lives using online video blogs. This trend is going to continue as online blogging services add video options: Typepad already offers a free video blog service through Videoegg, and more sites will be doing the same soon. I'll bet that we'll see the same mainstream adoption we've seen with podcasts: Before you know it, celebrities will have their own video blogs. And that'll probably also be a sign that this particular bandwagon has been well and truly jumped on, and that the really cool kids have moved onto something different. (more)
The greatest show on Earth? - Forbes.com - MSNBC.com: "BURLINGAME, Calif. - While most people are still sleeping off the effects of their New Year's Eve debauchery, more than 130,000 industry gearheads and 2,500 hopeful exhibitors will flock to Sin City for the annual Consumer Electronics Show. CES is a buzz-filled mecca, where the latest and greatest electronic wares are hyped by small startups and global conglomerates alike." (more)
I will be coordinating the I4U News video production team at the big digital love fest beginning Tuesday, January 3.
Photo:
Nikki Cash Chris Martin (top left) Jason Green (bottom left) Jack Olmsted (bottom right)
MercuryNews.com | 12/25/2005 | Top 10 tech trends for 2006: "Once again, it's time for SiliconValley.com's annual look into a crystal ball for technology trends in 2006. Never mind that the smartest people in tech wouldn't dare make serious predictions about what innovations will catch fire next year. We make a humble try anyway.Video -- in the form of your favorite TV dramas or Hollywood hit movies -- will come to the big screen in your living room and to the small screen on your cell phone. Whenever you want it.
No need to mess around with time-shifting TV devices or mail-order flicks.Video comes to blogs to begat vlogs. For anybody who's getting tired of reading all those wordy blogs (short for Weblogs) posted on the Internet on every conceivable niche topic, video comes to the rescue. If a picture is worth a thousand words, video might be worth even more. Now anyone can subscribe to vlogs and have the latest installments automatically delivered to the computer desktop (and transferred to a portable player, such as the video iPod).
8. Video comes to the blog
Amanda Congdon is the irreverent face of one of the hot tech trends for the coming year: the vlog (that's a video Weblog, for you English speakers).
Congdon's send-up of television newscasts, Rocketboom, makes light of such broadcast staples as the local weather forecast. The ``whether'' man appears, in one recent episode, clad only in underwear and necktie, delivering the day's forecast hostage style.
He peels successive layers of surgical tape off his mouth to report the temperature (17 degrees), wind-chill (feels like 5 degrees) and comedy punch-line (``I'm not sure where I am'').
It has already achieved a level of Internet cult status." (more)
"
James Carusone, a 16 year old student living in New York, has combined two recently infamous Steve Balmer, CES Microsoft, video clips and mixed them with the popular "Monkey Developers" music track by Digital Droo.
James hopes to get a full time job and is puttting together a band.
"Writer/Director Zack Snyder provides a first glimpse into the amazing world of '300.' Discussing the initial process of adapting the graphic novel and some of the challenges he faces as a filmmaker while bringing the illustrated pages to life. " (Synopsis)
Jeremy Allaire, co-founder of Allaire Corp and one of the big shakers behind the successful ColdFusion Web technology, is unveiling a company that he hopes will make Internet movie/TV downloads a standard feature on home TV sets.
The new IP video startup, called Brightcove, has been formed to encourage the "democratisation of video production and distribution" with the Cambridge-based company having a hand in all facets of IP video or Internet TV - creation, delivery and monetisation (that's making money to you and I).
Brightcove has already raised US$5.5 million (£2.86m/€4.16) of first-round venture funding from General Catalyst Partners and Accel Partners and boasts a management team including executives from Allaire, ATG, BSkyB, Comcast, Macromedia and News Corp.
"We're going to build a service that marries what the Internet does really well, with television," said Allaire about his new venture, Brightcove Inc....
