by Matt | Mar 9, 2002 | Imported Entry
I’ve been bad about getting around to write Part Three of my little essay. I’ve just had to much stuff going on. It is finals week and all. I’ve been working rather hard on not one but two Flash pieces. I think you’ll like’em. The first is a VERY cheesy motion graphics piece. It’s mostly blurs, text effects and so on. It’s pretty standard. The second is a hand drawn and hand animated cartoon featuring Jason, myself and some Counter-Strike fustrations. Both of those will be in final form tomorrow, so you’ll be able to check those out. Ok, I just wanted to say that I hadn’t forgotten about stuff, I’m just busy.
But just to keep you what I’m sure is the edge of your seat, here’s a still from the cartoon.
Later.
by Matt | Mar 9, 2002 | Imported Entry
What a friggin’ ordeal it was this morning. Well, it wasn’t “that” bad but it did take far longer than it should have. Yesterday I found out that my film (if it was even mine) didn’t come out so today with Jason’s help, I reshot my assignment. We got downtown around 9:30 and headed into Burgen. Apparently the lab monitors desided it would be a good day to be really late and didn’t show up until 10:15. Which is rediculous since they’re supposed to be there at 9:00 when the building opens. So, after getting equipment checked out the shoot actually went well and it only took about 40-45 minutes. Which is really good considering 20 minutes of that was setting up and taking down equipment. Just as I’m leaving, the lab monitor asked me if I had found my film (I forgot it on Wednesday) and I said yes. She then held up a roll of film which was the exact same type and speed that I had been using and said “oh, well, someone found this on Wednesday, I thought I might have been yours.” I said it probably was and took it, feeling rather sheepish. So, on my way home I dropped off the film to be developed and so if the roll I lost was actually the roll I got back today and my reshoot was for nothing, I’ll mock myself openly. Although, I wouldn’t have “found” it if I hadn’t gone and done the reshoot. I guess life just works in funny ways like that. So, best case scenerio I have two rolls of film instead of one. Worst case scenerio, I only have the reshoot roll and the other was just someone elses. Either way I covered my ass.
I also remembered to save the Poloroid test shots from this one. Mainly because it’s not a half-bad picture of Jason. Actually, it’s rather funny. He’s making the “I’m mocking you” face. If you know Jason, you’ll probably enjoy that. At any rate, it gives you a good idea of my lighting set up. The actual shots themselves involve his face being wrapped up like the Invisable Man, but I’ll have to wait to share those until I get the negatives back. Anyway, check this out and enjoy.
Jason’s picture
Click to enlarge…
by Matt | Mar 8, 2002 | Imported Entry
Thanks to Nagle, now I’m addicted to SurfStation. It’s an odd mix of design, news and links showcasing some amazing graphic design, flash and web work. There’s enough links floating around this site to keep you (and me) busy for days. Thanks Nagle.
by Matt | Mar 8, 2002 | Imported Entry
I’d like to thank Chip for pointing me in the direction of Games Fusion. A funky little site covering anything FPS related. Especially cool are the Counter-Strike packs. These little beauties feature 50 Mbs worth of replacement models, sounds, sprites and anything else you could think of needing. I had been looking for the perfect replacements for my CS stuff and apparently someone has collected all my favorites in one place. Huzah. Go down load them here, and do so NOW!
Today should be fairly busy. I have to run downtown and drop off some film and a cd of digital stuff to be processed. The film will be ready in 2 hours, the digital stuff is another matter. You see, we have this really nifty $20,000 digital back for our RZ-67s (a sweet camera) and it takes some great shots. I think the smallest resolution on that baby is 3063×2040 @ 24bpp and it only goes UP from there. So, I took some shots with it the other day and they turned out really well. Now, the point of taking a picture with that kind of resolution is that you get them outputted through a film recorder. Which is also another amazing piece of equipment we happen to have. The downside is that it takes forever for the thing to print and the turn around time is about 3-4 days. Now, that wouldn’t be so bad if this was the begining of the semester and everyone wasn’t trying to use it. Oh, did I mention it’s broken? Yah, someone broke the film recorder and now the department isn’t sure if they can have it fixed in time to be useful. So, our teacher told us if they didn’t have it fixed we could just make a nice ink-jet/laser print of it and she’d accept those. So, I have to drive downtown to see if it’s fixed (because apparently no one likes to answer the damn phone). If it’s not, I’m heading to Office Max to buy a print cartridge and some nice photo paper. What a day.
