Twenty Thousand Hertz - All About That Bass
Really enjoyed this episode about the history of bass in music. Some elements of this story could swap nouns with today’s headlines.
2023 Keepers
Finally culled my favorite songs I saved from last year.
Big Sky Film Fest 2024 (online)
I believe this was my first time buying tickets to a virtual screening of doc film fest. I thought it was very well executed and wanted to share.
I saw that the great studio in Rhode Island, Gnarly Bay had a film screening at the fest. I actually forget if they said you could get virtual tickets or I saw it on the film fest site, but for a mere $10, I got access to a block of short docs. The viewing period is similar to renting a digital movie: you have a pre-set time period to begin viewing and after you start watching, you have 24 hours to finish. Very reasonable. I wasn’t sure if the viewing period was per film or the whole block (I assumed it was the whole block) so I waited till the weekend when I knew I had time to sit down and enjoy the whole block at once.
For the delivery format, I was pleasantly surprised that the Apple TV app worked flawlessly. The Eventive app simply had me find the film fest and put in my code for my session block.
I was really just impressed with that experience overall. I think this is a fantastic platform for indie film.
As for the films themselves, they were also great! One in particular still stands out in my mind, Wild Hogs and Saffron. It is a simple showcase on the power of listening. Which I know sounds like a hallmark card or something, but it really is that simple. Listen more than you talk.
After Effects plugins update Q1 2024
After Effects being what it is, I sometimes forget what plugins and tools I’ve installed, whether they be for specific problems to solve in a project, or just something cool I happened across. So, I intend to keep a log of what I’ve installed both to keep tabs and remind myself what’s in my toolbox and also to share with anyone else who might benefit from a selection of tools. Here’s what I’ve downloaded lately:
- XPlode | FREE - Separates X&Y position keyframes while retaining easing and all the other important stuff.
- Shape Sphere - Bartłomiej Otłowski | FREE - Preset to generate a pseudo 3D sphere shape layer.
- Delayer - Ukramedia | FREE - Like a poor-man’s version of Lazy or Skew.
- Make a text box with one layer - Not a plugin, but just following someone else’s brilliance to quickly put a auto-resizing box behind text.
Video Style Trends Prediction
Just want to log this while I’m thinking about it; the proliferation of machine learning rotoscoping tools coming out I think will define a style for the next 3-7 years of masking out absolutely everything. Text will be composited into every single shot of every influencer’s videos, transitions will involve separate elements in the frame, effects and color correction will be drastically different between different objects in the frame, etc.
Maybe we’ll look back on it like we do circa 2009 lens flares. Maybe things will look dated if they aren’t cut out. We’ll see.