Allaire hopes his service will create a new way for film producers to deliver their work to the public - check out his introductory flash movie where he describes his vision of a future where "we'll see as many video channels as Web sites". (more)
Rocketboom correspondent Steve Garfield published thison camera interview with Brightcove founder Jeremy Allaire.
The Black Eyed Peas Video Diary is a unique online event. During the European tour from December 1st up until December 21st, all of the Peas will be equipped with 3G mobile video phones. With these phones the Peas can make video calls to blackeyedpeas.com where their footage is published. The footage is shot with mobile phones, so the quality may vary. One thing is sure, you're about experience an uncut, exclusive trip behind the scenes of the European tour.
For those still in doubt, you won't need a mobile phone yourself to enjoy this feature, the diary video entries are available right here at the website.
Produced by Daniel Berube of Noisybrain Productions LLC with Jon Goldman of Thought Balloon Productions, XWhaves is a new component of the Woods Hole Film Festival that offers filmmakers an opportunity to reflect on the impact of new technological developments on the shape and nature of filmmaking.
Join members of the new media revolution in an active, open discussion of citizen journalism, personal media, video blogging and the convergence of digital storytelling methods with a new era of novel, inexpensive worldwide distribution and other aspects of the ever-changing landscape of how content gets delivered.
Panel
Jonathan Wells, executive producer, Investigative Unit, WFXT
Bob Lyons, director, radio and new media initiatives, WGBH
Sam Weisman, television director, filmmaker
Steve Garfield, correspondent, RocketBoom.com
Chuck Olsen, documentary filmmaker
Tony Khan, moderator, host, producer, WGBH Radio (Watch Video Interview by Steve Garfield)
Starting in 2006, I'll be putting together a nonprofit Center for Citizen Media. The goals are to study, encourage and help enable the emergent grassroots media sphere, with a major focus on citizen journalism.
I'm thrilled and honored that the center will be affiliated with two superb universities in a bi-coastal partnership.
Here on the Pacific Rim, where I live, the center will collaborate with the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. As an I.F. Stone Teaching Fellow, I'll do a class next fall, and my principal physical office will be at Berkeley as well.
Our Atlantic-facing partner is the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University Law School, where I'll be a Research Fellow. I'll visit there regularly -- at least once a month -- to work with other fellows, faculty and students. We also plan to sponsor regular gatherings at both locations (and, I hope, elsewhere in my travels) for people interested in citizen journalism.
Rocketboom est le parfait exemple de cette nouvelle mode, avec des sujets à la limite entre l'insolence, l'impudeur, les commérages et le divertissement. Le site, né en 2004, rencontre un très grand succès, avec 100.000 téléchargements par jour, cinq jours par semaine.
La réussite d'un vlog n'implique pas de lourds moyens financiers. Un équipement basique suffit pour qu'une centaine de milliers de paires d'yeux le visionnent dans le monde entier.
"Les coûts sont très bas. Rocketboom a besoin de revenus publicitaires, mais il n'a pas besoin de beaucoup pour être bénéficiaire", explique Jeff Jarvis, un observateur des médias pour le site BuzzMachine.com. (more)
TiVo. This is pretty exciting. We have finalized the process, etc and have been running on a few hundred test boxes. Sign-ups closed but are open again now and we should be live for all TiVo boxes this week: http://research.tivo.com/rocketboom/
The format is a very strict kind of mpeg2. I have been using ffmpeg to create the files. The intent is that eventually TiVo will open this up. It may be awhile before they start doing deals with their directory, but I believe some people are already pumping mpeg2 to their own boxes, regardless of the TiVo directory." (more)
Last Tuesday night, I took my place in the bus queue for the commute home. Further up the line, I saw a neighbor - a smart, funny woman I would normally love to share the dismal ride with.
With the new iPod, I could start at the beginning of the series and view "Lost" at my leisure. The average episode lasts 44 minutes, about the length of my commute. Watching "Lost" on the bus next to a large man working his way through a crinkly bag of nuts is a deeply satisfying media experience. Goodbye crinkly nut man. Hello Claire and John Locke. (It is a bonus that the man can't see the image from the side, as hard as he tries.)
