I have a question someone could hopefully solve for me. Is there any DVD software program for the PC that enables you to take screen shots at 300 dpi or more?
This is pretty essential for me if I want to publish any books with pictures. Any Ghibli book, or, say, a book about Ghibli Riffs. Thanks, all...
2008-03-27
Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea - 160,000 Drawings
Miyazaki's upcoming movie, which has now been rechristened Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea for Western audiences, is nearing its final stages of production. Voice work is now under way, which for Japanese animation is done after the principle work is completed. American and Western animation, conversely, usually records the voice actors before animating.
According to Ghibli's production diary for March 15, the number of drawings (or animation cells, to use the old term*) for Ponyo exceeds 160,000. This would make the movie Ghibli's largest and most animated; an interesting twist for what many of us assumed would be a smaller, more intimate film, than Miyazaki's last three epic blockbusters. And remember, folks, that every frame in the film is hand-drawn and painted in watercolors. No computer animation will be present whatsoever.
For the traditional animation junkie, this will be a cause celebre, as the great master of world cinema, Hayao Miyazaki, once again shows the world how it's done. After the past several years of noisy and dumb Hollywood Studio cartoons, I'm more than ready. I'm about to hop on a plane to Venice for the Western premier...how any of us could possibly wait another year or two for the John Lasseter/Pixar US version boggles the mind. I feel like a child waiting away those final weeks before Christmas. Augh!
Back to the animation cells, here's a short comparison. Horus, Prince of the Sun in 1968 used 140,000 cells. Most Ghibli features used somewhere around 60,000-70,000. Princess Mononoke featured over 140,000 drawings. My Neighbors the Yamadas used 170,000. Spirited Away has been credited with 110,000 cells (although I thought that number was much higher). And Howl's Moving Castle is credited with 148,000 drawings.
Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (glad to see Ghibli directly translate their poetic titles this time) is really going to be a sight to see. The summer release date is still holding as best I know. Afterwords, I'd expect to see the Western premier at the Venice Film Festival in September. After that, the US version via Disney and Pixar would follow in 2009 or 2010. My guess is that we'll see it next summer. There's no way Lasseter will hesitate for a moment to bring his great teacher's latest symphony to the States.
By a good grace of timing, 2009 marks the end of the Sci-Fi Channel's holding rights on Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea, which means we'll finally get...sigh, Goro's Tales From Earthsea on DVD. Expect to see more Ghibli DVD's headed our way within the next year or two. If Disney uses the same three-release schedule, what then would be the two other DVD's? I Can Hear the Sea? Omohide Poro? Wishful thinking, I know. Somebody ought to point out Gauche the Cellist, Jarinko Chie, and Yanagawa Monogatari....more wishful thinking...
(* A quick note about animation cells. These were the traditional method of creating animation, by drawing and painting on cells, which are photographed one at a time over the backgrounds. Since moving entirely to computers during the production of My Neighbors the Yamadas in 1999, Studio Ghibli has moved away from painting on cells. But the term is still used, particularly in regards to traditional, hand-drawn animation, as opposed to computer-generated.)
According to Ghibli's production diary for March 15, the number of drawings (or animation cells, to use the old term*) for Ponyo exceeds 160,000. This would make the movie Ghibli's largest and most animated; an interesting twist for what many of us assumed would be a smaller, more intimate film, than Miyazaki's last three epic blockbusters. And remember, folks, that every frame in the film is hand-drawn and painted in watercolors. No computer animation will be present whatsoever.
For the traditional animation junkie, this will be a cause celebre, as the great master of world cinema, Hayao Miyazaki, once again shows the world how it's done. After the past several years of noisy and dumb Hollywood Studio cartoons, I'm more than ready. I'm about to hop on a plane to Venice for the Western premier...how any of us could possibly wait another year or two for the John Lasseter/Pixar US version boggles the mind. I feel like a child waiting away those final weeks before Christmas. Augh!
Back to the animation cells, here's a short comparison. Horus, Prince of the Sun in 1968 used 140,000 cells. Most Ghibli features used somewhere around 60,000-70,000. Princess Mononoke featured over 140,000 drawings. My Neighbors the Yamadas used 170,000. Spirited Away has been credited with 110,000 cells (although I thought that number was much higher). And Howl's Moving Castle is credited with 148,000 drawings.
Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (glad to see Ghibli directly translate their poetic titles this time) is really going to be a sight to see. The summer release date is still holding as best I know. Afterwords, I'd expect to see the Western premier at the Venice Film Festival in September. After that, the US version via Disney and Pixar would follow in 2009 or 2010. My guess is that we'll see it next summer. There's no way Lasseter will hesitate for a moment to bring his great teacher's latest symphony to the States.
By a good grace of timing, 2009 marks the end of the Sci-Fi Channel's holding rights on Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea, which means we'll finally get...sigh, Goro's Tales From Earthsea on DVD. Expect to see more Ghibli DVD's headed our way within the next year or two. If Disney uses the same three-release schedule, what then would be the two other DVD's? I Can Hear the Sea? Omohide Poro? Wishful thinking, I know. Somebody ought to point out Gauche the Cellist, Jarinko Chie, and Yanagawa Monogatari....more wishful thinking...
(* A quick note about animation cells. These were the traditional method of creating animation, by drawing and painting on cells, which are photographed one at a time over the backgrounds. Since moving entirely to computers during the production of My Neighbors the Yamadas in 1999, Studio Ghibli has moved away from painting on cells. But the term is still used, particularly in regards to traditional, hand-drawn animation, as opposed to computer-generated.)
2008-03-09
Movie Night - Lupin III - Episode 3
(Update: This video has since been removed from Youtube. Sorry.)
Continuing with our Lupin III festival, it's time for episode 3 - "Farewell, My Beloved Witch." In this episode, Lupin encounters a mysterious hippie girl, and a secret island held by a criminal syndicate. A scientist is being held against his will, forced to make explosives, and where do these flowers come into play? And what part does the mystery girl play?
For me, this third episode is where I finally became hooked on the show. The first two episodes were good, but a little rough and unsettled. I think by this point the show's creators had begun to settle comfortably into the series they wanted to create. They are still relying heavily upon the original Monkey Punch comic, but as we will soon see, the Lupin series will develop its own style and approach.
And one other thing. It's really, really great to see all this gratuitous violence. How many bodies are gunned down during the 30 minutes running time? Quite a few. This must have been shocking for Japanese audiences in 1971? It's still a bit shocking today. I'll put this up against any of the lame-brained anime shows on Adult Swim. None of those cartoons fit the "adult" bill. But Lupin does.
Episode 3 introduces a new level of nuance, and more of the romantic rivalry between Lupin and Fujiko is explored. Theirs is a complicated relationship. They're both lovers and rivals, and they are perfectly willing to betray one another for the sake of the heist. But they really do have feelings for one another, and the difficulty to become open and truly intimate remains the thorn in their side. It's an interesting little dance they share, these two.
I want to write a couple words about one of my favorite aspects to Green Jacket Lupin III, and that's the music. Charlie Kosei wrote and performed all the music for this series, and it's remarkably unique. Definitely a product of its era, with a post-Woodstock rock groove and rhythmic chanting. A lot of it is unintentionally funny, in that same way you laugh at photos of your parents as teenagers. I can't believe you wore that! What possessed you to wear that hairstyle? Hah hah...it's all good fun, because it serves as such an effective time stamp. It happens to everyone.
Maybe I'm just more nostalgic for the early '70s, the days of Black Sabbath and Stevie Wonder, of funk and Shaft and Sesame Street and crazy colorful street fashions. I'm not a fan of the late '70s, with its disco sheen. I much prefer the gritty street vibe of 1971. That authenticity isn't present in our digitized, plastic world of the 2000's. Everything's so damned fake, lost in denial and repression and the looming idiocracy.
So, yeah, Lupin III reminds me of all these things. Charlie Kosei really reminds me of them. I really dig the music for the opening and closing credits. It just sounds real, not like a cartoon show, but something gritty, genuine. This was anime's age of discovery. Horus blazed the trail, and in its wake lie a whole new future...Lupin III, Heidi, Conan...yadda yadda. You know the score.
As always, embedding has been disabled by the person who uploaded these videos to YouTube, so you'll just have to follow the links. Enjoy the show! Part four is coming next!
Continuing with our Lupin III festival, it's time for episode 3 - "Farewell, My Beloved Witch." In this episode, Lupin encounters a mysterious hippie girl, and a secret island held by a criminal syndicate. A scientist is being held against his will, forced to make explosives, and where do these flowers come into play? And what part does the mystery girl play?
