30 juli 2013

Ghost Town



The Western is a genre of various arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.
The Western genre sometimes portrays the conquest of the wilderness and the subordination of nature in the name of civilization or the confiscation of the territorial rights of the original inhabitants of the frontier. The Western depicts a society organized around codes of honor and personal, direct or private justice such as the feud, rather than one organized around rationalistic, abstract law, in which social order is maintained predominately through relatively impersonal institutions. The popular perception of the Western is a story that centers on the life of a semi-nomadic wanderer, usually a cowboy or a gunfighter.

 

29 juli 2013

Amateur vacation film


The standard 8 mm film format was developed by the Eastman Kodak company during the Great Depression and released on the market in 1932 to create a home movie format that was less expensive than 16 mm. The film spools actually contain a 16 mm film with twice as many perforations along each edge than normal 16 mm film; on its first pass through the camera, the film is only exposed along half of its width. When the first the spools are flipped and swapped (pass is complete, the camera is opened and the same film is then exposed along its other edge, the edge left unexposed on the first pass. After processing, the film is split down the middle, resulting in two lengths of 8 mm film, each with a single row of perforations along one edge, thereby yielding four times as many frames from the same amount of 16 mm film — and hence the cost savings. Because of the two passes of the film, the format was sometimes called Double 8.

Pharao in Amsterdam




A replica is a copying closely resembling the original concerning its shape and appearance. An inverted replica complements the original by filling its gaps. It can be a copy used for historical purposes, such as being placed in a museum. Replicas and reproductions can be related to any form of licensing an image for others to use, whether it is through photos, postcards, prints, miniature or full size copies they represent a resemblance of the original object.
A prop replica is an authentic-looking duplicate of a prop from a movie or television show.
There is to day a public fascination with the multiple expeditions searching for the tomb of Tutankhamun by archaeologist Howard Carter who eventually discovered the tomb on November 4, 1922


27 juli 2013

Polar cabin


The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration was an era beginning at the end of the 19th century and closing with Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, the survivors stepping ashore in Wellington, New Zealand February 9th 1917. Historian Aant Elzinga gives the much later date of 1945, considering World War II to be the turning point in Antarctic research. During this period the Antarctic continent became the focus of an international effort that resulted in intensive scientific and geographical exploration and in which 17 major Antarctic expeditions were launched from ten countries. The common factor in these expeditions was the limited nature of the resources available to them before advances in transport and communication technologies revolutionized the work of exploration. This meant that each expedition became a feat of endurance that tested its personnel to physical and mental limits, and sometimes beyond. The "heroic" label, bestowed later, recognized the adversities which had to be overcome by these pioneers, some of whom did not survive the experience; during this period 19 expedition members died.



24 juli 2013

Istanbul



Dubbing, mixing, or re-recording is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production in which additional or supplementary recordings are "mixed" with original production sound to create the finished soundtrack.

The process usually takes place on a dub stage. After sound editors edit and prepare all necessary tracks (dialogue, automated dialogue replacement (ADR), effects, Foley, and music), the dubbing mixer or mixers proceed to balance all of the elements and record the finished soundtrack. Dubbing is sometimes confused with ADR, also known as "additional dialogue replacement", "additional dialogue recording", and "looping", in which the original actors re-record and synchronize audio segments.

Outside the film industry, the term "dubbing" most commonly refers to the replacement of the voices of the actors shown on the screen with those of different performers speaking another language, which is called "revoicing" in the film industry.



23 juli 2013

Unkown Paris


Probably the easiest one to control is the focal length of the lens being used. Focal length refers to whether it is a wide angle or telephoto lens. Most video cameras have a zoom lens, which is also known as a variable focal length lens. This means it has a wide angle setting, a telephoto setting and all settings in-between. As you zoom in and out, you are changing focal length.

By its very nature, a telephoto lens has a shallow depth of field. The longer the lens, the less depth of field. A 400 mm lens has virtually no depth of field whereas a modest telephoto, like an 80 mm, will have a slight depth of field.

