2nd-unit.tv looking good!

Gary Williams · June 28th, 2006, 07:38 PM

Yes congradulations

Paolo Ciccone · June 28th, 2006, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Mullen

Contratulations on your first episode!

As a small contributor to that first show, thank you Steve. All credit goes to Jonathan to be the driving force behind it. BTW, it was very nice talking with you today.
We are shooting for an almost simultaneous release of Episode 2 and the re-cut version of Episode 1 today.
Hopefully the compressed file is right this time. I tried 4 times already :)

Jonathan Ames · June 28th, 2006, 07:53 PM

Thank you, guys so much for the votes of support. We've put...strike that...Paolo's put alot of effort into Week 2's episode using Adobe Premiere instead of his usual FCP because we committed to Adobe as a sponsor, the threory being that the Suite is easy to understand and move up- or into. Already in recutting the 1st week's episode that I originally did, I hope you can see vast improvement by RTFM and trying to think like an editor. I have to tell you, and it's not because Adobe is a trusted sponsor, once I understood the basics of editing, it was much easier and the results I think show it. I keep harping on the fact that the whole premise of 2nd Unit is foundation, foundation, foundation and I never took the time to get a good foundation with Premiere. I'm anxious to see what you all think of the second week's episodes. There's alot mote techie stuff in there as well as some of a movie we have in production right now.

Jonathan Ames · June 28th, 2006, 07:55 PM

Man is TV different from Internet. Kudos to those of you out there who produce in I-net deliverables. Now I know what my guys go through that come from the board to work on-set with us in a TV production environment.

John Kang · June 28th, 2006, 10:39 PM

Jonathan, Paolo,

My criticism, as I'm waiting for the streaming to download at a 6mb connection.

I'm finally checking your site out. I want to thank whatever web designer you're working with.

I can't stand the use of Flash for web, it's just plain annonying, but I do like the flash video format, it's pretty fast and quality is decent.

Second thing about your site, it's clean! It's informative! You get to read the teaser and than click for more.

Third, the design is constant, it doesn't change from one web page to another.

Now to the bad part. I'm still waiting for the download on the web stream. For video freeks like the members of DVinfo, they'll stick around for the download, for the newby just checking the web site for the first time, it's a BIG turn off! By newby, I mean anyone that's checking your site out, even people working in the profession would be turned off, if they didn't know what was being offered and they had to spend their time for a download.

Another bad thing, no search feature. I know the site is new but a search feature would be great.

Now for another suggestion, you might want to research into or do an interview with some IPTV hardware companies. They just might have a solution to compress video to a better format or know something coming down the line that might be interesting to the web community. (As you mentioned, you might not know anyone in the field but I'm sure you know someone that knows someone in the profession.)

Community forum, this part you should make free, not part of the subscription. A community will build a better loyal base for your site.

And Paolo and Jonathan, I know you guys must be working near 16-18 hour days to get this site running smoothly. I'm surpised you guys can still write back to the users on this site. That's what builds the loyal base. The dedication of a business to it's customers.

Ok, watching the video, I like it, but something seems off about the interview...I'm not sure if it's because this is one of the first interviews done for 2nd unit or if it's because I'm watching it in letterbox format.

Good luck.

Chris Hurd · June 28th, 2006, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Kang

Community forum, this part you should make free, not part of the subscription. A community will build a better loyal base for your site.

I thought that's what this is. Or are we falling short on that somehow.

Paolo Ciccone · June 28th, 2006, 11:39 PM

Hey John.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Kang

And Paolo and Jonathan, I know you guys must be working near 16-18 hour days to get this site running smoothly. I'm surpised you guys can still write back to the users on this site.

