Portable Video camera convergence

Bell and Howell was one of the first companies to make a "portable video camera" back in the 1930's (http://www.bellhowell.com/). However, back then the definition of "portable video camera" was much different than  now. The camera weighed at least five pounds and was even bigger than what some cinema cameras are these days.

 Now the average portable video camera is no bigger than an Iphone and takes great 1080p video. GoPro pretty much runs the market on action sport cameras these days, but if they aren't careful they may lose their edge.

With the advancing technology of smartphone and tablet software, Action Sport Cameras are FINALLY beginning to integrate and use each other! The Iphone and the Android phones were released and we are just beginning to see the potential that they have. Just recently action sport cameras thought they were cool if they had a remote control that could start and stop the camera wirelessly. Then, GoPro came a long with a great idea and thought hmmmm maybe we can play off of these smartphones and use that as a remote control to stop and start the camera. GoPro is now in the process of releasing their WiFi backpack, and what i mean by "in the process" is the tantalizing update on their website that said it was going to be released in february, then it moved to March, and now it is moved to April. I think i actually know why they keep pushing back the date, well, at least i hope i do. You see, GoPro's WiFi Backpack enables the user to download an App on their Iphone, tablet, or computer and wirelessly pause or record their camera through their smart device. The user can also start and stop up to 50 GoPro cameras at once.  The other cool thing about the new convergence between GoPro camera and smartphone is live wireless video streaming. This means that wherever ones device can pick up WiFI, it can stream the video from the GoPro straight to the smart device and then to the web (http://gopro.com/hd-hero-accessories/wi-fi-bacpac-remote-combo/). When GoPro announced this feature it was huge! This would be the first consumer grade video camera that can be run via smartphone or device. Unfortunately, GoPro missed a couple easy upgrades that would make this new convergence even better.

Gobandit is another brand of action sport portable video camera that is working on smartphone convergence. But they looked at the obvious lack their of feature that most action sport cameras dont have, which is a freaking VIEWFINDER! Gobandit is playing off of GoPro's idea and making it even better by making an app for a smartphone that not only allows one to use the smartphone as a remote but it allows the user to use the nice little 3 point whatever inch by who the hell knows what awesome LCD screen that most people carry in their pocket (Cell Phone) and wirelessly use that third or fourth screen as a VIEWFINDER for the Gobandit camera (http://gobandit.com/iphone.html)!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank Joseph Smith or whoever that a camera company has finally figured out how to utilize this! If only now the DSLR cameras would make a cord that would go from the camera to an Ipod or Ipad so we could use that third or fourth screen as an external monitor. The app also allows the user to playback the video they recorded on their third or fourth screen!

This is why i think GoPro is putting off the release of their Wifi Backpack. I think they are trying to figure out how to make their camera use a smartphone or an Ipad as an external monitor or viewfinder, or so i hope. From my point of view this is the definition of the whole convergence idea. Making smartphones, computers, and cameras and whatnot all be able to communicate with each other! This is where our society is heading and man i cant wait for this to be mainstream. The main thing I am looking forward to is using my Ipad as an external monitor for my new Canon 5d mark III, that i am hopefully going to get haha. With all the other cool shit we can do, it only makes sense to be able to go through and make something like that happen. We just have to remember, that third and fourth screens are relatively new, and we havent even come close to finding their full potential.

Photo Shoot

A few of my favorites from my gorgeous classmate!

Best New Device

I would like to discuss the advancing market of P.O.V (point of view) video cameras. Im sure we already know that GoPro pretty much dominates the market as far as portable cameras go. However, there is somewhat of a new high definition camera that is starting to emerge that allows individuals to record high definition without even holding a camera. This is called video camera sunglasses. Video camera sunglasses aren't entirely new, and they aren't super popular yet either, that is partly because Go Pro and other portable cameras have pretty much run the show, and because video camera sunglasses have just recently gone full 1080p HD.

One brand in particular that sticks out is called pivothead (http://pivothead.com/). Not only do they make a stylish pair of sunglasses, but they just happened to throw a video camera in it that takes 1080p video. The camera specs on this thing are hardly behind the GoPro HD hero camera (http://pivothead.com/?page_id=61).

