24 december 2017

Rain by Joris Ivens



Born Georg Henri Anton Ivens into a wealthy family, Ivens went to work in one of his father's photo supply shops and from there developed an interest in film. Under the direction of his father, he completed his first film at 13; in college he studied economics with the goal of continuing his father's business, but an interest in class issues distracted him from that path. He met photographer Germaine Krull in Berlin in 1923, and entered into a marriage of convenience with her between 1927 and 1943 so that Krull could hold a Dutch passport and could have a "veneer of married respectability without sacrificing her autonomy."




Originally his work focused on technique, especially in Rain (Regen, 1929), a 10-minute short filmed over 2 years, and in The Bridge (De Brug, 1928). Around this time, along with Menno ter Braak and others, he was involved in the creation of the Dutch Film League (De Nederlandsche Filmliga) based in Amsterdam.



 

19 december 2017

Fireworksmusic



Fireworks take many forms to produce the four primary effects: noise, light, smoke, and floating materials (confetti for example). They may be designed to burn with colored flames and sparks including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and silver. Displays are common throughout the world and are the focal point of many cultural and religious celebrations.

Fireworks were invented in medieval China in the 7th century to scare away evil spirits, a natural application of gunpowder, one of the Four Great Inventions of ancient China. China is the largest manufacturer and exporter of fireworks in the world.

Fireworks are generally classified as to where they perform, either as a ground or aerial firework. In the latter case they may provide their own propulsion (skyrocket) or be shot into the air by a mortar (aerial shell).



17 december 2017

Alexander Nevsky Convent







Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg supposing that that was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexander Nevsky, a prince, defeated the Swedes; however, the battle actually took place about 12 miles (19 km) away from that site. "On April 5, 1713, in St. Petersburg, in the presence of Peter I, the wooden Church of the Annunciation was consecrated. This day is considered the official founding date of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra."



"The relics of St. Alexander Nevsky were solemnly transferred from Vladimir to the new capital of Russia September 12, 1724 by decree of Peter the Great." Nevsky became patron of the newly founded Russian capital; however, the massive silver sarcophagus of St. Alexander Nevsky was relocated during Soviet times to the State Hermitage Museum where it remains (without the relics) today.


 

European digital library



An Internet protocol camera, or IP camera, is a type of digital video camera commonly employed for surveillance, and which, unlike analog closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, can send and receive data via a computer network and the Internet. Although most cameras that do this are webcams, the term "IP camera" or "netcam" is usually applied only to those used for surveillance that can be directly accessed over a network connection.

An IP camera is typically either centralized (requiring a central network video recorder (NVR) to handle the recording, video and alarm management) or decentralized (no NVR needed, as camera can record to any local or remote storage media). The first centralized IP camera was Axis Neteye 200, released in 1996 by Axis Communications.




IP cameras are typically available at resolutions from 0.3 (VGA resolution) to 29 megapixels.[1] As in the consumer TV business, in the early 21st century, there has been a shift towards high-definition video resolutions, e.g. 720p or 1080i and 16:9 widescreen format.

16 december 2017

Glory of Gaudi



Antoni Gaudí i Cornet 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was an architect from Reus, Catalonia. He is the best known practitioner of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works have a highly individualized and distinctive style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his largest work, the church of the Sagrada Família.

Gaudí's work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. He considered every detail of his creations and integrated into his architecture such crafts as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. He also introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís which used waste ceramic pieces.


 


10 december 2017

Am Rhein



Romance films or romance movies are romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theaters and on TV that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters and the journey that their genuinely strong, true and pure romantic love takes them through dating, courtship or marriage. Romance films make the romantic love story or the search for strong and pure love and romance the main plot focus. Occasionally, romance lovers face obstacles such as finances, physical illness, various forms of discrimination, psychological restraints or family that threaten to break their union of love. As in all quite strong, deep, and close romantic relationships, tensions of day-to-day life, temptations (of infidelity), and differences in compatibility enter into the plots of romantic films.