What drives us is the enthusiasm shown by all of you and the fact that 2nd Unit is getting very positive reactions from all kind of players in the industry. Yesterday I had the honor to be invited to a screening of "Cinematographer Style", a documentary directed by Jon Fauer and presented for the first time yesterday at the theater of the Academy of Motion Pictures. I tell, it's quite an experience to be in the same room with, among others, the cinematographers that shot "Easy Rider", "Ghostbusters", "Empire of the Sun" and "E.T."
Well, Jonathan didn't loose a minute and he kept telling everybody about what we are doing and we got some really great response from people above and below "the line". It's quite something to see it happening and it keeps us charged. Actually I stayed up all night to cut Episode 2, which is uploading as I write this. So...I hope the video makes any sense. We have a commitment to deliver the new episodes as expected, but I'm using the new freedom of the Net to revise the material after the first release. If you spot anything in the cut that should be fixed, please let me know.

Quote:

Ok, watching the video, I like it, but something seems off about the interview...I'm not sure if it's because this is one of the first interviews done for 2nd unit or if it's because I'm watching it in letterbox format.

Don't know what you mean but the new cut of Episode 1 will be available tonight, new and improved! ;)

John Kang · June 29th, 2006, 05:34 AM

Chris,

No disrespect to you, I meant for 2nd unit to have their own forum on their own web site.

It's like Cineform. They have a forum as well. Everyone on this board knows that the people of Cineform are on DVinfo. The users appreciate the help and support that Cineform and DVinfo offers. DSE from VAAST is on several forums, always helping with the members questions.

It's just that some people that might log on to 2nd Unit might not know about DVinfo. Some people are sticklers for staying on certain forums only. Loyal users. :)

Paolo, I think I figured out what it was about the interview that kind of threw me. I thought it might be the centering of the person, on camera, but it's the interviewer saying, "Right" every now and than. I think the interviewer needs to be a little bit more vocal. More talking, or not talking at all until the next question needs to be said, maybe it was the first time interview jitters, besides that the interviewer did pretty well. But than, maybe it's just me. I'll take a look at your new upload tonight and hopefully have something more of value to say.

One magazine I find useful reading is millionaire blueprints. Not that I'm a millionaire, but it's a great magazine that gives you info on how people became millionaires doing what they love. They also supply a resource/reference on the places that they used to do their business.
The ideas that the individuals used to market their business is the main thing that interests me. It offers a fresh idea on how you might be able to market your business. I like the July/August issue with Ken Roberts on the front cover. There's an article about Moosejaw which I find is great in their customer support. Check them out. I find the magazine is a little hard to find sometimes, but it seems to be gaining a wider distribution. If I had subscribed, I wouldn't have to hunt around for the magazine, but like I said, I'm the type that'll buy a product, if I find something useful.

Their link: http://millionaireblueprints.com/

Jonathan Ames · June 29th, 2006, 09:13 AM

I have to apologize. We expected to have the 2nd Episode up last night and it simply didn't happen. It downloads but doesn't stream ...YET. Please bear with us whilw we iron out the bugs. You have no idea how it pains me to say that. This thing is supposed to be perfect with all the brain trust we have here and the money I've sunk into this. All I can say is I'm sorry and we'll try harder.
Jonathan

Jonathan Ames · June 29th, 2006, 09:28 AM

JK- I don't think Chris took offense to your suggestion. It's just that the whole purpose of this site is to provide information to people and then have them go back home to their boards to discuss it. And it's working with 1200 views and over 100 posts in this JVC forum alone. Now I need to figure out how to get the other areas of the Board involved. I don't have the time to properly run a discussion forum. Our mission is to drive people to DVInfo because that's who's supported us from the first time we talked in Vegas about this. In fact, that was the one brief time I met Chris. Again, I can't run a discusision forum. That's for the experts to do like Chris.

Daniel Patton · June 29th, 2006, 09:43 AM

Jonathan,

If I can be of any assistance with your streaming issues please don't hesitate to contact me via email for a direct number. Perhaps we can work it out together by phone.

Streaming a variety of video content is what we pride ourselves on.

Peace.

John Kang · June 29th, 2006, 09:48 AM

Jonathan,

Well, if you can't run one, at this time, than you can't do it. I know you've got lots of things on the platter and trying to keep them from falling off it is a big task.

Chris, I'm probably butting in, but how about a separate forum started for 2nd Unit? One that Jonathan can link directlry into DVinfo forum for 2nd Unit.

