As the days of 2009 dwindle in number (and the deadline for my own end-of-the-year lists grows nearer), more people are using video to encapsulate the big events of the past 12 months.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Sunday, December 20, 2009 03:05 PST
I have a confession to make: I’m still trying to figure out machinima — not because I can barely operate the standard two-joystick video game controller, but because to me, in comparison to other online-only content, it’s new media’s complicated stepbrother. Despite the longtime success and of popular machinima series like Red vs. Blue, gamers using Halo, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto and other titles as a medium for telling their own stories simply don’t receive the same level of respect that even the most low-budget web series producer might.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Friday, December 18, 2009 19:00 PST
Notice anything different when you went to Netflix today? If you logged on and were greeted with titles available through its “Watch Instantly” streaming video service, you weren’t alone — the company just switched up the order of its tabs to point users to its streaming titles first and foremost.
By Ryan Lawler, Friday, December 18, 2009 10:19 PST
The Beautiful Life on YouTube
By Ryan Lawler, Thursday, December 17, 2009 16:40 PST
Documenting attractive young people as they attempt to achieve their dreams has made Simon Fuller’s 19 Entertainment a global entertainment monolith — it’s that company’s coffers you fill when you watch American Idol. But for his newest project, Fuller is skipping over TV audiences and partnering with Hulu to distribute the reality series If I Can Dream, due out in early 2010.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Thursday, December 17, 2009 15:00 PST
Well-played, The Guild. Well-played.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Wednesday, December 16, 2009 15:42 PST
The monologue is much, much older than the Internet, going all the way back to the Greeks. (If you couldn’t guess, the word “monologue” itself is Greek, meaning “speaking alone.”) Yet it’s little surprise that as online video has evolved, it’s made heavy use of monologues as a narrative device. A monologue done well is intimate, character-oriented, voice-driven and short — which is also a recipe for quality web content.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Monday, December 14, 2009 17:30 PST
Brightcove CEO Jeremy Allaire
By Ryan Lawler, Monday, December 14, 2009 08:41 PST
I know, guys, that for a while it seemed like adorable cat videos were dominating our society, no thanks to Surprised Kitty…
By Liz Shannon Miller, Sunday, December 13, 2009 03:01 PST
There are very few laughs in LOL, an independently produced web series from Manchester, England. Instead, creator Ric Forster’s teen drama series (currently on episode 17 out of 20) invokes the web slang ironically, the way you might try to defuse a sarcastic comment or cutting insult. Of course, when you’re a teenager juggling school, family, partying and your best friend’s boyfriend, nothing is a joke — life is quite serious.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Friday, December 11, 2009 17:04 PST
Advertisers from Microsoft and Mediabrands recently decided to go all out to measure the effectiveness of Xbox Live advertising: They wired up 300 test subjects with a special headset that can read biometric signals like your heart rate, eye motion, body temperature and breathing patterns. Half of the test audience was then presented with advertising on the Xbox Live platform, while the other half got to see traditional TV ads. Turns out, people show much more active and lasting responses to interactive advertising than to your 60-second oldteevee clip.
By Janko Roettgers, Thursday, December 10, 2009 14:00 PST
Big Box DVD kiosk
If Redbox is set to destroy the Hollywood with $1-per-night DVD rentals, what’ll happen if Big Box DVD kiosks start appearing around the country, charging just 6 cents an hour? We could find out if Big Box parent Mosquito Productions is able to expand its kiosk DVD rental business.
By Ryan Lawler, Wednesday, December 9, 2009 20:00 PST
Vevo FAIL
If Vevo is supposed to be the future of the music industry, that future has gotten off to a slow and ignominious start. Apparently Vevo’s servers are still hungover from a wild night of partying with Bono, Adam Lambert, Mariah Carey, and Lady Gaga, because it’s the day after launch and the new music video site is slow to load — that is, if you can get it to load at all.
