somethingtobedesired.com and other Internet shows

somethingtobedesired.com - An Unpredictable Web Series
I only heard about this show from the aforementioned BizPodcasting article, but this show is pretty darn cool, and they've been doing the Internet series thang a whole lot longer than I have.

I've only watched two episodes thus far, but I must say that I am impressed. What I like best about this show is that it's made entirely in Pittsburgh by people who are passionate about the city and the community they live in. The show is set in a community radio station, and as such they play lots of local Pittsburgh content. This was one of the things I wanted to do with my project this year: give exposure to local Adelaide musicians. As it turned out, only one or two of them are actually going to get exposure. Maybe next time, eh?

Anyways, I think it's fantastic what they are doing for their city with this show. And it looks like they have a lot of fun doing it. I look forward to watching more, and possibly getting some ideas for some Adelaide-centric material.

Now that I'm on holidays, I might get a chance to watch some of the other shows mentioned last month on The Jeff Pulver Blog (and here). In the last month, I've been watching lots of Ze Frank (which is excellent), lonelygirl15, and Rocketboom of course. Amanda Congdon has just started her new vlog, AmandaAcrossAmerica. It's only five weeks long, I'd better get started. But yeah, these people don't need my help, and neither do you! Get out there and start watching Internet video!

Holiday fun...

It's holidays again for the Suit Up! team, and as such, it's time for Holiday Projects Mk II!

As far as Suit Up! is concerned, well... that's my main priority. I've got to draw up and design some DVD menus, design the website (with a nice, unifying theme, of course) and get that sucker up there on the web. Time I started making calls to people with tech know-how.

I'm also planning to go through the Suit Up! dailies and pick out the footage I want to use for our special features. It'll be fun to revisit, but I'm dreading finding "that one bit of footage we were looking for," etc.

Another thing that I want to do in the next couple of weeks is get my cast together so that we can sit down to watch the finished series. I'm a bit apprehensive about it, though. I have no idea how they're going to react. Nerves, yikes. The Internet's a big place.

Suit Up! gets a mention on BizPodcasting

I'm going to have to go all unprofessional here, because I've just found a mention of Suit Up! on another blog, one that I have had nothing to do with prior to this; BizPodcasting.com is a blog/podcast that serves as "a discussion about corporate and business podcasting with tips and guidelines". I found the post using Google's Blog Search tool.

Blogger/podcaster Jon Watson writes (13 Sept. 2006):

Suit Up! is an Internet television program out of Australia that's almost ready. The show is in "fine fine editing" stage and given that the most recent blog posts deal with issues with the end credits, it sounds pretty close to me.

Shows made specifically for Internet distribution aren't exactly common these days, but they're gaining steam. I'm not speaking of the Rocketbooms and Ask a Ninjas of the world, rather the full-length serieses (serieses?) that are able to give any main stream tv show a run for its money.

Thanks, Jon, for your kind words. I'm flattered to think that Suit Up! might "give any main stream tv show a run for its money," but I don't think we're quite aiming to do that here. And we're probably not "at that level", though we are certainly awesome. :D

For one, we're film-school students making this on a very low budget. We've gots the skills, sure, but things might turn out a bit less polished than other productions. Secondly, our format, episode length and delivery are different; our episodes are short, ranging from 2 to 4 minutes in length, much like Rocketboom. There will be six of them, released one-by-one over a six week period. At this stage, once that's over, that's it, but I do hope that in future we could make more episodes, provided the cast and crew are still interested. Thirdly, we're targeting a different audience. The show is rich with internet and pop-culture references that may pare down our viewer base. It's my hope, though, that those that do get the show will like it a lot.

I will have to put together a "What is Suit Up! page to go in the sidebar: I'll get to that in the next few days. In any case, thanks to Jon, and hello to anyone else reading out there who I haven't met personally: don't be afraid to say hi!

For those of you in Adelaide...

Check out p27 of today's Advertiser (Wednesday, 27 Semptember) to see a photo of one of our star's, Emily Smart, in her band Illicit Eve. Illicit Eve are widely regarded as one of Adelaide's most up-and-coming bands. I have to promise myself that I will get to one of their gigs soon. Their next one is Friday, 13th October 2006 @ Higher Ground.

Project Status: COMPLETED

Done and dusted
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

And by "completed" I'm referring only to the piece itself. We've still got a looooong ways to go with regard to the DVD and web components of the project. But that said, I am overjoyed to say, nay, proclaim that the series, Suit Up!, is now complete!

