Thursday, April 28, 2011

ANNA ESHOO LIVE TODAY CHANNEL 27 6:00-7:30 PM


CONGRESSWOMAN ANNA ESHOO
LEADS A DISCUSSION ON INTERNET PRIVACY
THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011, 6-7:30 pm
TO BE BROADCAST LIVE ON TV AND STREAMED LIVE OVER THE INTERNET


Technology Journalist Larry Magid and representatives from Facebook, Inc. will join Congresswoman Anna Eshoo in a candid discussion of Internet privacy, safety and security tools.  Larry is a co-director of ConnectSafely.org and has been a crusader for child safety and protection on the Internet.  Facebook as the #1 social networking website in the world has an interest in providing its customers with high security but maximum flexibility – which are often seen as incompatible.

The event is free and open to the public and will be held at the Palo Alto City Council Chambers, 250 Hamilton Street. Seating is limited.  Must RSVP: 650-323-2984.

This event is being carried LIVE by the Media Center on Comcast Channel 27 and on AT&T U-verse Channel 99 in the cities of Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton and Stanford.  This event will also be streamed live from the Media Center’s website www.midpenmedia.org/stream. 

To find out about replays of this event on the Media Center Channels, contact Becky@midpenmedia.org

Friday, April 22, 2011

GREENLIGHT PHOTOS & AWARDEES


Wes,  Louise, Vaness, Annie, Sid & Peter





I have to say, after last night's screening of the top fifteen films in this year's Greenlight Film Festival, I'm not too keen on the word "winners" -- all 15 films were flat out winners and deserving of being in the finalists circle.  What a challenge to be a judge this year!  Still, it was a job done with great skill by 9 judges pulled from the Green community, the Media Center staff and volunteers and young filmmakers.   Thank you to our fine judges: 



Cathy Keys - UNA Film Festival
Catherine Martineau – Canopy
Jim McCarthy - Creek Stewardship  Volunteer
Susi Merhar - Acterra
Catalina Morales-Liu - Independent Producer
Arianna Tamaddon - Student
Austin Tamaddon - Student
Kathy Ushiba - Concentric Media
Laura Wolfson – Keller - Student





The finalists and the ultimate awardees were:

Middle School Category:
If Everyone by Gary McSweeny (Palo Alto)
The Consequence and the Solution by Ezer Isai Angeles (Mountain View)
Wanted by Carter Lee, Bryan Young, and Daniel Furgy (Mountain View)
127 Minutes by Charlie and Henry Badger (Palo Alto) - WINNER
Eating Locally by Emily Zhang and Margaret Rosenthal (Palo Alto)


High School Category:
Reversing the Trend by Caroline and Jonathan Armer (Mountain View)
Bay Area Energy Solutions by Grace Chen and Max Martinez (Mountain View)
5 Ways to Keep Earth Beautiful by Sarah Miller, Nathan Bills, and Jake Koval (Palo Alto)
Running Out of Time by Emily Wong (Palo Alto) -WINNER
How Big is Your Footprint by Madeline Dahm (Palo Alto)



Open Category (all others including elementary school and adults):
Patrick Dougherty’s Palo Alto Sculpture by Farrah Plummer (Palo Alto) -WINNER
Where Are The LEED-ers? by Dicky Yan (Mountain View)
On the Rise by John Tupper (San Jose)
Spread Too Thin by David Simon (Los Altos)
Take a Ride on the Wild Side by Jim Skinner (Palo Alto)

And many thanks to our Master and Mistress of Ceremonies:  Peter Drekmeier (former Mayor, founder of Acterra) and Louise Pencavel (Media Center Producer).  And thank you to Mayor Sid Espinosa for his words of encouragement -- reminding all filmmakers young and old about the transformational power of  film!  And it was great to see former Mayor Jim Burch and Chairman of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce Dan Dykwel (and Media Center Board Member) in the audience as well.



Finally, I wasn't on crew last night at Cubberley, but we had the usual fabulous staff coverage spearheaded by Production Manager Karen Adams, Director Doug Smith, Camera Operators: Francisco Del Rosario, Lupita Segura and Jeff McGinnis, Stage Managers Annie Folger (our Executive Director), Brad Sanzenbacher (our Youth Services Coordinator and Greenlight Organizer), and finally last but never least Wes Rapaport, Paly Senior, award winning filmmaker and Media Center Youth Staff.

We hope Midpeninsula-based filmmakers will start planning their entries for next year's Greenlight NOW!  