A wide angle lens has a deep depth of field. The wider the lens, the larger the depth of field. An extreme wide angle lens has an infinite depth of field. It is almost impossible for any part of a wide angle shot to be out of focus because the depth of field is so great. It almost does not matter where your focus is actually set, everything will be in focus.


 

20 juli 2013

Bad Kreuznach



A spa town (also called a bathing-place or simply a spa) is a specialized resort town situated around a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visited spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau (town of water).
The term spa is used for towns or resorts offering hydrotherapy which can include cold water or mineral water treatments and hot thermal baths.

19 juli 2013

(driving)Lessons


A film school may be part of an existing public or private college or university, or part of a privately owned for-profit institution. Depending on whether the curriculum of a film school meets its state's academic requirements for the conferral of a degree, completion of studies in a film school may culminate in an undergraduate or graduate degree, or a certificate of completion.
Many film schools still teach students how to use actual film in their productions, although the incorporation of digital media in film school curricula has risen drastically in recent years. Some schools offer only digital filmmaking courses, eschewing instruction in the medium of film altogether. The use of digital cameras and digital media is significantly less expensive than film cameras and film stock, and allows a film school or department to offer more equipment for students with which to learn and use for their projects. In addition, digital media (such as DVD) is often used for in-class screenings.


In recent years, online film schools of sorts have sprung up teaching film making through articles, tutorial videos, and interactive forums. The next generation of digital cinematography using the large sensors and manual features available in still DSLR cameras has lowered the barrier further towards creating inexpensive digital video that compares closely to 35mm film.

Classic filmscenes



Tension and laughing.


Samples of very good editing of amateur films. With the pursuit please marks and listen to the music- effects. Beware of the mis en scene of the accident. Footage taken from more than one camera.
The children give an excellent actor performance. Playing with cream is always hilarious.
Both scenes are classical examples in film history and editing.

Source: Yorkshire filmarchive

18 juli 2013

Falling in love


The Dutch have somehting special with the Tour de France. They had two winners; Jansen and Zoetemalk and also two of the most spectacular falls. Wim van Est who survived a fall into the Gorges and Jonny Hoogeland who was hit by a french TV car.
Three times the Tour had its departure in the Netherlands once in Amsterdam (see video) and lately in "s-Hertogenbosch and Rotterdam


15 juli 2013

Lumiere Broths



The Lumière brothers were born in Besançon, France, to Charles-Antoine Lumière (1840–1911)[3] and Jeanne Joséphine Costille Lumière, who were married in 1861 and moved to Besançon, setting up a small photographic portrait studio where Auguste and Louis were born. They moved to Lyon in 1870, where son Edouard and three daughters were born. Auguste and Louis both attended La Martiniere, the largest technical school in Lyon.Their father Charles-Antoine set up a small factory producing photographic plates, but even with Louis and a young sister working from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. it teetered on the verge of bankruptcy, and by 1882 it looked as if they would fail, but when Auguste returned from military service the boys designed the machines necessary to automate their father's plate production and devised a very successful new photo plate, 'etiquettes bleue', and by 1884 the factory employed a dozen workers.

14 juli 2013

Living statues



Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is practiced all over the world by men, women and children and dates back to antiquity. People engaging in this practice are called street performers or buskers.


Performances are anything that people find entertaining. Performers may do acrobatics, animal tricks, balloon twisting, caricatures, clowning, comedy, contortions, escapology, dance, singing, fire skills, flea circus, fortune-telling, juggling, magic, mime, living statue, musical performance, puppeteering, snake charming, storytelling or reciting poetry or prose, street art such as sketching and painting, street theatre, sword swallowing, and ventriloquism.