Jonathan, another thing, have you run Press Releases yet? It's seriously a good idea to get the word out about your site. Try something like PRweb.
I just read a press release for a company doing VOD (video on demand) on broadband tv. It's host is a Spanish model by the name of Estelle Reyna. Check out the Press Release at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/200606...N5bnN1YmNhdA--

Man, the stuff I'm saying is more for Taking care of Business section.

Anyway, back to topic, interviews with Robert Rodriguiz and that director of Clerks. I can't wait for Clerks 2 to come out. But both of them have become successful from independent films and have branched out into other fields like 3d effects companies, and comic books.

Another one with somebody that does news/documentory research, digging out the information for a news content.

Another one with someone in Entertainment Law. I know that people still have questions regarding Copyrights, Royalties, Model/Property releases, and Fair Use, even with the comic book link on Fair Use that was posted on DVinfo among all the other posts regarding these same questions.

Jonathan Ames · June 29th, 2006, 12:09 PM

We have Rodriguez and two top entertainment lawyerrs already signed onto the project, Rodriguez through Jaime Emmanuelli and the lawyers obviously through me. As for the separte area of DVInfo, I think that would be wonderful. Jarred asked me repeatedly to take over the JVC area of the DVXUser.comn board and I just didn't have the time. But with 2nd Unit, it all just sort of fits in. If Chris is amenable to that, I'll hire another person on to handle just that section or do it myself until I find the right one. Even though we happen to use the JVCs today, that can change literally tomorrow. Jody Eldred has me seriously looking at the 300 and 350 series Sonys and they already understood the benefit of suppoprting 2nd Unit. The whole idea is to have the entire board able to access these directors and producers and cinematograopgers and DPs and Gaffers and which camera they personally use is less important compared to how they use it and the light that flows through the lens. We had a 2-hour discussuon the other day on the way to Cinematographer Style at the Goldwyn to set the parameters for the 1st 2nd Unit film contest we're goiung to announce on Monday with judging provided by some of the largest names in entertainment. Someone suggested we make it only open to JVC owners. It took less than a minute to decide it would be open to all filmmakers so now the challenge is to advertise it board-wide. If Chris would help with that, that's be great. If ghe wants a separate 2nd Unit section, that's great too. Again, the emphasis in bringing information from top industry professionals to the filmmaker and heading them right back over to DVInfo for meaningful, stimulating dialoge between DVInfo users that will better their films. How we get that done is immaterial to me.

Jonathan Ames · June 29th, 2006, 12:11 PM

What a huge help. Thanks. I'll e-mail yo my contact info today. Again, not to belabor the point, I know broadcast TV. The Internet is proving a bit of a challenge for us here but with people like you and Paolo and the others who are helping, we'll get it done.

Joel Aaron · June 29th, 2006, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonathan Ames

I have to apologize. We expected to have the 2nd Episode up last night and it simply didn't happen.

Hey Jonathon, take it easy on yourself man. I don't think anyone out here cares if you hit your release dates at this point. Take your time, get the process worked out and get a little more sleep. :-)

June 29th, 2006, 09:43 AM	#101
Daniel Patton Major Player Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Knoxville TN Posts: 589	Jonathan, If I can be of any assistance with your streaming issues please don't hesitate to contact me via email for a direct number. Perhaps we can work it out together by phone. Streaming a variety of video content is what we pride ourselves on. Peace. __________________ Our eyes allow us to see the world - The lens allows others to see the world through our eyes. RED ONE #977

June 28th, 2006, 07:38 PM	#91
Gary Williams Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Rocklin, California Posts: 287	Yes congradulations

June 28th, 2006, 07:53 PM	#93
Jonathan Ames 2nd Unit TV Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 509	Thank you, guys so much for the votes of support. We've put...strike that...Paolo's put alot of effort into Week 2's episode using Adobe Premiere instead of his usual FCP because we committed to Adobe as a sponsor, the threory being that the Suite is easy to understand and move up- or into. Already in recutting the 1st week's episode that I originally did, I hope you can see vast improvement by RTFM and trying to think like an editor. I have to tell you, and it's not because Adobe is a trusted sponsor, once I understood the basics of editing, it was much easier and the results I think show it. I keep harping on the fact that the whole premise of 2nd Unit is foundation, foundation, foundation and I never took the time to get a good foundation with Premiere. I'm anxious to see what you all think of the second week's episodes. There's alot mote techie stuff in there as well as some of a movie we have in production right now.