For me, this third episode is where I finally became hooked on the show. The first two episodes were good, but a little rough and unsettled. I think by this point the show's creators had begun to settle comfortably into the series they wanted to create. They are still relying heavily upon the original Monkey Punch comic, but as we will soon see, the Lupin series will develop its own style and approach.
And one other thing. It's really, really great to see all this gratuitous violence. How many bodies are gunned down during the 30 minutes running time? Quite a few. This must have been shocking for Japanese audiences in 1971? It's still a bit shocking today. I'll put this up against any of the lame-brained anime shows on Adult Swim. None of those cartoons fit the "adult" bill. But Lupin does.
Episode 3 introduces a new level of nuance, and more of the romantic rivalry between Lupin and Fujiko is explored. Theirs is a complicated relationship. They're both lovers and rivals, and they are perfectly willing to betray one another for the sake of the heist. But they really do have feelings for one another, and the difficulty to become open and truly intimate remains the thorn in their side. It's an interesting little dance they share, these two.
I want to write a couple words about one of my favorite aspects to Green Jacket Lupin III, and that's the music. Charlie Kosei wrote and performed all the music for this series, and it's remarkably unique. Definitely a product of its era, with a post-Woodstock rock groove and rhythmic chanting. A lot of it is unintentionally funny, in that same way you laugh at photos of your parents as teenagers. I can't believe you wore that! What possessed you to wear that hairstyle? Hah hah...it's all good fun, because it serves as such an effective time stamp. It happens to everyone.
Maybe I'm just more nostalgic for the early '70s, the days of Black Sabbath and Stevie Wonder, of funk and Shaft and Sesame Street and crazy colorful street fashions. I'm not a fan of the late '70s, with its disco sheen. I much prefer the gritty street vibe of 1971. That authenticity isn't present in our digitized, plastic world of the 2000's. Everything's so damned fake, lost in denial and repression and the looming idiocracy.
So, yeah, Lupin III reminds me of all these things. Charlie Kosei really reminds me of them. I really dig the music for the opening and closing credits. It just sounds real, not like a cartoon show, but something gritty, genuine. This was anime's age of discovery. Horus blazed the trail, and in its wake lie a whole new future...Lupin III, Heidi, Conan...yadda yadda. You know the score.
As always, embedding has been disabled by the person who uploaded these videos to YouTube, so you'll just have to follow the links. Enjoy the show! Part four is coming next!
2008-02-26
Ponyo on a Cliff Soundtrack CD
Today's illustration is the CD cover for Joe Hisaishi's soundtrack album to the upcoming Miyazaki film, Ponyo on a Cliff. I thought you'd like to take a look and enjoy.
If you're curious about any Ponyo details as they emerge, your best resource is GhibliWorld. I prefer not to look too closely, because I don't want to spoil any surprises. I want to be able to enjoy this movie without any preconceptions, beyond, of course, that it's the next Miyazaki picture. As if you need any more incentive.
Note to self: get press pass to Venice Film Festival. The Western premier is sure to be here, according to tradition.
2008-02-24
Movie Night - Lupin III - Episode 2
(Update: This video has since been removed from Youtube. Sorry.)
Here is the second episode of the 1971-72 "Green Jacket" series of Lupin III. I wanted to make sure that I showed as many of these episodes as I can. Hey, this sure is a cheap way to get out of writing, ain't it? Ack! I will do better...
Episode 2 is titled, "The Man They Call a Magician." In this show, a mysterious stranger appears to defy gravity, injury, even death. Lupin and his sidekick Jigen are naturally caught up in the affairs, and the mysterious Fujiko flies in, switches sides once or twice, then flies out.
These first couple episodes are pretty rough to my eyes, although I enjoy them more each time I see them. I think the general dynamics of the show are still being worked out, and there's the challenge of dealing with all these regular characters. The interplay between them only becomes more worked out over time, and I think they start to really hit their stride around the third or fourth episode.
For the Ghibli fan, Miyazaki and Takahata do not make their first appearance as series directors until episode seven, so this gives us a good chance to see the differences in the show's style. These early episodes are much more explicitly violent, as tonight's opening scene shows. This must have been mildly shocking for its time, since anime was still dominated by cutesy kiddie shows. Lupin III was aimed at the college crowd. Funny, isn't it, that even today, there's a hard-boiled grittiness here that modern Japanese anime can't even touch. The unique style of this series is what draws me back, again and again.
As before, embedding has been disabled for these videos, so I'll have to provide the direct links. Enjoy!
Here is the second episode of the 1971-72 "Green Jacket" series of Lupin III. I wanted to make sure that I showed as many of these episodes as I can. Hey, this sure is a cheap way to get out of writing, ain't it? Ack! I will do better...
Episode 2 is titled, "The Man They Call a Magician." In this show, a mysterious stranger appears to defy gravity, injury, even death. Lupin and his sidekick Jigen are naturally caught up in the affairs, and the mysterious Fujiko flies in, switches sides once or twice, then flies out.
These first couple episodes are pretty rough to my eyes, although I enjoy them more each time I see them. I think the general dynamics of the show are still being worked out, and there's the challenge of dealing with all these regular characters. The interplay between them only becomes more worked out over time, and I think they start to really hit their stride around the third or fourth episode.
For the Ghibli fan, Miyazaki and Takahata do not make their first appearance as series directors until episode seven, so this gives us a good chance to see the differences in the show's style. These early episodes are much more explicitly violent, as tonight's opening scene shows. This must have been mildly shocking for its time, since anime was still dominated by cutesy kiddie shows. Lupin III was aimed at the college crowd. Funny, isn't it, that even today, there's a hard-boiled grittiness here that modern Japanese anime can't even touch. The unique style of this series is what draws me back, again and again.
As before, embedding has been disabled for these videos, so I'll have to provide the direct links. Enjoy!
2008-02-23
Movie Night - Gauche the Cellist
(Update: This video has since been removed from Youtube. Sorry.)
Hi, everyone! I promised myself to get some serious writing done this weekend, including more videos for the Ghibli blog. I promised a friend or two I'd show Gauche the Cellist one more time, so here it is. This is a movie I come back to time and time again; partly because of its brevity (approx. 60 min.), and partly because of its soulful character. This is arguably the finest movie ever made about the creative process of music, and the power of music to sweep ourselves away and transform us.
As I've noted in the past, Sero Hiki no Gauche has now been picked up by Studio Ghibli in Japan, where Isao Takahata released it on their DVD label. I still have my old Geneon DVD, but I have promised that my next DVD voyage will include the new Gauche release. And now that the next-generation format war has finally ended, I'm looking forward to the inevitable Blu-Ray release.
Hopefully, someone at Pixar or Disney would discover this fine film, and push for an American release. It certainly would be an easy sell; much easier than Jarinko Chie or I Can Hear the Sea or even Omohide Poro Poro. I strongly suspect this picture would become a beloved staple, if only given the proper exposure. Perhaps our emerging Long Tail economy of the Internet will make this feasible.
So here, once again, is one of Isao Takahata's greatest strengths, Sero Hiki no Goshu, Gauche the Cellist...
Hi, everyone! I promised myself to get some serious writing done this weekend, including more videos for the Ghibli blog. I promised a friend or two I'd show Gauche the Cellist one more time, so here it is. This is a movie I come back to time and time again; partly because of its brevity (approx. 60 min.), and partly because of its soulful character. This is arguably the finest movie ever made about the creative process of music, and the power of music to sweep ourselves away and transform us.
As I've noted in the past, Sero Hiki no Gauche has now been picked up by Studio Ghibli in Japan, where Isao Takahata released it on their DVD label. I still have my old Geneon DVD, but I have promised that my next DVD voyage will include the new Gauche release. And now that the next-generation format war has finally ended, I'm looking forward to the inevitable Blu-Ray release.
Hopefully, someone at Pixar or Disney would discover this fine film, and push for an American release. It certainly would be an easy sell; much easier than Jarinko Chie or I Can Hear the Sea or even Omohide Poro Poro. I strongly suspect this picture would become a beloved staple, if only given the proper exposure. Perhaps our emerging Long Tail economy of the Internet will make this feasible.
So here, once again, is one of Isao Takahata's greatest strengths, Sero Hiki no Goshu, Gauche the Cellist...
2008-02-17
Thoughts on Lupin III #1, Series One
Welcome back, folks! Hopefully on Sunday I'll have a new computer. One that works, even. For tonight, I'm borrowing again, but I've found something extra grand from the vaults at YouTube. I'm sure you will enjoy this...the original Lupin III TV series!