 


12 juli 2013

Scandinavian scenes



The last manufacturer to produce Super 8 cameras was the French company Beaulieu. Beaulieu cameras have been the basis for several newer cameras offered by the US based Pro8mm company. Older Super 8 cameras are available from specialized retailers and auction sites such as eBay.
Kodak is the only company currently making Super 8 film stock, including some of their latest Vision 3 color negative stock. One or more other Super 8 specialists (such as Pro8mm, Spectra (both in Los Angeles), Wittner Cinetec (in Hamburg, Germany) and Kahlfilm (in Brühl, Germany) slit raw 35 mm film stock from Fuji, Kodak and ORWO, perforate it, and repackage it in Kodak Super 8 cartridges. Due to Kodak's discontinuation of Kodachrome 40 in 2006 (the one stock that for four decades used to be almost synonymous to Super 8 as a medium itself), the Super 8 market opened for new stocks and competing film manufacturers. There are now more varieties of Super 8 film available than ever before, but ironically very few retailers still stock Super 8 film, as there is virtually no demand from "ordinary" consumers.

One country where it remained widely available well past the 90s is the UK, where the chain Jessops carried one film: Kodak Ektachrome 64T. Until 2002 it was also available in Boots, a British high- street chain-pharmacy. In 2007 it was reported that Jessops are scaling back their film stocks and will no longer stock Super 8 film.


 

 


 

Our Village: Oberaula


09 juli 2013

Alsfeld



NTSC, PAL, and Cinema are video format standards that refer to the number of frames per second (fps) your recorded video contains. In general, video cameras purchased in North America use the NTSC format (30 fps), and cameras purchased in Europe use the PAL format (25 fps).
Cinema format video has a frame rate of 24 fps. This is the frame rate at which traditional film cameras shoot, and many people think this unique frame rate provides the resulting footage with a special “film-like” look. Therefore, many newer digital cameras, no matter which country they’re purchased in, have a 24 fps “Cinema” mode. You can set your camera to this mode to help give your footage that film-like appearance.


08 juli 2013

City of the popes



The Festival d'Avignon is the place where artists from contracting aesthetic universes come together, discuss and confront their visions. Different origins, different generations are on stage at all times in this Festival that is both totally avant garde and a historical reference. More than 40 performances in twenty magnificent venues, ranginf from small 150-seat chapels to t he legendary, 2000-seat Cour d'honneur in the Palace of the Popes.


 


06 juli 2013

Meze dans Herault



An occupied settlement since ancient times Meze, on the noth-western coast of the Etang de Thau, is now an important local centre for oyster production. Although tourism has an increasingly important role to play, Meze is currently unspoiled and does not have too many tourists.


Your visit to Meze will focus around the harbour, and the streets in the immediately surounding area.
The harbour, still an active fishing port, is a pleasant place for a stroll, while the town itself has narrow streets to explore in the old town (especially the attractive vaulted passageways).

05 juli 2013

The Rijksmuseum online



Money shots in journalism are shots that grab and hold viewers' attention. They can include images of a person in an unusual, noteworthy, tragic, embarrassing, or incriminating situation, or news footage of a notable event, such as an earthquake, tornado, or explosion.

A money shot is typically a shot that would be difficult to set up or anticipate in advance. Because such shots are frequently fortuitous,
amateur footage is disproportionately represented among money shots: a shot of a tsunami rolling into a city is a rare and newsworthy money shot whether it was recorded by a professional crew or simply by an amateur who happened to be on the scene with a camera. In television news broadcasts, money shots are often repeated again and again in order to retain viewer attention.

                stop greenwashing ING sponsorship

04 juli 2013

Cloud film-making



In a recent blog post – Stop Making Docs - Brian Newman argued that the era of the short doc has arrived. With the web, shareable media, mobile exhibition, he argues, the longer and feature length documentaires that dominate festivals are no longer where it’s at, if the aim is to reach an audience and make an impact.

His alternative, “Make me a really interesting website, that happens to have
maybe 20 minutes total of video. In 3 minute segments. Let me trade it, use it, share it, on my phone. Let it actually have an impact instead of just stroking your and your funder’s egos. Let it be interesting and aware of today’s realities. Let it be useful. Let it never play a film festival. Ever.”
 

