Site Archive

Final Cut Pro X: My first impressions
Written by David Tames on June 23, 2011
Filed Under Apple, Editing, Final Cut Pro, Reviews, Video Production
9 Comments  

There’s been a lot of excitement in the air about Final Cut Pro X since the SuperMeet at NAB in Las Vegas many weeks ago. It’s been like a friend telling you about someone they want to set you up with on a date, and they tell you all sorts of things about them that get you excited...  Continue Reading...

Pearls of wisdom
Written by David Tames on April 23, 2010
Filed Under Art, Books, Design, Reviews
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Back in February I attended a conference “Who’s Afraid of New Media” held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Wendy Richmond, who has recently published a book, Art Without Compromise* (Allworth Press, 2009), was one of the speakers. During a break we had a delightful conversation...  Continue Reading...

Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
Written by David Tames on April 6, 2010
Filed Under Art, Documentary, Events & Screenings, Reviews
3 Comments  

I was in New York on March 27th to participate in The Conversation at Columbia University. In a recent blog post about the event, Rania wrote, “the paradox—though the topic was digital, the excitement came from face-to-face, real-world, real-time, high-touch experience of bodies in...  Continue Reading...

Sennheiser Evolution G3 100 Series
Written by David Tames on February 18, 2010
Filed Under Gadgets and Devices, General, Reviews, Sound, Sticky, Video Production
19 Comments  

If you want to go with a wireless microphone system, and you’re trying to balance between performance and price but don’t want to compromise too much on performance, I would suggest taking a close look at the Sennheiser Evolution G3 Series. I’ve been using the previous G2...  Continue Reading...

The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative
Written by David Tames on February 12, 2010
Filed Under Books, Narrative, Reviews
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I recently finished reading The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative by H. Porter Abbott (Cambridge University Press, 2nd. edition, 2008). This book is by far the best introduction to narrative currently available, encompassing the range of narrative forms including literature, cinema, and...  Continue Reading...

Transcriva 2
Written by David Tames on January 13, 2010
Filed Under Documentary, Filmmaking, Reviews, Tools
3 Comments  

Back in August of 2005 I wrote a post, Transcriva makes transcribing (almost) fun, in which I reviewed the first version of Transcriva from Bartas Technologies, a delightful Macintosh application I’ve been using since then for transcribing audio and video interviews. Last year Bartas...  Continue Reading...

Comparison of four professional LED lighting instruments under $1K
Written by David Tames on July 19, 2009
Filed Under Camera, Documentary, Filmmaking, Gadgets and Devices, Lighting, Reviews
17 Comments  

Over the past couple of years I’ve had a chance to use or take a close look at various LED lighting instruments available in the marketplace. Today you will find lots of inexpensive lights suitable for on-camera use available for anywhere from $50 to $500 from a variety of vendors....  Continue Reading...

Metropath(ologies): ecstasy of communication or ambivalence of information?
Written by David Tames on May 23, 2009
Filed Under Art, New Media, Reviews
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Judith Donath recently spoke at MassArt. In anticipation of her talk I went to see the Connections exhibition of works by Donath and her Sociable Media Group at the MIT Media Lab. I was particularly taken by Metropath(ologies), an immersive installation that is at once beguiling and enchanting....  Continue Reading...

Fans, friends, and followers
Written by David Tames on April 2, 2009
Filed Under Books, Distribution, Filmmaking, Reviews, The Media
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This week I had a chance to read Scott Kirsner’s new book, Fans, Friends & Followers, which provides a fresh guide to building an audience in the new media landscape. The book starts out by painting with broad brush strokes the challenges artists have faced finding an audience for...  Continue Reading...

Maria’s Story and its role in the technological history of documentary filmmaking
Written by David Tames on September 20, 2008
Filed Under Documentary, Filmmaking, Media Technology, Reviews
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Maria’s Story (1990, Monona Wali & Pamela Cohen, 53 min.) is a documentary portrait of Maria Serrano, a 39-year-old woman who is a peasant, mother, and guerrilla leader who at the time the film was made, had spent over a decade of her life fighting in the hills of El Salvador. Some...  Continue Reading...

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