This is episode 1, "Lupin is Burning." This was the pilot episode for the fledgling series, which began as a movie project as early as 1969. Yasuo Otsuka, your favorite and mine, left the Toei Animation studio to work on Lupin, which was produced over at A Productions. Over time, more and more of the old Toei crew would make the jump, including, most notably, Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki.
Takahata and Miyazaki would be brought on as directors, but that didn't happen until sometime around episode 7 or 8. Low ratings brought about the changes, as the studio was unnerved by the unusual (for its time) level of sex and violence on the show. So the new directors were hired to tone that down, and play up comedy. You can see the change in the show's style, as the episodes progress. It's an interesting trade-off between the hard-boiled, but directorally scattershot, episodes, and the later episodes, which were lighter and goofier, but far more assured and solid. And, it should be said, Takahata and Miyazaki still kept things pretty real.
If you're a fan of Miyazaki's 2979 picture Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro, then the 1971-72 tv show, aka the "Green Jacket" Lupin, is absolutely required viewing. I daresay that you won't even notice the subtler themes in that movie without it. There's a whole layer of meaning, a sense of weariness, that's present in Cagliostro; but it really requires those original 23 episodes to flesh that out. Miyazaki and Otsuka really worked their magic, since, to a great extent, Lupin is their child. The animated one, anyway.
Anyways, these first Green Jacket episodes are pretty faithful to the original Monkey Punch comic, and it's surprising how much of the sex and violence got on the air at all. Remember, folks, it's 1971, and Japanese animation was still very firmly in the realm of children's and family entertainment. There was only one notable exception, a certain infamous movie by an equally infamous director and his group of young punks. And the Horus Rebellion was still making its presence felt, on the ground level, person to person, fan to fan. Lupin III would follow a similar fate, as the tv show failed to gain an audience, only to grow in popularity over time.
Yasuo Otsuka firmly believed that his Lupin was the only one that mattered. I agree with him. His skill in realism, his love of machines, and the gritty adult tone make this a landmark in anime. It's sad, really, that nobody else could really make Lupin work...which, of course, brings us back to Miyazaki and his quietly troubled Lupin, growing too old to keep up the schtick.
This is episode 1, "Lupin is Burning." This was the pilot episode for the fledgling series, which began as a movie project as early as 1969. Yasuo Otsuka, your favorite and mine, left the Toei Animation studio to work on Lupin, which was produced over at A Productions. Over time, more and more of the old Toei crew would make the jump, including, most notably, Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki.
Takahata and Miyazaki would be brought on as directors, but that didn't happen until sometime around episode 7 or 8. Low ratings brought about the changes, as the studio was unnerved by the unusual (for its time) level of sex and violence on the show. So the new directors were hired to tone that down, and play up comedy. You can see the change in the show's style, as the episodes progress. It's an interesting trade-off between the hard-boiled, but directorally scattershot, episodes, and the later episodes, which were lighter and goofier, but far more assured and solid. And, it should be said, Takahata and Miyazaki still kept things pretty real.
If you're a fan of Miyazaki's 2979 picture Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro, then the 1971-72 tv show, aka the "Green Jacket" Lupin, is absolutely required viewing. I daresay that you won't even notice the subtler themes in that movie without it. There's a whole layer of meaning, a sense of weariness, that's present in Cagliostro; but it really requires those original 23 episodes to flesh that out. Miyazaki and Otsuka really worked their magic, since, to a great extent, Lupin is their child. The animated one, anyway.
Anyways, these first Green Jacket episodes are pretty faithful to the original Monkey Punch comic, and it's surprising how much of the sex and violence got on the air at all. Remember, folks, it's 1971, and Japanese animation was still very firmly in the realm of children's and family entertainment. There was only one notable exception, a certain infamous movie by an equally infamous director and his group of young punks. And the Horus Rebellion was still making its presence felt, on the ground level, person to person, fan to fan. Lupin III would follow a similar fate, as the tv show failed to gain an audience, only to grow in popularity over time.
Yasuo Otsuka firmly believed that his Lupin was the only one that mattered. I agree with him. His skill in realism, his love of machines, and the gritty adult tone make this a landmark in anime. It's sad, really, that nobody else could really make Lupin work...which, of course, brings us back to Miyazaki and his quietly troubled Lupin, growing too old to keep up the schtick.
2008-01-30
AniPages Looks at Tenguri
Ben Ettinger takes a good look at Osamu Tezuka's Tenguri at Anipages this month. I've mentioned it in an earlier post, but this was a long-lost 1977 animation project directed by the great Yasuo Otsuka, and including much of the old crew - Miyazaki, Kotabe, Okuyama, Kondo. If you want a more thourough and in-depth look at the film, then enjoy the read.
I still haven't bought the DVD, but I will one of these days. I spend too much money on Christmas presents and furniture and a pile of books (a downtown Borders is closing, putting a 40% discount on everything). Oh, and that Nintendo DS I foolishly caved in to buy, just for that old Animal Crossing fix. Ah, well.
2008-01-22
Oscar Picks Are In (for real this time) -Yay!
Yay!!!
The Oscar nominations are in, and my new favorite movie is included! And Dreck is out! Did my earlier rant make the difference? You make the call!
I'll be accepting messages from anyone in Hollywood who needs that extra push.
Here are the nominations for the animation categories:
Best Animated Feature Film:
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf's Up
Best Animated Short Film:
I Met the Walrus
Madame Tutli-Putli
Even Pigeons Go to Heaven (Meme Les Pigeons Vont Au Paradis)
My Love (Moya Lyubov)
Peter & the Wolf
Two excellent picks for animated feature. Surf's Up looked alright, at least from the clips playing at Barnes & Nobles, but it's pretty much standard Hollywood studio cartoon fare. Satoshi Kon's Paprika, I'm told, was considered last year.
The shorts category is interesting. I haven't heard of any of 'em, but I expect to see the touring show at Lagoon Cinema sometime after the Oscars. Too bad they can't be seen by a wider audience. This is just the sort of thing digital distribution is made for.
One extra note: Ratatouille was also nominated for Music Score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Original Screenplay. Those are some excellent picks, especially the latter one. We're in a very interesting position as animation fans. If the Academy plays it right, the medium could receive a desperately-needed push.
I fully expect Pixar to get the animation Oscar, since Juno is certain to score the Screenplay Oscar. But I'm still rooting for Persepolis to score an upset. Let Brad Bird win in all the other categories.
Finally, from the Dept. of George Bush Oscar Picks - Norbit was nominated for an Oscar. No, really. Norbit was nominated for the Makeup category. I'm pretty sure that's a sign of the coming apocalypse.
The Oscar nominations are in, and my new favorite movie is included! And Dreck is out! Did my earlier rant make the difference? You make the call!
I'll be accepting messages from anyone in Hollywood who needs that extra push.
Here are the nominations for the animation categories:
Best Animated Feature Film:
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf's Up
Best Animated Short Film:
I Met the Walrus
Madame Tutli-Putli
Even Pigeons Go to Heaven (Meme Les Pigeons Vont Au Paradis)
My Love (Moya Lyubov)
Peter & the Wolf
Two excellent picks for animated feature. Surf's Up looked alright, at least from the clips playing at Barnes & Nobles, but it's pretty much standard Hollywood studio cartoon fare. Satoshi Kon's Paprika, I'm told, was considered last year.
The shorts category is interesting. I haven't heard of any of 'em, but I expect to see the touring show at Lagoon Cinema sometime after the Oscars. Too bad they can't be seen by a wider audience. This is just the sort of thing digital distribution is made for.
One extra note: Ratatouille was also nominated for Music Score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Original Screenplay. Those are some excellent picks, especially the latter one. We're in a very interesting position as animation fans. If the Academy plays it right, the medium could receive a desperately-needed push.
I fully expect Pixar to get the animation Oscar, since Juno is certain to score the Screenplay Oscar. But I'm still rooting for Persepolis to score an upset. Let Brad Bird win in all the other categories.
Finally, from the Dept. of George Bush Oscar Picks - Norbit was nominated for an Oscar. No, really. Norbit was nominated for the Makeup category. I'm pretty sure that's a sign of the coming apocalypse.
2008-01-21
Off-Topic Post: Can I Start Getting Paid in Euros?
Oh, by the way, the global financial markets melted down a trillion dollars today.