 

A free lunch


Following in the successful footsteps of actions by the Slow Food Youth Network in Berlin (SchnippelDisko) and France (DiscoSoupe), today’s Damn Food Waste/Disco Soep event at the Museumplein Amsterdam is a first for the Netherlands. Volunteers met at the Amsterdam Food Bank yesterday to wash, peel, and chop more than a thousand pounds of the “unwanted” vegetables collected. Today, huge pots of soup and curry are being dished up for free to thousands of people in the prominent city square from 12 pm – 6 pm, with DJs to entertain the crowds.



Of the annual 4.4 billion euros of food wasted in the Netherlands, more than half is thrown away by Dutch consumers – around 110 lbs per person. This is equivalent to around 100,000 garbage truck loads of good edible food going to waste, much of it having travelled long distances.

30 juni 2013

Winter in Segovia


The old city is spectacularly situated atop a long, narrow promontory. It contains a wealth of monuments, including the cathedral, a famous ancient Roman aqueduct, the Alcazar, and various churches built in the Romanesque style including San Esteban, San Martin, and San Millan. The old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The Alc?zar, or castle-palace, is perched at the tip of the promontory and towering over the countryside below. It was built but the Moors in the 12th century. During the Middle Ages, the Alcazar of Segovia was the favourite residence of kings of Castile, and almost each king added new parts to the building, transforming the original fortress into a courtier residence and prolonging the construction of the castle till 16th century, when King Philip II added the conical spires and the slate roofs.The church of Vera Cruz, beyond the Alcazar and the city walls was founded by the Knights Templar. It is built in the circular style, a common design of the Templar, in recognition of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.The aqueduct that stands at the entrance of the historic section of Segovia was built at the end of 1st to early 2nd century AD by the Romans during their occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. The aqueduct has become a symbol of the city. It was

originally constructed in order to bring water from the Frio River to the city about 18km away, which required it to stretch from the Sierra de Guadarrama to the walls of the old town. Its main part consists of 166 arches, supported by 120 pillars, which cover a distance of 1km (0.6mi). It is made of 20,400 large, rough-hewn granite blocks, joined without mortar or clamps. Its maximum height of 28.1m (100.53ft) is found at the plaza of Azoguejo. A raised section of stonework in the center once had an inscription. Today only the holes for the bronze letters survive.The Cathedral of Segovia stands in the city's central plaza. Constructed by architect Juan Gil de Hontanon in the late Gothic style between 1522 and 1577, it is widely considered Europe's last great Gothic cathedral.Owing to these famous monuments, Segovia is a very popular tourist destination, especially as a day-trip from Madrid.

 



 

29 juni 2013

Belevedere



Belvedere in Italian literally means fair view.It is used as a generic architectural term but it has been used to name buildingsor places like * The Belvedere a small garden casino near the Vatican Palace, Rome, * The Belvedere fort in Florence, Italy * Belvedere (palace) in Vienna * Belvedere Palace in Warsaw, Poland * Belvedere House and Gardens in Ireland * Belvedere Plantation near Richmond, Virginia * Belvedere Park & Belvedere Towers; in New Delhi, India * Claremont Belvedere; a stately home in Surrey, England. * Belvedere (Potsdam), Germany * Belvedere College, Dublin Ireland * Belvedere, California * Belvedere, South Carolina * Belvedere Park, Georgia * Belvedere, London and Belvedere railway station * Tunis Belvedere * The Belvedere Club in Charlevoix, Michigan Anyone knows where this video was taken??


