maart 29, 2010

Eindhoven, silentmovie


A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. In entertainment silent films the acting and dialogue is commuted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made practical in the late 1920s with the perfection of the audion amplifier tube and the introduction of the Vitaphone system. After The Jazz Singer in 1927, "talkies" became more and more commonplace and within a decade silent films essentially disappeared.






Cine de LLanes




THE PROJECT

The town council of Llanes has designed a route which travels throughout the borough to visit the key scenes from the films which have been filmed here. There have been 18 full length feature films, 3 television series and a short film shot in Llanes.

Carmelo Gomez«Llanes de cine» This is the name of the project, initiated by the town council of Llanes, which aims to promote tourism and culture. Their aim was to promote the beauty and value of the numerous scenes, places of natural beauty which have served as backdrops for the production of a large number of full length feature films, short films, documentaries, video-clips, television series and promotion films for television. In addition the Llanes town council has tried to pay tribute to and to express their gratitude to the directors and producers who have chosen Llanes to bring their visions to life.


maart 27, 2010

Sports-training video


Filminfo:
A stunt performer or stuntman or daredevil is someone who performs dangerous stunts, often as a career.

These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be. There is an inherent risk in the performance of all stunt work in film, television and stage work. Daredevil performers are distinct from stunt performers and stunt doubles, as they perform their stunts purely for the sake of the stunt itself, often before an audience for their entertainment and personal monetary gain for the event, while a stunt performer, or stunt double typically performs stunts intended for use in a motion pictures or dramatized television (although one person could certainly be both, as was the case with Harry Houdini, Jackie Chan, Tony Jaa and others). Stunt performers and stunt doubles are generally skilled at performing physical action in character for film and television.




maart 24, 2010

Cote d'Azur: Cannes



Citizen journalism, as a form of alternative media, presents a “radical challenge to the professionalized and institutionalized practices of the mainstream media”.

According to Terry Flew, there have been three elements critical to the rise of citizen journalism: open publishing, collaborative editing, and distributed content. Mark Glaser, a freelance journalist who frequently writes on new media issues, said in 2006:

The idea behind citizen journalism is that people without professional journalism training can use the tools of modern technology and the global distribution of the Internet to create, augment or fact-check media on their own or in collaboration with others. For example, you might write about a city council meeting on your blog or in an online forum. Or you could fact-check a newspaper article from the mainstream media and point out factual errors or bias on your blog. Or you might snap a digital photo of a newsworthy event happening in your town and post it online. Or you might videotape a similar event and post it on a site such as YouTube.


maart 23, 2010

CostaVerde (Green Spain)



Info:
It is called green because it has a wet and temperate oceanic climate which allows a lush vegetation to thrive. The climate and landscape are determined by the Atlantic Ocean winds whose moisture gets trapped by the mountains circumventing the Spanish Atlantic façade. Because of the Foehn effect, the southern slopes fall inside the rain shadow zone and so Green Spain contrasts starkly with the Spanish drier central plateau. Conversely, in those brief episodes when the southwestern winds blow through the mountains (especially during October-November[, the effect reverses, the northern coast gets inside the Foehn winds and is dry and much warmer than the inner plateau, where rain is present.

 



maart 20, 2010

Man with the camera



filmtips:

A snapshot is popularly defined as a photograph that is "shot" spontaneously and quickly, most often without artistic or journalistic intent. Snapshots are commonly considered to be technically "imperfect" or amateurish--out of focus or poorly framed or composed. The term derives from the snap shot of hunting. Common snapshot subjects include the events of everyday life, such as birthday parties and other celebrations; sunsets; children playing; group photos; pets; and the like.