Oh, and PART 3 will probably be written this afternoon as well. Just to let you know.
Carry on.
by Matt | Mar 7, 2002 | Imported Entry
PART TWO: The shelf life of tracks
Tracks, singles, anthems, or anything else you feel like calling them, are the bread and butter along with the bane of the music industry. We’re not talking exclusively electronic music here. Have you listened to the radio at any point in the past few years? The repetitive nature of music has gotten to the point where you can turn on the radio for 15 minutes today, and then 15 minutes tomorrow and you could probably hear the same song playing. Here’s how it all comes to be in the world of techno. A DJ, on a regular day if he’s good, will get tons of records in the mail. Records (vinyl) that only have one or two tracks on them, I’m not talking about free CDs here. These records come from record companies, promoters, agents, fans, or anyone else that’s made a cool sounding song and thinks it would be good to play. So, let’s say the DJ is going through his pile of records and pulls out a new one for his gig that night. We’ll call it Record A. That night the DJ puts Record A on the turntable and the crowd loves it. The DJ then keeps record A in his permanent record bag and uses it whenever he feels the need. Eventually someone asks him what that record is, or he does an interview and mentions the songs he’s been recently playing, or he informs the record company of how much he likes it, something like that. To put it another way, “the word is out” about Record A. Other DJs find copies and start playing it, other DJs remix it and start playing those copies. Eventually Record A is recognizable to club goers and fans alike. At this point, most records are replaced by a newer track and the cycle repeats itself. This keeps the club scene fresh and new. Sometimes, just sometimes, the media gets a hold of a record and its popularity explodes. Despite what you may think, this is a very very bad thing. I point your attention to anything made by Fat Boy Slim. How long did it take for you to get sick of hearing those songs on the radio? Now, think about how long those tracks had actually been being used. Yup, those of you who hear “Praise You” two years before the CD hit are cursing the radio to this day. A more recent example is Iio’s “Rapture.” A great track, lots of emotion, it was really fun to listen to… a year ago when I heard it in Avalon in Boston. Now it all over the radio and my roommate is listening to it non-stop. I suppose because it’s played at the club he goes to. That in itself is kind of sad. That the DJ of that club either just found it, or that they’re still playing it, take your pick.
You see, the whole idea behind music like this is that it’s supposed to change. It changes with the season, it changes with the ebbs and tides of tastes, it changes depending on what club you’re at and what DJ is spinning. DJs very rarely have a set, written down, to the minute, planned out, before the hit the decks. It doesn’t work that way. 10 minutes before they start playing, the DJ usually has no idea what he’s going to play an hour from then. They may have tracks that they want to include, and probably a “last track” of the night, but that’s about it.
Just remember, if you hear a techno-ish, dance-ish track on the radio, it’s probably been remixed, retouched, reedited and replayed for at least a year. And while its not a bad thing to listen to those tracks, since most of the time it’s has to be a good track in order to have the longevity to make it that far, they do get old fast. Especially to people that have hear them before. For those of you who are just finding techno and all you know of it are the things you’ve heard on the radio or once of twice at a club, cheer up, all is not lost. I would suggest that they check out magazines and websites that do nothing but inform people about new, good tracks. Especially British import magazines and websites for record shops in Europe. They know what’s hot and what’s already old and tired months before it reaches US soil. They’re not dictating what hot or not, they’re just informing people of what’s selling. Chances are, if you hear someone from a record store say that they can’t keep copies of the new Coast to Coast single on their shelves, it might be a good one.
Lastly, remember that it’s a much bigger thrill to find a song no one’s heard of and be listening to it when it gets popular than to be the “last one into the pool.” So, go find your own damn music and avoid the radio at all costs.
Resources you might like to check out:
Digitally Imported Radio – a great streaming web radio site with news and always fresh tracks
DJ Mixes 2k – a random little site with whole DJ sets to download… and more importantly, the track lists.
TranceAddict – kinda sketchy, but always full of the freshest stuff. great site.
Radio 1 – you can’t get more direct than this. The official site for the UKs BBC Radio 1.
BedRock and Vandit – two record companies from two of my favorite DJs. See what new tracks the companies are putting out this month.
MixMag and Mixer – two nifty magazines with a bunch of info.
KISS online – a club, a festival, a promotional tool… and music info too.
That sound be enough to hold you over. Tomorrow, Part Three: Fucking Candy Ravers and the 15-year-old Oakenfold Fans. Till then.
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