By Ryan Lawler, Wednesday, December 9, 2009 11:43 PST
So, how’s your knowledge of Sanskrit mythology? Yeah, me neither. But don’t assume that’s a hindrance to enjoying the independently produced web series The Vetala, which frames its premise around the emergence of an ancient hostile spirit surfacing in modern times. Because to do so is a major disservice to an extremely well-made dramatic thriller, whose supernatural underpinnings only become evident later in the life of the series.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Tuesday, December 8, 2009 15:48 PST
If you thought the movie 2012 was disaster porn, just wait for the entertainment apocalypse that Redbox’s dollar-a-night movie rentals will bring about. That, in a nutshell, is the bottom line of a new report (PDF, hat tip to Video Business) from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. that says Redbox’s low-cost movie rental will cost the entertainment industry $1 billion in revenue. It’s a disaster!
By Chris Albrecht, Tuesday, December 8, 2009 12:33 PST
IFC.com has an established knack for partnering with interesting talent for its Internet content, from indie filmmakers Joe Swanberg and Ti West to sketch comedy team POYKPAC to web series pioneer R. Kelly. The newest artist to join that roster, though, is actually someone who can properly be called an artist.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Monday, December 7, 2009 16:30 PST
While 99 percent of video is watched on a TV in the U.S., in the third quarter DVR use and online video grew 21.1 percent and 34.9 percent respectively, year-over-year, according to the latest Nielsen A2/M2 Three Screen Report.
By Chris Albrecht, Monday, December 7, 2009 11:26 PST
I wasn’t online much over Thanksgiving weekend, so I’ve subsequently been feeling a bit out of the loop with regards to some of the gossipy headline news that was made over those turkey-stuffed days. Among the biggest, of course, was the saga of Tiger Woods. Apparently he was cheating on his wife? And crashed his car? I’m honestly not sure what happened to the golf superstar. So I shall take to the world of online video to find out!
By Liz Shannon Miller, Sunday, December 6, 2009 03:01 PST
Ah, to be young, stoned and able to spend one’s days surfing basic cable. Of course, while that may be an easy way to make the days pass by, it doesn’t give you a whole lot of tools for solving life’s basic problems. Fortunately for Bo (Thomas Sigsby) and Wyatt (Tanner Thomason), they’ve been getting some help from an unlikely source — a Magnum P.I.-esuqe detective named Derringer (Charlie Pecoraro), who occasionally materializes to offer the boys advice on the myriad challenges tossed their way by fate.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Friday, December 4, 2009 16:28 PST
Every success story is followed by its imitators. Star Wars had its Space Raiders; the iPod was followed up by the Zune; heck, lonelygirl15 created a whole new genre of storytelling via webcam — all because someone saw someone else’s success, and tried to piggyback upon it.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Thursday, December 3, 2009 15:57 PST
In this gimme-gimme-now-now-now! Internet era, even waiting just a few seconds can spell the difference between someone staying on a page or exiting immediately. To appeal to the instant gratification set, YouTube unveiled its “YouTube Feather” format today.
By Chris Albrecht, Thursday, December 3, 2009 13:57 PST
Everyone loves a good rant — series like Project Rant are based entirely on that concept. But Kirby Ferguson, a New York-based video producer who’s been creating web content since 2007, has taken his talent for ranting and combined it with a knack for reasoned arguments and sardonic asides. And the result — his irregular updates to GoodieBag.tv — has become a mecca for those seeking a dose of common sense and intelligent discussion online.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Wednesday, December 2, 2009 17:30 PST
Everyone keeps saying that the iPhone will replace many of the gadgets we use today, like GPS devices, MP3 players, digital cameras, and pocket-sized video cams. After testing out ThinkFlood’s new RedEye Universal Remote Control System for the iPhone, I’m almost ready to add another gadget to that endangered species list: the universal remote control.
By Liane Cassavoy, Wednesday, December 2, 2009 07:30 PST
Here’s my No. 1 tip for enjoying Compulsions, the drama launching today on Dailymotion: Don’t get too hung up on it being “twisted.” The series, which presents itself as a spin on darker dramas like Dexter, has its moments of violence but not on the level of the Saw-esque torture porn that’s been numbing America for the past several years. A shot or two in the first four episodes might challenge the squeamish, but overall the effect is psychological, and not too beyond the pale — if you’re a David Fincher fan, it’s much less Se7en and much more Fight Club.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Tuesday, December 1, 2009 20:00 PST
Weekend Vid Picks: Your Year Remembered via Video
Joan Walsh
War Room
Broadsheet
