Ninja vs Penguin

Penguin August 6th, 2007

This may not be a real step for most people. But who knows? You may get lucky. To that end, you want to get as many people to watch your movie as possible. If you can, make a trailer and throw it up on YouTube. Put a lower-res version of the movie on BitTorrent. Tell your friends to watch it. If they like it, they’ll tell their friends, etc.

The more eyes are on your movie, the more likely someone of influence (read: with money) will come across it. Who knows. They may really be enamored with your work and will be jumping at the opportunity to finance your next project.  Robert Rodriguez did it.  So did Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
You do have a next project, right? Even if you don’t have a finished script, you should at least have a treatment done. So, get back to work!
-Penguin

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Ninja July 12th, 2007

7-Eleven stores across the country have been converted to Kwik-E-Marts as promotion for the upcoming The Simpsons Movie.

I visited the Kwik-E-Mart twice in the past week. Both times, they were out of Buzz Cola + Krustios cereal. Well, at least I got a refreshing Squishee while I was there.

Links:
+ Locate a Kwik-E-Mart near you
+ Flickr Kwik-E-Mart photos

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Penguin July 10th, 2007

On Friday, I found that one of my mini DV tapes was broken.  The little plastic flap under the tape came out of its slot.  Since I only had two tapes left, for 2 hours of SP shooting or 3 hours of LP shooting,  I figured it was time to buy some more tape.

I swung by Worst Buy because I thought I might shoot on Sunday.  Looking at the variety of tapes, it quickly dawned on me that I had no idea what I should buy.  I guess this is the problem of most blank media.  What kind of CDs do you buy?  What kind of DVD-Rs do you buy?  And now, I can add miniDV to that mix.

I don’t know if it’s just the marketing, but I was drawn to a set of Panasonic Professional 80 min tapes.  In the corner, it declared that it was made for 3ccd cameras.  I was using a 3ccd camera, it makes sens that I would use this tape, right?  This is one of the cases where the “Professional” held me back.  Was it the marketing department trying to sell to an unknowing consumer the prospects of being pro?  Or was this really designed for “professional” applications?  Whatever that means.

I ended up picking them up.  My reasoning was, these were the only 80 min tapes on the shelves.  And, I believed the 3ccd hype.

This morning, I did a little bit of research and found that there really is a difference between professional and consumer tapes.  It has to do with how they create the magnetism on the tapes.  In the consumer grade tapes, they use ME, or “metal evaporate” which are less reusable.  The professional tapes use MP, or “metal particle” which is more durable and has fewer dropouts.

In my research, I also read something about not mixing different brands of tapes.  There seems to be an issue, especially with older tapes, where the lubricant will rub off onto the heads.  When the different lubricants mix, they tend to gum up the heads.

Happy filming!

-Penguin

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Penguin February 3rd, 2007

I love Aqua Teen Hunger Force. It’s one of the great cartoons of our era. Being a fan of the show, I already knew about the movie that these kids were trying to publicize. I already know I’m going to watch it, despite that nagging feeling it’s going to suck.

Despite all that, what really strikes me is the way this has really penetrated the blogosphere.

The company behind this promotion really “succeeded”. What was originally a few lite-bright signs in a few cities, turned into a huge internet and media phenomenon. Now every man woman and child knows about talking milkshakes, meatballs, yet, Frylock is oft not mentioned.

In any case, everyone is talking as if this was an awful thing these guys did. You look at that picture, does it scream “bomb”? Not to mention that these things have been up for weeks now. And only now, and only in Boston, do people freak out. Am I the only one NOT taking crazy pills?

People are also lambasting them for the way they handled the press interview. Granted, it might have been better to just come out and say, “It’s a freakin’ 2D sprite giving you the bird. How is this a bomb? You’re an idiot? Well, I’m sorry you’re an idiot.” instead of the terribly stupid and inane, “I don’t understand my dreads, please ask me questions about them.”

Did they cause a public disturbance? Probably. Should Cartoon Network apologize? Probably. But you know what? Hey Boston, I’m doing this as hard as I can.

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