The digital revolution has given way to exposing the world to many great things. But there has also been various negative events exposed to the light of day thanks to the growing number of devices that can capture digital video. For instance, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal was exposed due to personal digital cameras. The only footage of the 2004 Asian tsunami was captured by tourists via home video cameras and the London train bombings were documented via cell phones.

The convenience of digital video has even spawned a new human rights group called Witness, which is based in New York. Gillian Caldwell, executive director of the group says, "images have more resonance" which explains the group's motto: "See it. Film it. Change it." Right now they have over 3,000 hours of footage of human rights abuses and they are hoping to create a YouTube like site for human rights. Caldwell said rights groups are increasingly harnessing the "power of images and human stories to motivate change." All thanks to the democratization of digital video.

In the growing trend of Hollywood embracing Videobloggers, an Observer article talks about the Hollywood courtship of the biggest videoblogger, Ze Frank. "The Show" is part of my morning ritual but in March, Ze will stop his morning newscasts as he had planned. There have been a lot of talk of what he might do next. According to the article, Ze says feature film will be his focus, though he will "never ditch the web." The article also provides some insight into his daily ritual.

At the World Economic Forum on Saturday, Bill Gates forecast the demise of television in five years with the increasing popularity and greater flexibility of online video. "I'm stunned how people aren't seeing that with TV, in five years from now, people will laugh at what we've had.." While not exactly an earth-shattering prediction, it is still brave to suggest that TV will be irrelevant. While there is certainly something of a benefit to be had in being able to choose viewing content on the internet, there is still a gap to be bridged between traditional television and online video. In addition to this, online content needs to mature before it can "take over" television, and Download Squad makes a good point in saying that a "convergence device" (read: something like the Apple TV) will be needed to really merge internet video and TV. But then again, there is also the issue of bandwidth. So, maybe it's not that simple... what do you think? What will become of television over the next five years?

I've long maintained that no one I know actually uses Media 100 anymore, but lots of them "used to." I've even called out the application's faithful here on this very blog, but to no avail. I was about to give up on the software, when I read this.

Nick Griffin over at Creative Cow is another person who used to use the software, but after a rather nasty separation, he seems inclined to give the old gal a second chance. (Griffin actually compares Media 100 to an old girlfriend.) He says everything old is new, with support for 99 video tracks, and 24 audio tracks. Yet, the software felt familiar on Griffin's hands, and imported projects from past Media 100 versions flawlessly.

The software also boasts full Quicktime support, and therefore will edit footage captured by Apple's Final Cut Pro natively. Other Media 100 features include Panasonic P2 support, and the ability to edit multiple formats on the same timeline. Click READ below for a link to the full review.

I've been meaning to post this for a bit now, but things have been a bit hectic lately. Anyway, our friend Richard Baguley over at camcorderinfo posted the results of his poll on video formats. He asked readers to vote on which format they will consider when buying their next camcorder.

The results clearly favored HDV. It seems to be a popular choice which, given the DV tape standard, seems familiar to users. Surprisingly, AVCHD, the new format from Sony and Panasonic had a strong showing. I was also glad to see almost no one is considering those damn DVD camcorders. Click READ below for the complete results.

If you weren't able to make it to DV Expo 2006 in November, a few of the sessions have been posted at the DV Expo 2006 Video Portal. Session topics include:

• Key Legal Issues for Video Professionals
• Working with Flash Video
• Ranting and Raving with Senior Editors Panel
• HD Post Essentials Panel
• High-End Results with Digital Video Cameras - Part 1 and 2
• Designing HD Graphics - Part 1 and 2

You have to register to watch but it's all free.

An upcoming documentary, The Truth About Elvis, takes an in-depth look at the conspiracy theory that The King lives. director Dan Bliss wants to separate the film from tabloid fodder, and make sure people the style and imagery of a true and earnest documentary. To do that, he's enlisted the help of the Panasonic AG-HVX200.

Bliss says the camera is a perfect fit for all the traveling 'Elvis required. He also praises it's ability to to shoot lengthy interviews with the help of a P2 Store portable hard drive. Using a Powerbook, Bliss would offload the footage to an external firewire drive, then back up each card to DVD. The system offers storage redundancy, and is a pretty good work-around for the current limitations of P2.

Of course, this isn't the first time we've posted on the success of the HVX in real world applications. Still, it continues to amaze as a an affordable option for "film" and television. Click READ below for more info about the film, and the work flow surrounding it.

Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis have unveiled their latest creation. Joost pronounced "juiced" is a web based video browser that aims to TV up the Internet. Users download the Joost software, and browse channels much like regular TV.

The system generates revenue through advertising, though in a less obtrusive way than television. Joost is also in the process of signing deals with content providers, making things nice and legit. Of course the system has a peer to peer element, meaning users will be sharing video with one another.

