Last night was the opening party for Noise Pop 2008. Every year, Noise Pop takes over the best-loved venues in San Francisco for six nights to host unforgettable performances by nationally-known indie rock, electronic, punk and cutting edge musical artists teamed up with the best local bands, transforming the city into an almost week-long celebration of the finest that the underground and not-so-underground has to offer.
Those aren't my words... I just copy n' pasted them from their website. Why am I so lazy? I've been hired as a camera operator to document the entire event and last night was the Opening Party. It wasn't so much the work that's got me beat. Although shooting hand held with a hefty high definition camera for 3 hours non-stop amongst a sweaty crowd can be pretty brutal. Nor was it the fact that it was my second gig for the day. Essentially stood, holding a camera for 12 hours yesterday. I think where it all went wrong was when the producer handed me a V.I.P. pass with access to the open bar.
Needless to say, I'm not capable of restraint in the face of FREE booze and my head is killing me. Oh well, it starts all over again in... 6 hours. Nothing cures a hang over like more free drinks.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Stage6 to Shut Down
So 4 days after professing my love for Stage6, and essentially creating this blog around the premise of posting high definition video from Japan. Apparently DivX has decided to pull the plug.
You can view the rest of the message here: Stage6 to Shut Down. Some of the 3,000 comments are pretty entertaining too.
Wow. Awesome...
Not only was it the main factor in our decision to create our first blog, but served as a convenient host for all our images too. I was so impressed with the site's functionality, that should DivX roll out a similar premium service, I would gladly sign up. Depending on the price of course.
Heh, I was actually considering adding my personal Stage6 link to about 200 new business cards that I'm having printed up for this trip to Japan. For once, my procrastination has been a good thing, as I haven't submitted them to the print shop yet.
I think Stage6 user Pewdie said it best:
Oddly enough, on my last flight to Japan, I sat next to an employee of DivX. When he saw my camera gear, he gave me a free copy of DivX Pro to use. Which I promptly tossed in my pile of media crap upon returning back to San Francisco. Once I was introduced to Stage6, like 2 weeks ago, I dug through the pile and installed the software. It seemed strange that an unwanted souvenir from my first trip to Japan was going to be so useful by allowing me to host free HD content from the second trip.
I think that DivX exec was just waiting for me to finally sign up and start using his gift... only to pull the rug out from under me.
R.I.P. Stage6
"I’m Tom (aka Spinner), a Stage6 user and an employee of DivX, Inc., the company behind the service. I’m writing this message today to inform you that we plan to shut down Stage6 on February 28, 2008. Upload functionality has already been turned off, and you’ll be able to view and download videos until Thursday."
You can view the rest of the message here: Stage6 to Shut Down. Some of the 3,000 comments are pretty entertaining too.
Wow. Awesome...
Not only was it the main factor in our decision to create our first blog, but served as a convenient host for all our images too. I was so impressed with the site's functionality, that should DivX roll out a similar premium service, I would gladly sign up. Depending on the price of course.
Heh, I was actually considering adding my personal Stage6 link to about 200 new business cards that I'm having printed up for this trip to Japan. For once, my procrastination has been a good thing, as I haven't submitted them to the print shop yet.
I think Stage6 user Pewdie said it best:
"3 DAYS NOTICE; THANKS A LOT SHITFACE!"Because Stage6 was run by and required DivX format for upload, I guess many users bought the DivX Converter specifically for use with Stage6. As a video editor, I've never had use for the DivX codec, until Stage6, so I can see why someone who made the purchase would be upset.
Oddly enough, on my last flight to Japan, I sat next to an employee of DivX. When he saw my camera gear, he gave me a free copy of DivX Pro to use. Which I promptly tossed in my pile of media crap upon returning back to San Francisco. Once I was introduced to Stage6, like 2 weeks ago, I dug through the pile and installed the software. It seemed strange that an unwanted souvenir from my first trip to Japan was going to be so useful by allowing me to host free HD content from the second trip.
I think that DivX exec was just waiting for me to finally sign up and start using his gift... only to pull the rug out from under me.
R.I.P. Stage6
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Dave, Introducing
Hello interwebbers, thats right, I just made up a new word to describe you people. Praise me. I'm the "graphics" guy behind Jam In Japan. I did the pretty banner you see above. I slaved like a child...err...dog to make that for you, so don't give me your opinion unless its a positive one. The web is not a democracy.
It's good to see how popular Jam and Japan has become. (Scott's telling me its not that popular...no problem, I'll just repost this when it is)
So the BIG question is probably WHY are we going to Japan? Well, I'll tell you. In a second. First I want to dis on Jam and Scott. I've known these two pricks for a while now. Scott since 2000 when we rocked out at Fedex a.k.a. [FedEx]. We were like Butch and Sundance. I, obviously being Butch and Scott being a lazy Sundance that sits in front of his computer all day. Scott and I moved up to Van to pursue a film education in 2003, he pussied out and moved back when it was over but I stayed. During our voyage we ran across a guy named James, a.k.a. Jam. This piece of soggy, moldy garbage was one of our constituents during our higher learning years. He was an instant hit since he had no defensive skills against our verbal Kung Fu. Jam is basically our verbal punching bag, feel free to send me an email of something you'd like me to verbally punch him with. If it makes him cry you get a dollar.