The "snapshot camera" tradition continues with inexpensive point-and-shoot digital cameras that fully automate flash, ISO, focus, shutter speed, and other functions, making the shooting of a good-quality image simple. Such cameras are typically programed to achieve a deep depth of field and high shutter speed so that as much of the image is in focus as possible. For expert photographers, who are better able to control the focus point, the use of shallow depth of field often achieves more pleasing images by blurring the background and making the subject stand out.


maart 18, 2010

Arrival of a prince



Filmtips:

Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting schedule. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be speaking a different language. The procedure was sometimes practised in musicals when the actor had an unsatisfactory singing voice, and remains in use to enable the screening of audio-visual material to a mass audience in countries where viewers do not speak the same language as the original performers. "Dubbing" also describes the process of an actor's re-recording lines spoken during filming and which must be replaced to improve audio quality or reflect dialog changes. This process is called additional dialogue recording, or ADR for short. Music is also dubbed onto a film after editing is completed.


maart 16, 2010

Fiesta Espana



Interlacing

Video can be interlaced or progressive. Interlacing was invented as a way to achieve good visual quality within the limitations of a narrow bandwidth. The horizontal scan lines of each interlaced frame are numbered consecutively and partitioned into two fields: the odd field consisting of the odd-numbered lines and the even field consisting of the even-numbered lines.
Abbreviated video resolution specifications often include an i to indicate interlacing. For example, PAL video format is often specified as 576i50, where 576 indicates the vertical line resolution, i indicates interlacing, and 50 indicates 50 fields (half-frames) per second.

In progressive scan systems, each refresh period updates all of the scan lines. The result is a higher spatial resolution and a lack of various artifacts that can make parts of a stationary picture appear to be moving or flashing.

A procedure known as deinterlacing can be used for converting an interlaced stream, such as analog, DVD, or satellite, Deinterlacing cannot, however, produce a video quality that is equivalent to true progressive scan source material.


maart 06, 2010

Ribadeo



Filmtips:
  • Video quality is measured in lines of resolution, the number of tiny horizontal stripes of color the playback uses to fill your TV screen. As you can see by this table, digital camcorders blow every previous tape format out of the water.
    All camcorders, TVs, and VCRs have the same vertical resolution; this table measures horizontal resolution.)
    VHS, VHS-C

maart 02, 2010

Circus animals



Many animal welfare and animal rights organizations are opposed to the use of wild animals in circuses. The animal rights groups also oppose the use of domestic animals, such as horses or dogs, in circuses. Many of these groups actively campaign against circuses by staging protests to increase awareness of animal rights' violations and to urge circus-goers to boycott circuses and to patronize only animal-free circuses. The groups assert that animals used in the circus are subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment during training, harsh conditions during transport, and a general lack of mental and physical stimulation.
An official dutch university report concluded;
Wild animals in circuses suffer through the inability to exhibit natural behavior and boredom, lack of exercise, overcrowding and frequent, prolonged transport situations.
From the observed animals in the Netherlands showed 71% clinical abnormalities.
Elephants are the most affected of all circus animals. They are approximately 17 hours per day (unnecessarily) chained to a front and rear leg and have averaged over 10 hours a day deviant behavior, which is a symptom of chronic and severe stress.





februari 28, 2010

Fishing village in green Spain




In photography, panning refers to the horizontal movement or rotation of a still or video camera, or the scanning of a subject horizontally on video or a display device.
Movie and television cameras pan by turning horizontally on a vertical axis, but the effect may be enhanced by adding other techniques, such as rails to move the whole camera platform. Slow panning is also combined with zooming in or out on a single subject, leaving the subject in the same portion of the frame, to emphasize or de-emphasize the subject respectively.

In video technology, the use of a camera to scan a subject horizontally is called panning.

The term panning is derived from panorama a word originally coined in 1787 by Robert Barker for the 18th century version of these applications, a machine that unrolled or unfolded a long horizontal painting to give the impression the scene was passing by.


februari 27, 2010

The Elephant .........man!!


The Elephant Man is a 1980 drama film based on the story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London. The film was directed by David Lynch The screenplay was adapted by Lynch, Christopher De Vore, and Eric Bergren from the books The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences (1923) by Sir Frederick Treves and The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity by Ashley Montagu. It was shot in black-and-white.

The Elephant Man was recognized as a critical and commercial success, and received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture in 1981.