Joost will mark the third venture from Zennström and Friis. Both file sharing software Kazaa, and telephone over Internet provider Skype have proved lucrative for the Scandinavian duo. Time will tell whether or not they've scored a hat trick in the increasingly crowded video content market.

It looks like Netflix is in no real hurry to get into the movie download game with the announcement of their plans to incorporate video streaming to their website. Their new "Watch Now" feature (which is now available to subscribers) allows customers to stream anywhere between six to 48 hours of content per month. As of now, only a limited number of customers will be given access to the service, due to handling capacity concerns. On top of that, anyone interested must install special software on their PC to view the content. Currently, 1,000 TV shows and movies are available, and it seems that they can be viewed in full, but the fact that the video is streaming does not offer a whole lot of incentive to really use this "Watch Now" feature seriously. I think Scott Kirsner of CinemaTech is right when he labels this move a "stop-gap measure". Netflix does not want to lose their control over the DVD market by getting into downloads.

New York Times article on Hollywood's uneasiness about YouTube. Even though, Hollywood for the most part has been embracing the YouTube phenomenon lately. Part of the problem now (and has always been) is that many of their movies land up on YouTube, even if it is broken up in several pieces (Youtube has a time restriction).

On my personal blog, I'd linked to a very important television series that I found in its entirety on YouTube. It ended up being the most popular post of 2006. Mind you, the content owners in question were not interested in bringing it to DVD or even releasing it (at the time) and it was too important to be shelved. Like many other movies, the television series was taken down to be only found at another hosting site.

I find many movies on YouTube, I am not really comfortable with this. Not because it is illegal but because I can't watch something for that long on my computer, when I can easily get it on Netflix. This annoys most people. But I'm sure Hollywood will spend a lot of money addressing this issue, especially when they get their numbers wrong: "No one knows exactly how much Hollywood-derived content is uploaded to the site without the studios' consent, but academics and media executives estimate it could be anywhere from 30 percent to 70 percent." I laughed when I read this.

The article also has many instances of compromise, for example, 8 Mile was found and then taken down from YouTube except for the songs. The article also shows Hollywood's uneasiness towards user-generated content which at times means "Hollywood-recycled" content. "Brian Grazer, a producer of '8 Mile,' said some of the mashups he had seen were 'pretty hip.' But he said he, too, viewed them as a form of piracy: 'It bothers me artistically. Here's this thing where you have no control; they are chopping it up and putting your memories in a blender.'"

Macworld 2007 has come and gone, and Apple has taken the movie download game one step further with the introduction of the Apple TV. Yet only one new film studio partner was announced, and that was Paramount. Despite unleashing over 100 of their movies to the iTunes Store, hardly any are what we would consider current titles. And where are all of the other Hollywood studios? Why aren't any other companies jumping on the bandwagon, with Jobs seemingly poised to take over everyone's living room? This Business Week article explains why: they want you, the consumer, to have even less control over that media file you are buying, and they want even more money for it. Yes, it seems $15 just isn't enough for a movie download, even without any kind of extra content or the visual quality seen on a DVD. (Oh, and near zero production costs for the companies themselves.) And yes, being able to watch this download on up to three devices is just too many. Gee. Thanks, Hollywood.

(via CinemaTech)

Long tail theorist Chris Anderson talks movie production and applies it to small scale, low budget filmmaking in a new blog entry which lifts from the recent DV Rebel's Guide for some examples and inspiration. The claim is that when costs of production and distribution decrease (as in, what is happening right now), new long tail markets emerge. (Read up on long tail for a clear understanding of the concept.) Anyway, it's a fresh perspective to see this theory applied to filmmaking. Plus, the low budget production ideas and tips from DV Rebel's Guide and very smart, and some are pretty surprising, too. Recommended read.

(via HDforIndies)

I just goes to show, if your video is stupid enough, and...um video-y enough you could be famous... or at least win some cold hard cash. Stupidvideos.com announced today, their award for Best Original Video of 2006. The winners Invisible Engine, a comedy troop from LA won $15,000 and untold recognition throughout the blogosphere.

The troop put together a little skit about a mouse stealing a tank which I admit made me laugh quite a bit. Stupid Videos says they awarded "Mouse Tank" the prize because it shows "what everyday users can do with just a camera and some creativity." (And a mouse in a remote control tank.)

Click READ below for a link to the video

The Sundance Institute and Sundance Channel announced that they will offer a selection of narrative, documentary and animation short films from the 2007 Sundance Film Festival for download in the iTunes Store starting January 22nd at a price of $1.99. During previous fests, Sundance has streamed shorts for free on their website (which is planned again, starting January 18th), but this is the first time that people will be able to buy digital versions of select screened films. The movies will be chosen from the 71 shorts scheduled to play during the festival. In addition to the shorts, free podcasts from behind the scenes of Sundance will be hosted on the iTunes Store. The Sundance Film Festival will be running from January 18th-28th.