februari 24, 2009

Killing and Death of the Dutch Republic



Johan de Witt or Jan de Witt, was a key figure in Dutch politics in the mid-17th century, when its flourishing sea trade in a period of globalization made the United Provinces a leading European power during the Dutch Golden Age. De Witt controlled the Netherlands political system from around 1650 until shortly before his death in 1672 working with various factions from nearly all the major cities, especially his hometown, Dordrecht, and the city of birth of his wife, Amsterdam. 

As a republican he opposed the House of Orange and, along with his brother Cornelis de Witt, was murdered by Orangists.








februari 22, 2009

Funny carnival parade




A film festival is an extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings. The films may be of recent date and, depending upon the focus of the individual festival, can include international releases as well as films produced by the  domestic film industry. Sometimes there is a focus on a specific film-maker or genre (e.g., film noir) or subject matter (e.g., horror film festivals). A number of film festivals specializes in short films, each with its defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events.



februari 14, 2009

Jardin des Boves


The Boves
The Boves, a well-preserved underground network of galleries 10 meters beneath the city, was built in the 10th century and can now be visited by tourists. The idea was to set up a vast underground network to make all inhabitant's cellars communicate by means of galleries. Excavation material (chalk) was not wasted but rather used to construct houses. During World War I and World War II, the Boves was utilized as an underground bunker to hide and protect residents and valued materials from falling bombs.



februari 13, 2009

Brick Amsterdam





Buildings of the Amsterdam School are characterized by brick construction with complicated masonry with a rounded or organic appearance, relatively traditional massing, and the integration of an elaborate scheme of building elements inside and out: decorative masonry, art glass, wrought ironwork, spires or "ladder" windows (with horizontal bars), and integrated architectural sculpture. The aim was to create a total architectural experience, interior and exterior.




februari 10, 2009

Hospital de San Pau Barcelona




Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic.
It was originally a declaration of fealty in the feudal system The concept then became used figuratively for an acknowledgement of quality or superiority. For example, a man might give homage to a lady, so honouring her beauty and other graces. In German scholarship, followers of a great scholar developed the custom of honouring their mentor by producing papers for a festschrift dedicated to him. The concept now often appears in the arts where one author shows respect to a topic by calling it a homage, such as Homage to Catalonia.

februari 08, 2009

To Gracia and back


Independent filmmakers have also pressed low-cost consumer and prosumer cameras into service for digital filmmaking. Though image quality is typically much lower than what can be produced with professional digital cinematography cameras, the technology has steadily improved, most significantly in the last several years with the arrival of high-definition cameras in this market. These inexpensive cameras are limited by their relatively high compression ratios, their small sensors, and the quality of their optics. Many have integrated lenses which cannot be changed.


februari 07, 2009

El poble espanyol




The Poble Espanyol "Spanish Town" is an open-air architectural museum, located on the mountain of Montjuïc, in the city of Barcelona, Spain.
It was constructed in 1929, for the Barcelona International Exhibition, that was held in Barcelona that year.
Josep Puig i Cadafalch had the idea for the museum: a town in which the architecture, style, and culture of various locations from around Spain were preserved in a single place. The aim was to produce an "ideal model" Spanish village, a synthesis of monumental Spain. The architects that designed the town were Francesc Folguera and Ramon Reventós. In total, the town was built in 13 months, and although it was only needed for 6, for the exhibition, it was not demolished and was kept open as a museum.
The museum occupies a total area of 42,000 m2 and contains 117 buildings, with streets and squares reproduced to scale.


Acceleration


Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system. A closely related ISO system is used to measure the sensitivity of digital imaging systems.

Relatively insensitive film, with a correspondingly lower speed index, requires more exposure to light to produce the same image density as a more sensitive film, and is thus commonly termed a slow film. Highly sensitive films are correspondingly termed fast films. In both digital and film photography, the reduction of exposure corresponding to use of higher sensitivities generally leads to reduced image quality (via coarser film grain or higher image noise of other types). 