June 28th, 2006, 07:55 PM	#94
Jonathan Ames 2nd Unit TV Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 509	Man is TV different from Internet. Kudos to those of you out there who produce in I-net deliverables. Now I know what my guys go through that come from the board to work on-set with us in a TV production environment.

June 28th, 2006, 10:39 PM	#95
John Kang Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 219	Jonathan, Paolo, My criticism, as I'm waiting for the streaming to download at a 6mb connection. I'm finally checking your site out. I want to thank whatever web designer you're working with. I can't stand the use of Flash for web, it's just plain annonying, but I do like the flash video format, it's pretty fast and quality is decent. Second thing about your site, it's clean! It's informative! You get to read the teaser and than click for more. Third, the design is constant, it doesn't change from one web page to another. Now to the bad part. I'm still waiting for the download on the web stream. For video freeks like the members of DVinfo, they'll stick around for the download, for the newby just checking the web site for the first time, it's a BIG turn off! By newby, I mean anyone that's checking your site out, even people working in the profession would be turned off, if they didn't know what was being offered and they had to spend their time for a download. Another bad thing, no search feature. I know the site is new but a search feature would be great. Now for another suggestion, you might want to research into or do an interview with some IPTV hardware companies. They just might have a solution to compress video to a better format or know something coming down the line that might be interesting to the web community. (As you mentioned, you might not know anyone in the field but I'm sure you know someone that knows someone in the profession.) Community forum, this part you should make free, not part of the subscription. A community will build a better loyal base for your site. And Paolo and Jonathan, I know you guys must be working near 16-18 hour days to get this site running smoothly. I'm surpised you guys can still write back to the users on this site. That's what builds the loyal base. The dedication of a business to it's customers. Ok, watching the video, I like it, but something seems off about the interview...I'm not sure if it's because this is one of the first interviews done for 2nd unit or if it's because I'm watching it in letterbox format. Good luck.

June 29th, 2006, 05:34 AM	#98
John Kang Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 219	Chris, No disrespect to you, I meant for 2nd unit to have their own forum on their own web site. It's like Cineform. They have a forum as well. Everyone on this board knows that the people of Cineform are on DVinfo. The users appreciate the help and support that Cineform and DVinfo offers. DSE from VAAST is on several forums, always helping with the members questions. It's just that some people that might log on to 2nd Unit might not know about DVinfo. Some people are sticklers for staying on certain forums only. Loyal users. :) Paolo, I think I figured out what it was about the interview that kind of threw me. I thought it might be the centering of the person, on camera, but it's the interviewer saying, "Right" every now and than. I think the interviewer needs to be a little bit more vocal. More talking, or not talking at all until the next question needs to be said, maybe it was the first time interview jitters, besides that the interviewer did pretty well. But than, maybe it's just me. I'll take a look at your new upload tonight and hopefully have something more of value to say. One magazine I find useful reading is millionaire blueprints. Not that I'm a millionaire, but it's a great magazine that gives you info on how people became millionaires doing what they love. They also supply a resource/reference on the places that they used to do their business. The ideas that the individuals used to market their business is the main thing that interests me. It offers a fresh idea on how you might be able to market your business. I like the July/August issue with Ken Roberts on the front cover. There's an article about Moosejaw which I find is great in their customer support. Check them out. I find the magazine is a little hard to find sometimes, but it seems to be gaining a wider distribution. If I had subscribed, I wouldn't have to hunt around for the magazine, but like I said, I'm the type that'll buy a product, if I find something useful. Their link: http://millionaireblueprints.com/