Roadmovie in Spain



Road movieIn general, road movies are a cinematic genre in which the action takes places during a road journey or a vehicle-based film like Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. Notable examples include Easy Rider, Thelma & Louise, Although the genre has its roots in earlier tales of epic journeys, such as Homer's Odyssey and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, road films are uniquely

post-WWII, reflecting the boom of America's postwar automobility and youth culture. Despite the fact that road movies existed in the Depression era, the genre only became self-aware as a genre in the 1960s with "Easy Rider" and "Bonnie and Clyde." For this reason, road movies offer a great pop cultural history of America's shifting relationship to the road, cars, and other technologies, especially as various rebel groups--hippies, blacks, gays and lesbians, women, asian americans--remap the American road story.Like their antecedents, the road movie tends towards an episodic structure. In each episode, there is a challenge to be met, although not all of them will be met successfully. In most episodes, a piece of the plot is revealed - knowledge or allies are gained, and so on.Road movies traditionally end in one of four ways:* having met with triumph at their ultimate destination, the protagonist/s return home, wiser for their experiences.* at the end of the journey, the protagonist/s find a new home at their destination.* the journey continues endlessly. In such cases, the last shot of the film is almost always the driver's point of view of a lonely highway at night.* having realised that, as a result of their journey, they can never go home, the protagonists either choose death or are killed.



 

28 juni 2013

En plein air




The title of the "Norman Switzerland", was given in 1932 by Mr Gourdeau, Minister of Tourism In the feudal era, castles and mostly manors were built in its area. About ten still exist and a few of them are in good condition. More recently, the Orne and its banks have changed, and this has had strong repercussions nowadays. In the eighteenth century, our ancestors did not really care about tourism, but the fords, mills and fisheries built at that time are an heritage which a lot of country can envy. Who could imagine its surroundings in the Moulin du Vey (Mill of the Vey) and its barrage, without its little bridges made with local stone, and its famous bridge crossing the Orne, fitting so well into the countryside. Nowadays, tourism develops itself in a peaceful environment, with the Orne's winding meanders, swelled with many streams.

26 juni 2013

Museum minute




A video mashup is the combination of multiple sources of videos which usually have no relation with each other, other than a derivative work, often lampooning its component sources or another text. Many mashup videos are humorous movie trailer parodies, a later genre of mashups gaining much popularity. To the extent that mashups are 'transformative' of original content, they may find protection from copyright claims under the "fair use" doctrine of U.S. copyright law.


Human Rights testimonial


WITNESS empowers human rights defenders to use video to fight injustice, and to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools that can pressure those in power or with power to act. By bringing often unseen images and seldom heard stories to the attention of key decision makers, the media, and the public–WITNESS catalyzes grassroots activism, political engagement, and lasting change. We bridge the worlds of human rights, media and technology by incorporating cutting-edge innovations into traditional approaches to advocacy. WITNESS’ unique contribution to the human rights community is to serve as global authority on best practices in the use of video for human rights purposes and a frontline resource for training and expertise
The Training section of our website is designed to help anyone interested in using video advocacy in their campaigns. All materials are downloadable and sharable. In our Tip Sheets section you will find tools for assessing if video is right for your campaign as well as practical how-to guides to help you make the most of video for human rights change.

25 juni 2013

Eyewitness



Witness that will bring about change in policies, law or people's behavior. And we define "video advocacy" as using visual media as a targeted tool that will engage people to create change. Video advocacy is not about using video primarily for publicity or as an educational or training tool. It requires setting specific objectives, identifying target audiences, and developing a strategic plan for production and distribution to ensure the video has impact as a specific tactic within a broader strategy.


Anyone can use video advocacy, from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to individual activists. Video is a democratic tool. However, video advocacy is a time- and labor-intensive process that requires significant commitment of human and other resources. And, as with all methodologies, it has advantages and limitations.

