Press Releases

Submissions open Thursday, February 2 through March 31 for Your Film Festival, the global search for the world’s best storytellers. The short, story-driven videos can be up to 15 minutes long and any format (short film, web-series episode, TV pilot) or genre.

Film and video submissions will be whittled down to 50 semi-finalists. Then audiences from around the world will vote, sending 10 storytellers to open the 2012 Venice Film Festival where a Grand Prize Winner will be chosen by industry professionals and rewarded with a $500,000 grant to create a new work, produced by Scott Free Films, composed of Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, etc.) and his production team.

Videos and films will be judged based on criteria like storytelling, creativity and originality, screenplay and actor(s) performances, overall impression and technical execution like camera, sound, lighting and editing. Voting opens June 1 and closes on July 13.

You’ll need a YouTube account in order to submit your video and participants must be at least 18 years of age. There is no entry fee.

Teleprompters can run up into the thousands. That’s why a new app by Bodelin Technologies -- running just $9.99 -- is perfect for small production houses. The ProPrompter turns your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch into a full-featured teleprompter with remote scroll control and the ability to re-cue forward or backward in your script. It can be synchronized across multiple electronic devices and is ideal for field reporting, corporate videos, commercials, video podcasting and speeches.

It’s also easy to use. Video scripts can be imported into the app via e-mail, copy and paste, or created directly in the app. ProPrompter features an “ALL CAPS” option, as well as customizable font, font size and background color. There’s also the option to mirror and loop text and the app supports international language characters, including Chinese, Japanese and Russian.

The ProPrompter app can be used with other Bodelin Technologies including the ProPrompter HDi and the ProPrompter SmartGrip mobile. ProPrompter HDi is made of aircraft grade aluminum and attaches to pro and consumer cameras and using a specially designed iPad bracket to securely hold your iPad whether you use a steadicam, jib or handheld. The ProPrompter SmartGrip mobile (starting at $69) works with all smart phones and is available in five different models.

On March 11th, the iPad 2 will officially hit the retail market. Yes, it's thinner, lighter and cooler looking. Yes, it has two cameras for FaceTime and PhotoBooth. But we personally like the fact that they added a dual-core A5 chip and were able to keep the battery life in the same range.

Obviously, we're also interested in the ways it can integrate in the video world as well. The rear camera is not too shabby...you're talking 30 frames per second and HD (even if it is 720p). That makes the addition of iMovie a big plus, since you can shoot and edit right on the device. What is also impressive is that you can do video mirroring and get full 1080p output. That is great if you want to watch a movie, or show a presentation on an enormous flat screen TV.

Here's the bottom line...despite being a Mac shop, (from desktops, to laptops, to iPhones) we were not necessarily blown away by the original iPad. However, this latest version brings enough to the table to win us over, and we will be snagging a couple for a variety of day-to-day business uses. See you at the Apple Store!

Over the past several years we've had the pleasure of assisting several William Pitt Sotheby's agents to produce a variety of videos. However, we are excited to announce as of February 1st we are in production mode on more than 30 Town Tours for William Pitt, Julia B. Fee, and Litchfield Hills Sotheby's International Realty.

These three brokerages have a proven track record as leaders in the real estate industry and we are thrilled to be working with them in producing engaging and relevant content to guide visitors to their site. As demand for video continues to increase, we look forward to producing premium content for Sotheby's and other industry innovators.

Regardless of the profession you've chosen, if you are truly passionate about what you do, success means you must never stop learning. That's one reason why we're enthused and impressed that Vimeo recently launched it's Vimeo Video School, a free online educational center, assisting amateur video enthusiasts and professionals alike.

With Vimeo Video School we have created a structured extension of what our community members have done for one another for years – teach and share best practices, states Dae Mellencamp, General Manager, Vimeo. Whether you're just starting out and trying to decide what equipment to purchase, or perhaps you're looking for location/shoot specific lighting tips, Vimeo has compiled all of the training and tutorial videos in one easy to reach destination.

Two things that we appreciated when checking out the tutorials were: (1) the simplicity and brevity of the videos, and (2) the involvement of recognized industry professionals, who have valuable experience to contribute. User generated content is at an all time high...the more people shooting wildly creative video with sound fundamentals, the better. Kudos to Vimeo for participating in the education process.

It was a couple of years ago when we decided that we would start using a DOF adapter for some of our client projects. We loved the results we got from our Sony EX1. But let's face it...digital video is so crisp and clean, at times it can look a bit flat. After quite a bit of research, we decided to go with the Letus Extreme, (a great entry level DOF adapter) and the results were very good.

Fast forward to today and we are finding that there are some challenges with the Letus Extreme. Now to be fair, it is the entry level system that Letus offers. The Ultimate is a great adapter, and the quality is much improved. However, at this moment in time at least...it seems the Redrock M3 may be the adapter to beat. Yes, DSLRs provide great depth of field and the size of the cameras make them fantastic for certain settings.

But for video professionals who want depth of field with some of the fantastic features that their HD video camera offers, the M3 where it's at. With no tools to assemble, Monster oversized optics delivering approximately ¼ stop, and High rpm spinning ground glass enables stopping the lens down to f16 or more without showing grain, this adapter made believers of the crew here at TSL. We are making the switch, and will report back on the long term findings. Stay tuned.

Five years ago, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim co-founded YouTube, (maybe you've heard of it), a site that revolutionized internet video.

On Friday October 29th, Chad Hurley announced he will be stepping down as CEO of YouTube. According to an emailed statement, Hurley will continue to serve in an advisory role. For all of you concerned about how Hurley will survive going forward, have no fear, he earned about $350 million when YouTube was sold to Google one year after its inception.

Apple grabbed a headline or two yesterday, unveiling a sneak peak of their latest operating systme OS X Lion.

The sum up is a new operating system to be released in the summer of 2011, that takes some of the OS features from the iPhone and iPad and brings them to the desktop and laptop environment. Apps certainly are easy to navigate in full screen mode on the iPad, so that feature is a nice plus. The Mission Control feature also might be useful on some level, but the "sneak peak" didn't reveal much. Expect more tidbits as time goes on, as Apple has proven it knows how to build excitement for a product launch.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging is not a brand new concept. The premise involves merging multiple images taken at different exposures into a single image, that more accurately represents the range of intensity levels found in real life. Photographers have been using this technique for some time to create fantastic images. (Check these images out)

However, the guys at Soviet Montage have begun experimenting with a form of HDR video, using two Canon 5d Mark II's, with some very interesting results. First of all they are only using two exposures (over/under) to obtain their footage. Also there does appear to be some issues with flicker throughout the footage. Still the early results are impressive and open up a range of future possibilities. It will be fun to follow it's development in the coming months.

For anyone who enjoys checking out the latest video equipment, techniques, and artists, Vimeo is a site that can literally cost you hours of your day.

Yesterday, Vimeo released it's full programming schedule for it's inaugaral Vimeo Festival + Awards. The primary goal is to honor the most outstanding work submitted, however, Vimeo created the event as a celebration of the entire online video space. “We have tried to bring together an experience that is a hybrid between a traditional film festival and a conference, which looks through the lens of online creativity,” said Jeremy Boxer, co-Director of the Vimeo Festival and Awards.

This group is nearing their 6th anniversary in business, and it's great to see what they are continuing to do for online video in general and video professionals as well.