Some critics have dismissed The Elephant Man as an exercise in emotional manipulation, however I believe this completely misses the point. All films are manipulative to some degree, but it is a manipulation in which we as an audience engage by consent. The Elephant Man will stand the final test and it will be appreciated fully by future audiences, in much the same way as Citizen Kane had to wait for some decades until audiences were able to fully comprehend its greatness.





februari 23, 2010

Roman aqueducts & waterworks



Although particularly associated with the Romans, aqueducts were devised much earlier in the Near East and Indian subcontinent, where peoples such as the Egyptians and Harappans built sophisticated irrigation systems. Roman-style aqueducts were used as early as the 7th century BC, when the Assyrians built an 80 km long limestone aqueduct, 10 m high and 300 m wide, to carry water across a valley to their capital city, Nineveh.


Purchased film content is downloaded onto an editing work station hard drive and third-party editors manually re-edit the video and audio tracks, removing objectionable content. Some manual re-edits are done by fans



februari 12, 2010

Artwork in a Spanish monastery


Using Natural Lighting


Shooting in full noon-day sun is not recommended as it casts harsh shadows on a person's face. You're better off shooting in full shade and optionally bouncing extra light into the scene with reflectors. Similarly, shooting in partial shade with intense sunlight will create a very high contrast scene. Shooting out of the shade can be great in the morning or evening, just remember that your lighting will be in flux and eventually too dark or too light. Overcast days are great for getting even lighting.


februari 10, 2010

Altamira Cave




The Altamira Cave, discovered by Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola in 1879, are located in one of the hills that surround the nice valley where Santillana village is placed. Its discovery started big polemics between the archaeologists, because they did not believe that prehistoric men were able to do such perfect paintings. The main gallery, called the polychromes chamber, is also known as the Cappella Sistina of the quaternary art.
In its ceiling there are nearly a hundred of animals and signs, especially bisons in different postures , with other animals as deers, horses, wild boars and


februari 04, 2010

Max Havelaar by Multatuli




The colonial control of Indonesia had passed from the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to the Dutch government due to the economic failure of the VOC. In order to increase revenue, the Dutch colonial government implemented a series of policies termed the Cultivation System (Dutch: cultuurstelsel), which mandated Indonesian farmers to grow a quota of commercially tradable crops such as tea and coffee, instead of growing staple foods such as rice. At the same time, the colonial government also implemented a tax collection system in which the collecting agents were paid by commission. The combination of these two strategies caused widespread abuse of colonial power, especially on the islands of Java and Sumatra, resulting in abject poverty and widespread starvation among the farmers. Multatuli wrote Max Havelaar in protest against these colonial policies. Despite its terse writing style, it raised the awareness of Europeans living in Europe at the time that the wealth that they enjoyed was the result of suffering in other parts of the world. This awareness eventually formed the motivation for the new Ethical Policy by which the Dutch colonial government attempted to "repay" their debt to their colonial subjects by providing education to some classes of natives, generally members of the elite loyal to the colonial government. A follow-up to the recent video "Multatuli's Amsterdam" also on this site.

februari 03, 2010

Carnival: Apotheosis




Filmtips:

A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment. The study of soundscape is the subject of acoustic ecology. The idea of soundscape refers to both the natural acoustic environment, consisting of natural sounds, including animal vocalizations and, for instance, the sounds of weather and other natural elements; and environmental sounds created by humans, through musical composition, sound design, and other ordinary human activities including conversation, work, and sounds of mechanical origin resulting from use of industrial technology. The disruption of these acoustic environments results in noise pollution.

The term "soundscape" can also refer to an audio recording or performance of sounds that create the sensation of experiencing a particular acoustic environment, or compositions created using the "found sounds" of an acoustic environment, either exclusively or in conjunction with musical performances.



 

februari 02, 2010

Glas




Bert Haanstra (31 May 1916 23 October 1997) was a famous Dutch film and documentary director and Academy Award winner.

Haanstra was born in the town of Holten and became a professional filmmaker in 1947. In 1958 his documentary Glass, a filmic improvisation made in a glassfactory, won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject.

