Through the LCD clearly

No studio love for Redbox. Thanks to Ross for yet another useful link.

I understand the appeal of the Red Box concept, when you’re a college student going to get groceries or a quick bite while finishing a project it’s nice to grab a cheap and readily available new release.

The system could use some streamlining, my primary complaint is that there should be a smaller second screen on the side with a return slot so that if you’re merely trying to return a movie (and do so on time) you need only pop it in while someone else is browsing. My secondary advice for Red Box improvements would be a more clear labeling of which movies are yet unreleased, a different color tag, a big released on such and such date imposed on the cover. Many times I’ve had to patiently wait for a couple or new users to try and rent an unreleased movie several times before they give up or before I feel it’s no longer rude to inform them. It’s happened to me as well once or twice, the text is too small to catch your eye when you’re in a rush. Thirdly the marketing display bubbles seen outside the machines NEVER correspond to the actual inventory, it’s not major as they change so often but sometimes people spend a fair amount of time double and triple checking for a title that isn’t there.

That being said I can understand people’s reservations. I have several friends who used to work or manage video rental chain shops. Some of them lost their positions I would be hesitant to blame red box but I doubt it helped.

You never see them here in L.A and personally it’s something I muse about now and again. I don’t know how much effort Universal wants to put into fighting them on the issue. Yes they won’t make as much money if people rent at the chain stores, but Redbox still has to buy the movies from wholesalers to stock them. I understand it’s a volume business but honestly that money and effort could probably be better served by investing in stronger ties with Netflix, making archives more stream friendly, and concentrating on building a bigger presence on I-tunes and Xbox.  There are some well made points in the comment section it’s worth checking out.

J. Ewan Van Dijkhorst

I’ve talked (not at any length) about the changes in the music industry due to individual track sales and the possible resurgence of emphasis on singles rather than albums. Reuters has an article on the uncertain nature of digital strategies.

This is old hat, but apparently one can make money writing I-phone applications.  I have one or two ideas but as: A. Apple and Adobe don’t play well with each other, B. I’m not a coder it might take a while.

Also via digg, 35 tools for writing online.  There are also some rumors floating around that Google will be adding more support for .pdfs in Google Docs.

I’m doing a radical overhaul of my website . I’m not attuned to html or java so it’s time to break out Flash, and give Photoshop images some alpha channel love. Those of you who are decent at coding should take a look at 10 ways to cut down on web development time.

Finally not necessarily new media related, a student at Missouri State University recovered his stolen Xbox 360 using his wireless controller. I posted because of all the Universities I went to Missouri State was the one that gave me a degree. Stealing someones 360 just before break is just harsh, doing it during finals week probably implies that you’re not really University Material anyway.

Back to drawing out element boards.

J. Ewan Van Dijkhorst

The 10 best viral videos of 2008. According to Boing Boing that is, thanks to Ross for the link. I didn’t embed it due to some language. My personal favorite if not necessarily viral video is the video for Wheezer’s Pork and Beans as it provides a nice tribute to previous virals.

Via Slashfilm and elsewhere it looks like Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller have plans for

the Len Grossman Character from Tropic Thunder. Perhaps some virals. I loved him in Collateral, Last Samurai, and thought he was hilarious in Tropic Thunder. I would like to see him do more villain and comedy roles.  Speaking of Tropic Thunder it’s Academy Award Nomination time and this was released.

Also via Slashfilm, a rather clever marketing job for Tropic Thunder. In all seriousness word of mouth from friends at Academy Screenings are largely positive about Defiance.

The Chicago Tribune has a list of the top 10 domestic grossing films of 2008. The Dark Knight was excellent I only saw it in theaters once or twice, Iron Man I ended up going to at least four times by virtue of persuasive friends, and I went with various cousins in South Africa to see Kung Fu Panda twice. I saw Indy IV… I’m not going to comment on it… South Park covered my feelings on it well enough.

I missed out on Wall-E most of my friends have been raving about it non stop. I was unaware that the 2008 fiscal year was closed yet? I’m going to see Gran Torino at the first chance I get, try and squeeze in the Slumdog Millionare. I won’t be able to catch the Wrestler until January at which time I will be catching the re-release of the Dark Knight.

I’ll be doing an upcoming attractions post on movies I’m excited about for 2009 and a reflection on how the New Media has changed this year. Dr. Horrible, Sanctuary, and the rise of Hulu have all raised the bar for online content.

I’m off to Glendale for a function this evening, but expect a few more posts before my Christmas hiatus. Juard Van Dijkhorst

I’m digesting this month’s American Cinematographer Magazine, and want to go over the show Sanctuary. One of my former Professors let me know about the show and I’ve been following it on Hulu. I really love vfx and if you’ve been subjected to the Bloody Omaha speech you know how great I think technology is for content producers. I’m going to go into how the series started as a webisode before it was picked up and of course delve into the RED/Post workflow that makes it possible.

I’ve also been doing a lot of reading of memoirs. Writers and Producers mainly. Not much of it deals with the New Media or web content but it would be interesting to hear what Evans, Eszterhas, Goldman, Obst, and the others I’ve been pouring over would say about the topic. If I can fire off emails to the various agents/gatekeepers that keep them squirreled away I’ll be sure to let you know the results.

At some point I’m going to compile a new comers guide to LA and initial advice for making the move here. Several of my friends have left to go back wherever, and though I can’t say that I blame them or haven’t entertained the same notion I’m going to tough it out for at least a few more months.  When I’m in a humorous mood I’ll post some photos or videos of my living situation, and maybe even a guide to LA lingo. I’m brushing up on my Byzantine history (The politics seem similar), learning to be Zen about the job hunt, and am already much more savvy/realistic about the industry.

I want to look a bit more at the One Laptop Per Child project, but first need to find out some information about it’s power usage.  My Uncle (who really does make Mac Guyver look helpless) used a bike dynamo, a modified model aircraft propeller, and an inverter to generate 70-90+ volts while we were driving in South Africa. I managed to hit my fingers pretty nicely a few times. But it had my thinking that even driving in the middle of wherever one could generate enough power to charge dozens of batteries, maybe even run a live capture/storage setup. I need to build the same thing (with a variable regulator) so I can charge my DVX batteries if say driving in the middle of Mexico without access to a charger. Tangent aside I wonder if a hand or bike driven dynamo could power the 100 dollar laptop.

All for now.

J. Ewan Van Dijkhorst

So somehow I missed the news (thank you Slashfilm!) that Michael Mann was making a 30s era Gangster flick. Slash film has some stills from the project. Michael Mann does shoot outs like no other. I love Heat, loved Collateral, and own though have some issues with Miami Vice. Christian Bale and Johny Depp are both really solid actors too color me excited.  I’m also a fan of 30s gangster flicks.

The Grab below from the Last Romantic (which I was a Cinematographer on,) is inspired by those gangster era flicks.

Juard Van Dijkhorst