21 juni 2013

Carl Zeiss Jena


September 1847: With skill, experience, vigor, and ideas of his own, Carl Zeiss starts making microscopes on his new premises. These are simple microscopes, consisting of one lens only and intended mainly for dissecting work. During the first year, Zeiss sells as many as 23 of them, an
indication that they do well in comparison with other makes. Nevertheless, they undergo many improvements during the following years.Nowadays we all know the brand which is similar to high quality camera-lenses

20 juni 2013

Fishing around the Southpole


When the commercial whaling moratorium was introduced by the IWC in 1982, Japan lodged an official objection, but withdrew this objection in 1987 after the United States threatened it with sanctions. Therefore, in 1987, Japan stopped commercial whaling activities in Antarctic waters, but in the same year began a controversial scientific whaling program Japan's scientific whaling program has remained controversial, with conservation groups and anti-whaling countries such as the US and Australia maintaining that the number of animals killed is much greater than demanded by scientific purposes and that the real reason for the scientific kills is to provide whale meat for Japanese restaurants and supermarkets. The Japanese government points out that IWC regulations require that whale meat be utilised upon the completion of research. The Japanese government insists that it be allowed to continue research into whale populations and breeding habits in order to refute claims that commercial whaling threatens the sustainability of the populations. In 1994, Australia attempted to stop some of the Japanese whaling program by enforcing a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around the Australian Antarctic Territory. However, Antarctic territories are not generally recognized internationally.  Starting in 2007, Japan plans to harvest up to 50 humpback whales and 50 fin whales annually.



The park theater


Stagecraft is a generic term referring to the technical aspects of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes, but is not limited to, constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and procurement of costumes, makeup, procurement of props, stage management, and recording and mixing of sound. Stagecraft is distinct from the wider umbrella term of scenography. Considered a technical rather than an artistic field, it relates primarily to the practical implementation of a designer's artistic vision. In its most basic form, stagecraft is managed by a single person who arranges all scenery, costumes, lighting, and sound, and organizes the cast.


 

18 juni 2013

Beaune



BeauneBeaune is a commune in eastern France, a sous-prefecture of the Cote-d'Or departement, in the Bourgogne region.The area around Beaune, the Cote de Beaune, is known for its Burgundy wines, and Beaune is known for its annual wine sales organized by the Hospices de Beaune. It is situated on the route des Grands Crus touristic road among the vineyards.

Hospices de BeauneFounded in 1442 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of the Duke of Burgundy, and his wife, the Hospices are a charity
running hospitals and other services for the needy. Following from past donations, they own vineyards in Burgundy.

17 juni 2013

Avila the roof of Spain



Tips:
Work towards the best possible production value for your videos to ensure viewers don’t click away just because you’ve ignored basic production best practices (lighting, sound quality, shot-framing).
Make sure your video’s audio and sound recordings are clear and balanced. Properly light your video so it’s easy for viewers to see.
Edit and Condense
Depending on your content, your audience, and your objectives for the video, the right editing style, technique, and execution will vary.
Only include necessary footage in your videos. This is a subjective, creative decision, but assess whether any part of the video can be edited, trimmed, or condensed to improve the overall quality.
Avoid sloppy editing. It can be more distracting and difficult for the viewer to watch than if there were no editing at all.

16 juni 2013

Destino Sevilla



Post-production, or postproduction, is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, and photography. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after shooting or recording individual program segments.

Traditional (analogue) post-production has mostly been replaced by video editing software that operates on a non-linear editing system (NLE).


14 juni 2013

Dutch Remix


The footage I used in this remix of mine, comes from internet blogs and the sound from a radiocast from a famous Dutch DJ who on his turn had a German artist in his studio who remixed popular soccersongs from the Netherlands. Mambo Kurt is a German artist who does covers various mainstream and classical/modern Rock hits. . but when he plays the covers , he does them a little different from the usual type of song, as he plays a Hammond Organ, generally has a squeaky out of tune voice (which is actually his main selling point, due to the fact that his songs are actually catchier than the originals)



13 juni 2013

Altstadt Erfurt



It is hard to convince others that you are a professional using top-rate technology when your equipment appears to be the same as a squealing teenager snapping a shot of a pop star at a concert or a father trying to capture his baby’s first steps in the park. The number one thing that separates the pros from the amateurs, however, is gear that enhances the iPhone’s capabilities and provides
filmmakers with the flexibility and adaptability that they need. However, there are some benefits for filmmaking on an iPhone.