So back to the original question. WHY am I so much better than Scott and Jam? Well I'll tell you in another post. I'd actually like to explain WHY we're going to Japan. Simply put, it's amazing. But of course I can't explain all of the reasons why Japan is so amazing. That's why this blog is going to do it, a piece at a time. Plus I really don't want to right now, I'm in a coffee shop and it's totally lame to do blog stuff in a coffee shop. I figure that with my editing/graphic skills, Scott's camera/Japanese skills and Jams...skills at...stuff, I'm sure we'll be able to answer that in a way that only 3 college friends can. Belligerently.
Stay tuned for all theHD video content we plan to bring from the land of Japan, in JAM In Japan.
-Dave
It's good to see how popular Jam and Japan has become. (Scott's telling me its not that popular...no problem, I'll just repost this when it is)
So the BIG question is probably WHY are we going to Japan? Well, I'll tell you. In a second. First I want to dis on Jam and Scott. I've known these two pricks for a while now. Scott since 2000 when we rocked out at Fedex a.k.a. [FedEx]. We were like Butch and Sundance. I, obviously being Butch and Scott being a lazy Sundance that sits in front of his computer all day. Scott and I moved up to Van to pursue a film education in 2003, he pussied out and moved back when it was over but I stayed. During our voyage we ran across a guy named James, a.k.a. Jam. This piece of soggy, moldy garbage was one of our constituents during our higher learning years. He was an instant hit since he had no defensive skills against our verbal Kung Fu. Jam is basically our verbal punching bag, feel free to send me an email of something you'd like me to verbally punch him with. If it makes him cry you get a dollar.
So back to the original question. WHY am I so much better than Scott and Jam? Well I'll tell you in another post. I'd actually like to explain WHY we're going to Japan. Simply put, it's amazing. But of course I can't explain all of the reasons why Japan is so amazing. That's why this blog is going to do it, a piece at a time. Plus I really don't want to right now, I'm in a coffee shop and it's totally lame to do blog stuff in a coffee shop. I figure that with my editing/graphic skills, Scott's camera/Japanese skills and Jams...skills at...stuff, I'm sure we'll be able to answer that in a way that only 3 college friends can. Belligerently.
Stay tuned for all the
-Dave
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Getting Fired for Japan
Well after reading Scott's flattering description of me in the 'Meet the crew' post, I figured I'd better make my first entry. Here at JAM in Japan all 3 of us can author posts. He's just the biggest loser and has the most time to write. I was working full time as a photojournalist for a news station in Phoenix, Arizona. Hired as an on board camera operator in the stations news helicopter, before being moved down to the station as a general assignment photojournalist.
Here is a transcript of the MS Messenger conversation that got me fired:
Dave says: (7:05:23 AM)older people love to live vicariously through younger employees
Scott says: (7:05:31 AM)for sureScott says: (7:05:36 AM)just feed him some bs about "This is a once in lifetime opportunity."
Dave says: (7:05:50 AM)which it isDave says: (7:05:53 AM)you're not getting any younger...
Touring in Japan
It seems the tour schedule has more or less been locked down. I've come to realize that the music industry, like the film industry is a rather fluid situation.
While my last job in Japan was a whirlwind 2 week push from Sapporo to Fukuoka. It seems we'll actually be staying in some cities for more than just 1 night this time around. Because venues and clubs in Japan often stay open all night, sometimes our hotel rooms were literally only used for showering and storing our stuff. And even if the show did end at a decent time, the mandatory after party would make sure you weren't getting any sleep. Not that was always a bad thing...
We'd often leave a show at 6am or 7am just in time to catch the shinkansen outbound for our next city.
So far the cities we will be visiting for work are: Tokyo, Saitama, Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. During the tour it's all expenses paid, hotels reserved, and local fixers to guide us around and make sure we get on the right train. After the Fukuoka shows, the JAM in Japan crew is on it's own, opting to spend another month traveling around Japan. We'll start in Kyushu and work our way north.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
HD for FREE: Stage6.com
As a digital film/ video freelancer, I am all to familiar with the prevalent genre of 'low budget' production.
I guess I shouldn't complain. All of the innovation in digital film making, and the only reason I have a career is because of the never ending search for higher quality images at a lower cost. I'm now able to fit an entire high definition production into the smallest of Japanese business hotel rooms.
In fact, I may never have been given the opportunity to visit Japan had I not accepted a certain 'low budget' music video deal.
Anyways, in this realm of 'low budget' digital film, the web is usually the finished products destination/ grave. And the lowest of the low is a site like You Tube. From a business/ producer side, I understand the appeal of the your content possibility going 'viral'. But the video nerd/ cinematographer side is pained to see someones hard work banished to a noisy, pixelated 320 x 240 Flash video.