The stock market is going to be a nightmare tomorrow. It's a good thing the windows at the TCF building are double-plated. And while I say that slightly tongue-in-cheek, the sober truth is that the US economy is completely FUBAR'd.
Oh, boy, will I be looking forward to the Oscar nominations tomorrow. I really, really need a pick-up.
The stock market is going to be a nightmare tomorrow. It's a good thing the windows at the TCF building are double-plated. And while I say that slightly tongue-in-cheek, the sober truth is that the US economy is completely FUBAR'd.
Oh, boy, will I be looking forward to the Oscar nominations tomorrow. I really, really need a pick-up.
Oscar Nominations For Animation...Update: Never Mind, I Jumped the Gun...
UPDATE: D'OH! Alright, that was the Britain's BAFTA nominations. I read the post over at Cartoon Brew, and after finishing this post, I remembered that the Oscar picks are tomorrow. My bad. I should be more patient before running off my big mouth. Still, let's see what happens tomorrow - I don't expect anything different, but we'll see.
Another year, another batch of lousy Oscar picks for animated films. Once again, the Academy just doesn't get it.
The Oscar pics for Best Animated Film include Ratatouille, Shrek the Third, and The Simpson's Movie.
Oh, by the way, Persepolis has finally arrived here in Minneapolis this weekend. It's absolutely fantastic. I'm pouring through the book right now, and I want to go back to the Uptown Theatre at least a couple more times. I just may go there tonight.
But, oh, never mind, let's give it to Shrek and Simpson's. Gimmie a freakin' break. This is the laziest and most ignorant category in the entire Oscar realm. There's always a slot for Pixar, which I really don't mind, because their movies are so consistently good, and Ratatouille really sets a new standard for 3D computer animation. But what's the deal with the rest?
The standard-issue mindset persists. "Animation" means "baby-sitter." These aren't real movies. Oh, no. These are just easy distractions for the five-year-olds, so Mommy and Daddy can go crash on the couch after working another wasted day in their useless worker-bee jobs. This reminds me so much of the way videogames were treated by mass media fifteen years ago; a magazine reviewer with no clue about Nintendo or Sega would pawn some game onto his eight-year-old, and then repeat what Junior said.
Isn't it weird that gaming has become an accepted part of our popular culture, while animation, which has lasted as long as the moving pictures themselves, remains in the ghetto. This is a matter of ignorance and crass laziness.
Persepolis is the poster child for everything you want Western animation to achieve. For a Ghibli freak like me, it is convincing proof that Isao Takahata was right all along - that animation can succeed in portraying the human condition better than live-action. The iconic nature of the medium, its balance of subjective and objective storytelling, draws the viewer in to a degree that live cinema cannot. Animation, like modern painting, is a medium of ideas. Youth, rebellion, the spirit of freedom, and the way our memories shape and refashion the past - Persepolis is a celebration of all these things. And I'm firmly convinced that the same story could not be told with live actors. Animation is closer to the realm of imagination and dreams, which is, to paraphrase Paul Tillich, the ground of our being.
So, yeah, I'm a bit miffed Persepolis didn't get an Oscar nod. I see nobody bothered to remember Satoshi Kon's Paprika, either. Yeah, right. Watching a cartoon Eddie Murphy jump the shark is sooo much better.
It's bad enough that these movies will never be seen outside of the indie circuit in major cities. Audiences don't choose better movies, to a great extent, because they aren't given the freedom to choose. If they were exposed to the thousands upon thousands of movies made throughout the world, we'd see some real changes. We'd have revolution on our hands. But the dumb proles are never shown what happening on Planet Reality...and they remain the dumb proles.
The least the Motion Picture Academy could do is pay attention and do their damned jobs. On Martin Luther King Day, no less. The struggle for the dream continues, kids.
Another year, another batch of lousy Oscar picks for animated films. Once again, the Academy just doesn't get it.
The Oscar pics for Best Animated Film include Ratatouille, Shrek the Third, and The Simpson's Movie.
Oh, by the way, Persepolis has finally arrived here in Minneapolis this weekend. It's absolutely fantastic. I'm pouring through the book right now, and I want to go back to the Uptown Theatre at least a couple more times. I just may go there tonight.
But, oh, never mind, let's give it to Shrek and Simpson's. Gimmie a freakin' break. This is the laziest and most ignorant category in the entire Oscar realm. There's always a slot for Pixar, which I really don't mind, because their movies are so consistently good, and Ratatouille really sets a new standard for 3D computer animation. But what's the deal with the rest?
The standard-issue mindset persists. "Animation" means "baby-sitter." These aren't real movies. Oh, no. These are just easy distractions for the five-year-olds, so Mommy and Daddy can go crash on the couch after working another wasted day in their useless worker-bee jobs. This reminds me so much of the way videogames were treated by mass media fifteen years ago; a magazine reviewer with no clue about Nintendo or Sega would pawn some game onto his eight-year-old, and then repeat what Junior said.
Isn't it weird that gaming has become an accepted part of our popular culture, while animation, which has lasted as long as the moving pictures themselves, remains in the ghetto. This is a matter of ignorance and crass laziness.
Persepolis is the poster child for everything you want Western animation to achieve. For a Ghibli freak like me, it is convincing proof that Isao Takahata was right all along - that animation can succeed in portraying the human condition better than live-action. The iconic nature of the medium, its balance of subjective and objective storytelling, draws the viewer in to a degree that live cinema cannot. Animation, like modern painting, is a medium of ideas. Youth, rebellion, the spirit of freedom, and the way our memories shape and refashion the past - Persepolis is a celebration of all these things. And I'm firmly convinced that the same story could not be told with live actors. Animation is closer to the realm of imagination and dreams, which is, to paraphrase Paul Tillich, the ground of our being.
So, yeah, I'm a bit miffed Persepolis didn't get an Oscar nod. I see nobody bothered to remember Satoshi Kon's Paprika, either. Yeah, right. Watching a cartoon Eddie Murphy jump the shark is sooo much better.
It's bad enough that these movies will never be seen outside of the indie circuit in major cities. Audiences don't choose better movies, to a great extent, because they aren't given the freedom to choose. If they were exposed to the thousands upon thousands of movies made throughout the world, we'd see some real changes. We'd have revolution on our hands. But the dumb proles are never shown what happening on Planet Reality...and they remain the dumb proles.
The least the Motion Picture Academy could do is pay attention and do their damned jobs. On Martin Luther King Day, no less. The struggle for the dream continues, kids.
2008-01-05
War is Over, part 2 (Common and Premium Content)
Last post I began with the news that Warner Brothers will excusively support Sony's Blu-Ray format, thus decidedly tipping the balance in the next-generation format wars. For me, and those who aim to push towards online digital distribution of DVD's, this is excellent news.
At the end, I explained how every person should, ideally, be able to download a movie and then watch it on any media player, free of any interference. That freedom and empowerment is absolutely crucial in the new world of the internet and what's called "the long tail." Now let me show you an example.
Let's take the latest Pixar movie, Ratatouille. It's available in both DVD and digital formats, and it's fairly well-known. This gives us an excellent opporunity to compare the two and see how things stand.
First, with the DVD, here's what I can do. I can play it on the tv set. I can run it on my portable DVD player. I can run it on my computer and show off that 22" widescreen monitor. And, best of all, I can take the disc with me wherever I go. That's a great amount of mobility and freedom; I like that freedom, and best of all, the picture quality is fantastic.
Now, compare to the digital download on iTunes. Here are the formats I can play the movie on: an iPod, an iPhone, Apple TV, or a Mac. That's it. Can I watch it on my PC? No. Can I watch it on a Zune? No. How 'bout the television? No. Can I burn a backup copy to disc and play it on my portable DVD? Hell, no.
Now look at the picture itself. It's set at 640 x 480. In theory, it should be fine for standard resolution, but in practice, it's terrible. Looks fine on that video iPod, but everything looks fine on that little wonder. That's why I'm always tempted to buy one. But television or a monitor? It looks like shit. Compared to the commercial DVD, the picture is blurrier, fuzzier, and notable lower-resolution.
The Ratatouille download costs $12. I can buy the DVD for $15.
Is this a sick joke? You've got to be kidding me. Are you seriously fucking kidding me?!
On one level, it may appear that the Hollywood studios and Apple are helplessly out of touch, that they just don't get it. They're behaving the way corporations treated the internet a decade ago - something as too strange and odd to comprehend. Maybe that's true, to a certain extent. But I'm not buying it.
