ChangeWaves: Christopher Kent: July 2008 Archives

Business, Work, & Income

Beating TiVo at Its Own Game

I was fast forwarding through whatever I was watching on TiVo the other night when I spotted this commercial for Ethan Allen Furniture. I don't know if it is the first to take advantage of viewers fast forwarding through commercials, but it's the first I've seen. The commercial has no voice over, and the images and title cards are still readable even at the top fast-forward speed.

It was effective for me as I not only noticed it, I went hunting for a clip, which you can view below. It's one way for television advertisers to address their main fear regarding DVR use: fast-forwarding through commercials.

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Christopher Kent

on July 29, 2008 | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

Society & Culture

Whedon the Televison Slayer

The changing nature of television, including how new platforms and content delivery methods are being developed, is something I've been working on for a while. A great example of the changes afoot is Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, a new project of writer-producer Joss Whedon. Bored during the television writers’ strike, Whedon—the mastermind behind cult fave Buffy the Vampire Slayer—along with his brothers devised a short-form musical story to be broadcast over the Internet. The result is a perfect example of what we mean when we talk about power shifting to content producers with the advent of these new delivery platforms. Following the "airing" of the first (of three parts), the show racked up more than 300,000 Google hits and more than 100 Google News hits, and is the top selling video on iTunes. (That people are paying $1.99 for something they can watch for free is the subject of an entirely different blog post.)

Granted, the popularity and seeming success of this is due in part to Whedon’s large and enthusiastic fan base, but nevertheless, television programming execs should be nervous. You can hit the link at the top to watch but hurry, it is only online for a limited time.

By

Christopher Kent

on July 22, 2008 | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

Society & Culture

From Pictures to Moving Picture

Iron Man? Incredible Hulk? Hellboy? What do they all have in common? Besides opening number one at the box office this summer, they are all characters or properties that began as comic books. There has been a veritable invasion of page-to-screen in the past five years, and with The Dark Knight, set to open Friday ahead of rave reviews, I was asked by a reporter about the proliferation of comic-based movies.

I believe there are a number of reasons for this comic book invasion of movieland:

Technology: New filming techniques, digital cameras, and computer designed and executed special effects make it easier to translate the fantastic from page to screen. James McAvoy dodging bullets in Wanted could not have happened pre-CGI (or pre-Matrix, which really set the bar for what could be done).

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By

Christopher Kent

on July 16, 2008 | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0) |