The iPod, on the other hand, gets charged, programmed and used almost every day. I have missed my stop on the bus because the video iPod is a completely immersive experience. The act of peering at a small hand-held screen with headphones on blots out the rest of the world - even more than the experience of listening to music.
Still, what kind of idiot would pay for shows that are otherwise free? I am paying a so-called convenience charge. I could go to BitTorrrent or some other place where video content is there for the taking, but I'm not interested in the moral and technological somersaults required to get free - I think the technical, legal term is "stolen" - programming for my iPod. Instead, I have become the gift that keeps on giving for Apple. The company has my credit card and I will continue to fork over $1.99 an episode to find out what is around the bend in season two of "Lost." When that ends, I will probably give "Monk" a try. (more)
I have a friend who is a Professor at a large University who would like
to do VBlogging for some of his lectures. I told him I just started
VBlogging yesterday and didn't really know but that I kind of doubted it
was possible to send out both Video and Audio in the 30-50 minute range
en mass as in Podcasting. (more)
Lights, camera, vlog: new video craze hits Internet: "From the Internet counter-culture which spawned blogs and podcasts comes the newest thing in new media: vlogging. In short video diaries and homemade reality shows, vloggers are using the power of cheap online technology to invite strangers into their lives.
Vlogging's time has come thanks to a new generation of cheap cameras, editing programs and simple software -- plus fast broadband connections needed to download content.
It draws on the utopian dreams of pioneers who envisage a network of citizen journalists across the globe, liberated from the "we know what's best for you" patronage of established media firms.
It comes as established media companies -- newspapers as well as broadcast giants -- are starting to post podcasts, videocasts and video news reports alongside written content.
Apple's unveiling in October of its new video iPod was a giant leap for vlogging -- as short, basic downloads are ideal for the device's small screen.
Sceptics of vlogging, and of blogging and podcasting before it, will argue that while the video weblogs are a pleasant diversion, they will never be able to offer the heft, resources and analytic weight of established media."
On Wednesday, ex-hollywood cameraman Gene Talvin and I recorded 13 episodes of the Robert Force Show, a five minute daily video blog that is scheduled for general release the first of 2006. Check out Show #1 here and behind the scenes footage from the Wed. shoot.
The Robert Force Show
A musical journey with the dulcimer exploring thirty-five years of songwriting and performance. Guest appearances by other musicians with lessons on string instrument techniques scattered throughout the series. More at www.robertforce.com
By DIONNE SEARCEY
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
WSJ.com - Vlogger (noun): Blogger With Video Camera: "Viewers of Beth Agnew's Web site can watch videos of her laughing at an oak leaf, laughing wearing a pirate's patch, and laughing while pretending someone has dropped an ice cube down her back.
The idea behind laughpractice.blogspot.com is to find hilarity in the mundane and spread goodwill through laughter. 'Anyone anywhere in the world can log into the blog and have a laugh along with me,' says Ms. Agnew, a technical-communications professor at Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto and self-described 'certified laugh leader.'
The number of vlogs has mushroomed thanks to improved streaming video technology, faster Internet speeds, new Web sites that will host the video free of charge and new cellphones and other popular devices designed to play video. Vlogs are essentially publicly accessible Web logs, known as blogs, where authors can post video as well as text entries, and viewers can give feedback.
Advertisers have yet to seize on vlogs as money-makers but that could change. Over the summer, Revlon Inc. created a vlog displaying a woman trying out its new line of makeup at MTV's Music Video Awards, which the company was sponsoring. Advertisers could also consider placing ads on vlogs but would likely do so with caution. (more)
Today, Mobuzz TV, that is actually based in Madrid, Spain (not down-under), plugged this blog because the "vlog for the mobile generation" was discussed in the Active Voice Radio interview on "Video Blogging" that aired last week on Pubic Radio stations.
