The Vlogger Interviews: Curt Phillips [OhCurt]

Today's Vlogger Interview features Curt Phillips - OhCurt on YouTube - he's a vlogger with a cinematic sense, and a vlogging veteran with over five years behind him.   In this interview, learn how Curt actually began developing his vlogging style in the 1980's - and the single greatest reason he keeps it up to this day.

If you haven't seen it yet, here's the powerful video by young Jacob Mowry, to whom Curt refers to in this video. This video, though posted months ago, went viral just a couple of weeks ago.  Here's Curt's own response.

Are We Expecting Too Much? Motion Capture and the “The Adventures of TinTin”

I recently had the opportunity to see The Adventures ofTinTin, the Steven Spielberg  3D motion capture film based on Hergé’s iconic European comic books of the mid-20th Century (here's the main TinTin Site).   The film is visually spectacular - a real showcase for state-of-art-graphics technology.   Whereas Hugo combines live actors and CGI technology, TinTin is entirely a computer graphics creation.

Used Under Fair Use

Simply put, The Adventures of TinTin is the story of a boy/young man detective (his age is unspecified) and his trusty canine sidekick, Snowy on an international  adventure in search of a lost pirate's treasure.  It's a comic book come to life as never before - on sea, in the air - and on land - including some truly wild stunts that would have been almost unthinkable in a conventional film. 

Working with Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital, which provided animation and special effects, Spielberg doesn't attempt to create photorealistic human actors.  The motion picture version of the TinTin character is a representation of the comic book version (early in the film, a street artist creates a caricature of the reimagined TinTin that brings the two interpretations together).  Like most cartoons, foreheads might be large, noses might be big - proportions aren't quite "right."  This isn’t a cartoon, though.  This occupies a special territory somewhere between real and imagined. 

As I watched TinTin, I found myself wondering how much more of an experience this film would have been with live actors.   Though the motion capture technology used here really allows for an effective "performance," I felt a curious emotional detachment from the characters and experiences on screen.

Is such a comparison fair?  After all, TinTin is clearly a comic book character.  This is "The Adventures of TinTin," not the coming of age of TinTin.  As an adventure, it's succeeds probably beyond any previous comic book adaption.  Even in this success, though, there's a unsettling awareness that something's missing.

The advancing nature of the technology, in my opinion, is creating a subtle expectation of humanity.  With the creation of characters like TinTin, with his full range of emotions and human-like movement, we're beginning to instinctually expect these creatures to be more human, with all of the imperfections and inconsistencies that entails.   Though TinTin's performance is motion captured (from actor Jamie Bell), even the most sensitive motion capture can't recreate the distinctive human texture that makes a live performance wholly unique.  As biological creatures, humans are never perfect.  Even so-called “beautiful people” simply inhabit imperfections that happen to be considered attractive.  Humans are not symetrical.  We aren’t “believeable,” we’re simply the real thing.  TinTin is engaging, but he can’t quite generate empathy, even in him most harrowing moments.

I highly recommend seeing both The Adventures of TinTin and Martin Scorcese’s Hugo back-to-back to gain a real perspectives on both the wonder and (current) limitations of CGI and motion capture technology.  Both are cinematic masterpieces – and enjoy the most effective 3D yet.   Compare the performance of Asa Butterfield as Hugo and the motion-capture interpretation of Jamie Bell's performance as TinTin.

Let me know what you think. 

The Vlogger Interviews: Gabe Gerrard [TheresGabe]

In this latest episode of The Vlogger Interviews, I speak via Skype with Gabe Gerrard of Salt Lake City, Utah.  Gabe, along with his wife and son, create content across several channels, including TheresGabe . Gabe loves the camera, and even though he now works in an industry about as far from the entertainment world as you can get, you'll learn about his role in a certain classic kid's movie.   Perhaps that was just his warm-up for his vlogging career....

Enjoy the Vlog!  

The Vlogger Interviews: Margaret Fabrizio [ATree3]

Here's a very special Vlogger Interview with Margaret Fabrizio, ATree3 on YouTube.  Margaret is a livelong creative artist.  As her website notes, she began her study of piano six weeks before her third birthday.  She's been a pianist, harpsichordist - and for 25 years was on the faculty of Stanford University.   She's a writer, visual artist, filmmaker - and an active and prolific Vlogger.

