HBO Intro: CG FX without the Computers

How did they create that iconic intro for HBO before HBO showed movies? It's amazing the amount of time and effort, especially considering that Avatar has become.

The Best & Worse Commercials of the 2010 Super Bowl

Super Bowl ads this year was a big disappointment to me, personally. They were a sign of, like Holleywood, completely out of new ideas. Let's just rehash old ideas. But, there is still a number one even if it comes from a steaming pile. Here are my picks for: Best, Funniest, & Worse

BEST: Google- Search On.

Google has never had to do traditional TV advertising. By the very fact that we all say "google it" means they have won! But, I guess Bing is starting to cut into them. This spot is amazing for it's simplicity and the story it tells by using Google. Truly search on.

FUNNIEST: Volkswagen - PunchDub

And there were a lot of ad that were kind of funny, but nothing resonated me more than taking a universal game inspired by VW Bugs and humanizing it. Punch after punch after punch. And who doesn't love Grandpa getting punched in the nuts? Plus, like any great funny ad, there is a good zinger at the end with Stevie Wonder.

WORST: Anything from GoDaddy.com

Guess what? Dana Patrick is not gay or even bi and we are not going to your website for anything, but registering website domains at a cheap price (I recently got trevorawright.com for only $1) and that's never going to change! No one wants to watch your PG-13 content that is "too risky" for the Super Bowl because someone somewhere decided that the Super Bowl is a family show. Docker's offered free pants and their site crashed. I bet GoDaddy.com saw a slight increase in web traffic for a couple of hours.

And CBS, just because they can afford to buy the time doesn't mean you have to give it to them. Stop banning their ads because they are too "risky" and more because they are just BAD!

'Buckle Up' PSA is Beautiful

Here is a PSA that aired in England this last weekend during the Super Bowl (yes, they watch it over there too!). Simple premise with amazing shooting. This is probably one of the best PSA's I've seen that it's preachy, violent, or over the top Rachel Leigh Cook beats the crap out of a kitchen. Watch and see:

Now, here's Rachel:

Which tells a better story?

How it works: 3D HDTV

Here it comes:

http://www.macvideo.tv/news/index.cfm?email&newsID=3211499

Pushing the Boundaries

Go Pro. We've got 'em. What've we done with 'em? And how does that stack up compared to what they can do? We'll see, we're in the process of putting together a reel of our best footage. But (and don't take this the wrong way) I expect our footage will be put to shame by what I see all over the web. We aren't into the "extreme" sports, and we don't have the riders, etc, doing the extreme, crazy, could get you killed style things that look absolutely amazing. So what can we do? Get inventive. Check this one out. A Go Pro on a Broomstick, and some amazing shots that couldn't have been gotten any other way. What else like this can we do? And out of curiosity, how much of an impact can these things take? Just in case ;)

GoPro HD - Skimboarding In A Storm! from Patrick Lawler on Vimeo.

Cows Cows Cows

You might think I'm posting that old I'm a Cow video.... nope. (Hilarious, check it out. Kinda nsfw-ish, but hilarious)

You might think I'm talking about the Mad Cow video... also wrong.

Actually, I'm talking about some BEAUTIFUL cinematography on a trailer for something dairy-related. I just loved the imagery, and it had to do with something we do on a regular basis - making dirty cows look like pretty ones. And we all know, with shallow enough depth of field, everything looks good, right? Anyway, prepare to be amazed. This is some beautiful stuff. Better than the embedded is going to Vimeo and watching it full-screen in HD.

Milk Money Trailer from Red&Black Productions on Vimeo.

Best unboxing video evah!

Now with NINJAS!



-dp