15 apr 2008

The Eifel and a Ravine



Stop Buying Filmmaking Equipment and Make Something
Despite all the good, some of the time, these advances have stopped filmmakers on their tracks, especially now, when state of the art changes day by day. Many filmmakers get stuck because they insist on having the latest and greatest of technology. If it came out yesterday, but today’s version goes to eleven, the old one is crap, and the new one is God’s gift... Until tomorrow’s version.
Filmmakers who have to have the latest stuff do this all the time. They are also the people who never get anything done, because they are always waiting for the next best thing. And the next best thing is SOOOOO much better than what they have. Keep in mind that the equipment they have in their closet used to be the next best thing. They’re also spending money on things that might make their stuff look great, when they should be focused on telling a great story.



The Dutch and the Water


As an economically and socially advanced nation, the Netherlands is a low-lying nation, with a sophisticated agricultural sector and high population density. Half of the country lies below 1 meter above sea level, with an eighth of the country lying below sea level. Without an extensive network of dams, dykes and dunes, the Netherlands would be especially prone to flooding. As a predicted outcome of Global Climate Change, sea level rise could impact the Netherlands drastically, leading to social and economic devastation.







10 apr 2008

In and around the Tropenmuseum



Following the independence of Indonesia in 1945, the scope of the museum changed from just the colonial possessions of the Netherlands, to that of many undeveloped colonial states in South America, Africa, and Asia. In the 1960s and 1970s the Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken English: Ministry of Foreign Affairs encouraged the museum to expand its scope to more social issues such as poverty and hunger. In the early 1970s a new wing for children was added. This wing is now called Tropenmuseum Junior.

The Tropenmuseum has now started to use semi-permanent exhibits that focus both on domestic and foreign cultures.

The photography collection consists mainly of historical photographs of the former Dutch Colonies from 1855–1940. The museum released a large number of photographs under a Creative Commons licence to the Wikimedia Commons.



 

7 apr 2008

Highlights of the Highlands


Scotland's legal system has remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in public and private law. The continued existence of legal, educational and religious institutions distinct from those in the remainder of the UK have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity since the 1707 Union. In 1999, a devolved legislature, the Scottish Parliament, was reconvened with authority over many areas of home affairs following a referendum in 1997. In May 2011, the Scottish National Party won an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament. As a result, a referendum on independence will take place on 18 September 2014.





4 apr 2008

The cathedral of the Russian Empire


A slide show is a presentation of a series of still images on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. Each image is usually displayed for at least a few seconds, and sometimes for several minutes, before it is replaced by the next image. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals or they may be manually controlled by a presenter or the viewer. Slide shows originally consisted of a series of individual photographic slides projected onto a screen with a slide projector. When referring to the video or computer-based visual equivalent, in which the slides are not individual physical objects, the term is often written as one word, slideshow.



3 apr 2008

Shutting down airports



'Shutting Down Airports' by The Flints. Recorded at Halamusic in Toronto, 2008. Videos are 'Mother and daughter', 'Nostalgia winter 78', and 'His master's choice' by antonwithagen, published under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Netherlands license.

Bergen op Zoom


I love having options in the editing room. The biggest learning lesson from my very first short film was not getting any variations in performance. In post, I didn’t have anywhere to go with the characters as every take they were doing the exact same thing every time. That’s no fun. Now, I love exploring the scene with the actors to see what can arise. In the editing room, it gives me more room to shape the character and storylines. It’s much more organic.





1 apr 2008

Focus on SouthSweden


Super 8 mm film is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format.

The film is nominally 8 mm wide, exactly the same as the older standard 8 mm film, and also has perforations on only one side. However, the dimensions of the perforations are smaller than those on older 8 mm film, which allowed the exposed area to be made larger. The Super 8 standard also specifically allocates the border opposite the perforations for an oxide stripe upon which sound can be magnetically recorded.

Unlike other "super" gauges such as Super 16 and Super 35, the film stock used for Super 8 is not compatible with standard 8mm film cameras.


There are several different varieties of the film system used for shooting, but the final film in each case has the same dimensions. By far the most popular system was the Kodak system


 

26 mrt 2008

Bitte ein Bit



Bitburger is a 4.8% abv Pilsner with annual sales of 1.2 million hectolitres. The popularity of Bitburger extends beyond the local area of Bitburg. Although Germans generally prefer local breweries, it is a popular beer throughout Western Germany, and is favored in many areas of North Rhine Westphalia even over Alt beer or Kölsch, which are popular in Düsseldorf and Köln.
The company slogan is, "Bitte ein Bit." This is literally, "Please, a Bit," or "a Bit, please." In the 1970s a second slogan was introduced, "



 

Oland Vikingsland




Vikings were the people of the Norse culture, during the Viking Age. They were a seafaring people of north Germanic descent, based in Scandinavia, who raided, traded, explored, and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia, and the North Atlantic islands, from the late 8th to the mid-11th centuries. The Vikings employed wooden longships with wide, shallow-draft hulls, allowing navigation in rough seas or in shallow river waters. The ships could be landed on beaches, and their light weight enabled them to be hauled over portages. These versatile ships allowed the Vikings to settle and travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, as far west as Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland, and as far south as Nekor. This period of Viking expansion, known as the Viking Age, constitutes an important element of the medieval history of Scandinavia, Great Britain, Ireland, Russia, and the rest of Europe.