Here is a convient link to the blog post about the interview or the three part podcast be can accessed on my "under construction" myspace blog.
I would like to take this opportunity to plug the I4U News, a German based gadget, lifestyle online magazine, upcoming video blog coverage of the Consumer Electonics Show, January 3-8. In the spirit of all this plugging, I will plug Mobuzz from time to time during our exclusive daily reports direct from the show floor. Stay tuned. All this plugging can't hurt, right?
Mike Milliard of the Boston Phoenix interviews Steve Garfield for this story on Boston area videoblogers. Steve kicked off the interview by creating this video and pubishing it. Watch Video
BY MIKE MILIARD
It’s the next stage in blog evolution. Cheap digital cameras, free editing software, and video-hosting services have made production and publishing easy as pie. RSS aggregation technology offers the means to distribute content to loyal viewers. Broadband connections make watching it a snap. And every new iPod comes equipped with video capabilities.
Even as the iTunes music store rushes to stock up on U2 videos and episodes of The Office, the increasing plenitude of video blogs points to a real democratization of media. No one owns the means of distribution anymore, so more and more people are making their own shows. Some offer scattershot glances at fleeting moments. Others are meticulously edited and set to music. There are video diaries. Self-produced sitcoms. Citizen journalism. Talk shows. These real-time glimpses into strangers’ lives — funny, serious, contemplative, provocative — are almost always compelling. Sure, they vary wildly in quality. So do all blogs. They’re made by artists, news junkies, pop-culture addicts, high-school kids, even the politicians. And before long, they don’t seem like strangers anymore. (more)
Mobile Monday - Mobile blogging becomes professional reporting: "Video blogging is gaining popularitygaining popularity and there are mobile video blogs around. However, the latest camera phone with some specialized technology elevates mobile video blogs into near-professional reporting.
Jouko Vierumäki, CEO of the technology provider Fromdistance, and Jarno Alastalo, VP of the publisher Aller Finland explained to Novemebr 28 MobileMonday in Helsinki, how Tarja Turunen’s press conference in Helsinki was reported almost live on the web site of Seiska." (more)
Yesterday, ex-Hollywood cameraman Gene Talvin, dulcimer Guru Robert Force, and myself created the first installment of the Robert Force Show, a three-five-plus minute daily video blog scheduled to launch Q1 2006.
The Robert Force Show
A musical journey with the dulcimer exploring thirty-five years of songwriting and performance. Guest appearances by other musicians with lessons on string instrument techniques scattered throughout the series. More at robertforce.com
"What's three minutes long, a little silly and very cheap to produce?
The answer: The future of Broadband TV.
Amanda Congdon, an attractive 24-year-old woman who lives in New York, is the star of a new 3-minute mock newscast featured on Rocketboom, a video blogging site. The video broadcast features her comments on daily Internet trends and occasionally politics, which may not sound new nor particularly entertaining.
But thanks largely to Ms. Congdon's kooky but comely style, Rocketboom is generating 100,000 visitors a day, according to Sunday's New York Times. PC and video iPod owners are making Rocketboom's video blogs a daily part of their lives.
However, their true potential is on the TV, not the PC nor the video iPod. PC owners are willing to watch Ms.Congdon's newscast on their desktops because it's only three minutes long. (And, she's very cute.) But if Rocketboom expanded the broadcast to 30 minutes or more, I suspect that its audience would fade away. Watching video on the PC (or a video iPod) for any length of time can get uncomfortable -- and gets in the way of work if you're at the office." (more)
By Phillip Swann, president and publisher of TVPredictions.com.
NOTE: Phillp is way off the mark suggesting that Rocketboom pods "true potential is on the TV" and that "watching video on the PC (or a video iPod) for any length of time can get uncomfortable -- and gets in the way of work..." With his off the cuff comments the president and publisher of the text based website about the future of TV appears not to watch Rocketboom regularly or use his digital cell phone for video games or video.