The problem with the suits isn't that they don't understand the digital revolution. The problem is that they understand it perfectly. They saw what happened to the major record labels over the past ten years. They know the score, and the suits are terrified.
You see it too, don't you? You should. It's as plain as the nose on your face. The thought keeps nagging in the back of my head...why isn't anybody doing anything about this? I can't be the first one to figure this out. It has to have been obvious for years. So why isn't anyone jumping? Why are the movie studios only content to dip their toes in the water?
We're facing the greatest media revolution since the invention of spoken language, and nobody's moving. I probably wouldn't even talk openly about these things if the Ghibli blog was a runaway hit; I'd be too convinced that some investor would grab my battle plans and get to work before I could. And, yet, here we are. Weird.
Alright, here's what I see. Back to Ratatouille. Take that digital download, and make it the equal to the commercial DVD. It's easily done; it can be done today, right now. We're only talking digits, zeros and ones. Make the download identical to that DVD, so the consumer couldn't tell the difference (this would actually be a demonstration in my proposals). This is now achievable with storage space and bandwidth.
Then comes the knockout blow. Take that $12 price tag and smash it. I have a number in my head. It's specific, I've moved it around somewhat, and I'm growing more and more confident about it. It's one of the two or three best cards in my hand - and I think it's a winning hand.
"The Long Tail" gets into all of this in far better detail, and, again, it's a must-read. It's the definitive business book on the digital revolution - The Gospel According to Google.
---------
Now to wrap this all up. If you're keen, you can pretty easily guess what digital downloading of movies will do to the DVD format. DVD will be smashed to pieces. This is inevitable. It is unavoidable, and, more importantly, it's something we should welcome and embrace.
I don't believe the death of DVD will mean the death of movies; it will mean an expansion and growth into a hundred new dimensions. It's all about choices. Choices in formats, and the freedom to move between them effortlessly. Again, we're already there with music, where we can download, rip, burn, trade, share, and buy millions of songs. Movies will be the same way.
Variety is the name of the game. Consumers will pay different prices for different values. For movies, I think of it as two different camps: common level and premium level.
Yeah, I know, I need better names. But you get the point.
We see this already. VHS and DVD are a form of common level. It's cheap and readily available, accessable to the most people at the lowest price. You can rent a movie and watch at home for far less than going to the theatres. This is the common level, and instead of destorying Hollywood, it made them insanely wealthy.
What would be the premium level? Going to the movie theatre. I can watch films (you know, real camera film) on an enormous screen, sharing a darkened room with as many as a couple hundred strangers. It's a shared experience, and it's absolutely wonderful. I can't imagine the movies without that experience.
This month, the Minnesota Orchestra will be showing two silent classics: Charlie Chaplin's City Lights, and Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin. The orchestra will be providing the musical accompanyment. Now that's premium content!
The name of the game is perceived value. I and my family will spend a lot more money,and you may have to deal with traffic and parking, but look at what you're getting in return. For the movie lover, this is the real deal. Does it even matter if I have the same movies at home on DVD? Of course not. The theatre experience has a greater perceived value; it sits at the premium level.
On a deeper level, going to the Minnesota Orchestra to see a masterpiece of cinema holds greater value than the latest blockbuster at the multiplex. The special-effects picture, aimed at teenage boys, are much closer to the common level. We'll often decide to wait for the DVD, because we're not getting much more from the multiplex, aside from noisy crowds.
Another excellent example of premium content is The Criterion Collection. Need I say more? Their value is so great in the eyes of movie lovers that only the name itself is enough to make a sale. A new movie on Criterion? I've never heard of it. It's perfect!
Criterion shows us how to effectively appeal to a niche market, and succeed masterfully. The arrival of downloading won't harm them in the least. No, while digital will cannabalize the standard DVD, Criterion will continue to thrive. The experience they offer is akin to attending film school; indeed, it probably surpasses most entry-level classes you took in college. And I'll pay a premium for it every time, with a big toothy grin on my face.
Take a look at Criterion's recent DVD for The Third Man, one of my absolute favorites. In addition to the film, which is masterfully restored; there are two commentary tracks (including director Steven Soderbergh); three documentaries on the movie and writer Graham Greene, ranging from 30-90 minutes; Orson Welles' Harry Lime radio broadcasts; a booklet containing essays on the film; and a whole wealth of extra bits and pieces. It's absolutely fantastic.
This is the premium service. We cannot provide that level of depth via downloads; to be honest, I wouldn't want it. Downloading works for me because it taps into that immediacy, that hunter-gatherer instinct. Find my deer, stalk it, come home and eat. I want my movie experience now. Afterword, I'll learn everything I can about the movie that will add to my enjoyment.
Same thing with music. First I check something out. If I like it, then I'll go foraging around, learning all I can.
Which bring us, finally (whew), to Warner Brothers and Blu-Ray. What excites me about this is not only the thrill of seeing the Warners' fabulous catalog in the hi-def format, but the end to this stupid format war altogether. Now we can work on making Blu-Ray the new must-have item of 2008. As anyone will tell you, once you see a hi-def movie on that 60" screen, there's no going back.
This effectively means the end of the DVD format. Which means that Hollywood has no useful need to drag its heels. Which means that Apple has no need to drag their heels, either. iPod's great appeal was the promise to store thousands of songs at once. We're going to do the same with movies. Imagine that. Ten thousand movies in your pocket, ready to pull out whenever you want, and ready to be played anywhere, from the iPhone to the HDTV.
Which means, folks, that the door is open for digital downloads to explode. Seriously explode. The big fear now is that downloading will destroy Blu-Ray before it ever gets a chance to succeed. Microsoft (according to Michael Bay, at least) is pushing for this scenario. But I think that's a false choice. The future of media, if it means anything, means more choices. The long tail enables viable markets and endless audiences that stretch on forever.
If Blu-Ray is to ultimately succeed, it will have to compete just like everything else on this planet. Screen resolution and hi-definition won't be enough. Bandwidth restricts us now, but soon that will also fall, and my digital download of Mind Game will look identical to the BR. So what? BR needs to follow the Criterion route, and follow the Premium path. The cheaply-assembled DVDs, the ones with no useful extras, will be discarded. Waste of fuckin' plastic.* I'll download those in a heartbeat. And I will still go to the theatres, and I'll still pay fifty bucks for Criterion.
----------------
*This is another idea that I hit upon when seeing the paper packing for An Inconvenient Truth. The green angle! "Save the Earth - Download Your Movie Instead!" Think of all the petroleum by-products that go into making that DVD. It's a disgrace, and completely unsustainable. Want to stop pollution and climate change? Download, kids, download.
At the end, I explained how every person should, ideally, be able to download a movie and then watch it on any media player, free of any interference. That freedom and empowerment is absolutely crucial in the new world of the internet and what's called "the long tail." Now let me show you an example.
Let's take the latest Pixar movie, Ratatouille. It's available in both DVD and digital formats, and it's fairly well-known. This gives us an excellent opporunity to compare the two and see how things stand.
First, with the DVD, here's what I can do. I can play it on the tv set. I can run it on my portable DVD player. I can run it on my computer and show off that 22" widescreen monitor. And, best of all, I can take the disc with me wherever I go. That's a great amount of mobility and freedom; I like that freedom, and best of all, the picture quality is fantastic.
Now, compare to the digital download on iTunes. Here are the formats I can play the movie on: an iPod, an iPhone, Apple TV, or a Mac. That's it. Can I watch it on my PC? No. Can I watch it on a Zune? No. How 'bout the television? No. Can I burn a backup copy to disc and play it on my portable DVD? Hell, no.
Now look at the picture itself. It's set at 640 x 480. In theory, it should be fine for standard resolution, but in practice, it's terrible. Looks fine on that video iPod, but everything looks fine on that little wonder. That's why I'm always tempted to buy one. But television or a monitor? It looks like shit. Compared to the commercial DVD, the picture is blurrier, fuzzier, and notable lower-resolution.
The Ratatouille download costs $12. I can buy the DVD for $15.
Is this a sick joke? You've got to be kidding me. Are you seriously fucking kidding me?!
On one level, it may appear that the Hollywood studios and Apple are helplessly out of touch, that they just don't get it. They're behaving the way corporations treated the internet a decade ago - something as too strange and odd to comprehend. Maybe that's true, to a certain extent. But I'm not buying it.
The problem with the suits isn't that they don't understand the digital revolution. The problem is that they understand it perfectly. They saw what happened to the major record labels over the past ten years. They know the score, and the suits are terrified.
