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Inventing the Movies
Written by David Tames on July 31, 2008
Filed Under Books, Business, Filmmakers, Filmmaking, Interviews, Media Technology, Television, The Media
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Some of the things I love about summer are weekend trips to the Berkshires, taking time off for a vacation, and all that means more time available to read books. On my summer reading stack this year was an advance copy of Inventing the Movies, a new book by Scott Kirsner that takes you on...  Continue Reading...

Sony PMW-EX1 Camcorder (BOSFCPUG Presentation)
Written by David Tames on July 25, 2008
Filed Under Camera, Events & Screenings, Final Cut Pro, High Definition
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The Sony PMW-EX1 XDCAM EX camcorder represents an important milestone in the evolution of digital video camera design. This is the first all-in-one camcorder to provide videographers with the productivity of solid-state memory card recording, the quality of three true high-definition 1/2-inch...  Continue Reading...

Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video
Written by David Tames on July 21, 2008
Filed Under Copyright, Law, New Media, Podcasting, Video on the Web
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The Center for Social Media of the School of Communication at American University recently published The American Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video, an important guide for producers of online video who make use of copyrighted materials without specific permission. Online...  Continue Reading...

Improve your video using cinematic language techniques (Podcamp Boston 3 presentation)
Written by David Tames on July 19, 2008
Filed Under Events & Screenings, Filmmaking, New Media, Presentation, Video on the Web
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For over a hundred years filmmakers have been evolving a language for communicating efficiently using visual and audio elements over time. This session consisted of examples and discussion covering the fundamental elements of cinematic language which can help dramatically improve the effectiveness...  Continue Reading...

Art of the Interview (Podcamp Boston 3 presentation)
Written by David Tames on July 19, 2008
Filed Under Documentary, Filmmaking, General, New Media, Podcasting, The Media, Video on the Web
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The interview is a fundamental element of most documentary films and many video blogs. Through examples and discussion this session, which I presented at Podcamp Boston 3, covered practical strategies and techniques including how and why to use interviews, how to choose the right interview...  Continue Reading...

Unconstitutional FISA Bill Becomes Law
Written by David Tames on July 16, 2008
Filed Under Law, Politics
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I usually don’t blog about political issues on this blog, but enough is enough. On July 10, 2008, President Bush signed into law the clearly unconstitutional F.I.S.A. Amendments Act, which gives the Bush administration virtually unchecked powers to monitor Americans’ international...  Continue Reading...

Podcamp Boston 3, July 19-20, 2008
Written by David Tames on July 15, 2008
Filed Under Business, Events & Screenings, New Media, Video Production, Video on the Web, Web
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Podcamp Boston 3 will be held this weekend, Saturday, July 19-20, 2008 at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, Harvard Medical School, 77 Louis Pasteur Avenue in Boston. If you’ve not already done so, now might be a good time to register as space is limited this year, the event is...  Continue Reading...

Sony PMW-EX1 XDCAM EX camcorder: first impressions
Written by David Tames on July 4, 2008
Filed Under Camera, High Definition, Media Technology, Sticky, Tools
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A friend recently loaned me his Sony PMW-EX1 XDCAM EX camcorder for a few days so I had a chance to take this fascinating new camera for a spin. In this post I’ll share my first impressions. I’ll be taking the camera out for another spin next week for more shooting, so I’ll...  Continue Reading...

Viacom will soon know what you watch on YouTube
Written by David Tames on July 3, 2008
Filed Under Law, The Media
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A recent BBC news story, “Google must divulge YouTube log,” reports on the latest phase in the Viacom case against Google’s YouTube: A U.S. court ordered Google to disclose the viewing logs of each and every YouTube user. This gives Viacom access to over 12 terabytes of data so...  Continue Reading...

A record number of Americans are using the internet to get news about the election
Written by David Tames on July 1, 2008
Filed Under The Media
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A recent Pew Internet and American Life Project report titled “The Internet and the 2008 Election” states that a record-breaking 46% of Americans have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others. And...  Continue Reading...