Margaret's creative and dynamic use of the vlogging canvas sets the bar high for all of us. In fact, she might very well represent the elusive soul of Vlogging...

Enjoy the interview!

Why I Think Vloggers Should See "Hugo"

Martin Scorsese's new film, Hugo is a rare film that combines rich effects and an intimate story in an experience that is both emotional and visually stunning.  It's also a tribute to the earliest days of motion pictures.

Based on Brian Selznick's New York Times best-seller, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," Hugo is the adventure of a clever and resourceful boy living on his own in the hidden upper reaches of a magnificent Paris railway station nearly one hundred years ago. Left to maintain the fanciful clockworks in the station after his uncle disappears, Hugo embarks on a search to solve a mystery left by his father, and in the process also discovers an entirely new life.

An important aspect of the film is Hugo's connection to real-life filmmaking pioneer George Méliès, whose one minute film A Trip to the Moon, created in 1902, is considered cinema's first blockbuster. A former magician, he produced over five hundred films in his short career, and is considered the father of special effects:  the first double exposure, the split screen, and the dissolve are just a few of his innovations.  He was also the first to use storyboards in the preparation of his films.  He was also a pioneer in meteoric rise and fall of a film career - he was bankrupt and largely forgotten by 1910.   As in Hugo's fictional tale Melies was eventually rediscovered and enjoyed in his later years the adulation he deserved.

The boy Hugo is a fan of the movies, so we're treated to both original and recreated clips from many of Méliès  films, and even meticulously recreated behind the scenes footage.  We'll see some of the classic faces of early cinema, including Harold Lloyd (whose stunt hanging from a huge clock face is recreated as Hugo is suspended outside an impossibly tall clock tower).

Apart from such direct visual connections,  Hugo itself is a tribute to the artistry of motion pictures.  Presented in 3D, and featuring a seamless marriage of live action and digital imagery, we experience somewhat of the  sense of wonder early moviegoers must have felt.

I tend to draw a direct parallel between early filmmakers like Méliès, who fearlessly produced hundreds of short films in a quest to develop their new craft, and serious online content creators, who are essentially doing the same thing in thousands of far flung locations.  I don't believe many vloggers and webseries creators are aware of the history of early cinema, so I would hope that many see Scorsese's film, and draw the parallel themselves. 

Méliès wasn't simply a entrepreneur out to make money - he loved exploring his craft and seeking out new ways of bringing the wonder of motion pictures to his audience. 

That spirit of creativity and risk-taking eventually drove motion pictures to become a major force in creative expression; there are still lessons to be learned from the pioneers of early cinema. 

The Vlogger Interviews: Matt Dean [HelloItsMasterHulk]

This Vlogger Interview features 19 year-old Matt Dean of Essex, UK, whose channel, HelloItsMasterHulk has gone through a number of transformations since it began in 2009.  One thing, however, has remained consistant - Matt considers himself a member of a very real community - and, I think, works to be a good citizen of that community.  Amidst his comedy and commentary, he'll take the time to speak out on vlogging community issues that are important to him.




For those unfamiliar with the world of vlogging, this world still seems like a odd subculture consisting of hundreds of thousands of individuals talking into their cameras, alone in their rooms, separate and removed from human interaction.  Matt's a good example of how many rank-and-file vloggers - in other words, the majority that aren't YouTube celebrities - are not simply content creators, but neighbors, too.

Enjoy the vlog!

The Vlogger Interviews: ErikTV365

In the latest episode of The Vlogger Interviews, I spoke with Erik of ErikTV365, a family vlog based in Dallas, Texas.  Erik's made the commitment that he's going to vlog every day for the rest of his life.  In the world of YouTube, where gimmicks and imitation sometimes seem like the norm, Erik's channel is a little bit different:  it has a purpose.

Erik's a survivor of testicular cancer.  He decided to start vlogging during his chemotherapy, when he watched other YouTube family channels, and found that "it boosted my spirits - it help me to realize that there's more than just dwelling on something."  He wants his children - and as time went on, his audience -  to know that "no matter what obstacles are thrown at them in life, that they can always have a happy day." It's a philosophy he follows on his vlog - and in his life.

Watch the vlog is learn more about how this channel came about, and how Erik maintains his vlogging commitment every day of the year.