My crystal ball illustrates clearly that Rocketboom type shows future is in nitch markets and will be watched anytime, anywhere (commuting to the office or home, not in them) on portable video players (cell phones, iPods).
Jacqui Naylor is not an easy artist to categorize. There are times when she performs straight-ahead vocal jazz, but at other times she favors more of a folk-rock/adult alternative approach. Depending on the mood she is in at a given moment, the northern Californian can bring to mind anyone from Cassandra Wilson or British jazz vocalist Claire Martin to Sarah McLachlan or Shawn Colvin -- she is as comfortable among jazz improvisers as she is in the singer/songwriter world. During one of her live performances, Naylor has no problem singing smoky jazz one minute and folk-rock or adult alternative the next -- and there are times when she blurs the line between the two. (more)
AMANDA CONGDON (photo) is a big star on really small screens - like the 4½- inch window she appears in on computer monitors every weekday morning or the 2½ inches she has to work with on the new video iPod. Ms. Congdon, you see, is the anchor of a daily, three-minute, mock TV news report shot on a camcorder, edited on a laptop and posted on a blog called Rocketboom, which now reaches more than 100,000 fans a day.
What makes Rocketboom so different from most of the other video blogs, or vlogs, that have popped up in the last year or so is that the daily episodes are consistently entertaining. With Mr. Baron, 35, the designer who created the site and films the episodes, Ms. Congdon, 24, has fashioned a quirky, charming persona, with an inventive take on the news that is closer in spirit to Letterman than CNN.
In case you're wondering, it has occurred to Mr. Baron and Ms. Congdon that they just might be sitting on a gold mine. At a cost of about $20 an episode, they reach an audience that some days is roughly comparable in size to that of, say, CNN's late, unlamented "Crossfire" political debate show. They have no background in business, but Jeff Jarvis, who tracks developments in technology and culture on his blog, BuzzMachine.com (and who has served as a consultant to The New York Times on Web matters), pointed out to them that they might be able to charge $8,000 for an interactive ad at the end of the show, which would bring in about $2 million annually.
In other words, the revolution may just be vloggerized. (more)
The 40 minute December 3 radio interview with view-point creator, video blogger Jack Olmsted and talk radio host Chris Goldstein is now available on OurMedia.org:
Chris Goldstein is a 29-year-old father, author and broadcast veteran. Originally from New Jersey and based in Santa Fe, Chris has been a talk-radio personality for about 10 years; interviewing State Senators, Governors, and local political activists as well as internationally recognized authors and journalists such as Sut Jali and Greg Palast. He was also proud to serve on the Northern New Mexico Radio Foundation Board of Directors from 2001-2004.
"Digital video recorder maker Tivo is launching a trial run for a new video blog downloading service.
The initial trial will offer TiVo owners of the company's broadband connected Series2 DVR's the opportunity to download episodes of the video blog Rocketboom.
Rocketboom is a daily three-minute video newscast, which is heavy on the offbeat news and sardonic humor. The show is directed and produced online by Andrew Baron and co-written with host Amanda Congdon.
The trial is set to launch Monday, and the daily videos should be available for viewing by early evening.
TiVo owners can subscribe or get more details here. "
"The TiVo Videoblog Project is currently experimenting with ways to make the new medium of videoblogs accessible on television. If you have a videoblog or are interested in participating, please fill out this form."
"Giving up no creative control, Ms. Congdon and Mr. Baron will get 50 percent of the revenue from ads sold by TiVo to appear before and after their newscast, and their show will gain access to more than 300,000 TV sets connected to those new TiVo boxes."
Let the tomato-throwing begin.
Of course, I'm really insanely jealous! Congrats again, guys.