In short, the higher the sensitivity, the grainier the image will be. Ultimately sensitivity is limited by the quantum efficiency of the film or sensor.

 




februari 06, 2009

Swedish waterfalls



 
A natural history film or wildlife film is a documentary film about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on film taken in their natural habitat. Such programs are most frequently made for television, particularly for public broadcasting channels, but some are also made for the cinema, medium, in fact, where this genre started almost simultaneously alongside television series.

The cathedral under construction






A 3-D (three-dimensional) film or S3D (stereoscopic 3D) film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception. Derived from stereoscopic photography, a regular motion picture camera system is used to record the images as seen from two perspectives (or computer-generated imagery generates the two perspectives in post-production), and special projection hardware and/or eyewear are used to provide the illusion of depth when viewing the film. 3-D films are not limited to feature film theatrical releases; television broadcasts and direct-to-video films have also incorporated similar methods, primarily for marketing purposes.


 


februari 04, 2009

Campingland Sweden



The Super 8 plastic cartridge is probably the fastest loading film system ever developed, as it can be loaded into the Super 8 camera in less than two seconds without the need to directly thread or even touch the film. In addition, coded notches cut into the Super 8 film cartridge exterior allowed the camera to recognize the film speed automatically. Not all cameras can read all the notches correctly, however, and not all cartridges are notched correctly (such as Kodak Vision2 200T). Canon keeps an exhaustive list of their Super 8 cameras with detailed specifications on what film speeds can be used with their cameras. Usually, testing one cartridge of film can help handle any uncertainty a filmmaker may have about how well their Super 8 camera reads different film stocks. Color stocks were generally available only in tungsten (3400K), and almost all Super 8 cameras come with a switchable daylight filter built in, allowing for both indoor and outdoor shooting.



Amsterdam potpourri



Potpourri is a kind of musical form structured as ABCDEF..., the same as medley or, sometimes, fantasia. It is often used in light, easy-going and popular types of music. This is a form of arrangement where the individual sections are simply juxtaposed with no strong connection or relationship. This type of form is organized by the principle of non-repetition. This is usually to be applied to a composition that consists of a string of favourite tunes, like a potpourri based on either some popular opera, operetta, or a collection of songs, dances, etc..
In 18th century the term was used in France for collections of songs which, with a thematic link, were sometimes given stage presentation. Later the term was used also for instrumental collections, like the "Potpourry français", a collection of originally unconnected dance pieces.



februari 01, 2009

Busy Barcelona



Amateur film is the low-budget hobbyist art of film practiced for passion and enjoyment and not for business purposes.

The international organization for amateur film makers is UNICA (Union International du Cinema Non Professionel); in the United States the American Motion Picture Society (AMPS), in Canada the Society of Canadian Cine Amateurs (SCCA), in the UK it is the Film & Video Institute. These organizations arrange annual festivals and conventions.

Amateur films were usually shot on 16 mm film or on 8 mm film until the advent of cheap video cameras or digital equipment. The advent of digital video and computer based editing programs greatly expanded the technical quality achievable by the amateur and low-budget filmmaker. Amateur video has become the choice for the low-budget filmmaker.

januari 31, 2009

Double Dutch



Digital Video Effects, commonly called DVEs, are visual effects that provide comprehensive video image manipulation, in the same form as optical printer effects in film. DVE effects differ from switcher effects (often referred to as "analog effects") such as wipes or dissolves, in that they deal primarily with resizing, distortion or movement of the primary visual image.

Ludenscheid a green city




German production companies have been quite commonly involved in expensive French and Italian productions from Spaghetti Westerns to French comic book adaptations. In recent years, German production interests have also become very involved with American television and film production to help offset the costs of such productions, as evidenced by the company credits in certain films and TV shows.


