Cool Gear Archive

Another cool article about the RED cam plus a total digital workflow! This time it’s for my buddy Dean Devlin’s show — LEVERAGE. Dean loves tech as much as I do and is always doing something innovative. His transmedia approach to ID4 was all time! You can find the article HERE.

Just found a cool piece of video over on the scifi channel site. It’s all about how they’re using the RED CAMERA to shoot my favorite show — SANCTUARY. They claim to be the first show in North America to be shot entirely on the RED. If you’re curious about such things and want to learn more about their 4K workflow, you’ll find it HERE.

Just stumbled across this very cool interview with Danny Boyle. The interviewer is none other than my classmate from AFI — Darren Aronofsky. They have a great chat about the amazing cameras Boyle used to shoot Slumdog Millionaire in the hectic slums of Mumbai. Check it out –

And here’s a link to the BLOG where I found the clip — SLASHFILM.

I haven’t blogged in forever. I’ve been scribbling my new PILOT for NBC. It’s almost done — which is usually the time I procrastinate the most. While surfing the web in search of escape — I found this killer video about the new machinima toolset built into the PC version of GRAND THEFT AUTO 4. Take a look. I may finally have a reason to use my PC!

I blog a lot about how a transmedia approach to narrative can be a great way for content creators to immerse their audiences in entertainment experiences. But this week I saw TWO THINGS that made me think less about transmedia narrative extensions, and more about the simple act of sitting on a couch and watching a screen. What I saw has me believing that in-home experiences rivaling the Holodeck of Star Trek, and the Metaverse of Snow Crash are just a couple of years away.

The FIRST thing I saw was a 103″ Panasonic Plasma TV running a demo of 3D content. The quality of that image was staggering. A Disney movie, some footage of the Olympics in China, a trip to the Grand Canyon, a music video with a CGI background. All of it was good enough to take me one step closer to being there. Off angle viewing is no problem with this tech. Yeah you still need to where the glasses — but they’re clear and comfortable. It’s a similar setup to watching a DREAMWORKS 3D movie in IMAX theaters, or that U2 concert flick that was making the rounds. But this was in a home setting, running on a modified BluRay player designed for consumers. And there was nothing special about the TV (Other than it was 103″ inches!). By Q1 2010 these things will be available to the public. Wow. That’s crazy. A high level 3D experience in your house that doesn’t require you to buy a new television? 72 hours ago — I would’ve thought that statement absurd.

The SECOND thing I looked at was FAR CRY 2 on my XBOX 360. I used my HD projector to put this thing up on my big screen at 720P — getting an image that is 140″ inches diagonally. The experience I had playing through the intro and first few levels of that game was crazy immersive. The game takes place in war torn Africa and Ubisoft has done an impeccable job replicating the scenery and sounds of that beautiful and deadly environment.

It wasn’t hard to imagine 3D TV and NEXT GENERATION GAMING coming together to blow the doors off home entertainment. That’s no great revelation. It’s talked about all the time. But these two elements aren’t theoretical — they’re here. And with the way tech innovation is accelerating and Hollywood is scrambling to hold onto its audience — I give it two years or less before this kind of experience is ready to replace prime time in the home.

P.S. — I just read somewhere that nobody pays for PORN anymore. There is just too much free porn on the net that it doesn’t make sense to pay for it. Does that mean porn will be transitioning to an entertainment model that is more experience based? Media biz pundits like to say that porn leads the way for the mainstream entertainment business. If that’s true — what will they do with 3D TV? Yikes.

Canon’s new EOS 5D MK2 can do incredible things in professional hands. I can’t wait to see what it can do in the hands of the rest of us! Take a look at Vincent Laforet’s EOS demo film REVERIE. And if you’re curious check out THIS awesome video of how he made it. I’ve also stuck the making of video at the bottom of the first page of my blog. So you can just scroll down and view it. Enjoy!

Tim Kring and I recently spoke with Mike Mettler at Sound and Vision magazine about HEROES on Blu-ray. As an early tech adopter, I’m currently watching Blu-ray movies via my PS3s. At 720p HD via my projector. And at 1080p via LCD TV. The image quality is amazing. And the massive storage capability of the format offers even more of the usual DVD extras. But the most exciting feature is the ability to access the internet with your Blu-ray player and discs. This feature could allow buyers of Blu-ray discs to download exclusive content onto their players, watch streaming video, and even purchase exclusive items. It suggests a whole bevy of online community features as well. The complexities of interface design for which seem daunting. I doubt a real percentage of Blu-ray player owners will have keyboards connected to their machines, and the idea of using the remote control as a keyboard doesn’t feel realistic in the near term. (It certainly isn’t easy when I try to enter text on XBOX Live via my typepad accessory.) And in the long term, Blu-ray is just an intermediate step before the arrival of the direct download future. But until that future arrives, along with my jet pack, and RED Scarlet, Blu-ray offers a high quality entertainment experience, and serves as a great test bed for the next gen features that will keep Hollywood strong, and relevant. And teach our industry how to go beyond mere products, and create engaging experiences consumers will pay for.

You can read some of the article HERE!