Showbits

Happy holidays from Showbits! The site turned five years old this month, and though the posting isn't as prolific as it used to be, I'm still glad to share this outlet with you, especially in so demanding a season. We often need to remember to take a breather and enjoy this time of year. With some tips on how to do so is The Muppets cast member Animal:

The Muppets are long-known for their festive spirit. Be sure to join them for a chorus of bells, too!

See you in 2012!

When I first saw Apple's iMovie '11 demonstrated, I knew I had to have it. Even though I don't do much video editing, I had to play with this edition of the popular movie-making software's exciting new feature: a trailer-making workflow. By choosing a film genre and dragging and dropping predefined types of shots (wide, group, action), anyone could effortlessly make a coming attraction for the movie of their lives.

My first outing with this functionality was a promotional video for an annual fundraising event. Since the fundraiser had already been held by the time I got my hands on iMovie, I didn't have any footage of my own to work with. I instead downloaded existing YouTube videos and recut them for my purpose, using the "sports" genre of film. When I showed the final product to the original videographer, she responded, "I just saw your movie trailer and I LOVE IT!!  You created a great, professional quality, energetic piece. I might bug you to do this again with what we['ll shoot next year]!"

My most recent trailer is the only one I've shot for fun. On June 12, 2011, two friends joined me in my annual ascent of Mount Monadnock, the world's most-climbed mountain. It was a last-second impulse to bring my video camera, a Kodak Zi8, and I got several candid and staged shots throughout the state park. I originally tried casting it as a horror film, but in the end, it worked best as an adventure.

But the trailer that was most meaningful is the one I made as a gift. I spent Christmas 2010 with friends, and I wanted to show my appreciation for letting me into their home to share this special holiday. Over the course of a week and as innocuously as possible, I shot several clips of B-roll. Most of them were no longer than five seconds, though one, a Christmas pageant, was fifteen minutes. Altogether, I ended up with about thirty minutes of film, which I whittled down to a brief trailer.

When I debuted a rough cut to the friends, they were extremely moved, immediately wanting to watch it again — and again — and again! They shared it with everyone in their immediate and extended family, and I could tell from my online analytics that the video was viewed every day for at least a month. As its audience was not computer savvy, they had no idea that the quality of what they were seeing wasn't the result of me being a professional video editor. Thanks to iMovie, I was able to keep my secret!

Just in time for me to re-create this gift for my own family this year, Vimeo, my video-hosting service of choice, has offered these tips for shooting great holiday video. Their suggestions are simple yet effective and will give you plenty of grist for later editing.

Happy holiday filming!

For the past several years, I've made an annual tradition of attending the Super Megafest, a sci-fi and nostalgia convention held in Framingham, Massachusetts. It's not a massive affair, but for its size and location, it's still fairly enjoyable, with several aspects to entertain the showgoer: vendors of various geek goods; celebrities on-hand for personal autographs (not free or even cheap!); Q&A sessions with said celebrities; and more.

But I found 2010 to be mildly disappointing, due to a variety of logistical decisions. The Q&A sessions are scheduled for specific times and days, but the event coordinator chooses not to publicize those schedules ahead of time, such as on the Super Megafest Web site; my email requesting this data confirmed that it is not available in advance. Although I realize celebrities' schedules often cannot be determined until the last minute, it's frustrating for me to not know if I should be at the conference on Saturday at 10 AM or 5 PM, or on Sunday. Without the Q&A, I need only an hour or two to absorb the event in its entirety; it's unreasonable to block out an entire two-day weekend for whenever the Q&As might be.

The comfort of the celebrities is of course the organizers' priority, so rather than have the stars stand for an hour during Q&A, they're allowed to sit. But the session is held in a conference room large enough that folks in the back can't see someone seated at the front. A simple riser that would elevate the celebrity would be a simple fix.

Last year, I calculated the cost of admission plus that of Christopher Lloyd's autograph and decided it was worth getting the "VIP speed pass", which included admission and autographs by Lloyd and Lea Thompson. The "speed" aspect allowed me to bypass the line for this celebrity, which would otherwise take hours to traverse. But there was no fine print indicating that this privilege was valid only from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM! The Web site informed me only that I was paying for "a beat-the-line speed pass". Such vague terminology bordered on the deceptive.

Despite all that, I was still glad for the opportunity to meet the stars. Few people had paid for the speed pass, which also granted exclusive access to Lloyd's Q&A session, which made for an intimate setting. Everyone got to ask a question, with mine being: "Does an actor of your renown still have to audition for parts, or are they written for or handed to you?" Lloyd said that sometimes, the writers say to themselves, "Oh, this script calls for a drunk? Let's get Lloyd." But more often, he still needs to audition, as it's not always clear whether he or someone else will be right for a part. Lea Thompson never showed up, so my pass got me two Lloyd autographs instead.