You see it too, don't you? You should. It's as plain as the nose on your face. The thought keeps nagging in the back of my head...why isn't anybody doing anything about this? I can't be the first one to figure this out. It has to have been obvious for years. So why isn't anyone jumping? Why are the movie studios only content to dip their toes in the water?
We're facing the greatest media revolution since the invention of spoken language, and nobody's moving. I probably wouldn't even talk openly about these things if the Ghibli blog was a runaway hit; I'd be too convinced that some investor would grab my battle plans and get to work before I could. And, yet, here we are. Weird.
Alright, here's what I see. Back to Ratatouille. Take that digital download, and make it the equal to the commercial DVD. It's easily done; it can be done today, right now. We're only talking digits, zeros and ones. Make the download identical to that DVD, so the consumer couldn't tell the difference (this would actually be a demonstration in my proposals). This is now achievable with storage space and bandwidth.
Then comes the knockout blow. Take that $12 price tag and smash it. I have a number in my head. It's specific, I've moved it around somewhat, and I'm growing more and more confident about it. It's one of the two or three best cards in my hand - and I think it's a winning hand.
"The Long Tail" gets into all of this in far better detail, and, again, it's a must-read. It's the definitive business book on the digital revolution - The Gospel According to Google.
---------
Now to wrap this all up. If you're keen, you can pretty easily guess what digital downloading of movies will do to the DVD format. DVD will be smashed to pieces. This is inevitable. It is unavoidable, and, more importantly, it's something we should welcome and embrace.
I don't believe the death of DVD will mean the death of movies; it will mean an expansion and growth into a hundred new dimensions. It's all about choices. Choices in formats, and the freedom to move between them effortlessly. Again, we're already there with music, where we can download, rip, burn, trade, share, and buy millions of songs. Movies will be the same way.
Variety is the name of the game. Consumers will pay different prices for different values. For movies, I think of it as two different camps: common level and premium level.
Yeah, I know, I need better names. But you get the point.
We see this already. VHS and DVD are a form of common level. It's cheap and readily available, accessable to the most people at the lowest price. You can rent a movie and watch at home for far less than going to the theatres. This is the common level, and instead of destorying Hollywood, it made them insanely wealthy.
What would be the premium level? Going to the movie theatre. I can watch films (you know, real camera film) on an enormous screen, sharing a darkened room with as many as a couple hundred strangers. It's a shared experience, and it's absolutely wonderful. I can't imagine the movies without that experience.
This month, the Minnesota Orchestra will be showing two silent classics: Charlie Chaplin's City Lights, and Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin. The orchestra will be providing the musical accompanyment. Now that's premium content!
The name of the game is perceived value. I and my family will spend a lot more money,and you may have to deal with traffic and parking, but look at what you're getting in return. For the movie lover, this is the real deal. Does it even matter if I have the same movies at home on DVD? Of course not. The theatre experience has a greater perceived value; it sits at the premium level.
On a deeper level, going to the Minnesota Orchestra to see a masterpiece of cinema holds greater value than the latest blockbuster at the multiplex. The special-effects picture, aimed at teenage boys, are much closer to the common level. We'll often decide to wait for the DVD, because we're not getting much more from the multiplex, aside from noisy crowds.
Another excellent example of premium content is The Criterion Collection. Need I say more? Their value is so great in the eyes of movie lovers that only the name itself is enough to make a sale. A new movie on Criterion? I've never heard of it. It's perfect!
Criterion shows us how to effectively appeal to a niche market, and succeed masterfully. The arrival of downloading won't harm them in the least. No, while digital will cannabalize the standard DVD, Criterion will continue to thrive. The experience they offer is akin to attending film school; indeed, it probably surpasses most entry-level classes you took in college. And I'll pay a premium for it every time, with a big toothy grin on my face.
Take a look at Criterion's recent DVD for The Third Man, one of my absolute favorites. In addition to the film, which is masterfully restored; there are two commentary tracks (including director Steven Soderbergh); three documentaries on the movie and writer Graham Greene, ranging from 30-90 minutes; Orson Welles' Harry Lime radio broadcasts; a booklet containing essays on the film; and a whole wealth of extra bits and pieces. It's absolutely fantastic.
This is the premium service. We cannot provide that level of depth via downloads; to be honest, I wouldn't want it. Downloading works for me because it taps into that immediacy, that hunter-gatherer instinct. Find my deer, stalk it, come home and eat. I want my movie experience now. Afterword, I'll learn everything I can about the movie that will add to my enjoyment.
Same thing with music. First I check something out. If I like it, then I'll go foraging around, learning all I can.
Which bring us, finally (whew), to Warner Brothers and Blu-Ray. What excites me about this is not only the thrill of seeing the Warners' fabulous catalog in the hi-def format, but the end to this stupid format war altogether. Now we can work on making Blu-Ray the new must-have item of 2008. As anyone will tell you, once you see a hi-def movie on that 60" screen, there's no going back.
This effectively means the end of the DVD format. Which means that Hollywood has no useful need to drag its heels. Which means that Apple has no need to drag their heels, either. iPod's great appeal was the promise to store thousands of songs at once. We're going to do the same with movies. Imagine that. Ten thousand movies in your pocket, ready to pull out whenever you want, and ready to be played anywhere, from the iPhone to the HDTV.
Which means, folks, that the door is open for digital downloads to explode. Seriously explode. The big fear now is that downloading will destroy Blu-Ray before it ever gets a chance to succeed. Microsoft (according to Michael Bay, at least) is pushing for this scenario. But I think that's a false choice. The future of media, if it means anything, means more choices. The long tail enables viable markets and endless audiences that stretch on forever.
If Blu-Ray is to ultimately succeed, it will have to compete just like everything else on this planet. Screen resolution and hi-definition won't be enough. Bandwidth restricts us now, but soon that will also fall, and my digital download of Mind Game will look identical to the BR. So what? BR needs to follow the Criterion route, and follow the Premium path. The cheaply-assembled DVDs, the ones with no useful extras, will be discarded. Waste of fuckin' plastic.* I'll download those in a heartbeat. And I will still go to the theatres, and I'll still pay fifty bucks for Criterion.
----------------
*This is another idea that I hit upon when seeing the paper packing for An Inconvenient Truth. The green angle! "Save the Earth - Download Your Movie Instead!" Think of all the petroleum by-products that go into making that DVD. It's a disgrace, and completely unsustainable. Want to stop pollution and climate change? Download, kids, download.
War is Over (and What That Means)!
Folks, good news to report. The next-generation DVD format wars are now officially over. Warner Brothers, which has been straddling the fence between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, has finally made the switch to exclusively supporting Blu-Ray. As one of the major Hollywood players on the DVD market, this will effectively tip the balance decisively in Sony's favor.
I've been expecting this move for some time. Blu-Ray has been consistently outselling HD-DVD by a two-to-one margin. In Japan, where all of us anime fans have been spying patiently, there was no fight at all. Blu-Ray became the standard overnight.
This is good news for all...except, of course, for anyone who purchased one of the Toshiba HD players. But if that happened to you, you should have known. This is the risk you run for being an early adopter. I should know. I'm a Sega Saturn junkie.
For my business idea, this is great news. This will enable faster adoption to the Blu-Ray standard, which will lower pressure on the need to prop up DVD. You see, my scheme involves downloading DVD-quality movies for use on any device. The Hollywood studios have been dragging their heels on this advancement, for fear of cannibalizing their DVD sales. They're right. That's my plan altogether - I have not come to praise the DVD format, but to bury it. Digital downloading will achieve just that, just as digital music destroyed the compact disc.
To defenders of the old order, this must appear to be the same thing the major record labels saw a decade ago: nothing less than the end of the world. Aw, but don't you believe them.*
The coming technology will not destroy the movie medium. Just pay a visit to iTunes or Rhapsody and look at the state of today's music. The music didn't die, and the bands didn't disappear back into their crummy day jobs. No, the amount and quality of music exploded. Millions of songs from every conceivable genre, from big-media hit to the most obscure niche, are flowing around the globe. The remarkable thing is that, no matter how rare and obscure any song may be, there will be an audience for it. The result is the greatest explosion and integration of music in history. And all of this was achieved by breaking down the old economic order.
Well, the very same thing is beginning to happen with movies. The stakes are a lot higher, since there's more money floating around, and this is why the suits are so resistent to the technology. They know fully well what will happen once everything becomes integrated...or, more fairly, they're afraid of it. They fear their own demise.