However, I was recently turned on to a site called Stage6.com which is powered by DivX. It's completely free and allows you to upload high definition content, once it's been converted to DivX format. The work flow is a bitch to figure out in terms of exporting and converting, but once you figure out the proper settings, it's pretty amazing. The compression is still visible, but it's leaps and bounds above anything You Tube or Google video can do. I mean, You Tube is great for that video of your friend getting hit in the nuts or your mom's cat doing something kooky. But with the rapid proliferation of professional, prosumer, and consumer HD cameras available, Stage6 is an awesome outlet.
Speaking of 'turned on', I um... stumbled across a ton of (NSFW) Japanese Idol videos. The site is also brimming with anime and Japanese PVs. It seems that fellow otaku have already heavily embraced the site.
Ironically, as I'm preparing to post this entry Stage6.com seems to be down...
I guess I shouldn't complain. All of the innovation in digital film making, and the only reason I have a career is because of the never ending search for higher quality images at a lower cost. I'm now able to fit an entire high definition production into the smallest of Japanese business hotel rooms.
In fact, I may never have been given the opportunity to visit Japan had I not accepted a certain 'low budget' music video deal.
Anyways, in this realm of 'low budget' digital film, the web is usually the finished products destination/ grave. And the lowest of the low is a site like You Tube. From a business/ producer side, I understand the appeal of the your content possibility going 'viral'. But the video nerd/ cinematographer side is pained to see someones hard work banished to a noisy, pixelated 320 x 240 Flash video.
However, I was recently turned on to a site called Stage6.com which is powered by DivX. It's completely free and allows you to upload high definition content, once it's been converted to DivX format. The work flow is a bitch to figure out in terms of exporting and converting, but once you figure out the proper settings, it's pretty amazing. The compression is still visible, but it's leaps and bounds above anything You Tube or Google video can do. I mean, You Tube is great for that video of your friend getting hit in the nuts or your mom's cat doing something kooky. But with the rapid proliferation of professional, prosumer, and consumer HD cameras available, Stage6 is an awesome outlet.
Speaking of 'turned on', I um... stumbled across a ton of (NSFW) Japanese Idol videos. The site is also brimming with anime and Japanese PVs. It seems that fellow otaku have already heavily embraced the site.
Ironically, as I'm preparing to post this entry Stage6.com seems to be down...
"We're unable to service your request."
"Please retry your request in a few minutes."
— The Stage6 Team
"Please retry your request in a few minutes."
— The Stage6 Team
Hah. Awesome...
Even non functioning, I still prefer it over You Tube!
The JAM in Japan crew has created a channel to host footage we shoot during our trip. Check it out: Here
Even non functioning, I still prefer it over You Tube!
The JAM in Japan crew has created a channel to host footage we shoot during our trip. Check it out: Here
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Meet the crew
James aka JAM: Helicopter camera operator/ location audio - working in Arizona
James was denied the 5 weeks vacation by his current employer and will be 'let go' as of March. He's committed career suicide to discover if the myths about Japanese women and foreigners are really true. This is Jam's first time in Japan.
Dave: Editor/ motion graphics/ DVD author - working in Vancouver, BC
Ever since Dave saw Insomniac with Dave Attell's episode from Tokyo, "Sloshed in Translation", he's wanted to visit Japan. He's since been filling his head with other media stereotypes about traveling in Japan. All of which happen to be true, according to Scott's memory. This is Dave's first time in Japan.
Scott: Video producer/ camera operator - working in San Francisco, CA
Having spent a total 16 days in Japan during a previous job, this makes Scott the group's local expert. Unfortunately, he was shooting a band's tour documentary and spent most of his time like this and this. While he may be able to point out the most discreet alley to vomit in from Sapporo to Fukuoka, he has no recollection of useful skills like navigating the country's rail system.
Below is a short promo for the tour DVD Scott produced last summer in Japan... Why I am referring to myself in the 3rd person?
If you haven't already, here are links to install DivX player.
Click the 'fullscreen' option to view glorious 1280 x 720.
James was denied the 5 weeks vacation by his current employer and will be 'let go' as of March. He's committed career suicide to discover if the myths about Japanese women and foreigners are really true. This is Jam's first time in Japan.
Dave: Editor/ motion graphics/ DVD author - working in Vancouver, BC
Ever since Dave saw Insomniac with Dave Attell's episode from Tokyo, "Sloshed in Translation", he's wanted to visit Japan. He's since been filling his head with other media stereotypes about traveling in Japan. All of which happen to be true, according to Scott's memory. This is Dave's first time in Japan.
Scott: Video producer/ camera operator - working in San Francisco, CA
Having spent a total 16 days in Japan during a previous job, this makes Scott the group's local expert. Unfortunately, he was shooting a band's tour documentary and spent most of his time like this and this. While he may be able to point out the most discreet alley to vomit in from Sapporo to Fukuoka, he has no recollection of useful skills like navigating the country's rail system.
Below is a short promo for the tour DVD Scott produced last summer in Japan... Why I am referring to myself in the 3rd person?
If you haven't already, here are links to install DivX player.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click the 'fullscreen' option to view glorious 1280 x 720.
Monday, February 18, 2008
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