Dan Dykwel from the Chamber and Mayor Sid Espinosa

Tune in and watch all the entries and the finalists on our stations and out website.  Here is a link to the TV schedule.  Don't forget anytime a program is scheduled to run on our channels it is available to watch right off the streaming page. 



Doug Smith

Francisco Del Rosario and Jeff McGinnis

Mayor Sid Espinosa and Media Center Rock Star Producer Wes Rapaport
 

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Guest Blog: Beth Charlesworth: Report from NAB


Beth Charlesworth is a member of our ZOOM IN Video Production Collaborative and attended the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) Trade Show in Las Vegas last week.  Here are some of the fascinating things she learned. Thank you, Beth! 
Beth told me to cut it down, but I couldn't stop reading it and wouldn't know which super valuable information to trim... so please either read the whole thing or skip to the topic that interests you:
3D Content - it's here to stay!
Democratization of Content Creation - Playing Field is Level but it's Harder and harder to make a living in the business!
Filmmaker Kevin Smith
Canon's Explorers of Light Series on Photographers and Cinematographers
Computing in the Cloud - Rendering Made Faster
Products:  Final Cut Pro 10, "Get" from AV3 Software, Video Camera GoPro and a 5" OLED monitor from Sony

Beth Charlesworth
3D Content
The overarching theme this year was 3D: available now in movies, in professional and consumer videography, and coming soon to TV broadcasting.  In the kickoff session, filmmaker James Cameron predicted that in 3 years when 3D TV is widely available without need for 3D glasses, there will be such massive consumer demand that content providers including TV broadcasters must be ready to shift to 3D in all programming.  When a student asked a panel of cinematographers if he needed to know 3D filmmaking to get a job as a cameraman, the head of the ASC (US cinematographers’ union) replied, “unless you will retire in 2 years, YES.”  Products on the convention floors included 3D displays, and 3D cameras ranging from very high-end for filmmaking, to a tiny video GoPro for a few hundred dollars.  A Warner Bros. executive said a 3D smartphone will be out this summer and several 3D tablets will be released late this year.  Content-creators’ approaches to 3D were wide-ranging.  One filmmaker used a side-by-side mounted pair of Canon Powershot point-and-shoots in video mode to create 3D video.  The most spectacular and compelling example of 3D content I saw at NAB, was from a 3D version of the Royal Opera House’s production of “Carmen,” which reportedly was released in theaters last month.  3D Carmen was amazing, gorgeous – the audience could not tear eyes away from the giant screen. 

Democratization of content creation
This is not a new subject, but was raised again and again in formal sessions and informal conversations, because the economics of media and entertainment are rapidly changing with DSLR filmmaking, production of high-end visual effects by independent contractors, video news coverage streamed directly from a smartphone via the web, etc.  No one I heard would predict the end result of these changes.  While many products shown on the floors were directed to such independent creators, there was great concern among independents about whether their business models were viable.  Video motion effects creators I asked about the state of their markets reported frustration with clients’ purchasing decisions being made solely on price.  The same was said by a number of independent producers of corporate and other commercial video I spoke with – that quality counts for little in this recessionary market, that they find corporate buying decisions are solely cost-based.  Yet it was also widely remarked, especially by content distributors in panel sessions, that with video now omnipresent, consumers demand high-quality production values to watch video on any venue including Youtube.  Executives from established post production houses complained on one hand of having to compete with mom-and-pop garage-based studios, while reporting increased profits by winning contracts and then outsourcing the work to mom-and-pop or offshore contractors.  Indie filmmaker Gareth Edwards (“Monsters” released 2010) predicted soon 2 kids in a garage will make a terrific film for $1000 (lots of garage-based creativity discussed at NAB), distribute it via the web while making tons of money, and blow up Hollywood’s business model.
Kevin Smith and “Red State”
Kevin Smith may be the most entertaining human on the planet.  Between riffs answering audience questions he presented excerpts from his new film “Red State,” described as his answer to the Westboro Baptist Church.  He is marketing the film through personal appearances – “in-person 3D.”   “Red State,” he said, is his last film, as he no longer needs “$20 million and 200 people to realize an artistic vision.”  On May 9, 2011, he will launch S.I.R., Smodcast Internet Radio, on which he will be a principal entertainer/interviewer. 

