Get blinded by science: announcing the Ars.TV launch and contest

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/11/arstv-launch-and-our-diy-science-contest.ars
"Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to use video to explain a scientific concept in terms that a high school science class would not only understand, but actually be interested in watching. The videos must be short (less than three minutes long) and should take advantage of the medium. No narrated PowerPoint presentations—we want your images to move!"

Freeze & Enhance Episode 1

Freeze & Enhance Episode 01 from JBFC Technology on Vimeo.

Stay tuned for future episodes where we explore our equipment inventory here at the Jacob Burns Film Center Media Arts Lab. We put all of our gear through rigorous field testing in both an educational  and professional environment.

Up, up and away

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

Stream Yourself

A Long-term Project

3 Years At The Same Place (english version) from Ramon on Vimeo.

Hall of Fame October 10

Dot Matrix, Vespa's droid of honor, whose placid nature is only broken by her dedication to keeping Vespa safe, and maintaining Vespa's virginity. Her name is a reference to the old dot matrix printers. She is the October hall of famer because of her superior piloting ability and her strong will to keep protecting Vespa in the face of many trials. Some say she has the ability to grow her own hair but chooses not to. She has a way with words that really makes you see things from a different perspective. Dot had a famous voice and an even more famous temper. Her stunt double has been known to take the brunt of the stunts and Dots can. We welcome Dot with open arms to this prestigious list.

Colours.

Canon Pixma: Bringing colour to life from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

102 Year-Old Lens on Canon 5D MkII

"Timur Civan is a director of photography for movies, and a photographer. He’s also a tinkerer, and he got his hands on an old Wollensak 35mm F5.0 Cine-Velostigmat, a hand cranked movie-camera lens from 1908. You see it above, wedded to his Canon 5D MkII. But where did it come from? ... "

Rethink books?

The Future of the Book. from IDEO on Vimeo.

Canon love.

Dragon Stop Motion

In preparation for upgrading our animation program, I've spent time exploring Dragon Stop Motion software. Currently, we've been using iStop Motion from Boinx with SD camcorders. In an effort to match the output quality of our animation program to our other classes, we're moving to HD. While iStop Motion is a simple software with a clean interface (one-button-capture/live preview) it's HD offerings were zero and iStop Motion Pro 2 is not much better. iStop has a preference for HDV camcorders and has very little support for other camera systems, specifically no Live View from video capabale SLRs. Live view is one of the most important features during the actual animation process.

I had first encountered Dragon Stop Motion during our Spring 09 semester and decided to give it a try. Everything from the interface options to the camera control was outstanding. Its Cinematography Window allows the user to control shutter speed, aperature and ISO directly from the computer (requires a DSLR). Using one of our Canon EOS Rebel T2i's I made a few short test clips and really got to experience a lot of what the software had to offer. The image below was captured through the Rebel using the test shot feature in the Cinematography Window:

 Click on above the image for an expanded view at 5184×3456

Dragon Stop Motion allows for Live Preview by locking the mirror of a video capable DSLR. With clever/intuitive features, a logical file organization system and updated camera support, Dragon surpasses my expectations. I'll continue to experiment with the software, but the love affair has begun - a romance if you will.

KINO FLO PRACTICALS! CFLS!

 This is great. Head on on over to John Fauer's, Film and Digital Times.

HTML5

Holy cool stuff, Batman! If you haven't heard of HTML5 or it's amazing capabilities yet, please do yourself a favor check check out this video. It's a nice introduction and explanation of HTML5 that even non-programmers will appreciate. If you use the web (what's up, everyone on Earth?) get excited!

Introduction to HTML 5 from Brad Neuberg on Vimeo.

3D Printing

For the written word: "3-D Printing Spurs A Manufacturing Revolution"

Plasma

Post Number 1

Tilt-Shift Mania

Thom sent me this link after having seen Vincent Loforet's til-shift work. Click on the video for more of Keith Loutit's videos.



Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Vincent Laforet

After posting about the Canon Expo I wanted to go a bit further in depth about Vincent Laforet. Starting out as a photojournalist, Mr. Laforet spent years telling stories through a single image. After moving towards motion capture with the advent of the Canon EOS 5DmII, we have the opportunity to see how a photographer can tell a story with motion. We're moving past one image to tell a story and now telling smaller pieces of a larger story with multiple shots and movement.

Here are some samples of his photojournalist work:

And some fantastic tilt-shift photography(which started the trend and led to an iPhone photo filter):

And then there was video:




This video was viewed so many times (in the millions) when it first appeared on Canon's website that it crashed their servers.

Canon Expo (Sept 2-3, 2010)

I spent the end of last week attending the Canon Expo at the Jacob K. Javits Center. The show was much less about Canon's new technology itself and more about it's practical integration into the workplace and creative industries. There were some interesting technologies on display, such as Canon's new 4k consumer video camera as well as new projection systems, on-site printing presses and 3D technology.

Most interesting to me were the seminars featuring industry professionals. Alex Buono the director of Saturday Night Live's video production arm spoke in great detail about the use of HDSLR technology on the show. Vincent Laforet spoke later in the day about his work with the Canon EOS 5DmII and his move from photojournalist to filmmaker/director.

 From left to right: Vincent Laforet, Alex Buono, Steven Poster and unknown. Photo: Russell Peborde.

On the second day I took part in a seminar featuring a panel of cinematographers, including Buono and Laforet who continued to speak on the application of HDSLRs and what they mean for the industry. They spoke of the cameras as learning tools for aspiring cinematographers and as a tool and a resource for cinematographers already in the field. The importance of the Canon line of HDSLRs as teaching tools has not entirely been explored and is a topic I will be discussing in more detail in future posts.

HDR Video!

Check out this sample of HDR video technology.



HDR Video Demonstration Using Two Canon 5D mark II's from Soviet Montage on Vimeo.

First!

Hey everyone, welcome to the Jacob Burns Film Center Media Arts Lab "Tech Blog." You can expect updates from your hosts Russ(myself), as well as Jake and Thom, about our progress designing, building, upgrading, and improving the way we Teach and work with media technologies.

For a better understanding of out non-profit film and media education organization, head on over to our site!