And they're not the only ones mentioned - dig this:
"The best vlogs, like Scratch Video and Minnesota Stories,above, can turn personal narrative about the tedious or mundane into microdocumentaries of wit, beauty and intelligence. A year ago there were fewer than two dozen active vlogs; now there are some 2,000." (yahoo videoblogging group)
Fifth graders interviewed school board members at the New Jersey School Boards Convention (video download: high, low)
"On Oct. 26 & 27, students from the Martin Luther King Jr. School Complex attended the NJ School Boards Convention and interviewed attendees. As part of the process, they turned the interviews into comics and presented them to the board members as mementos. Upon returning to school, the students wrote a script and created a storyboard. Today, they recorded the narration and began adding stills and video to create our first official rough cut. " (more)
Today, Mobuzz reports that there appears to be a difference of opinion on the definition of a video blog, vlog among the 2005 Weblog Award finalists. What do you think? Can a video blog also contain text and photos? Watch Report
Video streaming in public spaces is gaining ground, with airlines, soup makers and credit card companies all chasing the on-the-go consumer.
By Joyce Schwarz
"How do you stuff an airplane into an elevator? Ask Captivate Networks Inc., the Westford, Massachusetts national news network that delivers digital advertising and programming to a captive audience of more than 1.9 million educated, affluent consumers in the elevators of premier office towers across North America. The company's advertisers include most of the top airlines such as American Airlines, British Airways, Delta, SAS and scores of other brands ranging from Amtrak to Volkswagen." (more)
Historic books are signed by authors at the Jefferson County Historical Society Museum in Port Townsend. Video briefly profiles the book and author. Included are "Beneath the Surface" by Bill Lightfoot, "The Snohomish Tribe of Indians" by Nancy McDaniel, "An Aerial View of Forts Townsend, Worden, and Casey" by Bill and Evelyn Freeman, and "Greetings from Port Townsend" by Elizabeth Becker. Shot at the Museum on November 26, 2005.
WorldNetDaily: Did the New York Times sack the wrong reporter?: "In the world's newsrooms, truth is particularly vulnerable in times of war. Indeed, it is often said to be the first casualty. Historically, the media have deceived their audience on behalf of their own side, of which offense the New York Times' reporter Judith Miller stands accused, even if unintentionally.
The Times forced Miller's resignation for depending too heavily on flawed intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq War. 'Judy's stories about WMD fit too perfectly with the White House's case for war,' griped back-stabbing colleague Maureen Dowd in a column that hastened Miller's departure. " (more)
Rocketboom est le parfait exemple de cette nouvelle mode, avec des sujets à la limite entre l'insolence, l'impudeur, les commérages et le divertissement. Le site, né en 2004, rencontre un très grand succès, avec 100.000 téléchargements par jour, cinq jours par semaine.
With the new iPod, I could start at the beginning of the series and view "Lost" at my leisure. The average episode lasts 44 minutes, about the length of my commute. Watching "Lost" on the bus next to a large man working his way through a crinkly bag of nuts is a deeply satisfying media experience. Goodbye crinkly nut man. Hello Claire and John Locke. (It is a bonus that the man can't see the image from the side, as hard as he tries.)
AMANDA CONGDON (photo) is a big star on really small screens - like the 4½- inch window she appears in on computer monitors every weekday morning or the 2½ inches she has to work with on the new video iPod. Ms. Congdon, you see, is the anchor of a daily, three-minute, mock TV news report shot on a camcorder, edited on a laptop and posted on a blog called Rocketboom, which now reaches more than 100,000 fans a day.
Chris Goldstein is a 29-year-old father, author and broadcast veteran. Originally from New Jersey and based in Santa Fe, Chris has been a talk-radio personality for about 10 years; interviewing State Senators, Governors, and local political activists as well as internationally recognized authors and journalists such as Sut Jali and Greg Palast. He was also proud to serve on the Northern New Mexico Radio Foundation Board of Directors from 2001-2004.
By Joyce Schwarz