That's just absurd. The film medium is about to explode, and go global on a scale never before seen. Let me show it to you. You go online and visit my publishing website. I still don't know what exactly to call this, because it's different enough to mutate into a new species, think of it as an movie publisher that focuses on importing Japanese anime, as well as foreign animation from Europe and Russia (yes, of course Yuri Norstein is in my sights). The only catch is that, instead of the old model, where we manufacture DVD's and stock them on the shelves at Best Buy, we throw everything online. You can download movies and television episodes at iTunes, or Google Video, or Microsoft's venture, or Netflix, or Amazon, or any other of the venues.
Let's say you want to get Yuri Norstein's Hedgehog in the Fog. A wonderful, beloved classic of animation. It's also just 15 minutes long, perfect for those commutes. You purchase and download your copy, and you can then play it on any media platform you choose. iPhone, video iPod, Blackberry, mobile phone. Playstation Portable, Nintendo DS, XBox Live Marketplace, Virtual Console.**
You can watch on your computer, or burn to a disc and play on your DVD player. Watch Mind Game or Night on the Galactic Railroad on that brand-new widescreen tv. And all this will be possible with the same, singluar download.
I want the freedom to play my movies anywhere and anytime I want. I don't want any damn restrictions. I don't want some damn copy-protection scheme. I don't want to be told, no, you can only play this on the media devices we, the corporate overlords, allow.
I don't want this post to go on too long, so I'll continue with part two.
-----------------
*Yeah, Bruce Hornsby reference. I always loved that song.
**Nintendo's smartest move was to eschew a DVD player for downloadable content on Wii. Once they enable enough memory space, like storage on any SD card, they'll open the doors for downloading tv shows and movies, potentially leaving Sony and Microsoft in the dust. You have no idea how potentially huge the Nintendo Wii could become.
I've been expecting this move for some time. Blu-Ray has been consistently outselling HD-DVD by a two-to-one margin. In Japan, where all of us anime fans have been spying patiently, there was no fight at all. Blu-Ray became the standard overnight.
This is good news for all...except, of course, for anyone who purchased one of the Toshiba HD players. But if that happened to you, you should have known. This is the risk you run for being an early adopter. I should know. I'm a Sega Saturn junkie.
For my business idea, this is great news. This will enable faster adoption to the Blu-Ray standard, which will lower pressure on the need to prop up DVD. You see, my scheme involves downloading DVD-quality movies for use on any device. The Hollywood studios have been dragging their heels on this advancement, for fear of cannibalizing their DVD sales. They're right. That's my plan altogether - I have not come to praise the DVD format, but to bury it. Digital downloading will achieve just that, just as digital music destroyed the compact disc.
To defenders of the old order, this must appear to be the same thing the major record labels saw a decade ago: nothing less than the end of the world. Aw, but don't you believe them.*
The coming technology will not destroy the movie medium. Just pay a visit to iTunes or Rhapsody and look at the state of today's music. The music didn't die, and the bands didn't disappear back into their crummy day jobs. No, the amount and quality of music exploded. Millions of songs from every conceivable genre, from big-media hit to the most obscure niche, are flowing around the globe. The remarkable thing is that, no matter how rare and obscure any song may be, there will be an audience for it. The result is the greatest explosion and integration of music in history. And all of this was achieved by breaking down the old economic order.
Well, the very same thing is beginning to happen with movies. The stakes are a lot higher, since there's more money floating around, and this is why the suits are so resistent to the technology. They know fully well what will happen once everything becomes integrated...or, more fairly, they're afraid of it. They fear their own demise.
That's just absurd. The film medium is about to explode, and go global on a scale never before seen. Let me show it to you. You go online and visit my publishing website. I still don't know what exactly to call this, because it's different enough to mutate into a new species, think of it as an movie publisher that focuses on importing Japanese anime, as well as foreign animation from Europe and Russia (yes, of course Yuri Norstein is in my sights). The only catch is that, instead of the old model, where we manufacture DVD's and stock them on the shelves at Best Buy, we throw everything online. You can download movies and television episodes at iTunes, or Google Video, or Microsoft's venture, or Netflix, or Amazon, or any other of the venues.
Let's say you want to get Yuri Norstein's Hedgehog in the Fog. A wonderful, beloved classic of animation. It's also just 15 minutes long, perfect for those commutes. You purchase and download your copy, and you can then play it on any media platform you choose. iPhone, video iPod, Blackberry, mobile phone. Playstation Portable, Nintendo DS, XBox Live Marketplace, Virtual Console.**
You can watch on your computer, or burn to a disc and play on your DVD player. Watch Mind Game or Night on the Galactic Railroad on that brand-new widescreen tv. And all this will be possible with the same, singluar download.
I want the freedom to play my movies anywhere and anytime I want. I don't want any damn restrictions. I don't want some damn copy-protection scheme. I don't want to be told, no, you can only play this on the media devices we, the corporate overlords, allow.
I don't want this post to go on too long, so I'll continue with part two.
-----------------
*Yeah, Bruce Hornsby reference. I always loved that song.
**Nintendo's smartest move was to eschew a DVD player for downloadable content on Wii. Once they enable enough memory space, like storage on any SD card, they'll open the doors for downloading tv shows and movies, potentially leaving Sony and Microsoft in the dust. You have no idea how potentially huge the Nintendo Wii could become.
2008-01-04
The Homestar Runner Model?
I'm a great fan of Homestar Runner. Have you ever considered their business model? Here is an animation website that provides you with literally dozens of cartoons and short clips - all absolutely free.
But venture down to the store, and you'll discover that they're also selling DVD's. That's something to seriously consider for a moment. I think it's an excellent example of the internet and the long tail economy. Is there a Homestar Runner Model for us to study and/or adapt? Hmm.
I think the genius of the internet is that is completely turns the traditional business rules on their head. Traditional strategies for the old economy will get you killed in the new one. Where else could such a crazy idea - hey, let's give the store away for free - lead to profit and success?
So, what are the lessons here? Any takers?
But venture down to the store, and you'll discover that they're also selling DVD's. That's something to seriously consider for a moment. I think it's an excellent example of the internet and the long tail economy. Is there a Homestar Runner Model for us to study and/or adapt? Hmm.
I think the genius of the internet is that is completely turns the traditional business rules on their head. Traditional strategies for the old economy will get you killed in the new one. Where else could such a crazy idea - hey, let's give the store away for free - lead to profit and success?
So, what are the lessons here? Any takers?
2008-01-03
Burn Your Own Damned DVD's, or Building the Fan Community
If I started a publishing house that focused on digital distribution, that phrase would be right at the top of the front page. It's not just a matter of economics - manufacturing animation DVD's is just throwing money into the fire - it's also a way of building community loyalty. This trait, I believe, is absolutely crucial when dealing with long tails and the internet.
The internet's great trait is that it shatters boundaries. It empowers literally everyone. The line between provider and consumer blurrs and erases. Blogging, YouTube, Google, Amazon, Wikipedia, Lulu, iTunes, MySpace, Facebook - these are all the new tools for enabling us to create our own art. It's enabling far, far more people to participate, by creating videos or music or books, and it demands the building of communities to survive.
How else can you survive in this environment. The traditional business model is somewhat stereotypically Darwinian. Survival of the fittest, all tooth and claw. But I think the real story of the internet is one of cooperation. The name of the game is cutting deals, making friends. Trading text links on your blog, or writing user comments on Amazon, or sending viral videos back and forth on YouTube. These are all good examples.
The key of future media lies in empowering the consumer. There are no rules that govern which formats you can use, or which brand-name products, or whether you can make copies or downloads. These are all irrelevent, if not dead and buried entirely.
Here's what I want when I'm thinking of media in 2008. I want a movie that I can download from the net, then copy and play anywhere I want. Cell phone, iPod, videogame console, television, whatever. Why should I bother with a movie on iTunes that's a cheap knockoff of the DVD? What's the point in that? I want the digital download to replace the DVD.
I want the download to look the same as the commercial DVD, not fuzzier and at lower resolution. This is currently an issue, though it has no reason to be. The bandwidth is there, the technology is there. Online content should be at DVD-quality, at least. Not "near-DVD quality," an odious phrase I found bounded around the Apple realms. I suspect this reflects the great fear of the movie industry, that what happened to the music business will happen to them. But, as I've repeatedly said, this is already happening. It cannot be avoided.
It's bad enough the music industry tried to resist the change. They completely destroyed themselves in the process; now, the major labels are about as popular as Bush and Cheney, and I for one can't wait to see all of 'em leave. Please, sue your customers. Please, put DRM onto your discs. You'll just go bankrupt faster. And when that happens, I'll find some investors, pick up the remains, and all will be happy.
