Lots has changed on the site. We have a new player, new blogs and lots of community tools. Come check it out HERE. We re-launched with this Papa John's music video. This was so much fun to make. Guy is played by Aaron Nauta. Check out Aaron's hilarious web show, Braxton Price I don't even want to talk about how much footage we generated to get all the elements. Enjoy!
Watch CBS Videos Online
Of course, the embed code is disabled, but click here to see the video
The mind-blowing thing isn't the trick, it's the viewers ability to choose the path of their viewing experience.
The possibilities are endless. I can't wait put them to use at MobLogic and Wallstrip.
We found out today that this episode of Wallstrip that I produced and directed is nominated for a Webby! I blogged about this twice when we first posted it, because I was so very proud.
This was truly a collaborative effort. I'm sure I'll forget someone, but I'll try to remember how it all went down. The idea for a "We Didn't Start the Fire" parody came from the Executive Producer, Adam Elend, then his sister, Amanda, wrote the lyrics using only stock ticker symbols (deserving of an award in itself) and her husband, Jason, scored the music. Then I came up with the news anchor idea inspired by the brilliant R.E.M. "Bad Day" video, Lindsay and I decided what props would be best, Katie Ainslie bought them and wrote the cue cards (you can see her playing the make-up artist in the time lapse segments as well as the then newly hired, Clark Caldwell as the stagehand). Clark also served as our gaffer, confetti consultant and all-around, do everything guy. Terrence Elenteny, our badass, uber editor shot the scenic New York footage for time lapse, resident senior shooter/editor extraordinaire, Appolos Laurient ran camera and last but not least, the talented and freakishly proud K.U. graduate, Sean Smith, did all the editing, motion graphics and special effects. Go Team!
It's among five other videos in the "Best Editing" category for online video. Not to sound cocky, but after sizing up the competition, I think we have a very strong chance of taking it home. Just to make sure we go home with something, we would love for you to vote for the audience award. Once there, go to "Online Film and Video" and then to "Best Editing." Thanks in advance! Unfortunately, you'll have to register, but I'm sure it's to control the number of votes by any one individual.
I was trying to get as many things going on in the frame as possible. Let your eyes roam around and watch it again and again. I guarantee you'll see something different every time. Enjoy!
Two of our other entries received "honoree status." They are "Cal-Maine" for "Best Use of Animation/Motion Graphics" and "U.S. Dollar" for "News and Politics: Individual Episode". They are posted below respectively. U.S. Dollar rings even more true today.
This weekend's show turns the camera on the crew (including myself). We took our time, did a lot of improv and really had a blast making it. Everybody did such a great job, but my favorite is Katie Ainslie's desk delivery at the end. I love the shot, the performance and the payoff. The one guy that didn't make it into the show (only because he's technically Moblogic not "Wallstrip") is Clark Caldwell, who did the awesome job of shooting and lighting. Enjoy!
The first of hopefully many more projects to come out from under our studio roof. Sign up and receive updates: www.moblogic.tv
It's been quite a great week at Wallstrip. Nearly every show has had amazing responses, comments, views and online coverage.
Our Facebook show made Michael Arrington's blog, TechCrunch. FB is one the blog's favorite topics to write about and with nearly 700k viewers daily, I was happy to be the daily pick. Silicon Alley Insider gave us some love too.
This was very difficult to direct, because we never had 2 actors in the same space except for the vampire gag. Green screen is so much fun!
And then there's yesterday's show. I'll just say I am very proud of this piece as well as the team that made it possible and now I'll let it speak for itself.
I have to give a big shout out to New TeeVee for doing THIS. Please go there and vote for us. The Huffington Post included us today as well.
We got in a little trouble with the lawyers with this one, but the short disclaimer up front cleared all that up. John Pieza turns in a stellar solo performance in another smart John Behlmann script.
Here John portrays his recurring character, Leslie the Vampire for our show on Abaxis, a blood testing company.
Look closely. I'm rockin' out with the best of them. Our Lower East Side neighbor, Pianos (as well as a slew of other bars across New York) host a weekly Guitar Hero "party." This was fun... and a little weird.
If you listen closely, we have three of my favorite bands playing in the background. That'd be (in order of appearance) White Stripes, Bloc Party and the Beastie Boys. This was another one that we all got involved with. You'll see Adam Elend, our Exec Producer, myself, Terrence (as Val Kilmer doing Jim Morrison doing Jose Cuervo) and of course, Lindsay. Does it make anyone else hang their head in sadness that we ran into "brokers" and "traders" at the venue? Sigh.
Guitar Hero, like most games these days, is all about finding the "sweet spot" of the game's responsiveness to succeed. Honestly, it did nothing for me. I think I might be in the minority with this one. Judge for yourself:
Lindsay Campbell, our big-hearted host of Wallstrip, spearheaded the "Wallstrip 5k Challenge." Despite its marathon-like title, it's really Web 2.0 philanthropy at its best. Just in time for the holidays:
Invest in something that will always have positive returns! We've collected 12 amazing teacher-initiated projects which aim to teach students about money laundering...er...sorry, money and its many uses. Please help us meet our goal by the end of 2007. CLICK HERE
From their site:
DonorsChoose.org is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.
Here's our interview with the sites founder.
I directed this Wallstrip homage to a favorite SNL skit, "Bill Swerski's Superfans." This was green screen madness at it's best. Oh yeah, and beer, beer, beer. Is it obvious I'm having a blast?
From left to right, there's Jason Hall, Roman Bodnar (our post-production supervisor), John Behlmann (who also wrote this episode) and Sean Tice our Web Producer on the far right.
This was a blast to produce! I even shot this one.
And then the Flaming Lips put on "March of 1,000 Flaming Skeletons" in Oklahoma City:
It's hard to top the Lips! Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!