Need a Place to Play? (w/ free mp3 & video)

Cafe Henrici is the best cafe in Zürich -- no contest. Karla and I discovered it several months ago and I have been hooked ever since. Not only is their coffee delicious and amazing, but the people who run it are super nice as well as passionate about coffee. They have recently began live music sessions in the evenings and when Will Sartain came to play on Dec 12, we made this video.


iPhone-friendly Youtube Version

Since it is the season for giving here are a couple free downloads for your virtual stockings:
mp3 Small Humans by Will Sartain
Small Humans video for your iPhone/iPod

 

Modern Retro #1

I recently downloaded the the Hipstamatic app for iPhone and I like it so much I have decided to make a new feature here on the automatic filmmaker: Modern Retro.

Modern Retro will feature photos taken using Hipstamatic and will normally be posted while I'm on the go.

A few words about the Hisptamatic. What makes this app interesting is that it simulate the workflow of a film camera. You have to choose how your image will look before you take the picture by choosing a "lens", "film" and "flash"(all simulations of the real thing). After you take the picture you must wait for the app to "develop" and "print". Which forces you to slow down between shots. I really like the idea of an app that puts the thought back in to individual pictures.

Pocket Cam: The Raveners live at the Apple Store

Last night was the first ever in house performance at the Zürich Apple Store. The band was called the Raveners.
 
iPhone Friendly Youtube Link 

An interesting thing to note here is how much of an Apple junkie I am. This was filmed with an iPhone 3GS, in an Apple Store and edited on an iMac with Final Cut Pro. I swear, Apple really owes me some sponsorship money...

Related Posts:
The Future of the Colony
Everything you wanted to know about iPhone 3GS video
Technologic Overkill 

Intervalometry: Family Wii Bowling Tournament

Over the holidays I discovered the app iTimelapse Pro which seems to be the best timelapse applications in the app store to date. As a quick test of its capabilities I placed my iPhone in front of the TV and recorded my family's post-Thanksgiving Wii Bowling tournament:

The low light makes for some compression artifacting, but it is altogether very impressive for an iPhone.

Intervalometry: Central Market, Lancaster PA

We went to the Central Market in Lancaster Pennsylvania on Tuesday to shop for Thanksgiving. I thought it would be a fun oppurtunity to make a time lapse. All I had with me was my iPhone, but using the app ReelMoments I was able to make this:

iPhone-friendly Youtube Link

Check out other editions of Intervalometry

BasFolies

On September 10th was BasFolies, a celebration of the 30th anniversary of Mode Atelier Basman. The show consisted of a Fashion Show mixed with a Folies style Variety show. I was responsible for the video production in the show as well as filming during it. If you were not among the people fortunate enough to be there, here is a little taste of the BasFolies:

The show began with a video showing the space alien moderator flying his birthday cake-shaped space ship and crash landing it into the venue -- so that explains those clips, if you were wondering. All together it was a really fun show, that had a perfect balance of hand-craft and high fashion. Someone described it as Children's theater for adults. I can agree with that.

BasFolies was a GlamourGeek Production and directed by Eva De Vree.

If you enjoyed this post, check out BasVegas

Pocket Cam: Tom Brosseau w/ Angela Correa live in Zürich

On Friday night Tom Brosseau played at the Helsinki Bar here in Zürich. He was accomapanied Angela Correa. In this edition of Pocket Cam they perform Tom's original song "Mary Anne".

Pocket Cam is a continuing feature that highlights video I have recorded with cheap, pocketable video cameras. This video was created with an iPhone 3GS.

If you enjoyed this video, check out:
Tom Brosseau is so Punk Rock
Pocket Cam: Scenes from Paris in Six Acts
From the Archive: Freddie Goodtime

Intervalometry: Mobile Edition #1

Intervalometry is a feature on my blog that highlights time lapse video that I have created. Thanks to the iPhone app ReelMoments by Nexvio I can now create and publish time lapses using only my iPhone 3GS. These videos will be labeled as Mobile Edition. Here is the first one. I made it just about 2 hours ago at the Milchbuck Park.

View on YouTube

This blog post was also created on my iPhone using the new Squarespace iPhone app. All future mobile editions will be done the same way.

Convergence - a Review of Nexvio ReelDirector & the Future

Today I created something very interesting. Here it is.

Fairly standard fair for YouTube, right? Nope. The bit that makes this video interesting is the text at the end. This video was shot, edited and published entirely on my iPhone 3GS. The new iPhone app ReelDirector from Nexvio is the app I wished for in an earlier post. The iPhone 3GS is now a miniature video production studio. What this means for the future is quite profound, but first let me talk about the app it self.
The ReelDirector timeline ReelDirector is no Final Cut Pro or even iMovie. It is as simple as a video editor can get. You select and trim videos with the same method that is built into the 3GS, but then you bring those clips into a timeline where you can cut it together with other clips. That is the basic functionality. That alone is a big deal. With those tools you have all you need to tell a story with video. However, ReelDirector has done a little more than that. The app has 27 different transitions that can be used between clips and you can also add reasonably customized titles at the beginning and end of the video.
What is missing? The main thing is audio. Sound is linked to the video and you cannot separate them which is pretty obvious in the video. This means you cannot have the audio from one clip continue underneath another. You also cannot add other sound such as music or voice over -- though Nexvio says they are working to add this. Another feature I would like to see is effects and color correction. It would be nice to optimize the look of the videos while editing them. While they are at it Nexvio could bundle in the functionality of their SlowMo iPhone app, so you can change the speed of video.
Ok, the future. The ability to edit video on the same device as it is shot with is unprecedented (as far as I know). More than that, since the iPhone has 3G, you can upload theses videos straight to a distribution source -- practically in real-time. I shot My Morning Commute this morning. It was uploading to YouTube by the time I was sitting at my desk. The workflow was great. I shot some video, then switched over to ReelDirector and cut the shots in. When I stepped out of the train I just had to shoot the last two shots, cut them in and I was done. I edited the story together as it was happening! The iPhone now represents the convergence of the entire video workflow into one device. Welcome to the world of tomorrow!!
Ok, the iPhone is not going to put Hollywood out of business. The video quality is good for a phone but that is about it and it gets worse when you upload it to YouTube with the built-in photos app (here is a full quality version for comparison). Where I think we will see this convergence utilized first will be in journalism and documentary. A journalist can file completed video reports from the field with a single inconspicuous device. This can be done while on the move and as the story is taking place. The revolution may not be televised, but the story may be told by someone armed only with iPhone. I think ReelDirector is a must-have app for all 3GS owners.

 

Related Posts:
Pocket Cam: The Future of the Colony
Everything You Wanted to Know About iPhone 3GS Video
Technologic Overkill

You Know What I Did Last Summer

So I seem to take holidays from blogging during the standard holiday times. Over winter I had a large gap in my blog, and now summer has come and gone -- with another big lull in my blogging. Here is an abridged list of things I did over the summer.

We now return to your regularly scheduled program.