Germany have a long cooperation with the Swedish film industry, which started as early as during the 1960s. German film industry has primarily been economically involved in Swedish films, but does not put itself in the artistic product. However, some German actors have had small parts in Swedish films and some Swedish actors have had small parts in German films. The co-operation became stronger during the end of the 1990s.

januari 27, 2009

At the Russian Court






A costume drama or period drama is a period piece in which elaborate costumes, sets and properties are featured in order to capture the ambience of a particular era.
The term is usually used in the context of film and television. It is an informal crossover term that can apply to several genres but is most often heard in the context of historical dramas and romances, adventure films and swashbucklers. The implication is that the audience is attracted as much by the lavish costumes as by the content.
The most common type of costume drama is the historical costume drama, both on stage and in movies.

 

 

 

januari 25, 2009

Family in Sweden/Sverige


Swedish cinema is known as producing many critically acclaimed movies, and during the 20th century was the most prominent of Scandinavia. This is largely due to the popularity and prominence of the directors Ingmar Bergman, Victor Sjöström, and more recently Lasse Hallström and Lukas

Swedish films, and Scandinavian films in general, are known for stark landscapes and slow pacing.


 

januari 24, 2009

Jamtli

Amateur usage of Super 8 has been largely replaced by video, but the format is often used by professionals in music videos, TV commercials, and special sequences for television and feature film projects, as well as by many visual artists. For a professional cinematographer, Super 8 is another tool to use alongside larger formats. Some seek to imitate the look of old home movies, or create a stylishly grainy look.To give further support to filmmakers dedicated to shooting on Super 8 mm film, many film festivals and screenings such as the Flicker Film Festival exist to give filmmakers a place to screen their Super 8 mm films. Many of these screenings shun video and are only open to films shot on film. 


 

januari 23, 2009

Sweden in super 8 mm




Swedish filmmaking rose to international prominence when Svenska Biografteatern moved from Kristianstad to Lidingö in 1911. During the next decade the company's two star-directors, Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller, produced many outstanding silent films, some of the best of them adaptations of stories by the Nobel-prizewinning novelist Selma Lagerlöf. Sjöström's most impressive films often made poetic use of the Swedish landscape and developed powerful studies of character and emotion. Stiller fostered the early popularity of Greta Garbo, particularly through the film Gösta Berlings saga (1924). Many of the films made at the Biografteatern had a significant impact on German directors of the silent and early sound eras, largely because Germany remained cut off from French, British, and American influences through World War I (1914–1918).



In the mid-twenties both of these directors and Garbo moved to the United States to work for MGM, bringing Swedish influence to Hollywood. The departure left a vacuum in Swedish cinema, which subsequently went into a financial crisis. Both directors later returned to Sweden, but Stiller died soon after his return while Sjöström returned to theatre work for most of the remainder of his career.

januari 21, 2009

Special Antwerp Tour



A tapeless camcorder is a camcorder that does not use videotape to store its data. Common alternatives include flash memory (such as Secure Digital card or Memory Stick), a hard disk, USB port connected to the computer or other mass storage or DVD media. All tapeless camcorders use digital formats to store their data.The technique exists throughout the range of camcorders; inexpensive flash memory units, while not particularly high quality, can be used as essentially disposable substitutes for a more expensive DVD or MiniDV camcorder; similar flash technology is used on semi-pro and high-end pro cameras for ultrafast transfer of high-bandwidth HDTV content. Hard drives can also be used.Using DVD media as a base for a camcorder is becoming increasingly popular due to the convenience of being able to drop a disc into the family DVD player; however, DVD capability, due to the limitations of the format, is largely limited to consumer-level equipment targeted at people who are not likely to spend any great amount of effort editing their video.Most consumer-level tapeless camcorders use MPEG-2, MPEG-4 or its derivatives as encoding formats. They are normally capable of still-image capture to JPEG format additionally.Consumer-grade tapeless camcorders include a USB port to transfer video onto a computer. Professional models include other options like SDI or HDMI. Some tapeless camcorders are equipped with a FireWire port to ensure compatibility with tape-based DV and HDV formats.