His price-winning film Glas, not the one above, can be watched on line




januari 31, 2010

Iberian birds


Digital Content Creation is a modern term denoting the creation and modification of digital content, such as animation, audio, graphics, images or video, as part of the production process before presentation in its final medium.
This large field encompasses many segments such as 3D graphics, audio editing, compositing, authoring, etc. There are other terms available such as creative media or multimedia production, but they also apply to processes not done digitally, such as drawing paintings by hand or producing in the sense of financing a project. DCC best describes the software used in connection with output produced by the user and the DCC industry as a whole.



januari 30, 2010

Winehills & waterways


 

What Is Time-Lapse?

To create a time-lapse clip, pictures, or frames as they are called in video and film production, are taken over a long period of time and then pieced together using software. When they are played back, it appears as if time has been sped up.



Atlantic Spain


HDV is a highly compressed high definition format. As a result, it is not naturally compatible with standard definition televisions or DVD players as such. However, both the camera and the VTR have a "down converted" output that can be used to play into astandard definition TV. This output will provide a standard definition (lower detail) version of the HDV original recording.

If however you are going to edit with your HDV footage, it can be captured into an editing system either via the cameras / players firewire connection or alternatively through a firewire to serial digital video converter. From then on, your editing system will be editing a high-definition master and at the end of this process, HD masters or downconverted SD masters can be created to play on TV systems or create DVDs.



januari 29, 2010

11/11 carnival



On November 11 (the eleventh of the eleventh), at exactly 11:11, is the start of the the carnival season The reason for this date is the number 11, which was traditionally the number of fools and madmen. November 11 is exactly 40 days before December 21, the shortest day. This is the beginning of the dark period for Christmas ending February 2 February 2 is the earliest possible date for carnival. This video shows some weird celebrations with prince Carnival and his mates near a statue of a goat where every year a new theme is announced.



 


Weit ist der Weg




A visit to Easter-Germany a couple of years ago
Though it has changed a lot after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there are still souvenirs from the (DDR) past to be found in various places.
Especially normal houses which should be restored or otherwise demolished. Even the communist Trabant car was still running.

Music: Kraftwerk "Autobahn"

Castres



Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that is not custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is far cheaper than shooting new material. A single piece of stock footage is a "stock shot" or a "library shot".[1] Stock footage may have appeared in previous productions but may also be outtakes or footage shot for previous productions but not used. Examples of stock footage which might be utilised are moving images of cities and landmarks, dangerous wildlife in their natural environments and historical footage.







januari 20, 2010

Carcasonne Castle



The fortified city itself consists essentially of a concentric design of two outer walls with 53 towers and barbicans to prevent attack by siege engines. The castle itself possesses its own drawbridge and ditch leading to a central keep. The walls consist of towers built over quite a long period.[4] One section is Roman and is notably different from the medieval walls with the tell-tale red brick layers and the shallow pitch terracotta tile roofs. One of these towers housed the Catholic Inquisition in the 13th century and is still known as "The Inquisition Tower".

december 23, 2009

Images of France


France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle Vague, began in the country. It is noted for having a particularly strong film industry, due in part to protections afforded by the French government.



december 22, 2009

Muiderslot


The Muiderslot is a Castle in the Netherlands, located at the mouth of the river Vecht, some 15 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam, in Muiden, where it flows into what used to be the Zuiderzee. It's one of the better known castles in the Netherlands and has been featured in many television shows set in the Middle Ages.
The history of the Muiderslot (Castle Muiden, where muiden means rivermouth) begins with Count Floris V who built a stone castle at the mouth of the river back in 1280, when he gained command over an area that used to be part of the See of Utrecht. The River Vecht was the trade route to Utrecht, one of the most important trade towns of that age. The castle was used to enforce a toll on the traders. It is a relatively small castle, measuring 32 by 35 metres with brick walls well over 1.5 metres thick. A large moat surrounded the Castle


december 21, 2009

Najera in Rioja


Nájera is a small town located in the "Rioja Alta" region of La Rioja, Spain on the river Najerilla. Nájera is a stopping point on the Way of St James.