A market for these video camera sunglasses hasn't quite emerged yet, however, i think they might steal some business away from other portable video camera companies. For the individual who really wants to be able to shoot video on the go without having to pull out or set up a camera, you can really just push a button and the camera pretty much sees what the individual wearing the glasses sees. The product is extremely convenient in that regard. It almost literally defines the point of view camera.

As far as convergence goes, this camera is about just as far as all the other portable cameras. This brand in particular is not wifi enabled, so you cannot communicate with the camera wirelessly via smartphone or computer, but there are other brands that do offer a wireless remote (http://vulcantechnology.com/products/).

looking to the future, the video camera sunglasses have a lot of potential. My personal thoughts would be using the actual glass on the glasses themselves to be able to playback video, so the one wearing them can watch the video they just played. Also, some type of eye monitoring system where the glasses can pick up where the eyes are looking and record literally what the eye sees. Who knows though.

Poker night tight photos

borrowed Ben Bratens 7d the other night to take some tight shots at our poker night. The queen ten hand won me about 40 bucks ironically. All shots are at about 55 mm.

Travis Rummel and Ben Knight’s “Red Gold”

            “Red Gold” is a documentary film about the proposed Pebble mine project that is supposed to take place at the headwaters of the most salmon prolific drainage in the world. That drainage is Bristol Bay, Alaska. Two people set out to make a different kind of environmental documentary, a film that incorporates both sides of the story. But like every other environmental film, they leaned quite a bit toward the environmental side.

            Travis Rummel and Ben Knight of Felt Soul Media teamed up with Trout Unlimited to make this film. It was difficult to find information on their pre-production process, but it basically sounds like they spent about one year planning their summer in Alaska to make this film. I got in contact with one of the people who work for Felt Soul and I asked if they could answer some of my questions. They said “yeah sure,” but they never replied with any answers to my questions. Felt Soul Media does have a blog, and while filming “Red Gold” they did update the blog whenever they could find internet, which, in Bristol Bay Alaska, was as hard to find as it was to find an Alaskan Native in support of the Pebble Mine (http://www.feltsoulmedia.com/thewire/page/2/).

            The DVD actually comes with a neat little booklet that includes some of their blog entries while filming, great photographs, and funny stories. The writer of the blog, Ben Knight, is one of the most interesting writers I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The guy is hilarious! Travis Rummel, who was the director of this film, spent a year doing research and put together a three inch binder of information ranging from Bristol Bay and the native people there, to corporate agenda of the mining companies behind the proposed project (http://www.feltsoulmedia.com/thewire/page/2/). Other than the binder of information, Trout Unlimited provided Lauren Oakes to help them on their endeavor. Lauren is the Conservation Programs Officer for Trout Unlimited Alaska and was named co-producer of the film. She helped Ben and Travis get acquainted to Bristol Bay and provided lots of perspective on the conservation side of the project.

            Travis and Ben pretty much packed all the gear they could and headed to Alaska to meet up with Lauren in Bristol Bay. Other than their research it sounds like they didn’t have much of a game-plan. They pretty much define the typical independent film maker. They had a friend of a friend’s friend pick them up at the airport in Anchorage and show them around for a day. Then they hopped on another plane and headed to Bristol Bay. They did plan ahead to meet up with a National Geographic photographer in Bristol Bay, and he took them under his wing and showed him around a little bit as well (DVD booklet, pg 9). As far as food and lodging went, they just showed up to Bristol Bay and started networking with people their and that’s where they found places to stay and food to eat. The local cannery let them stay in their dorm style living quarters and eat in their food hall (booklet, pg 9).

            In what seems to be an attempt to get on the good side of the film-makers, one of the mining companies paid for their airfare from Anchorage to the “exploration site,” put them up in a lake-front condo, and fed them while they were filming and interviewing pebble mine employees and supporters (booklet, pg 19). That obviously took some pre-production planning probably while they were in Bristol Bay networking with people.

            The filmmakers pretty much stumbled upon their hero subjects, the people they followed and interviewed throughout the summer, from just hanging out in the boatyard (booklet, pg 15). It sounds like from reading the blog that concepts and communication objectives were determined from Travis and Ben throughout their summer in Bristol Bay. With each person they met they had a different perspective about the shape of the film. Their concepts were developed along the way through socializing and networking with locals, which in my opinion was the key to their success, and the key to them surviving an Alaskan Summer. Their pre-production and their production were pretty much interlaced throughout the entire time they were filming. Doing this enabled them to get the real side of the story, and ultimately to produce a moving environmental documentary.      