januari 20, 2009

Barcelona: La Seu



Barcelona: La Seu


Whilst an important contributor to Western art (particularly influenced by Italy and France, especially during the Baroque and Neoclassical periods) and producing many famous and influential artists (including Velázquez, Goya and Picasso) Spanish art has often had distinctive characteristics and been assessed somewhat separately from other European schools. These differences can be partly explained by the Moorish heritage in Spain (especially in Andalusia), and through the political and cultural climate in Spain during the Counter-Reformation and the subsequent eclipse of Spanish power under the Bourbon dynasty.

Fairytale





A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features European folkloric fantasy characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants, witches, mermaids, or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends
In less technical contexts, the term is also used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, as in "fairy tale ending" (a happy ending)[2] or "fairy tale romance" (though not all fairy tales end happily). Colloquially, a "fairy tale" or "fairy story" can also mean any farfetched story or tall tale; it's used especially of any story that not only isn't true, but couldn't possibly be true.




IJ-bay amsterdam



A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew will be filming actors and recording their dialog. A location where dialog is not recorded may be considered as a second unit photography site. Filmmakers often choose to shoot on location because they believe that greater realism can be achieved in a "real" place, however location shooting is also often motivated by the film's budget. However, many films shoot interior scenes on a sound stage and exterior scenes on location.
It is often mistakenly believed that filming "on location" takes place in the actual location in which its story is set, but this is not necessarily the case.




januari 18, 2009

National museum Amsterdam




Most large museums are located in major cities throughout the world and more local ones exist in smaller cities, towns and even the countryside. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving the general public. The continuing acceleration in the digitization of information, combined with the increasing capacity of digital information storage, is causing the traditional model of museums (i.e. as static “collections of collections” of three-dimensional specimens and artifacts) to expand to include virtual exhibits and high-resolution images of their collections for perusal, study, and exploration from any place with Internet.



januari 16, 2009

Muiden locks




Muiden is a pleasant town in the Netherlands of approximately 4000 people, on the shores of the IJmeer, at the mouth of the Vecht river. The town is known for its yacht harbor and for its historic castle, the Muiderslot. Its proximity to Amsterdam - it is just 12 km east of the city centre - makes it a good day trip for anyone looking to get out of the city.

januari 15, 2009

Armenian church St Petersburg


Film can be described as all of the following:

One of the visual arts – visual arts is a class of art forms, including painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking and others, that focus on the creation of works which are primarily visual in nature.
One of the performing arts – art forms in which artists use their body, voice, or objects to convey artistic expression. Performing arts include a variety of disciplines but all take the form of a performance in front of an audience.
Fine art – in Western European academic traditions, fine art is art developed primarily for aesthetics, distinguishing it from applied art that also has to serve some practical function. The word "fine" here does not so much denote the quality of the artwork in question, but the purity of the discipline according to traditional Western European canons.

januari 12, 2009

Oceanium Rotterdam



Underwater Filming

Pinewood has limitless options for filming in or around water, the studios boast:

The only permanently filled underwater stage in the worl One of the largest exterior tanks in Europ 60,500 sq ft exterior water tank in the Dominican Republic, the only type and size of its kind in the regio Interior tanks on eleven sound stages

Guernica


On April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Guernica was the scene of the Bombing of Guernica by the Condor Legion of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe. According to the official Basque figures, 1,654 civilians were killed, but the German sources report a round figure of 300 civilians killed in the bombing, according to the German Bundeswehr Magazine (published in April 2007, page 94). The Germans were attacking to support the efforts of Francisco Franco to overthrow the Basque Government and the Spanish Republican government. The town was devastated, though the Biscayan assembly and the Oak of Guernica survived. Pablo Picasso painted his famous Guernica painting to commemorate the horrors of the bombing and René Iché made a violent sculpture the day after the bombing. The bombing went on for 3 hours non-stop


 

Bread and circussen


"Bread and circuses" is a metaphors for a superficial means of appeasement. In the case of politics, the phrase is used to describe the creation of public approval, not through exemplary or excellent public service or public policy, but through diversion; distraction; or the mere satisfaction of the immediate, shallow requirements of a populace, as an offered "palliative." Juvenal decried it as a simplistic motivation of common people.

