Case Study: By Miles Weston

Fresh Off the Grill

BBQ Hints Texas Style

Just in time for summer, the Texas Beef Council had a series of social media videos prepared by Ralph Smyth Entertainment with outstanding results. Read More

To most people, "video" invokes the idea of entertainment. The latest blockbuster movie about some superhero or another, a favorite TV show that seems to go on forever such as MASH or more lately, something internet based on a file sharing service such as YouTube, Facebook or Vimeo, usually containing 60 seconds of badly shot video using a smartphone, no composition, little if any editing and garbled audio. Stereotyping? Sure! But it is the truth more often than not and may have turned you off one of the very best uses of video there is. To market your business. Read More

Feature:

Why Mobile Games Make You Their Slave and You Pay for the Privilege

Mobile gaming addiction is a very real problem for a large number of people across the world. Most of us understand that moderation is key when it comes to the colorful games that aim to part us from our money, but it's obviously too much for some people to handle. Some might argue that it's impossible to get addicted to video games on your phone, although it's clear that it definitely has an effect on people whose lives soon revolve around apps in an unhealthy way. Read More

Feature: By Miles Weston

Content Insider #527 - Content Workload in the Cloud

Okay I admit it, I'm not a huge fan of the Cloud...not like Amazon, MS, Google, Facebook, IBM and the other service providers, heck even Adobe. It has its place and face it you can't do stuff without being in the cloud some of the time. The way filmmakers work today with specialists around the globe you're always sending parts somewhere. Business couldn't run without pretty fast, pretty reliable cloud communications. And yes this came to you via the cloud. Heck after you've completed your project and made a local backup, across town backup, outta state backup (you do that right?) then there's nothing like one more copy up there...just in case. But as Yoda said, "Choose wisely you must, young Padawan." Read More

Trend: By Miles Weston

Content Insider #523 - Fastest Race at NAB

Every corner of the entertainment ecosystem is changing and it could benefit everyone. Better, less expensive equipment. New channels of distribution for filmmakers and ravenous content consumers. A breath of fresh air as to how people view the material whenever, wherever, however they want. Shredding the concept that someone else should tell you what to watch, where to watch it, when to watch it. Exceptional ways of thinking about how we monitize the content that enables content idea, shooting, production people to do what they love and find an eager audience. Why did we qualify this with "could?" Because people who feel it's cool to purloin content don't hurt companies they hurt people - creatives, intermediaries, viewers. Just saying no thanks is a start to making our M&E entertaining. Read More

Business Issues: By Miles Weston

Content Insider #525 - Next Up for VR

More powerful graphic processor units and a series of new development tools combined with the creativity of filmmakers have set the stage for a spurt of new immersive films to emerge. As VR camera prices continue to drop (and improve) VR production is getting better as filmmakers experiment as to what works and what doesn't. Directors like Doug Liman have done a lot to put the viewer in the center of and in control of the story. It's surprising what a new generation of hardware and refined software can do in the hands of today's creative talents who are determined to make visual storytelling more compelling. Read More

Feature: By Miles Weston

Content Insider #524 - Women in Film

She took on a Mummy, Top Gun ace, slew of pirates, slimey alien, galaxy guardians, beach hulks, a king with a sword and more. Still Wonder Woman director Patty Jackson showed the industry that when it comes to stuff people want to see - great video content - they're gender blind. Now all the knuckle-draggers have to do is realize that the best man for the job -- say 50 percent of the time -- might be a woman. Of course we need to address things like color bias and equal pay but jeezz one step at a time. Wonder Woman is on the way to deliver $300M in the US and 4X that worldwide, her film's success might show the industry (and others) we have too many other challenges to simply ignore or dismiss half of the population. Read More

Personal Profile:

Combining the Art of Cinematography, Colorist and Producer

Jamie Trent is a rarity -- a member of the International Cinematographers Guild, Society of Camera Operators, Australian Cinematographers Society and the Producers Guild of America. All while being a professional colorist with a number of colorist credits on films and TV shows which qualify him to be represented by the Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 700. The art and skills needed to be either a professional Cinematographer or a Colorist take years to hone, but to JT these skills naturally complement each other. Read More

Trend: By Miles Weston

Content Insider #522 - Entertainment Unleashed

I've never tried binge viewing. If I miss a segment of a show I don't break into a cold sweat. When a series disappears from our home OTT viewing schedule I shrug my shoulders and move on to something else. When the commercials come on I watch (and memorize) 'em. I know, it's a little wierd. My daughter on the other hand can't get enough video. She'll watch something on the TV while catching up with her favorite online video(s) and check out the important stuff on her iPhone. And neither of us even scratch the surface of what's available to watch. No one can because there are only 24 hours in a day. Content production and consumption is changing so quickly and niche viewing is becoming more important than mass audience no matter which screen people use. Read More

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