The area attracted the Romans, who built the town of Tritium on land which now falls within the boundaries of Nájera and the neighbouring municipality of Tricio. Subsequently the area was under Muslim rule and the name Nájera (Naxara meaning "town between the rocks") is of Arabic origin.



december 14, 2009

Funny Faces



Fun is the enjoyment of pleasure, particularly in leisure activities. Fun is an experience - short-term, often unexpected, informal, not cerebral and generally purposeless. It is an enjoyable distraction, diverting the mind and body from any serious task or contributing an extra dimension to it. Although particularly associated with recreation and play, fun may be encountered during work, social functions, and even seemingly mundane activities of daily living. It may often have little to no logical basis, and opinions on whether or not an activity is fun may differ. A distinction between enjoyment and fun is difficult but possible to articulate,[1] fun being a more spontaneous, playful, or active event. There are psychological and physiological implications to the experience of fun.


december 09, 2009

Parc de la Ciutat



Getting the pictures
Your images are the meat of the video. Good pictures compel viewers attention and are the proof of your story.Good video is a lot of mental work. Try not to rush. Donât be afraid to stop an interview or move to a new position to get a better picture. Since this is for the Web, remember your image will be quite small. This means you need to fill up your frame. Donât have the subject off in the distance. Keep your composition simple and uncluttered. Get your camera in close to the subject -- donot shoot from across the room.Move the camera to follow action or reveal elements. Otherwise, keep your shot steady. Let the action leave the video frame to give you transition points â let subject get up out of the chair or dance out of the picture.


december 04, 2009

Rendez vous on Mont Juic


Naturally wooded, the slopes of the Montjuïc were traditionally used to grow food and graze animals by the people of the neighbouring Ciutat Vella. In the 1890s, the forests were partially cleared, opening space for parklands. The site was selected to host the 1929 International Exposition (a World's Fair), for which the first large-scale construction on the hill began. The surviving buildings from this effort include the grand Palau Nacional, the Estadi Olímpic (the Olympic stadium), the ornate Font Màgica fountains, and a grand staircase leading up from the foot of Montjuïc at the south end of the Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, past the Font Màgica and through the Plaça del Marquès de Foronda and the Plaça de les Cascades to the Palau Nacional.

december 02, 2009

On a terrace in Amsterdam






In film, a remake is a motion picture based on a film produced earlier. The term remake can refer to everything on the spectrum of reused material: both an allusion or a line by line change retake of a movie. However, the term generally pertains to a new version of an old film. A reproduced television series could also be called a remake.


november 28, 2009

Towards Tulle

Initially, the Gauls settled an oppidum at the site of what is now the Puy St Clair because it was a site surrounded by cliffs and so easy to get off. After the conquest, the city moved downwards, to the Trech district and the Romans established a temple to honor Tutela, goddess of protection of property and persons. The name of the city comes from this goddess. She was honoured here because it was a ford over the Corrèze where passed a very old road between Brittany and the Mediterranean sea. In the seventh century was built a monastery dedicated to St. Michael. The local population settled around the buildings. The first monastery, destroyed by the Viking invasions in 846, was rebuilt but disappeared in the eleventh century.

november 26, 2009

Leon Spain


Fictional film, fiction film or narrative film is a film that tells a fictional or fictionalized story, event or narrative. In this style of film, believable narratives and characters help convince the audience that the unfolding fiction is real. Lighting and camera movement, among other cinematic elements, have become increasingly important in these films. Great detail goes into the screenplays of narratives, as these films rarely deviate from the predetermined behaviours and lines of the classical style of screenplay writing to maintain a sense of realism. Actors must deliver dialogue and action in a believable way, so as to persuade the audience that the film is real life.



november 25, 2009

about Ardeche



The Ardèche is a 125 km long river in south-central France, a right-bank tributary of the River Rhône. Its source is in the Massif Central, near the village of Astet. It flows into the Rhône near Pont-Saint-Esprit, north-west of Orange. The river gives its name to the French department of Ardèche.