In modern usage, the phrase is taken to describe a populace that no longer values civic virtues and the public life. To many, it connotes a supposed triviality and frivolity that characterized the Roman Republic prior to its decline into the autocratic monarchy characteristic of the later Roman Empire's transformation about 44 B.C


Casa Anita Debodes Northern Spain


Holiday home Anita is located in the small village of Debodes, on the foot of Picos de Europe. 18 km south is the famous coastal city Llanes. The village of Cabrales, known for its cheese, that is matured in the caves, is 25 km away. The village of Meré, with a supermarket and a bar is 3 km further. The house stands in a rustic and hilly surrounding, with a lot of quiet and hiking possibilities. This detached house stands on a very central location, between the mountains and the coast. Holiday home Anita has a nice covered terrace with a garden.



Preparations for MardiGras



Mardi Gras also called Shrove Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday, in English, refers to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", reflecting the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season.




januari 11, 2009

Dutch royal palace


town hall
The Royal Palace was built in the seventeenth century as the Town Hall of Amsterdam, after a design by Jacob van Campen. It's paintings and sculptures were makde by some of the most distinguished artists of the time and allude to the city's influence and prosperit in the Dutch Golden Age.



Le Puy en Velay



Le Puy-en-Velay's most striking attraction is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Puy, dating chiefly from the first half of the 12th century. The façade, striped in courses of white sandstone and black volcanic breccia, is reached by a flight of sixty steps, and consists of three orders, the lowest composed of three high arcades opening into the porch, which extends beneath the first bays of the nave. Above it are three central windows that light the nave, and above them are three gables on the gable-end of the nave, flanked by two openwork screening gables. The south transept doorway is sheltered by a Romanesque porch. Behind the choir rises a separate Romanesque bell-tower in seven storeys.

The iron statue of Notre-Dame de France (The Virgin Mary) overlooking the town was designed by the French sculptor Jean-Marie Bonnassieux, and is made from 213 Russian cannons taken in the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855). It was presented to the town on 12 September 1860 in front of 120,000 people.

Capital of Rioja


Logroño is a city rich in history and traditions which have been preserved since the Middle Ages. The Pilgrim's Route to Santiago de Compostela made this one of the most important towns on the route, leaving an interesting monumental legacy closely linked to the traditional passing of the pilgrims.

The history of Logroño cannot be separated from the Pilgrim's Route to Santiago de Compostela. Such much so that the city did not gain importance until the rise in popularity of the route, beginning in the 11th century.The Codex Calixtinus (12th century), the first guide to the Pilgrim's Route to Santiago de Compostela, makes mention of Logroño in its pages. And it is a fact that the passing of merchants, artists and pilgrims through the cobbled streets of the capital of La Rioja for centuries has made the city a crossroads of considerable cultural importance.

januari 10, 2009

Heineken Backyard


Film is considered to have its own language. James Monaco wrote a classic text on film theory titled "How to Read a Film". Director Ingmar Bergman famously said, "Andrei Tarkovsky for me is the greatest director, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream." Examples of the language are a sequence of back and forth images of one actor's left profile speaking, followed by another actor's right profile speaking, then a repetition of this, which is a language understood by the audience to indicate a conversation. Another example is zooming in on the forehead of an actor with an expression of silent reflection, then changing to a scene of a younger actor who vaguely resembles the first actor, indicating the first actor is having a memory of their own past.


