Make Room for Texting at the Movies
July, 12, 2012 11:10 am | Comments On #box office, Movies, social media, texting, twitterGoing to the movies. You watch the trailers, get excited to go, buy your tickets, make the drive, buy the popcorn and the drinks and settle into your seat as the lights go down. The movie is amazing, you’re into it, the crowd is into it, everyone is having a great time until … something happens.
An all-too-familiar ethereal white glow. Someone has pulled out their cell and is excitedly tweeting about how cool the movie is, making sure to answer all retweets and text messages that result. What was a darkened room is no longer, what was a dreamlike state is now a rude awakening. You know that the person is just into the movie and you can understand why they want to tweet and text, but bright lights in...
Read MoreWhy Movie Futures Trading Is a Bad Idea
June, 22, 2010 5:05 pm | Comments On #CFTC, Chris Davison, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, movie futures trading, MoviesOne of the most pressing issues facing Hollywood right now is the idea of movie futures trading, the idea of treating films as commodities.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary says a commodity is “a mass-produced unspecialized product” -- the same no matter who produces it, such as a barrel of oil, a bushel of wheat or a gallon of orange juice.
On the federal level, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is the regulatory authority that oversees markets for commodities. It is the CFTC that, via a 3-2 vote, recently approved the creation of a commodities market for movies.
On the creative side, if you’re a writer, actor or director, are you comfortable with your work being treated as a commodity? Do you believe your vision should be considered equivalent to a barrel of oil?
During awards season, it’s common to discuss the...
Read MoreRoger & Me, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Tweet
May, 27, 2010 1:03 pm | Comments On #cannes film festival, Chris Davison, Movies, Roger Ebert, twitterI had a film in the Short Film Corner at Cannes. It’s not a feature film in competition for the Palme d’Or, but it’s a start. We submitted our film, received a “we are pleased to” email and set about planning our visit to the Croisette.
We learned that our participation grants us two Festival de Cannes badges, which are strictly reserved for members of the film's cast and crew. We figured that if we’re going to make the transatlantic journey, then we’ll go as a group, so I asked for the second badge to be assigned to our director of photography, then asked how much it would cost to buy two more badges.
Oops. Turns out they don’t sell badges, as per the very polite response I got telling me that you have to be invited. I figured since you can buy passes to Sundance you can buy passes to Cannes, but still, rookie mistake....
Read MoreGoing Back to the Future at TV Land Awards
April, 23, 2010 3:38 pm | Comments On #2000-year-old man, Betty White, Billy Crystal, Bosom Buddies, Carl Reiner, Chris Davison, Fred Grandy, Glee, Jack Jones, Jane Leeves, Jane Lynch, Love Boat, Mel Brooks, paula abdul, Richard Moll, Television, Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, TV Land AwardsI’m a new-media guy. I love technology, I love change and am always looking toward the horizon, watching for the next big thing.
But I recently had a chance to celebrate some Hollywood history, and I have to say I had a blast!
I attended the TV Land Awards, and to give you an idea of what kind of day it was: At a young lady’s request, the inimitable Jack Jones sang her a few bars of the “Love Boat” theme song. Tom Cruise: great. Angelina Jolie: wonderful. Having Jack Jones personally sing the “Love Boat” to you: priceless.
One of the great things about the TV Land Awards is the relaxed, fun atmosphere before, during and after. There are no competitive categories and so everyone shows up to party, connect with old friends, make new ones and generally have a great time.
Before the show I had a chance to kibitz...
Read MorePerformance Capture Lets Actors Live in the Moment
March, 05, 2010 1:08 pm | Comments On #Chris Davison, mocap, motion capture, pcap, performance captureIn the moment. You’re on set and your inner monologue becomes clear, your rhythm settles to perfection and your character begins to speak in its own voice … CUT! The camera needs adjusting. The lighting isn’t right. The sound wasn’t clean. Loved it but need you to do it again so we can get it in close-up … Just do exactly what you did, again. Ugh.
An impulse was just about to manifest itself in the fundamental truth of the role, stopped dead for reasons of technology and technique.
What if you could stay in the moment? What if you could escape the distractions and interruptions? Enter performance capture (pcap), a new solution to an old problem.
Existing motion capture (mocap) technology is the ancestor of pcap, but of course acting is about more than just motion -- acting is about emotion.
Truth is found in both the...
Read MoreBuy Once, Play Anywhere
February, 04, 2010 5:40 pm | Comments On #Best Buy, Chris Davison, Common File Format, DECE, Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, digital files, digital rights management, Mitch SingerWith a DVD, you buy it wherever and it will play in a DVD player or in your computer, regardless of maker. With an MP3, you buy it wherever and it will play in a digital audio player or in your computer, regardless of maker.
With digital video files, you have an AVI or an MP4 or a WMV or an FLV or perhaps an MKV and it might play in your computer or it might not, it might play in your mobile phone but it probably won’t, and forget about playing it in your DVD player.
The decentralized, proprietary nature of digital video files has been a problem for many years, making it very difficult to grow the marketplace and monetize content.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that a cross-industry coalition called the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) has come up with what it is calling the Common File Format for digital video files.
The...
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Description
Chris Davison is a Los Angeles-based writer/director.