I also met Marina Sirtis, better known as Deanna Troi from Star Trek: TNG. She was very friendly and fun, laughing and smiling and calling everyone "hon". When I saw the various 8"x10" glossies she had available to autograph, I chose an off-camera shot from First Contact, commenting, "You were so funny in that film!" She responded, "I was more myself in that Star Trek movie than in any other."

I had some time to kill between sessions, so I sat in on a Q&A by Kristin Bauer, who plays Pam De Beaufort on True Blood. I'd never seen this show so wasn't very interested, but she redeemed herself with the credit of playing Lt. Laneth on an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise.

I ended the show by getting Peter Mayhew's autograph. The taciturn Wookie didn't have much to say and didn't offer to personalize his signature, though he did do so after I handed it back with the request.

The headliners for this year's Super Megafest are Patrick Stewart and Sean Astin. After a month of waffling, and with just a week to spare, I coughed up the dough for another VIP speed pass. I'm a bit disenchanted with Super Megafest, though, and would not have been roped in for another expensive pass for anyone other than Captain Picard.

My friends and I have diverse film experiences. They tend to see more movies than I do, whereas I see more unusual or esoteric ones. Where they've seen Dr. Strangelove, I watched Fail-Safe; for their Zombieland, there's my The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. As a result, we often exchange recommendations, though even our acceptances take different forms: their "I'll add it to my Netflix queue" to my "I'll borrow it from the library."

I understand Netflix's appeal and the purpose it serves: it provides its customers with easy opportunities to expose themselves to a variety of movies and television shows they'd otherwise never see, and for a more affordable price than traditional purchases or rentals. Doing all this without leaving home is convenient, and the option of streaming it directly to your set-top box makes it unnecessary to anticipate your desires more than a few minutes in advance.

But for all this, and especially in light of its recent rate increase, Netflix still strikes me as an inferior choice next to the oft-overlooked public library. This venerable institution is sometimes seen as a destination more for children than adults, or for the decreasing number of bookworms in an increasingly multimedia world. But libraries and librarians are often on the cutting edge of technology, which for more than a decade has included such basic offerings as DVDs.

Anyone with a library card can borrow movies and TV shows for free. Much like Netflix, such requests can be made online: just search the library's online catalog, click a button, and the item will be set aside as soon as it becomes available. If the local branch doesn't carry a specific title, odds are their interlibrary loan (ILL) program can procure it at no additional charge. They'll even send an email when the item is ready to be picked up.

True, libraries don't provide streaming media — but my limited understanding of this aspect of Netflix gives me the same opinion of that service as I did of DivX a decade ago. Streaming media does not offer the wealth of bonus features and other additional content that add value to the physical disc. Viewers who still want those can order the disc from Netflix — but at that point, why not use the library?

Besides there being no monthly charge, no limits on borrowing, and no commitment to persistent membership fee even when life is too busy for movies, there's a far more important reason to consider the library. The challenges of today's economy have afflicted civic services, and libraries are one that we cannot afford to lose. Libraries are a vital element of not just a democracy, but a thriving economy. In one study, every dollar invested in library services returned an increase of $9.08 in gross regional product and $12.66 in total state wages, making them one of the best investments our society can make.

Fortunately, your patronage is just as valuable as your money. Library usage is at an all-time high at the same time funding is reaching all-time lows. When it comes time to allocate next year's budget, one of the best arguments libraries can make is to demonstrate the need and desire for their services by pointing to current usage trends. Every DVD borrowed from libraries is another point in their favor, allowing them to continue to encourage a literate and employable citizenry, both in today's generation and tomorrow's.

No alternative — not Netflix, not Best Buy, and especially not piracy — offers cineasts as much bang for the buck as the public library. Where else can one promote literacy without reading a word or paying a dollar?

If that's not a bonus feature, I don't know what is.

Happy holidays from Showbits! As is tradition, I would like to celebrate the season in classic, comedic style with the residents of the Satellite of Love. This collection of MST3K performances has three skits, but I've limited it to the most passionate and my favorite:

This is Showbits' fifth annual Christmas greeting from MST3K and harkens back to the first, when the site was less than two weeks young and run by someone who was recently out of a text-based environment and still unsure how to use multimedia.

May our holidays be rich with humor and cheer!

I'm a fan of chiptune music — the use of retrocomputing hardware to synthesize original or remixed songs — and have written about its use within both video games and the Apple II community. It doesn't seem like a topic that would have a natural intersection with Showbits, though. But Doctor Octoroc has proven me wrong.

This musician and artist has previously created 8-bit versions of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Twilight, and Jersey Shore, rending these overwrought performances into interactive adventures modeled after role-playing games of yesteryear. But his latest reimagining is solely an aural experience. The music album After These Messages is a tour-de-force of nostalgia for any fan of the Eighties, as it features nearly three dozen melodies from the era's sitcoms, cartoons, game shows, and commercials.