Antwerp: The city is yours





There is no better way to realize how rich and complex the world is than by watching movies that were hits in their home countries but didn't make it on a global scale. A beautiful way to learn more about foreign cultures and discover sometimes inspiring and refreshing narrative techniques

 


 

januari 08, 2009

Camping at the Rhone



Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants (known as campers) leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, a primitive structure, or no shelter at all.
Camping as a recreational activity became popular in the early 20th century. Campers frequent national or state parks, other publicly owned natural areas, and privately owned campgrounds.

Camping is also used as an inexpensive form of accommodation for people attending large open air events such as sporting meetings and music festivals. Organizers often provide a field and other basic amenities



Arte from Barcelona




Film critics and film studies scholars typically define an "art film" using a "...canon of films and those formal qualities that mark them as different from mainstream Hollywood films", which includes, among other elements: a social realism style; an emphasis on the authorial expressiveness of the director; and a focus on the thoughts and dreams of characters, rather than presenting a clear, goal-driven story. Film scholar David Bordwell claims that "art cinema itself is a film genre, with its own distinct conventions.

januari 07, 2009

Oldest Youth hotel in the world


Hostels in popular culture

Motion pictures have portrayed hostels in two ways: as fun places for young people to stay, or alternatively, as dangerous places where unsuspecting Americans face potential horrors in Central Europe.
There are some popular misconceptions that a hostel is a kind of a flophouse, homeless shelter, or halfway house, though this does not reflect the high quality and level of professionalism in many modern hostels.

januari 02, 2009

Perlen des Sauerland



is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine- Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. For these reasons, it has been chosen as the first place in Germany to reintroduce the Wisent (or European bison)..
Sauerland is a popular tourist area, attracting many visitors from the Ruhr Area and relatively close Netherlands. The forests and picturesque small towns are attractive for hikers and outdoor sports. There are more than 30,000 km of tagged hiking trails in Sauerland region maintained by Sauerland hiking association (SGV). Some of the towns have the title Bad (Spa) because of their good air quality and stimulating climate. Winter sports are popular in the Sauerland.


december 25, 2008

The making of a Santa



Santa Claus, is a mythical figure with legendary, historical and folkloric origins who, in many Western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children on 24 December, the night before Christmas Day.
The modern figure of Santa Claus is derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, whose name is a dialectal pronunciation of Saint Nicholas, the historical Greek bishop and gift-giver of Myra. During the Christianization of Germanic Europe, this figure may have absorbed elements of the god Odin, who was associated with the Germanic pagan midwinter event of Yule and led the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky.

Santa Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man—sometimes with spectacles—wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots and who carries a bag full of gifts for children.


Since the 20th century, in an idea popularized by the 1934 song "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", Santa Claus has been believed to make a list of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior ("naughty" or "nice") and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the well-behaved children in the world, and sometimes coal to the naughty children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of the elves who make the toys in the workshop and the flying reindeer who pull his sleigh. He is commonly portrayed as living at the North Pole and saying "ho ho ho" often.

december 22, 2008

Hadrians wall




Hadrian's Wall (Latin: Vallum Aelium) was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain, begun in AD 122 during the rule of emperor Hadrian. In addition to its military role, gates through the wall served as customs posts.

A significant portion of the wall still exists and can be followed on foot along the Hadrian's Wall Path. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern England and was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.



december 17, 2008

Arcachon, end of summer




A film release is the authorization by the owner of a completed film to a public exhibition of the film. The exhibition may be in theatres or for home viewing. A film's release date and the method of release is part of the marketing of the film. It may be a wide or limited release.

