11 replies to this topic

[Mary Lynn]

Hello All,

Just back from DEMA and post-DEMA dive trip--it was great to meet all the WP folks in person and be able to put faces with names. I had a great time!

Two New DiveFilm releases: on the website itself as the top video is Leandro Blanco's very powerful "Bad to the Bone." If you haven't already seen this short film, make it a point as it is (in true Blanco style) simply incredible. It is dedicated to shark victims, and a poignant homage to sharks. Leandro Blanco has once again raised the bar for creative compositing and editing of underwater short videos, as well as music composition and performance.

The latest DiveFilm Podcast Video is a glimpse of a TV series called, "Sea Inside, Pacific Northwest," produced by John Williams of Still Hope Productions, Inc. The series is available via cable and public access stations, and features the work of a number of underwater imagers who have all contributed their images to this project in an effort to raise awareness about the ecosystem and marine life of the cold waters along the northwest coast of the U.S. John Williams has dedicated his life and work to trying to make a difference in the future of our oceans, and his work just keeps getting better and better.

You can get to the podcast available for free thru iTunes by clicking here if you have iTunes 4.9 or higher on your computer. You can also put the xml feed in any podcatcher that supports video enclosures. By subscribing thru iTunes, you help keep the podcast a "Featured Video Podcast" so that more people might become aware of the podcasts who wouldn't otherwise, and so help raise awareness about the ocean world.

Two great productions now live at DiveFilm, presented in partnership with Wetpixel.com.

Mary Lynn

[shawnh]

Wow! Blanco is incredibly talented...shooter, editor, producer, music...you name it. What an accomplishment!
-shawn

[mattdiver]

Best of all, he works as an airline pilot, and edits his UW movies on long haul flights between takeoff and landing, to kill time...

[Mary Lynn]

Best of all, he works as an airline pilot, and edits his UW movies on long haul flights between takeoff and landing, to kill time...

Yes, Leandro Blanco is extremely talented! And he's incredibly dedicated to applying his art to protecting marine life and raising awareness. I've put an extended bio up about him at DiveFilm.com so folks can learn more about him. Also, for those of us struggling to improve our editing (which for me can sometimes feel like progress is elusive), it's helpful to know that he has been honing his skills and art for many years in many different forms. It takes lots of hard work and years of practice. So, keep at it, and check out his work for great inspiration!

Leo Blanco is one of my heroes!

Mary Lynn

[Steve Douglas]

If anyone gets a chance to see his film dedicated to Dali called 'Dalirum' or his great film 'My World' you will only find inspiration. He is a real master and provides me with much to aspire to.
Steve B)

[Steve Douglas]

Leandro just sent me a DVD with 20 of his shorts and he is simply incredible. Haven't seen anyone whose work is nearly in his league.
Steve B)

[loftus]

Awesome stuff, makes me want to go out and buy some video gear so I can totally drain the bank account.
Leandro Blanco's 'Bad to the bone' is wonderful, very intense.

[Giles]

I also agree ... it has been a while since I have had a video podcast I haven't turned off before it was finished .. not that this was podcast .. but WOW

Loftus: I agree .. I was already thinking about borrowing some gear yesterday before I watched this .. I am slowly getting back into video .. on land anyways ... maybe I should try underwater again.

The video shooting had great content .. but the way he pieced it all together was magical .. oh and damn it he has a cool sounding name to go with it all too !

[DeanB]

Absolute, grade one, genius..

MTV should be playing that for the song alone...

Dive safe

DeanB

[Mary Lynn]

... it has been a while since I have had a video podcast I haven't turned off before it was finished .. not that this was podcast .. but WOW

Ahh!! Let us call this the "Giles Guantlet" as in "Throwing down the Giles Gauntlet!"

Does anyone out there have an underwater video for a DiveFilm Podcast Video under five minutes in length that will keep Giles watching right through to the end?? If anyone thinks they have one that might do it, please contact me via PM and we'll make arrangements for you to submit your video to possibly be podcast as an upcoming episode!

Underwater filmmakers, let's see what you can do!!

Mary Lynn

[Giles]

Lol ... the Dive Film Podcasts are always watched through their entireity ..

I also subscribe to the Photoshop guys .. who do 45 minute Photoshop tutorials .. those can sometimes drag on .. but come out quite regularly.

That and some News Vidcasts .. well they don't always get played all the way through

I have a question .. I had a problem with the videos being stuttery about a month ago .. I found out it was a quicktime issue .. so I altered some suggested settings in quicktime and it was fine .. I dont remember what I did .. but it started happening again .. anyone know how to fix it ?

[Mary Lynn]

Darn, I was hoping for a rollicking campaign to meet the Giles challenge!

On a serious note, though, I'm concerned about the video stuttering issue you're experiencing. Are you on a Mac or PC? Which version of iTunes and Quicktime? Are the videos stuttery on your computer or are you watching them on an iPod? Have you downloaded the podcasts to your HD ("get episode" or "update podcast") and then are watching them in the iTunes interface? One suggestion is to open the video itself in QuickTime Player (not through the iTunes interface) and see if it still stutters. If not, it would probably be an iTunes issue.

There's a troubleshooting doc for Windows users available thru Apple that addresses some settings issues. It's really important for me to know what's happening to viewers and how to troubleshoot. So please let me know more about your set-up and results, Giles!

Mary Lynn