09 december 2017

Costa Brava



The concept of orphan films acquired an academic and creative entity in the 1990s from new approaches to managing film archives. At that time, orphan films simply identified films without copyright or abandoned by their owners or custodians. However, the term gradually widened to include any kind of footage which has been abandoned, found or forgotten for commercial, material, cultural, political and historical reasons:  material in the public domain, home movies, film out-takes, unreleased films, industrial and educational films, clandestine work, ethnographic films, newsreels, censored material, unfinished pieces, fragments of productions from the silent era, archival material, reels found, medical films, short or unusual format films, advertisements, sponsored films, student work and any other ephemeral piece of celluloid. Rick Prelinger, founder of the online Prelinger Archives, understands orphan films as “films that do not have any controlling and censoring parents”, films that are “free to go home when they like without asking permission”, films from which “to rethink many of the unquestioned concepts of film history”.



07 december 2017

Optical disk development



Optical video recording technology, using a transparent disc, was invented by David Paul Gregg and James Russell in 1958 The Gregg patents were purchased by MCA in 1968. By 1969, Philips had developed a videodisc in reflective mode, which has advantages over the transparent mode. MCA and Philips then decided to combine their efforts and first publicly demonstrated the video disc in 1972.
Although the format was capable of offering higher-quality video and audio than its consumer rivals, VHS and Betamax videotape, LaserDisc never managed to gain widespread use in North America, largely due to high costs for the players and video titles themselves and the inability to record TV programs. It was not a popular format in Europe and Australia when first released, but eventually did gain traction in these regions to become popular in the 1990s. By contrast, the format was much more popular in Japan and in the more affluent regions of Southeast Asia, such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. Its superior video and audio quality made it a popular choice among videophiles and film enthusiasts during its lifespan.



05 december 2017

Blue,Blanc,Rouge






Jean-Luc Godard, never one to be outdone, has also made vivid use throughout his career of not just red but white and blue as well. The video above, "Bleu, Blanc, Rouge - A Godard Supercut," compiles three minutes of such colorful moments from the Godard filmography, drawing from his works A Woman Is a Woman, Contempt, Pierrot le Fou, and Made in U.S.A., all of which did much to define 1960s world cinema, capturing with their vivid colors performances by Godardian icons Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina.


04 december 2017

Amsterdam Doves



OLDER CITIES OVERCOME BY EXCESSIVE TOURISM?
Many older cities, such as Venice, Barcelona, Berlin, and Amsterdam, are suffering from excessive tourism, with overcrowding at the top sites and attractions. Some are promoting tourism outside mainstream areas, either inside or outside the boundaries of the core city, in an attempt to distribute visitors and their wealth more evenly.
Indeed, in Amsterdam the discussion about overcrowding due to growing numbers of tourists has been swelling for a number of years.
When commuters, day trippers and Dutch locals are included, the city welcomed 18,3 million visitors as much as the total Dutch population !


03 december 2017

Bagnols- sur- Ceze



Camera movements can also be motion captured so that a virtual camera in the scene will pan, tilt, or dolly around the stage driven by a camera operator while the actor is performing, and the motion capture system can capture the camera and props as well as the actor's performance. This allows the computer-generated characters, images and sets to have the same perspective as the video images from the camera. A computer processes the data and displays the movements of the actor, providing the desired camera positions in terms of objects in the set. Retroactively obtaining camera movement data from the captured footage is known as match moving or camera tracking.


01 december 2017

Alexandria



The cinema of Egypt refers to the flourishing film industry based in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Since 1976, Cairo has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations.[5] There is also another festival held in Alexandria. Of the more than 4,000 short and feature-length films made in Arab countries since 1908, more than three-quarters were Egyptian.




30 november 2017

Roros

A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area which is selected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance, and is legally protected by international treaties. The sites are judged important to the collective interests of humanity.

To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be an already classified landmark, unique in some respect as a geographically and historically identifiable place having special cultural or physical significance (such as an ancient ruin or historical structure, building, city, complex, desert, forest, island, lake, monument, or mountain). It may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet.



29 november 2017

Walk like an Egyptian



In television, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups. There have been instances in which an actor has been so strongly identified with a role as to make it difficult for him or her to find work playing other characters.

