Month: July 2008

Categories
Videos: Openings

And the nominees for Main Title Design are..

UPDATE: And the Emmy goes to Mad Men. The full list of winners is available here.

> Quicktime H.264
(6.9mb)
> iPod Compatible
(4mb)
> Watch in Flash
(3.6mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(5.4.mb)
> iPod Compatible
(3.6mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.8mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(12.8.mb)
> iPod Compatible
(7.3mb)
> Watch in Flash
(5.6mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(11.4.mb)
> iPod Compatible
(4.6mb)
> Watch in Flash
(3.9mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(18.3mb)
> iPod Compatible
(14.4mb)
> Watch in Flash
(13mb progressive)

The nominees for the 2008 Primetime Emmy Award for Main Title Design have been announced, last year Dexter won, and in the running for it this year:

> Advertising drama Mad Men from AMC
> HBO telemovie Bernard and Doris
> Geek action hero Chuck on NBC
> CIA miniseries The Company
> And cancelled Fox series New Amsterdam

For all the details on who made what, check out this. And the winner will be announced at the Creative Arts ceremony on September 13th.

Categories
Seven Network Videos: TV

Goodbye Starbucks, Hello TiVo.

> Quicktime H.264
(11.6mb)
> iPod Compatible
(9.3mb)
> Watch in Flash
(7.2mb progressive)

On the same day that Starbucks announced they were bailing out Australia, another iconic American brand is launching itself here, hopefully with better results.

TiVo, the personal video recorder that became a verb, went on sale around the country today. Backed by the Seven Network, and with no monthy fees, its being positioned as the anti-Foxtel, although slightly steep at $699, the theory is thats all you’ll ever pay.

Check out the iPod inspired commercial for the new device above.

Categories
Videos: Idents

The aerial idents of Al Jazeera English.

> Quicktime H.264
(3mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2.6mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.1mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(2.7mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2.2mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.7mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(2.1mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.2mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(2.6mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.6mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.3mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(2.1mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.7mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.4mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(2.1mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.8mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.5mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(1.9mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.5mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.3mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(2.5mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.7mb progressive)

An incredibly simple use of aerial footage, combined with the familiar beats of music that screams “you’re watching a news channel” create a surprisingly effective collection of idents for Al Jazeera English.

They express the kind of simple dignity that an international news channel broadcasting to over 100 million people should command, as opposed to say this.

– Big thanks to Sean for the videos.

Categories
Web Asides

The return of Dexter.

The return of Dexter. Series 3 trailer.

Categories
BBC (Other) Videos: Promos

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting, on the BBC.

> Quicktime H.264
(23.4mb)
> iPod Compatible
(14.2mb)
> Watch in Flash
(12mb progressive)

Here’s a challenge for you: condense a 400-year-old, 100 chapter Chinese novel into a two minute animated trailer for the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

Actually, don’t worry, the BBC have already done it…

That’s right, they’ve abandoned the traditional “gold-infused slow-motion footage of athletes” Olympics imagery in favour of something a bit more creative.

Animated by Gorillaz creator Jamie Hewlett with music by Damon Albarn, this video of Monkey and his friends made its debut last night in the UK at 7:27pm with a simulcast across BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four and BBC News, and will form the centrepiece of the BBC’s Olympic coverage branding.

Categories
Web Asides

Sunrise vs Sunrise

It’s Sunrise vs Sunrise, as breakfast TV enters the bizarro world.

Categories
ABC1 Videos: Promos

The ABC takes “TV out of the box”.

> Quicktime H.264
(2.4mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.2mb)
> Watch in Flash
(534kb progressive)

The ABC has been teasing its viewers lately with the tagline “TV out of the box”. Well, this evening the ABC announced that its BBC iPlayer-esque service initally dubbed ABC Playback is now open to the public, and has been rebranded as ABC iView.

The BBC have been very succesful in establishing iPlayer as a brand despite its ordinary name, but really, iView was the best they could come up with?

Anyway, derivative name aside, the just launched ABC iView service is fairly similar to the beta version of the ABC Playback service that I reviewed earlier this year. And while the video quality is fine, and the content has increased to include news among other things, the interface still bugs me badly, and the whole thing doesn’t come close to the user experience of the newly launched BBC iPlayer 2.0.

Categories
Ten Network Videos: Broadcast News

Ten News changes its look, now even noisier.

> Quicktime H.264
(44.2mb)
> iPod Compatible
(23.2mb)
> Watch in Flash
(14.6mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(19.2mb)
> iPod Compatible
(9.7mb)
> Watch in Flash
(6.2mb progressive)

Channel Ten have rejigged their news branding, with before and after videos above, I’m sure you’ll be as dissapointed as me with the new look. And in case you can’t tell which is the new look, its the one with all the not so subtle Sony Vaio laptops and abrupt music transitions when they start talking about sport.

And you wonder why people make so much fun of broadcast news these days.

Categories
Channel 4 Videos: Promos

The Stanley Kubrick season on More4.

> Quicktime H.264
(15.4mb)
> iPod Compatible
(9.7mb)
> Watch in Flash
(8mb progressive)

Last week Channel 4’s digital sibling More4 launched the Stanley Kubrick season, a ten day film festival of some of the celebrated directors work. This stunning promo was shot in one long take, and is a look behind the scences of Kubrick’s 1980 film The Shining, all from the perspective of the director himself.

The spot produced by Channel 4 Creative, was meticulously researched and was even shot using the directors favourite lens. Truly fitting for such a influential filmmaker.

British television seems to love the idea of programming “seasons”. More4 won an award for this promo used for their State of Russia season a few years back, and earlier this year BBC Four took its viewers on a trip into the Medieval mind.

Categories
Foxtel Videos: Idents

Discovery discovers High Definition.

> Quicktime H.264
(3.6mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2.3mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.9mb progressive)

Discovery HD rounds out the new HD channels from the recently launched Foxtel HD, it joins National Geographic HD, BBC HD, and Fox Sports and ESPN HD.

The network is yet to adopt the new look Discovery branding, which is a shame because although this is an HD channel it looks like it just stepped out the nineties.