The valley of the Ardèche is very scenic, in particular a 30 km section known as the Ardèche Gorges. The walls of the river here are limestone cliffs up to 300m high. A kayak and camping trip down the gorge is not technically difficult and is very popular in the summer. The most famous feature is a natural 60m stone arch spanning the river known as the Pont d'Arc (arch bridge).



 

Alexander Nevsky cementary


 Alexander Nevsky (Prokofiev)

The film was the first of Eisenstein's dramatic films to use sound. (The earlier Bezhin Meadow, had also used sound, but production was shut down and most of the finished scenes were destroyed.) The film's score was composed by Sergei Prokofiev, who later reworked the score into a concert cantata. The creation of Alexander Nevsky was a collaboration in the fullest sense of the word: some of the film was shot to Prokofiev's music and some of Prokofiev's music was composed to Eisenstein's footage. Prokofiev viewed the film's rough cut as the first step in composing its inimitable score. The strong and technically innovative collaboration between Eisenstein and Prokofiev in the editing process resulted in a match of music and imagery that remains a standard for filmmakers. Valery Gergiev, the principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, has stated his opinion that Prokofiev's music for this film is "the best ever composed for the cinema".


november 24, 2009

Nordiska museum Stockholm


 


Nordiska museet is Sweden’s largest museum of cultural history. It is home to over one and a half million exhibits, including exclusive items and everyday objects, all with their own unique history. The collections, which are managed by the Nordiska museet foundation, reflect life in Sweden from the 16th century to the present day. The museum has been referred to as a home for memories, but today it is a place where memories and innovations exist side by side


 

november 22, 2009

Music in the park


Ever since the first sound movie, The Jazz Singer was made in 1929 on Stage 5 of the Warner Bros. lot in Hollywood the movie going public has been spoiled. They have come to expect that when they see a movie they will not only see life up on the screen but they will also hear it too. There is a certain level of technical quality they expect when they see movie. However, when it comes to hearing a movie, things are quite different: their standards for sound quality are much higher than their standards for visual quality. The eyes have a higher threshold for pain than the ears do, and the brain of a typical human being cannot handle uncomfortable noises for very long.


november 20, 2009

The new filmmuseum



The Filmmuseum is Holland's museum for cinematography. The museum's collection of films covers the whole of the history of cinema from the very first silent films, dating from the late 19th century, up to the latest contemporary digital productions.This internationally renowned collection, to which many Dutch and foreign titles are regularly added, is the source of inspiration for the museum's film programmes, exhibitions and events. Every year, there are major thematic programmes examining the history of film and contemporary cinematographic developments. In addition, the museum organises open-air screenings, festivals, theatrical family shows and retrospectives.The Filmmuseum houses the largest film library in the Netherlands. The museum also acts as distributor of classics and contemporary, independent films.


november 19, 2009

Beach in winter



The problem with letterboxing is that it shrinks the viewing area of the television screen, which, if you have a small set to begin with, can make it fairly difficult to see the movie. For this reason, letterboxing is not the most popular formatting option. Most viewers are bothered by the black bars at the top and bottom of their screen more than they are bothered by the idea of not seeing the picture as it was originally filmed, so full-frame movie presentations are much more prevalent than letterbox presentations. But if you are a student of film and want to fully experience the movie as a work of art, then the letterbox format is the only way to go.



november 18, 2009

Traveling in Sweden




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 Moodysson.

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

 


november 15, 2009

Ville d'Arras




During the First World War, Arras was near the front and a series of battles were fought around the city, and nearby Vimy Ridge. A series of medieval tunnels beneath the city, linked and greatly expanded by the New Zealand Tunnelling Company, became a decisive factor in the British forces holding the city. The city, however, was heavily damaged and had to be rebuilt after the war.