The process may involve finding a film distributor. A film's marketing may involve the film being shown at a film festival or trade show to attract distributor attention and, if successful, may then be released through a chosen distributor.
-

december 14, 2008

spinning rope



Spinning is the process of creating yarn (or thread, rope, cable) from various raw fiber materials. Separate fibers are twisted together to bind them into a strong, long yarn. Characteristics of the yarn vary based on the material used, fiber length and alignment, quantity of fiber used and degree of twist. The earliest spinning probably involved simply twisting the fibres in the hand. Later a stick, called a spindle, was used to add the twist and hold the twisted fiber. Usually a whorl or weight stabilizes the spindle. The spindle is spun and twists the fiber until it becomes yarn. The spindle may be suspended or supported, Later the spinning wheel was developed which allowed a continuous and faster yarn production. Spinning wheels may be foot, hand or electrically powered. Modern powered spinning, originally done by water or steam power but now done by electricity, is vastly faster than hand-spinning. Hobby or small scale artisan spinners spin their own yarn to control specific yarn qualities and produce yarn not commercially available. They also may spin for self-sufficiency, sense of accomplishment, or sense of connection to history and the land. And, of course, for the meditative qualities of spinning.



december 13, 2008

Highest dune of Europa


"Screen direction" is a term used in motion picture editing and refers to an underlying concept of cinematic grammar which involves the direction that actors or objects appear to be moving on the screen from the point of view of the camera or audience. A rule of film editing is that movement from one edited shot to another must maintain the consistency of screen direction in order to avoid audience confusion."Camera left" or "frame left" indicates movement towards the left side of the screen, while "camera right" or "frame right" refers to movement towards the right side of the screen. "Foreground" refers to the apparent space close to the camera (and thus to the audience), while "background" refers to the apparent space in the distance away from the camera and the audience.It is the responsibility of the director, cameraman, and script supervisor on the set to maintain consistency of screen direction so that later during editing the myriad short pieces of film can be properly assembled by the editor into a coherent film that tells the story intended.Avant-garde, experimental, and some independent film and video productions often deliberately violate screen direction rules in order to create audience disorientation or ambiguity. However, unless done very skillfully, violation of screen direction can appear to the audience to be the result of filmmaker ineptitude rather than experimentation.




december 06, 2008

The new Carcasonne


Visual effects (commonly shortened to Visual F/X or VFX) are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or simply impossible to capture on film. Visual effects using computer generated imagery has recently become accessible to the Independent filmmaker with the introduction of affordable animation and compositing software.

Winter in the eighties



Blackhawk Films, from the 1950s through the early 1980s, marketed motion pictures on 16mm, 8mm and Super 8 film. Most were vintage one- or two-reel short subjects, usually comedies starring Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and other famous comedy series of the past. Blackhawk also offered newsreels, documentaries, and silent feature films. With the rise of the video market in the early 1980s, Blackhawk began producing video versions of many of their titles in 1981 and within a few years no longer manufactured film copies

december 04, 2008

Nature of Norway

A natural history film or wildlife film is a documentary film about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on film taken in their natural habitat. Such programs are most frequently made for television, particularly for public broadcasting channels, but some are also made for the cinema, medium, in fact, where this genre started almost simultaneously alongside television series.
Robert J. Flaherty's 1922 film Nanook of the North is typically cited as the first feature-length documentary. The Living Desert written and directed by James Alger is often considered as one of the first full-length cinematic nature-documentaries. Produced by the Walt Disney Company, it was first released in 1953.




november 24, 2008

Suspension Railway: Die alte Dame


Modern storytelling has a broad purview. In addition to its traditional forms (fairytales, folktales, mythology, legends, fables etc.), it has extended itself to representing history, personal narrative, political commentary, and evolving cultural norms. Contemporary storytelling is also widely used to address educational objectives. New forms of media are creating new ways for people to record, express, and consume stories. Tools for asynchronous group communication can provide an environment for individuals to reframe or recast individual stories into group stories. Games and other digital platforms, such as those used in interactive fiction or interactive storytelling, may be used to position the user as a character within a bigger world. Documentaries, including interactive web documentaries, employ storytelling narrative techniques to communicate information about their topic.


 


november 23, 2008

Sur Loire




“I noticed so often that when people take their camera, they simply hold it at eye level, shoulder level or whatever is comfortable and that determines the height their camera is going to be and how they are going to film something. And that’s a monumental mistake. So often, just by lowering down your camera a little bit, you can get an amazing shot.”