10 juni 2013

Citystroll Erfurt


Hi-definition video cameras have recently arrived (1080i) which, like high definition television screens, will provide the best of quality and image resolution.
The trend today is toward replaceable memory cards for recording, or internal hard-drives built into the camera. This provides maximum versatility, high recording time options, and few mechanical breakdown possibilities, not to mention minimizing problems with condensation affecting the recording (tape) media of previous generations. The subsequent files may be easily transferred to a computer and edited with low-cost software solutions (and a reasonably high performance computer and video card). The subsequent results may be transferred to a CD or DVD (and more recently Blu- ray Disc) for easy distribution or archiving.

09 juni 2013

Erzgebirge/oremountains


The Ore Mountains were virtually unsettled during the Middle Ages and covered with dense forests. In the 15th century the discovery of silver and tin deposits led to the settlement of the mountains and the foundation of cities. The name is derived from the richness in mineral resources. Segmented Erz- gebirge, the name takes Erz- from the Tuscan city Arezzo, which produced such fine metal that its name became the German word for metal. Gebirge are "mountains." Today the mountains are also a popular winter sports resort.

The Ore Mountains are famous for many Christmas traditions. As the silver and tin deposits declined, former miners had to look for new ways to feed their families. In
addition to lace making and weaving, the inhabitants went into wood carving. Nutcrackers, "smoking men", "pyramids" (carousels with figures of the Christmas story or from mining) and Schwibbogen (wooden arcs with candles in the windows, symbolising the opening of a mine) are some of many Christmas goods made in the Ore Mountains. Seiffen in the East Ore Mountains was a centre of the wooden toy industry.




06 juni 2013

Sacred buildings: Erfurt




The 20th century is not the first to create images of life during medieval times. The Middle Ages ended over five centuries ago and each century has imagined, portrayed and depicted the Middle Ages through painting, architecture, poetry, music and novel. In the 20th century, film has defined Medieval history perhaps more so than any other medium. While the conclusions of academic research and findings of archeology have advanced knowledge of the Middle Ages, nothing has had more widespread influence on more people than the images created by film. Just as most people's perceptions of the American Wild West were drawn from cinema, versus source material or academic research, so too most peoples perceptions of the Middle Ages were influenced by the powerful narratives and images of film.


03 juni 2013

Erfurt: das Rathaus


Still/video combinations
Most current digital still cameras are also capable of what is sometimes referred to as "Internet Video". This is usually a variation of the MPEG video standard of digital imaging created as a streaming series of digital images, with some advanced compression techniques. Names you might recognize are QuickTime Video or RealVideo, .WMV, or.AVI files. These file formats are usually limited in display screen resolution (measured by pixel height by width) and are not intended to be played on anything larger than a computer screen. Recording options are limited and quality is usually at the low end (for example 640x480 screen size or even smaller). Capacity is often limited by the SD card or CompactFlash card in the camera.

31 mei 2013

Weimar Stadschloss




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.


 

30 mei 2013

Leipzig experience


The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source.
With the exception of shot-for-shot remakes, most remakes make significant character, plot, and theme changes. Sometimes a remake is made by the same director.

Not all remakes use the same title as the previously released version.
Although it does not meet the definition of a remake, a similar (and increasingly common) development is the use of a successful (usually older) television series as the source material for a feature film.