 

november 14, 2009

Artic discoveries B/W


 

 The first serious attempt to use airplanes in the Arctic occurred in 1923 when Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen--who in 1911 had been the first person to reach the South Pole--tried to fly from Wainwright, Alaska to Spitsbergen with fellow Norwegian Oscar Omdal. Unfortunately, Amundsen and Omdal's aircraft became damaged and they had to abandon their journey. On May 9, 1926, Byrd and pilot Floyd Bennett attempted a flight over the North Pole in a Fokker F-VII Tri-motor called the Josephine Ford. This flight went from Spitsbergen (Svalbard) and back to its take-off airfield. Byrd claimed to have reached the Pole. From 1926 until 1996, there were doubts, defenses, and heated controversy about whether or not Byrd actually reached the North Pole. In 1958 Norwegian-American aviator and explorer Bernt Balchen cast doubt on Byrd's claim based on his extensive personal knowledge of the airplane's speed. In 1971 Balchen speculated that Byrd had simply circled aimlessly while out of sight of land. 






november 13, 2009

Waves in the Golf of Biscay


Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the intro, during title sequence and/or ending credits. If it is accompanied by lyrics, most often associated with the show, it is a theme song.
The phrase theme song or signature tune may also be used to refer to a song that has become especially associated with a particular performer or dignitary; often used as they make an entrance.
The purpose of a theme song is often similar to that of a leitmotif.





 

november 10, 2009

Wired


Wireless communication is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not connected by an electrical conductor.
The most common wireless technologies use radio. With radio waves distances can be short, such as a few meters for television or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications. It encompasses various types of fixed, mobile, and portable applications, including two-way radios, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and wireless networking. Other examples of applications of radio wireless technology include GPS units, garage door openers, wireless computer mice, keyboards and headsets, headphones, radio receivers, satellite television, broadcast television and cordless telephones.
Somewhat less common methods of achieving wireless communications includes the use of other electromagnetic wireless technologies, such as light, magnetic, or electric fields or the use of sound.


 



november 04, 2009

Dutch Safari


The name "film" originates from the fact that photographic film (also called film stock) has historically been the medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for an individual motion picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photoplay and flick. The most common term in the United States is movie, while in Europe film is preferred. Terms for the field in general include the big screen, the silver screen, the movies and cinema; the latter is commonly used in scholarly texts and critical essays, especially by European writers. In early years, the word sheet was sometimes used instead of screen.

oktober 31, 2009

Mini Saint Petersburg


The first films seen in the Russian Empire were brought in by the Lumière brothers, who exhibited films in Moscow and St. Petersburg in May 1896. That same month, Lumière cameraman Camille Cerf made the first film in Russia, recording the coronation of Nicholas II at the Kremlin.
During World War I, imports dropped drastically, and Russian filmmakers turned out anti-German, nationalistic films. In 1916, 499 films were made in Russia, more than three times the number of just three years earlier.
The Russian Revolution brought more change, with a number of films with anti- Tsarist themes. The last significant film of the era, made in 1917, Father Sergius would become the first new film release of the Soviet era.


 


oktober 21, 2009

The song of the Whale


Whaling is the hunting of whales primarily for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC.[1] Various coastal communities have long histories of subsistence whaling and harvesting beached whales. Industrial whaling emerged with organized fleets in the 17th century; competitive national whaling industries in the 18th and 19th centuries; and the introduction of factory ships along with the concept of whale harvesting in the first half of the 20th century.

As technology increased and demand for the resources remained, catches far exceeded the sustainable limit for whale stocks. In the late 1930s, more than 50,000 whales were killed annually[2] and by the middle of the century whale stocks were not being replenished. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned commercial whaling so that stocks might recover.

While the moratorium has been successful in averting the extinction of whale species due to overhunting, contemporary whaling is subject to intense debate. Pro-whaling countries, notably Japan, wish to lift the ban on stocks that they claim have recovered sufficiently to sustain limited hunting. Anti-whaling countries and environmental groups say whale species remain vulnerable and that whaling is immoral, unsustainable, and should remain banned permanently.

 


oktober 17, 2009

Amsterdam New Train



The Fyra has a poor reputation for reliability. After a month of operations more than 5% of all trains were cancelled and less than 45% of them ran on schedule. In the middle of January 2013 further problems arose: 3 trains were damaged because of ice (among other technical problems). Further commercial service was even forbidden by the Belgian rail safety regulator. This led to several complaints from user associations and tourist information services.


Read further on Fyra Fiasco on this site