It would be sad to see this happen to Hollywood, and I'm still pretty doubtful it will go down like that, but, still. Resistence to technological and cultural upheavals won't work.
Anyway, I'm ranting and losing the topic. What I want in my movie downloads is the ability to play on any media format available, freely and without any hassle. And that means burning my own DVD's. Which brings us back to the motto on my proposed homepage - "Burn Your Own Damn DVD's!"
I have no interest in making and selling the damned discs. When it comes to animation, especially Japanese anime, there ain't no money in it. Not unless you're a fairly large corporation with many different revenue streams and deep pockets. This doesn't seem to be doing them much good, anyway. Hopefully Geneon will not prove to be a future trend for the licensed publishers.
No, this is an idea that I've come to accept with greater fervor over time. The future is digital distribution. That's how you do it. Inventory, infrastructure, manufacturing, packaging - that's all brick-and-mortal thinking. Going entirely digital dodges this entirely. We are only talking about digital files, which can be stored and moved around without batting an eye. All that's needed now are a few clicks on the mouse, and a decent broadband connection.
Question, then: if we can provide online content that's equal to a commercial DVD, what to do with the box, and the label on the disc? Well, the internet let's you get creative with everything else, why not this? Create your own DVD package. Come up with whatever crazy designs you can scheme up. Anything at all, or nothing at all. And then you get to show 'em off and share.
See, this is where my head is at. I'm an artist. I've been doing this sort of thing for years. I've been pushing the idea of artist-created gallery CD's since the start of the decade. It's a perfect way to help build a community online and build that loyalty. In this environment, loyalty is the name of the game. It's the thing that can make or break you.
I'm thinking of offering tutorials, showing examples, and helping to empower the user as much as possible. Send your photos and .jpegs of your designs. Add them to the downloads section.
Another idea, one that keeps in tune with the theme of cooperation. Create business partnerships with related companies. DVD label-makers, burners, yadda yadda. Find those who stand to benefit by the market we're creating, and bring them into the fold. Advertising, discounts, yadda yadda.
Building the fan community is absolutely crucial. Online message boards? Hmm. I've been tossing that one around back and forth. User comments, rankings and recommendations? This would work best if each feature has its own page, with the direct links to the download sites - iTunes, Google, and all the rest. These pages need to be informative and comprehensive about the works, since they are pretty obscure. You need to be given a reason why this show or that movie is worth the cash.
Still another method for building community is through podcasts. It's perfect advertising since it goes to iTunes, and it's another great way to bring the world of film to the public. Think of a Conversations on Ghibli podcast, writ large. Be very aggressive about this; bring in guest stars, roundtable discussions, and fellow podcasters.
The biggest mistake I've seen other merchants make is that they don't hustle. This is the hardest part of the job. You've got to build a brand; and yet, what seems to happen is that your new startup just drops the anime movies onto store shelves, with nothing more than a few complimentary review copies to a handful of websites. No, friends, we need to work much harder on this. I believe this is a question of exposure. You're spreading a gospel or sorts.
But a gospel of what? Ah, that leads me to the big idea. It's either the smartest of the stupidest idea I've had on the whole matter. But I'm roundly convinced that the times and the circumstances call for it. I'll deal with that on the next post, since time's running down and I've got to get back to that book.
Keep circulating the tapes!
The internet's great trait is that it shatters boundaries. It empowers literally everyone. The line between provider and consumer blurrs and erases. Blogging, YouTube, Google, Amazon, Wikipedia, Lulu, iTunes, MySpace, Facebook - these are all the new tools for enabling us to create our own art. It's enabling far, far more people to participate, by creating videos or music or books, and it demands the building of communities to survive.
How else can you survive in this environment. The traditional business model is somewhat stereotypically Darwinian. Survival of the fittest, all tooth and claw. But I think the real story of the internet is one of cooperation. The name of the game is cutting deals, making friends. Trading text links on your blog, or writing user comments on Amazon, or sending viral videos back and forth on YouTube. These are all good examples.
The key of future media lies in empowering the consumer. There are no rules that govern which formats you can use, or which brand-name products, or whether you can make copies or downloads. These are all irrelevent, if not dead and buried entirely.
Here's what I want when I'm thinking of media in 2008. I want a movie that I can download from the net, then copy and play anywhere I want. Cell phone, iPod, videogame console, television, whatever. Why should I bother with a movie on iTunes that's a cheap knockoff of the DVD? What's the point in that? I want the digital download to replace the DVD.
I want the download to look the same as the commercial DVD, not fuzzier and at lower resolution. This is currently an issue, though it has no reason to be. The bandwidth is there, the technology is there. Online content should be at DVD-quality, at least. Not "near-DVD quality," an odious phrase I found bounded around the Apple realms. I suspect this reflects the great fear of the movie industry, that what happened to the music business will happen to them. But, as I've repeatedly said, this is already happening. It cannot be avoided.
It's bad enough the music industry tried to resist the change. They completely destroyed themselves in the process; now, the major labels are about as popular as Bush and Cheney, and I for one can't wait to see all of 'em leave. Please, sue your customers. Please, put DRM onto your discs. You'll just go bankrupt faster. And when that happens, I'll find some investors, pick up the remains, and all will be happy.
It would be sad to see this happen to Hollywood, and I'm still pretty doubtful it will go down like that, but, still. Resistence to technological and cultural upheavals won't work.
Anyway, I'm ranting and losing the topic. What I want in my movie downloads is the ability to play on any media format available, freely and without any hassle. And that means burning my own DVD's. Which brings us back to the motto on my proposed homepage - "Burn Your Own Damn DVD's!"
I have no interest in making and selling the damned discs. When it comes to animation, especially Japanese anime, there ain't no money in it. Not unless you're a fairly large corporation with many different revenue streams and deep pockets. This doesn't seem to be doing them much good, anyway. Hopefully Geneon will not prove to be a future trend for the licensed publishers.
No, this is an idea that I've come to accept with greater fervor over time. The future is digital distribution. That's how you do it. Inventory, infrastructure, manufacturing, packaging - that's all brick-and-mortal thinking. Going entirely digital dodges this entirely. We are only talking about digital files, which can be stored and moved around without batting an eye. All that's needed now are a few clicks on the mouse, and a decent broadband connection.
Question, then: if we can provide online content that's equal to a commercial DVD, what to do with the box, and the label on the disc? Well, the internet let's you get creative with everything else, why not this? Create your own DVD package. Come up with whatever crazy designs you can scheme up. Anything at all, or nothing at all. And then you get to show 'em off and share.
See, this is where my head is at. I'm an artist. I've been doing this sort of thing for years. I've been pushing the idea of artist-created gallery CD's since the start of the decade. It's a perfect way to help build a community online and build that loyalty. In this environment, loyalty is the name of the game. It's the thing that can make or break you.
I'm thinking of offering tutorials, showing examples, and helping to empower the user as much as possible. Send your photos and .jpegs of your designs. Add them to the downloads section.
Another idea, one that keeps in tune with the theme of cooperation. Create business partnerships with related companies. DVD label-makers, burners, yadda yadda. Find those who stand to benefit by the market we're creating, and bring them into the fold. Advertising, discounts, yadda yadda.
Building the fan community is absolutely crucial. Online message boards? Hmm. I've been tossing that one around back and forth. User comments, rankings and recommendations? This would work best if each feature has its own page, with the direct links to the download sites - iTunes, Google, and all the rest. These pages need to be informative and comprehensive about the works, since they are pretty obscure. You need to be given a reason why this show or that movie is worth the cash.
Still another method for building community is through podcasts. It's perfect advertising since it goes to iTunes, and it's another great way to bring the world of film to the public. Think of a Conversations on Ghibli podcast, writ large. Be very aggressive about this; bring in guest stars, roundtable discussions, and fellow podcasters.
The biggest mistake I've seen other merchants make is that they don't hustle. This is the hardest part of the job. You've got to build a brand; and yet, what seems to happen is that your new startup just drops the anime movies onto store shelves, with nothing more than a few complimentary review copies to a handful of websites. No, friends, we need to work much harder on this. I believe this is a question of exposure. You're spreading a gospel or sorts.
But a gospel of what? Ah, that leads me to the big idea. It's either the smartest of the stupidest idea I've had on the whole matter. But I'm roundly convinced that the times and the circumstances call for it. I'll deal with that on the next post, since time's running down and I've got to get back to that book.
Keep circulating the tapes!
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