It's been almost a week since the finish line came into view. With each day that passed, I was certain that "today will be the day" but things were just taking longer and longer to finish. Even today, after we got the project to tape, it turned out that some seperate footage that had been captured on a MiniDV deck had not rendered properly. We nailed the glitch in the end, though, and now we've got it, the whole thing. Done and dusted.

The Audio Philes

What's big in your world? In the world of Suit Up!, it's all about audio. Good audio, bad audio, last-minute audio... the end-of-it-all audio. At some time today, Suit Up! will be declared complete, and whatever audio is there, stays.

I've had a couple of issues with the sound mix as it is. Jen's done a great job for the most part, but there are a couple of issues that still need fixing. And then there's the ADR. Oh, the ADR.

I've always been so against ADR in films. Bad ADR is so easy to pick, and I've always held a "why didn't they just get it right the first time?" attitude. making films, though, I've learnt that sometimes, it's something that you just have to do. For Suit Up, we've had to do extensive amounts of ADR, for many and various reasons. This has worked in many cases by filling in a lot of blanks in the action, aiding the viewer, punctuating a scene, etc. For the most part, I'm pretty positive about the ADR. But it's also raised it's own set of problems, like the fact that it was done with a different mike, in a different room, without a camera to freak people out and give them a higher pitched voice, etc (I've learnt a lot about audio doing this stuff, which is cool). The stuff that we've got sticks out like a gangrenous thumb.

Not to worry. For the most part, the sound is fine. It's great. There'll be hiccups, but in the grand scheme of things, it won't matter all that much. Nevertheless, I'm going to wring every last bit of time out of today to try and iron out those last few creases. Wish me luck.

In the meantime, may I express my great thanks to our sound engineer, Jen, for her work on the audio. She was met with every kind of hardship, with software, bad audio, changing visuals, absent director, etc. and yet she somehow perservered. Good on you, Jen!

Thanks also to Tim Whitt for coming here to MAPS on several occasions to help with all things audio. You're a legend.

So ronery...

It was Jessica Rose all along!

Podcasting and Viral Marketing seminar

Today I attended the AFTRS Podcasting and Viral Marketing Seminar that I mentioned a few weeks ago. The speaker/instructor was Keren Flavell, a producer/podcaster who realy knew her stuff when it came to the world of the podcast and viral marketing. Barring a gauntlet of technical issues, it was a fun day. I already knew a lot of the stuff that she talked about (initially, at least), but I definitely learnt a lot on top of that. I was able to have a good chat with her about Suit Up! during the lunch break, and she had some good insights into how best to deliver the product. I also had the chance to talk quite a bit with Ashlee about what she was there to learn and the stuff that she has planned for the future: sounds great, Ash!

Update: Keren strongly suggested that I get my domain name out there, to get it seen! Thankfully, I was able to tell that I had just bought my domain name last night.

Coming soon...

Feedback (more to come)...

Man alive, it's been a busy couple of days, and I haven't blogged about any of it! My apologies. It's been good, though. I'll give you the run down, but rest assured that there's more than just text to come.

Software issues keep blocking me at every turn, so it was an end-credit-less Suit Up! that was watched by the assembled Advanced MAPS class yesterday (Tuesday). I am extremely happy to report that the reception for the show was very good. Everyone seemed very satisfied with the end result, and the show got its fair share of laughs. There's more on this to follow, but the main thing to say is that I was very happy with how it went. Thanks to all who were in attendance for your great feedback and kind words.

Credits where credits are due (aka list-less-ness)...

I've come in to MAPS today to work on the end credits for Suit Up!, that is to say, the final end credits. We have a short version at the end of each episode, and a final extended credits at the end of the final episode. Let's hope for all our sakes that people make it to the last episode.

Before I can start doing anything in LiveType, I have to make sure that I've remembered everyone. I've gone through the whole of my notebook, trying to pick out the names of the people that have helped along the way, but I'm fairly certain I'm also going to have to trawl though my email inbox and my flickr account, not to mention this 'ere blog. It's going to be a loooong list.

I'm not sure whether or not I should credit my influences. Probably not necessary. Murali Thalluri thanks Gus Van Sant in the credits for 2:37, but then he also thanks Michael Jackson. I think you'll be able to check out all the influences/references on the MySpace page. I'm yet to write the definitive list. Lists, lists, lists.

In other news, I'm helping out on the MAPS film Blake Stone, which sounds like it's going to kick ass. And the lonelygirl15 mystery just keeps getting better and better.

Everything but the end credits!

Dance, bilby, dance
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

The (visual) editing of Suit Up! was finally completed on Thursday. Des worked like a dog, but the finsihed piece looks really good. I'm so much happier about things at the moment.