Live presentations by Canon’s Explorers of Light 
On the show floor, Canon offered hourly presentations by noted still photographers and cinematographers, including Russell Carpenter (Oscar for cinematography in “Titanic”), Alex Buono (director of photography for Saturday Night Live), Bruce Dorn (nature and commercial still photographer and videographer), Rodney Charters (director of photography for “24”), and a number of others.  My one regret from NAB is that I did not spend at least an entire day in the Canon booth watching and learning from all these experts.  I spent more than half of one day there, learning how they use DSLRs for videography and in filmmaking (and stills), how to maximize these cameras’ outstanding performance in low-light settings, how to light for video, what effects various lenses will produce.  Excerpts from their recent films and commercial work illustrated how DSLRs are being used in video.  A few points out of many:
·      Video lighting can be done very inexpensively, with supplies from the hardware store.  Make a dolly from a skateboard or bike.  See the recently published book “A Shot in the Dark” by J. Holden.
·      With digital editing capability, the pace of video has greatly increased.  Average length of an edited TV clip = 4 sec.; for 40 minutes of a TV show made by this cinematographer, 1200 different clips were used.
·      As little as ½ foot-candle of light has been used to light a video taken by a high-end DSLR, which recorded good video although actors were barely visible to the naked eye in the dark.
·      A higher ISO setting is not always noisier than a lower ISO.  For Canon DSLRs, use “native” ISO settings in multiples of 160, to create least noise.
·      Use 24 frames per second for the most cinematic look in video.  Faster fps settings may be perceived as lower quality, more as video than cinema.
·      Watch the web for release soon of an option for a Technicolor picture style (color palette) for Canon DSLRs.
·      A series of stills can be sped up, for example to show rapidly the transition from dusk to night to dawn.  Use the DSLR manufacturer’s intervalometer (about $150) to set intervals for still shots.  To control for changes in exposure, bracket stills and/or use a 3rd-party exposure controller (under $300).
 Computing in the Cloud: 
·       Digital editing capabilities are creating greatly increased need for computing power, which will grow even faster with 3D. 
·      Avatar’s 1st 9 minutes required 3 nonstop weeks to render.
·      Recent Dreamworks 3D animated films each required rendering time in the 10s of millions of computer hours. The figure has about doubled for each animated film created by this studio in the past few years, and is expected to continue to grow at at least this pace.  The Company has a relationship with HP for use of HP server farms continuously as production progresses, editing and rendering along the way.
Final Cut Pro 10  
Final Cut Pro 10 was introduced at the FCP Users’ Group Supermeet Tuesday night.  It is a radical improvement (not simplification) of the software.  Examples: inserting clips in the timeline with no disruptions in the timeline; ability to sync multiple-source audio to video, ability to make selections of areas within the frame to be adjusted for color, brightness etc.; color-matching of entire palettes between clips (an example was shown of clips of the same subject filmed at different times of day being matched so that all were made to conform to the color palette of light in the designated clip).    Version 10 will be out in June for $299, regardless of upgrade or new purchase.  Apple rep wouldn’t say whether all of Final Cut Studio will be upgraded at the same time. 
Get from AV3 Software: 
"Get" is designed for use with Final Cut Pro in editing spoken audio – interviews, dialogue, etc.  Enter a word (or multiple words, a phrase, or combinations of these), and Get will search your audio, identify where it occurs, provide a list of those clips in the browser.  Get searches an hour of audio in 1 minute.  When one of the identified clips is opened in the viewer, the timeline at the bottom will have color-coded dots on it marking where that word can be found.  For example, if I search my audio for mention of Palo Alto, Mountain View, and/or Menlo Park, Get will give me a list of all clips in which any of these terms occurs, to move into the browser.  The list will have color-coded dots beside each clip (i.e. blue for Palo Alto, red for Mountain View, yellow for Menlo Park) indicating which term appears in which clip.  When I open one of the clips in the viewer, the timeline below will have a blue dot wherever Palo Alto is mentioned, a red dot wherever Mountain View is mentioned, a yellow dot wherever Menlo Park is mentioned.  Can be downloaded for $249 at www.getphonetic.com.  Peter Ramsay from AV3 said they will give substantial discounts to nonprofit organizations who provide proof of nonprofit status. 
 GoPro: available now is the tiny, about 3” square, $299 Hero video camera which takes beautiful 1080p video under extreme conditions, as well as time lapse stills.  Waterproof to 180 ft. depth.  See examples of video at www.gopro.com.  Demonstrated at NAB but not yet on website: 3D GoPro video camera, only slightly larger.  Viewing video in 3D requires 3D glasses and 3D display.  NAB attendees (including me) stood around a large 3D TV display with jaws dropped, watching surfers appear to shoot out of the screen at us.  Comes with attachments for helmet or on-person wearing OR surfboard mount OR car mount, as well as various mounts available separately.  All Hero HD cameras are the same, only mounting accessories differ.  Standard-definition Heros also available for lower price.
4.     SONY 5” OLED monitor for DSLRs, with peaking: Very sharp, very bright, and with surrounding screens for outdoor use as well as indoor. Mounts on hot shoe or on rails.  Peaking feature shows parts of image which are in focus.  Should be very useful for DSLRs such as Canon 5D Mark II, where is difficult to focus using LED display on back of camera. (I ordered one!)  At around $400, much less expensive than other monitors for DSLRs.
NAB is enormous, crowded, and exhausting.  Take heavily padded walking shoes.  There is a reason for the (real) massage therapists giving back massages in chairs lining the central hall.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Heroes Photos and Article From Patch!