                    

wide angle photos

 In this shot, my friend is driving our boat from our cabin in the background to the other side of the lake to pick up supplies for our cabin. The cabin is on an island, and we have to get to it by boat or snowmobile. I shot this wide so we could see the cabin in the background. Also the beer in the cup holder is viewable, which is crucial to the story. We like to have fun while we're working. That's probably why the cabin is crooked? If the beer is not in this shot, one might not question whether this man is drinking and driving. This was shot with a Canon 7D at 17mm.

This photo was shot on the Kenai river on a record day as far as fishing goes. Just on this day a state record of 260,000 Sockeye salmon swam past the fish counter. This was last summer, and it is possible we had such a record year because the Japanese fishing fleet got wiped out from the Tsunami. It was important to shoot this not only wide but vertical as well, because we can see all the fish on the bottom of the boat, and you can see down the length of the handle which leads the eye right up to the fish in the net. I wish i could now take this shot again and maybe get more of my uncles arm in this photo. The width of this photo gives us perspective as to what's happening in this story. It is not just one boat out there fishing, their are a whole bunch of boats out fishing on this day, which tells the viewer that this might be a big deal. Also taken at 17mm

Social Media Impact on Egypt

There are approximately five million Egyptians on Facebook (http://heidicohen .com/social-media-egyptian-revolution/). I have never been to Egypt, nor do I know much at all about their culture, but I would assume that Egyptians use Facebook and other social media at least somewhat similar to the way Americans do. I check Facebook a few times a day, so if there is a big event happening near me that one of my friends knows about then I am probably going to find out about it on my Facebook. It is said that many Egyptian Facebook groups started to promote early protests (http://mashable.com /2011/02/11 /egyptian-president-steps-down/). In America it is sad to say that not everyone knows much about what is going on in our country, and that may be able to be said about Egyptians as well. However, if at least one of my Facebook friends finds out about something major going on with our country or government or state, they’ll usually post something about it on Facebook, and I will probably read about it there. That’s kind of how social media works. It is taking news, information, media etc., and making it social and personal. I believe this may be how many of the people of Egypt found out about what was happening in their country, and it probably influenced how they felt about it. If their friends on Facebook say that they are going out to protest, that will probably convince some of their other friends to spread the word and come out and protest as well. A benefit of Social Media is that instead of some president or a publisher or an editor or director of a news station being a gatekeeper as to what is broadcasted, the people you know, your friends, your acquaintances, and yourself become the gatekeepers on your social media applications. I think it is for that reason how Egypt was able to organize and come together on much more of an intimate level. Knowing that you’re friends and your fellow countrymen and women are taking a stand and coming together to protest the government, and learning this information from your friends and family through your own social network of people rather than through a news network helped make this a peaceful organization.

“We are all Khaled Said” is a Facebook group that was started some six months ago. The group was created anonymously after Egyptian authorities brutally beat an Egyptian blogger to death. This group slowly grew into the online version of Tahrir Square (http:/ /www.good.is/post/amazing-photos-from-the-facebook-group-behind-egypt-s-revolution/ ). This page had an estimated 600,000 followers, which turned into a news hub for Egyptian protesters. Disturbing photos and videos were posted on the page to help fuel Egyptian citizens to come out and protest. The maker of this page, who was later revealed to be an activist and a Google executive, definitely had an agenda on his mind while creating this page. By posting photos and videos of police brutality on harmless citizens for example, was a good way to frame his agenda and to get other Egyptian citizens concerned about their well-being.   

      Like Erik said how the automobile had changed the way we make, serve, and eat food, social media has and is changing the way we communicate. Instead of people going around from house to house and gathering people to go down to protest, Egyptians could arrange these protests in advance from the safety and privacy of their own home. Face to face communication is almost becoming a thing of the past, and to see hundreds of thousands of people come together face to face in Tahrir Square says something major. The events in Egypt have shown the strength of these social media tools for both organizing and informing people (http://mashable.com/2011/02/11/ egyptian-president-steps-down/). After the events in Egypt, and maybe in a few years down the road, I think America might see some kind of similar social media organized protests to help check the power of our own government. I think with this new social media the technology helped determine the overall attitude and decision by the Egyptian people to come together and protest until a change was made.