Here's the full album listing:

The A-Team Thundercats My Secret Identity Diff'rent Strokes Toys "R" Us M.A.S.K. Gummibears He-Man Heathcliff! Jeopardy Doublemint Gum

The Fresh Prince Beverly Hills 90210 Saved by the Bell Sledge Hammer Night Court Big Red Gum The Price is Right Transformers Law & Order Hawaii Five-O Magnum, P.I.

Juicy Fruit Gum Alvin and the Chipmunks G.I. Joe ALF MacGyver Sprite Fraggle Rock Cheers Tales from the Crypt Airwolf After These Messages…

Although Doctor Octoroc's previous album, 8-Bit Jesus (a timely purchase for the holiday season), is available from iTunes, After These Messages is a direct purchase from the artist himself. The price? You name it! Just make a donation to his PayPal account, and all the above songs are yours.

Although the album is less than 36 minutes long, the number of tracks prompted me to consider it no less a full-fledged effort. I bought it for $10, as I would any iTunes album, and am digging these creative interpretations of some of my favorite shows. The only issue I have is that there's no dead air or fade-out at the end of each track. If you're playing the tracks sequentially, the playlist goes from one song to the next without break, making for one long song instead of 33 shorter ones.

Here's a sample, starting with The A-Team:

Share your thoughts on this album below! Or if Doc Ock missed your favorite show or decade, let me know where you think he should focus his attention next.

The comedic television show Cheers left a legacy of not just 28 Emmy Awards but also of a place "where everybody knows your name": a simple bar in Boston, populated by a variety of memorable characters and their antics. When founding cast member Shelley Long first stepped foot on the show's set, she found herself transported to a bar she'd visited in Boston. Sure enough, the faux bar was modeled after an actual one: the Bull & Finch at 84 Beacon Street, on the north border of the Boston Common.

The pub rechristened itself Cheers in 2001, to capitalize on the success of the show. Its owner opened another location in nearby Faneuil Hall, built to closely resemble the television's set, as most Bostonians know by now that the original Bull & Finch has a dramatically different layout from its more popular fictional sibling. Fortunately, my guests for lunch were not like most Bostonians: with four Cheers fans from Melbourne, Australia, and my Missourian girlfriend who'd never seen the show, I figured the pub would be a good place for a quick bite to eat en route to the airport.

We arrived around 12:30 PM on a beautiful Saturday in early October, expecting a long wait for a table at this busy tourist destination. Buzzer in hand, we milled about the top of the stairs that led to the rathskeller, taking turns posing in front of the exterior used in the show's opening shot. After only 15 minutes — half the time the maitre'd had estimated — we were directed to make our way to the rear of the restaurant to the "Back Room." My traveling companions had several unwieldy suitcases with them that made this navigation a chore, but though they surprised our server, she quickly collected herself and showed us to a staff room where the bags could be left while we ate.

Like the layout, the bar's atmosphere was also unique from that of the show. Our corner booth had intimate lighting, but the noisy atmosphere of other diners close enough to touch and several widescreen televisions sometimes made it difficult to be heard. The room was decorated with local mementos, referencing everything from pilgrims to Celtics but with few appearances by Sam Malone, Coach, or its other televised employees.

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At last month's KansasFest, an annual convention for Apple II geeks, I gave a presentation that was followed in the schedule by a 45-minute gap. It was too little time for a technical session, which usually requires 15 minutes beforehand to set up and another 15 afterward to break down, but it was also too long to ask attendees to wait. So I volunteered to fill the time with an off-topic fluff session: Know Your Meme.

Thanks to the Internet and social media, cultural artifacts can be disseminated in a distributed fashion faster than ever before. When something attains phenomenon status via viral means, it becomes a meme. But, just like a real virus, memes can quickly die off. What's everyone talking about today that will be gone tomorrow? Ken Gagne demonstrates what a double rainbow means and who your man could smell like.

The timing was perfect, as in mid-July 2010, two different Internet phenomena were swiftly making their way into the public consciousness: Double Rainbow and Old Spice Guy. In fact, interest in the latter peaked the week of July 11–17, the week leading up to KansasFest, yet many geeks were still unfamiliar with these memes. KansasFest 2010 was a limited-time opportunity to share this hot topic before it became yesterday's news.

The first meme was "Double Rainbow", which has as its root this video of a mountain man who is overcome by the double rainbow in his backyard. The longer he records the experience, the more emotional he becomes:

The video, uploaded in January 2010, didn't achieve viral status until June, when it was tweeted by comedian and television host Jimmy Fallon. Soon, the video was everywhere, as were its spoofs — from the autotuned music video and the KFC drive-thru (both available in the above YouTube playlist) to Bill Amend's own FoxTrot strip.

I then moved on to a more voluminous meme. (more…)