Yesterday's annual Local Heroes Screening and Awards just stood out.   You just can't be hard-hearted or cynical when confronted by the selfless behavior and greater vision of these folks.  Need to thaw that attitude and get inspired?   Make sure you catch the individual videos and the highlights of their stories as we feature the good works of these fine citizens who are our neighbors this week and throughout May in our Local Heroes series.  Here's a link to our program schedule where you can watch the Heroes either via Comcast or AT&T at home on TV or streaming on our website.  They will also be available VOD soon as well right from our website.

We are delighted that Palo Alto Patch picked up the story.  Here's a link to the article written by Philip Spiegel.  Thank you Philip!

And finally here are some wonderful pictures from yesterday's festivities.  Put this event on the calendar for next year!  Don't miss a chance to meet real life heroes and shake their hands.

Ellen Fletcher - Cycling Advocate

John Wu (Mental Health Activist) & Friends

Kate Young of Palo Alto Housing Corporation

Bardi Rosman Koodrin, Pioneer in Pain Management

Local Heroes Producer Louise Pencavel with Robert Freeman

Robert Freeman, Founder of One Dollar for Life

Studio Audience Mobs Heroes

Audience During the Screening
 (One of our heroes could not be present and thus is not pictured: Superior Court Judge Eugene Hyman who works with the perpetrators and victims of domestic violence. But his profile is being broadcast this week and throughout May!)  

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

2010 Accomplishments Aplenty

We decided to enter the national Hometown Video Festival in the "Overall Excellence" category. The award, from the Alliance for Community Media, goes to the media center that exemplified the best practices in the previous year and served their community best. We have to answer three questions in 250 words (each) or less, which is a major challenge!

We think you'll be proud when you read the summary of ways we responded to community needs and concerns in 2010, so we're including it here. Unfortunately, even this skimpy overview is 100 words too long. If you want to try your hand at editing, send us a leaner version.

"In response to five youths taking their own lives within six months, the Media Center collaborated on numerous community initiatives to prioritize teen well-being. We partnered with the PTA Council and the Adolescent Counseling Services to create six programs. We covered all school board meetings and a city-sponsored forum for youth. Every program was heavily promoted and discussed on our blog site and Facebook page. The Media Center initiated the “Sound Lounge” where kids can hang out on the weekend and perform live music, the only such venue in Palo Alto, and we conducted our “Digiquest” Summer Camps.

We partner with the East Palo Alto police department to produce a TV series and web site featuring the families of murder victims that solicits help from the public to solve cases including the murder of a civic leader that shocked the community in 2010.

We launched the Zoom-In Collaborative in 2010, that trained 66 people to produce short-form videos including citizen journalism pieces. Zoom-In grads covered important local stories such as a tragic plane crash and the community response to a “God Hates Fags” rally by a Kansas-based church.

Three grants received in 2010 enabled us to create high-impact media projects. “Alive and Free Stories” was a project with at-risk youth who created video profiles of former gang members and their transformations. The project included a web site featuring the videos and several community presentations. “Day Workers Journal” got underway with video training (in Spanish) and the beginnings of a documentary about the lives of day workers, as well as a worker-written blog site. “Girls TV” was part of an after-school program we launched for at-risk youth that mentored girls in communications technologies.

Two teams from Palo Alto High School won state championships and collaborating with a nearby media center, we “fielded” a production truck and crews to cover key games.


The Media Center produced candidate forums and ballot measure debates for 18 election races in 2010 in partnership with two civic organizations. We also produced 368 government meetings for four municipalities.

All of the aforementioned programs are available on demand."

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