June 29th, 2006, 09:13 AM	#99
Jonathan Ames 2nd Unit TV Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 509	I have to apologize. We expected to have the 2nd Episode up last night and it simply didn't happen. It downloads but doesn't stream ...YET. Please bear with us whilw we iron out the bugs. You have no idea how it pains me to say that. This thing is supposed to be perfect with all the brain trust we have here and the money I've sunk into this. All I can say is I'm sorry and we'll try harder. Jonathan

June 29th, 2006, 09:28 AM	#100
Jonathan Ames 2nd Unit TV Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 509	JK- I don't think Chris took offense to your suggestion. It's just that the whole purpose of this site is to provide information to people and then have them go back home to their boards to discuss it. And it's working with 1200 views and over 100 posts in this JVC forum alone. Now I need to figure out how to get the other areas of the Board involved. I don't have the time to properly run a discussion forum. Our mission is to drive people to DVInfo because that's who's supported us from the first time we talked in Vegas about this. In fact, that was the one brief time I met Chris. Again, I can't run a discusision forum. That's for the experts to do like Chris.

June 29th, 2006, 09:48 AM	#102
John Kang Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 219	Jonathan, Well, if you can't run one, at this time, than you can't do it. I know you've got lots of things on the platter and trying to keep them from falling off it is a big task. Chris, I'm probably butting in, but how about a separate forum started for 2nd Unit? One that Jonathan can link directlry into DVinfo forum for 2nd Unit. Jonathan, another thing, have you run Press Releases yet? It's seriously a good idea to get the word out about your site. Try something like PRweb. I just read a press release for a company doing VOD (video on demand) on broadband tv. It's host is a Spanish model by the name of Estelle Reyna. Check out the Press Release at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/200606...N5bnN1YmNhdA-- Man, the stuff I'm saying is more for Taking care of Business section. Anyway, back to topic, interviews with Robert Rodriguiz and that director of Clerks. I can't wait for Clerks 2 to come out. But both of them have become successful from independent films and have branched out into other fields like 3d effects companies, and comic books. Another one with somebody that does news/documentory research, digging out the information for a news content. Another one with someone in Entertainment Law. I know that people still have questions regarding Copyrights, Royalties, Model/Property releases, and Fair Use, even with the comic book link on Fair Use that was posted on DVinfo among all the other posts regarding these same questions.

June 29th, 2006, 12:09 PM	#103
Jonathan Ames 2nd Unit TV Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 509	We have Rodriguez and two top entertainment lawyerrs already signed onto the project, Rodriguez through Jaime Emmanuelli and the lawyers obviously through me. As for the separte area of DVInfo, I think that would be wonderful. Jarred asked me repeatedly to take over the JVC area of the DVXUser.comn board and I just didn't have the time. But with 2nd Unit, it all just sort of fits in. If Chris is amenable to that, I'll hire another person on to handle just that section or do it myself until I find the right one. Even though we happen to use the JVCs today, that can change literally tomorrow. Jody Eldred has me seriously looking at the 300 and 350 series Sonys and they already understood the benefit of suppoprting 2nd Unit. The whole idea is to have the entire board able to access these directors and producers and cinematograopgers and DPs and Gaffers and which camera they personally use is less important compared to how they use it and the light that flows through the lens. We had a 2-hour discussuon the other day on the way to Cinematographer Style at the Goldwyn to set the parameters for the 1st 2nd Unit film contest we're goiung to announce on Monday with judging provided by some of the largest names in entertainment. Someone suggested we make it only open to JVC owners. It took less than a minute to decide it would be open to all filmmakers so now the challenge is to advertise it board-wide. If Chris would help with that, that's be great. If ghe wants a separate 2nd Unit section, that's great too. Again, the emphasis in bringing information from top industry professionals to the filmmaker and heading them right back over to DVInfo for meaningful, stimulating dialoge between DVInfo users that will better their films. How we get that done is immaterial to me.

June 29th, 2006, 12:11 PM	#104
Jonathan Ames 2nd Unit TV Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 509	What a huge help. Thanks. I'll e-mail yo my contact info today. Again, not to belabor the point, I know broadcast TV. The Internet is proving a bit of a challenge for us here but with people like you and Paolo and the others who are helping, we'll get it done.