27 mei 2013

Wartburg Castle



Sentences are often used in metaphors about the “grammar of film editing”, but while it’s true that each shot generally contains more information than a single letter’s worth, the above may better reveal how crucial the editing process — and, by extension, the power of continuity — is to the medium; without it, each shot might as well be an individual letter, and if the film is edited badly, each word in the film’s se

ntences might as well be misspelled




23 mei 2013

Classic Weimar




Literal lines do not exist in nature, but are the optical phenomena created when objects curve away from the viewer. Nonetheless, line-like shapes are for all intents considered line elements by the artist; for example, telephone and power cables or rigging on boats. Any such elements can be of dramatic use in the composition of the image. Additionally, less obvious lines can be created, intentionally or not, which influence the direction of the viewer's gaze. These could be the borders of areas of differing color or contrast, or sequences of discrete elements, or the artist may exaggerate or create lines perhaps as part of his style, for this purpose. Many lines without a clear subject point suggest chaos in the image and may conflict with the mood the artist is trying to evoke.
Movement is also a source of line, and blur can also create a reaction. Subject lines by means of illusion contribute to both mood and linear perspective, giving the illusion of depth. Oblique lines convey a sense of movement and angular lines generally convey a sense of dynamism and possibly tension. Lines can also direct attention towards the main subject of picture, or contribute to organization by dividing it into compartments.
The brain often unconsciously reads near continuous lines between different elements and subjects at varying distances.

19 mei 2013

Forgotten Memories



A FORGOTTEN MEMORY
INA has collected private collections of film. It has built up an archive of family films and undisclosed amateurs. Her mission, following regional and european rules, is to collect, digitize and keep archives.



Those films are undisclosed and are a patrimony for mankind that needs to be preserved.
Taking them into consideration has been a struggle because they are “only” family films, they are fragile and fragmentary. Nevertheless, those images talk about man, anonymous people. They are a glimpse of the past. Sometimes there are some very rare images from important events.

17 mei 2013

German flea-market




Film distribution is changing. In addition to the major marketplaces, there are about 200 internet platforms (and growing) where you can feature your movie. The common thread between all these marketplaces is, they want technically sound, profitable content.

16 mei 2013

Die Kraemerbruecke Erfurt


MPEG Streamclip
What it does: Put simply, MPEG Streamclip is a video transcoder and compressor. It takes a video file and converts it into a smaller, bigger, different video file to suit your needs. I use it to compress the HD footage from my DSLR camera into a smaller high quality file so Final Cut Pro can handle it for editing.

Why you should have it: If you’re involved with the shooting or editing of video, MPEG Streamclip is a big problem solver. If you’ve got a film shot in .mov files, but one .avi file from another source, MPEG Streamclip will convert it. It’s also vital for making sure all your video uses the same codecs. You can also use it to resize footage.



 

14 mei 2013

Inside the Wartburg




The Castle has been renovated throughout its existence with many earlier parts being overbuilt by later constructions and additions. From 1952 to 1966, for example, the East German Government restored it to what it looked like in the 16th century, which included the Luther Room with its original floor and paneled walls.
The Romanesque Palas is the oldest and architecturally most impressive of the buildings. Besides the chapel, it contains the Sängersaal , which is in fact Wagner's setting for Act II of Tannhäuser and the Festsaal both of which contain fine frescoes by Moritz von Schwind with the theme of the minstrels' contest in the Sängersaal and frescoes of the triumphs of Christianity in the Festsaal.
Part of the Palace consists of the original castle as it was between 1157 and 1170, as an image of power and residence of the Thuringian landgraves.

12 mei 2013

Cosmos



Time

Since space and time are unified, the motion through space impacts time: time slows down for the person who is moving but goes faster for the one who stands still; which implies that the passage of time as we experience it may be just an illusion. In that case, every moment in time from the beginning till far in the future coexists together; but in a different region of the cosmos. That leads to the concept of time travel: due to the fact that space and time are a unified physical entity it is

possible that there are some shortcuts in the fabric of space time that can lead us to another period of time different from our present time. Despite the possibility of time travel; there is no proof that we can change the past or even the future. The reason: the different periods of time coexist and have a fixed state. Still, the exact nature of time is not fully understood.


11 mei 2013

Thüringen


Several institutes, both government run and private, provide formal education in various aspects of filmmaking.
Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (dffb)
Berlin Film Academy Baden-Wuerttemberg,
Ludwigsburg international filmschool cologne, Cologne
Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München,
Munich Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen „Konrad Wolf“, Potsdam