Alternatively, a director may choose to cast an actor "against type" (i.e., in a role that would be unusual for that actor, to create a dramatic or comedic effect). Typecasting also occurs in other performing arts. An opera singer who has a great deal of success in one role, such as Denyce Graves as Carmen, may become typecast in that role.

28 november 2017

People of Egypt



A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography and the comic strip medium is a type of shot, which tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots (cinematic techniques). Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene. Moving in to a close-up or away from a close-up is a common type of zooming.


27 november 2017

Aafje meets Santa



Saint Nicholas' Day, observed on December 6 in Western Christian countries, December 5 in the Netherlands and December 19 in Eastern Christian countries, is the feast day of Saint Nicholas. It is celebrated as a Christian festival with particular regard to his reputation as a bringer of gifts, as well as through the attendance of Mass or worship services. In Europe, especially in "Germany and Poland, boys would dress as bishops begging alms for the poor." In Ukraine, children wait for St. Nicholas to come and to put a present under their pillows provided that the children were good during the year. Children who behaved badly may expect to find a twig or a piece of coal under their pillows. In the Netherlands, "Dutch children put out a clog filled with hay and a carrot for Saint Nicholas' horse.


26 november 2017

The new Capri hotel Alexandria



Alexandria is the second largest city and a major economic centre in Egypt, extending about 32 km (20 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country. Its low elevation on the Nile delta makes it highly vulnerable to rising sea levels. Alexandria is an important industrial center because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez. Alexandria is also a popular tourist destination.;Alexandria was the second most powerful city of the ancient world after Rome.


22 november 2017

FilmFernsehFonds Bayern Imagefilm

The FFF Bayern has the goal of developing the film funding system, both in terms of quality as well as quantity. Through this funding instrument, the production location of Bavaria can consolidate and further develop its outstanding position. In the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern the film industry has gained a partner who can give them comprehensive advice, monitoring and funding.

For the production funding of films for the cinema and television, the “Bavaria effect” applies, according to which the applicant must spend at least 1.5 times the granted loan amount in Bavaria. In addition, Bavarian Bank Funds (BBF), founded in the year 2000, finances films for cinema in production and distribution.

In addition to its funding activities, the FFF Bayern provides extensive consulting and information for the film and television branches. The Film Commission Bayern supports local and foreign production companies while filming in Bavaria. FFF Bayern rounds its service and information with the industry publication Film News Bayern, a continuously updated website and numerous events, as well as participation at important festivals and staging of Bavarian Film Weeks abroad.



16 november 2017

Teaching Projection



Decline of film projectors
In 1999, digital cinema projectors were being tried out in some movie theatres. These early projectors played the movie stored on a server and played back through the projector. Due to their relatively low resolution (usually only 2K), the images at the time showed pixelization blocks in some scenes, much like images on early widescreen televisions. By 2006, the advent of much higher 4K resolution digital projection had removed any traces of pixelization. The systems became more compact than the larger machines of four years earlier. By 2009, movie theatres started replacing the film projectors with digital projectors. In 2013, it was estimated that 92% of movie theatres in the United States had converted to digital, with 8% still playing film. In 2015, numerous popular filmmakers—including Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan—lobbied large studios to commit to purchase a minimum amount of 35 mm film from Kodak. The decision ensured that Kodak's 35mm film production would continue for several years.



High-resolution digital projectors offer many advantages over traditional film units. For example, digital projectors contain no moving parts except fans, can be operated remotely, and are relatively compact. They also allow for much easier, less expensive, and more reliable storage and distribution of content, including the ability to display live broadcasts.

12 november 2017

Anchovies are no sardines

Anchovies and sardines are both small, silvery, oily fish, and they are even related. Nevertheless, they are different fish, and connoisseurs will even be able to pick out the "true" sardine or anchovy from among the rest.
Anchovies (Engraulidae) and herrings and sardines (Clupeidae) are fish families that both belong to the order Clupeiformes. Most fish in this order are silvery with stream-lined, spindle-shaped bodies, live in large shoals and eat plankton that they filter from the water with their gill rakes.
Anchovies are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, and some species enter or live in freshwater. They have translucent bodies with a silvery stripe down the flanks, and most species are less than 6 inches long.