Month: January 2005

Britain’s EU Consitition referendum

ta-da… here it is, Britain’s EU Consitition referendum question:

“Should the United Kingdom approve the treaty establishing a constitution for the European Union?“

Big question, even bigger answer ! There are only two issues left – when, and will it be a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’…?

Thought Project

What were you thinking just then ? Danish photographer Simon Hoegsberg asks this question with his new ‘Thought Project’. He approached strangers in the street asking what their last thought was… He recorded their words and took their picture. Simple idea, brilliantly done…

message in a bean sprout…

Tired of saying it with flowers ? Well, thanks to a funky Japanese innovation, you can now get a bean plant which sprouts to reveal a special message…

It comes with a choice of message, like “Good Luck” and “I Love You” inscribed through the embryonic plant with a laser beam. When it grows, you see the message. How fab is that !

VideoForum 2005

Spent a very enjoyable day at VideoForum 2005. Arrived at Earls Court and signed up for a whole bunch of seminars before taking a wander round the stands and exhibitions. Adobe were there along with all the big names in cameras, lighting and film making. Also, loads of smaller stands showing off lenses, filters, kit, lighting, editing, software, hardware, DVD authoring, video training and production. Masses of people milling around, peering at demos, picking up leaflets and trying out the latest bits and pieces.

Sat in on interesting seminars on Flash streaming video, keyframing, advanced Adobe Premiere, Photoshop and lighting techniques. Learned loads and loved it…

So here I am wandering around, a little awestruck, slap bang in the middle of the industry I am working away to join. For someone trying to make a rather rapid career jump from internet to film, Video Forum’s the place to be. Great find, thanks guys !

I’m fast coming to the conclusion that I’ll settle somewhere on the growing territory of online film and multimedia. With the spread of broadband and rapidly improving streaming media technologies, internet films have a big future. Add a growing demand for media rich online marketing and increasing internet ad spend and, I think, there’s some real potential !

It’s stunning what can be done with digital video, a high-end machine and the right software. Watching the demos and seeing what other filmmakers are up to was a massive inspiration.

I have realised the real challenge is in the creativity. Coming up with great ideas and concepts, then mastering the technology to deliver them. That’s hard. For one reason or another, I’ve tended to err on the technical side and have been more ‘how does it work’, than ‘how will it look’. Learning creativity ain’t easy and producing great ideas on demand is even harder. I’ve spent the last few years sitting in online creative briefs and have always marvelled at how creatives come up with outstanding ideas over and over again. May outsource that… ;0) !

Also, today taught me I’ve no real experience of music and audio techniques. A good sound technician and composer with an instinctive ear for music is vital. Music sets the mood and pace and just makes a film. A flat score, no matter how good the pictures, drives a movie into the ground. Looks like I’ll need to find a musical genius to make magic with sound too.

So… brimming with inspiration and ideas. The possibilities are endless, the trick is to make it happen !

Oh, and, thought up an awesome name for my new media outfit and the domain name has just expired…. ha ha !!! circling like a vulture !

car accident

Nasty car accident in the road outside the gym today. A car on its roof with the windows broken, leaking petrol. Someone had misjudged the corner by the station in Kingston and come a cropper on the bend. It blocked the entire one way system causing huge queues.

It’d just happened when I left the gym. Police were cordoning off the road as wailing ambulances weaved their way through the traffic. Two fire engines arrived and the firemen made the wreck safe. As large crowds gathered I stopped a while to watch. Loads of people were snapping away on camera phones and speculating on what had happened.

It was just weird to see an accident so close up.

Colin Powell

Colin Powell steps down as US Secretary of State. He’s a man I’ve always admired. Critics say he lost influence in the Bush administration and failed to win key battles with the hawks. He was certainly a voice of moderation.

He’s a former National Security Adviser and served 35 years in the US Army, rising to the rank of Four-Star General and serving as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Take a look at his farewell address to staff at the U.S. Department of State. He sees real achievements in developing relations with Russia and China and acknowledges NATO expansion as a trans-Atlantic milestone. He also champions America’s diplomatic response 9-11 and pays tribute to the elections in Afghanistan and Iraq.

London

The Guardian have created a fascinating ethnic map of London. This is the first time that London’s ethnic diversity has been put down on paper in this way. Incredible how many different types of people live in this city.

The map is part of their ‘London: a world in one city‘ series. In 2005 London can lay claim to being the most diverse city ever. The Guardian have researched the whereabouts of the capital’s ethnic groups, visiting London’s immigrant communities and cultures.

Get this:

  • according to the last census (2001), 30% of London residents were born outside England
  • more than 300 languages are spoken by the people of London
  • London has at least 50 non-indigenous communities with populations of 10,000 or more
  • in London you can dine on food from more than 70 different countries and then buy the ingredients to make it all again at home
  • In the 2001 census almost 16% of Londoners said they had “no religion” at all

It’s great to live in a place that’s so diverse and constantly changing. The Daily Mail may rant illogically about ‘waves’ of immigrants. But I think it’s a good thing that new and different people come to live and work here.

The Guardian concluded that it’s not Londoner’s infinite capacity for tolerance that has created this multiculturalism, but their indifference. London is a notouriously unfriendly place for the new arrival. Londoners don’t in general know their neighbours, we don’t chat on the tube and tend to mind our own business. By default it’s a live and let live arrangement. Immigrant communities are therefore broadly left to their own devices. There is one other huge factor in all this. London is where the money is and that attracts people from all over the world. Always has. Probably always will.

I didn’t really think about it at the time, but where I used to work was an incredibly diverse place. I worked alongside colleagues from America, South African, Australia, Greece, Scotland, Ireland, Jamaica, France, Italy, Spain, China, Canada, Sweden, the Philippines, India and Wales. And that’s in a company of only 80 odd people. That’s what I like about London: the diversity.

It would be so dull to live in a place with no cultural variety at all.