The one thing that wasn't finished was the end credits due to an issue with the LiveType software, but barring that, we're in the clear. Onward to audio! Whoo! (add echo here)

Goonies screening, fundraising, more Des...

Goonies screening
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Tuesday night a whole lot of Mappies tramped into the Mercury Cinema to watch The Goonies. It was a great film, and I hadn't seen it before, but sadly the kids who were putting it on (Mark and Michael) were unable to recoup their losses. Strange, seeing how we packed the cinema out last year with Labyrinth.

I'm yet to organise anything fundraisery for Suit Up, but I really should do that.

Final day of editing the visual tomorrow. At least, that's the plan. I'll be in there from 9 til 9 at least; wish me luck!

Small-time news...

Today I made further enquiries about the use of Halo and Halo 2 in Suit Up! My efforts have, thus far, proved fruitless, but watch this space for developments on this important matter.

In other news, publicity photos of Lynda Ferguson (Siri) are finally up on flickr! It took a little longer due to her differing schedule, but we got there in the end.


I'm off to the MAPS The Goonies fundraiser! Shit, I'm late! Get gone!

Lonely Times...

LATimes.com is hot on the trail of lonelygirl15, trying to unravel the mystery of this Internet soap-opera star.

While at first glance indistinguishable from the vast debris fields of similar video blogs, the lonelygirl15 cycle has proven the uber-online confessional. Whether it is the superior production values of the video, or the endearing/irritating (depending whom you ask) traits of its star or the gradually unfolding soap opera between the leads, Bree's is the face that has launched a thousand replies, with imitators, satirists, critics and debunkers falling over themselves in a mad frenzy to comment on the videos. Adding to the madness is a heated, nearly violent debate over whether the videos are authentically the work of a lonely teenage girl living miles from civilization ("three hours from a mall" she claims) or a stage-managed Internet fraud.

I was first made aware of lonelygirl15 by Maxx (who also told me about geriatric1927. I am very interested to see where this will go, cause it sure as hell ain't the diary of a 16-year-old naif.

Further reading
Wikipedia entry (back up after having been taken down for some time.)
New York Magazine article: Hey There, Lonelygirl
ARGN article: LonelyGirl15 - Is She or Isn't She?

Alan approbates, Steve succumbs...

Despite some LiveTypical frustrations, some tempermental sound issues and constant whining about lack of food, the director has signed off on the project: Adelaide Punk ("the cult film of 2006!" - Stan Halejko) has today been declared complete.

Sadly, today marks the day that Steve Irwin finally pushed off. So long, Steve.

It's Your Show - Create. Submit. Win!

"1. Pick a challenge or create your own category.
2. Submit your brilliant video
3. Hope you win the weekly $1,000 or the ultimate $100,000 prize!"

Brooke's back with an all new website. Her collaboration with Carson Daly looks like an interesting one. Let's see what this yields when there's cash up for grabs. I get the feeling that offensive material will be overlooked, so keep it clean to start rolling in the green.

We should do this. Alan? Maxx? Anyone?
_{Thanks to Maxx for the link.}

They call him Cleland (well, actually, they don't)...

Is it? It is!
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Suit Up! was first up for our designated "freak out!" period today at school, whereby free-lance editor and former Advanced MAPS student Des goes through our project with us to give it a really good spit and polish. Having been plagued with audio problems, we weren't really at the level of completion expected of the project today, but we went ahead anyway.

Peter and Leigh sat down and we went through each episode one-by-one, stopping at the end of each to go through again and find what worked and what needed re-working (a lot more of the latter, as you can imagine). Peter and Leigh suggested some dramatic changes that we have already started to implement.

The rest of the day was spent with Des on the computer, making frame-specific adjustments and major revisions, fine-tuning this, tweaking that and pulling that shitty bit right out, etc. It was an amazing experience to work with Des on this project, and I can only hope that I'll get another chance to do so.

With all our reshuffling, it might send Jen back to the drawing board with the audio. Don't know what she'll have to say about that. Eep

Minority Ants

the brood
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

I snapped a few photos on the set of the MAPS film Minority Ants the other day while I was waiting for the computer to free up. I know Rowan'll get a kick out of my putting a few of them up here on the blog. I'm giving the rest of them to him tomorrow at school, but you can see the all the photos I put up on flickr tagged "minority ants" here.

I wasn't around for much of the day, but shooting seemed pretty tight. Hope they get all the coverage they need. Rowan seemed pleased; he's already logged and captured, all ready for the edit.