February 2013 - Chris Ullrich dot net
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February 2013

The Green Screen Is Your Friend

Posted on February 27, 2013

If you watch a lot of movies and TV as I do (and occasionally even make them), you’ve probably sometimes wondered “How did they do that”? Well, as you’ll see from this video, they “did that” with a lot of green screen and visual effects.

Visual effects is a huge part of Hollywood and the men and women who work in that industry should be recognized and rewarded as such. This is only a small fraction of the work they do each and every day.

Enjoy and try not to be too shocked.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clnozSXyF4k?rel=0&w=525&h=295]

Steve Jobs and ‘One More Thing’

Posted on February 26, 2013

CC Apple Macworld

I had the good fortune to be at several MacWorld Keynote events over the years, including the one in 2007 where Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone, so this video was a real treat for me. In it, the enterprising folks of YouTube’s Every Steve Jobs Video channel have compiled pretty much all of the times Steve Jobs had “one more thing” to share.

And his “one more thing” was usually pretty awesome. He would have been 58 this week. RIP Steve.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QQLyS0MnzM?rel=0&w=525&h=394]

Some Useful and Interesting Things For A Friday

Posted on February 22, 2013

alison-brie-ice-cream-1

Hey, it’s Friday. Congrats, you made it through another week! I’ve had a fun week (more on that below) but, as usual, I’m glad it’s Friday and the week is over.

Although, knowing me as I do, I’m pretty sure I won’t be taking the whole weekend off or anything. Much too much to do, especially with the new project and knowing we’re going to be moving again in a few months.

But that’s later. Now, sit back, relax and enjoy another edition of Useful and Interesting Things.

• My pal Matt Raub and I are back doing a podcast for The Flickcast. I’m very happy about it and you can listen to the brand new episode which kicks off season two right here.

• Confused about who’s who and who’s related to who in the Star Wars universe? Perhaps this handy chart will help.

• I know, you’re still sometimes having trouble with well-known punctuation like the comma “,” or the semi-colon “;” but that hasn’t stopped some enterprising individuals from coming up with 8 new punctuation marks to surprise and delight you.

• Feeling anxious or nervous? Lifehacker has you covered on how to beat it. No, alcohol or other controlled substances are not involved, sorry.

• If you make coffee at home and ever do a Pour-Over, you need a Hario V60 Power Kettle. They rock and I’m using one pretty much every day.

• Angry, sad, happy, undecided, indifferent about the end of Downton Abbey season three? Perhaps these tidbits about season four will help you feel better/worse/whatever?

Finally, a here’s a little video I like to call Lego Michael Jackson. Coincidentally that’s pretty much what the person who made the video calls it too.

Plus, in case you haven’t seen it, here’s a little bit of Alison Brie and her freestyle rap skills. This video is here mostly so I can put a photo of her at the top of this post. Yes, she’s eating ice cream, so?

What, you don’t like ice cream or something?

[vimeo 60169112 w=525 h=395]

The New ‘Die Hard’ and Some Amusement for President’s Day

Posted on February 18, 2013

Good-Day-to-Die-Hard-Willis

First off, I finally saw the latest Die Hard movie. This one, called A Good Day to Die Hard, was not terrible. It wasn’t great, by any means, but it wasn’t terrible. It just was.

I won’t get into a lengthy review here, mostly because Nat Almirall does a fine job of it over at The Flickcast. However, I will say I mostly agree with him and his review, but I didn’t dislike it as much as he obviously did.

I also didn’t have as much of a problem with following things as he seems to have had. Maybe it’s because I have a background in editing or have just seen so many rough assemblies of films that jump cuts and poor attention to scene geography don’t really bother me.

Perhaps it was all the coffee I had before I saw the movie? Or, maybe seeing the movie with Matt Raub made me stay on my toes and pay better attention in case of potential discussion later? I don’t know.

The movie did spark one thing, though, Matt and I have a terrific idea of what the next Die Hard movie should be. Maybe we’ll share that with the class if we ever do another podcast. Hey, it could happen.

Now this:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnM_tcDcZLE?rel=0&w=525&h=295]

Still More Useful and Interesting Things

Posted on February 14, 2013

poster-app-ios

As life returns to normal (or at least my version of it) I realize it’s been several days since I last put some useful and interesting things up here.

So, with that in mind, here’s some more for you:

• Have trouble getting people to do what you want? Maybe this technique can help.

• For the screenwriting nerds out there, John August and his team have come up with a new version of the venerable Courier font, called Courier Prime, to use when writing your scripts. I’ve switched to it and it’s quite nice.

• If you have a girlfriend who would love this as a gift, marry her. If you already did, kudos to you and it makes a nice Valentine’s Day gift too.

• Here’s a complete collection of Mac OS X install disks. I think I still have all of mine too. Yep, Mac nerd right here.

• Have and iPad? Want to use said iPad in the kitchen or other place where it might get wet? You want one of these.

• I like talented people doing cool things, so I like this. Granted, I know Brian so I may be a bit biased. But still, it’s pretty cool. BTW, you should also read his book. It’s very funny.

• Last, but not least, Tom Witkin’s Poster app for iOS is for posting to a WordPress site and is very awesome. It’s become my new favorite and I now use it pretty much every day. Check it out.

The Doc ‘Room 237’ Looks Very Interesting

Posted on February 8, 2013

Room-237-Doc-Pic

Even though they’ve already covered this over at The Flickcast, I also wanted to call attention to it here. As you know, I’m a big fan of director Stanley Kubrick. We’ve discussed this before.

So, when I hear they’re coming out with a movie about Kubrick and The Shining, I take notice. The movie in question is called Room 237 and a trailer for it has recently dropped.

Check it out below. Can’t wait to see this.

Video Friday: ‘Super Mario Busters’

Posted on February 8, 2013

Today is Friday. I’m tired and I don’t feel 100%. Still, that doesn’t mean I can’t share a video with you fine folks.

Today’s is an example of mashups done right. I present to you: Super Mario Busters. A mashup of Ghostbusters and Super Mario Brothers. Yep. Love this.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srXN-1DUd3Q?rel=0&w=525&h=295]

(h/t to Nerdsworth for today’s video)