Pizzolo sent me this article. Its not really an article, but a stock tip regarding the Warner Music Group. We don’t trade stocks, nor do we follow the market religiously, but we do pay attention to the fate of media companies, especially when they are kicked so squarely in the balls.

That WMG would receive a downgrade from a wall street analyst is not surprising or novel. The fun here is that the analyst recommends replacing your holdings in WMG with stock from Live Nation, News Corp., and Apple. Basically, throw away the old music business and replace it with a concert promotion company, a diversified media conglomerate, and a lifestyle gadget builder. That pretty much sums up the last ten years of the music business in one convenient stock pick. Goodnight, WMG. Happy new year everybody.

I’ve never used the virus proof argument to tout the benefits of Mac OS. It just seemed like bad karma that would come back to bite me someday. But Apple’s “virus proof” marketing angle and those mildly obnoxious “Mac vs. PC” commercials have flushed good karma down the toilet. If the pervaiors of malicious code weren’t bothering with Mac OS before, we’ve certainly got their attention now.

I subconsciously use that information on a daily basis, but I hadn’t thought about the philosophical and psychological concepts of color grading for some time, until I found this post on Mike Jones blog, Digital Basin. Mike Jones isn’t a drunk like my old mentor, but he’s got a great take on the psychology of cinematic color grading. The post is called “Colour Grading – Concepts and Paradigms.” Firstly, any reference to “Concepts and Paradigms” in regards to post production is automatically intriguing, because post production tends to be myopicallyworkflow oriented, often avoiding the larger philosophical considerations behind the choices that we make in method and technology.

The post neatly packages the basics of video color grading theory, an art form that seems to have gone out the window in the age ofprosumer video production. Access to very powerful color manipulation tools (I use Color Finesse and Colorista pretty regularly) have created a wealth of color styling opportunity, but I have witnessed an inversely proportional dearth of knowledge about how to apply those tools effectively. Mike Jones breaks down the use of these tools into a set of values that allow the intention of the filmmaker to inform color choices. That sounds like a basic concept, but its easy to overlook when you start fiddling with the color corrector before you’ve mapped a clear aesthetic plan for the project.

This fact was most evident in 2006 when Apple ceased development on Shake, the immensely popular composting software they acquired in 2002. The rumor mill claimed that Apple was developing the “next generation” of the technology for release in 2008, but that never materialized and former Shake users moved on. Shake was finally dropped from the Apple website last week.

I actually wrote a first part of this post a couple weeks ago, then the next day Apple released Final Cut Pro 7, the first major upgrade in two years. There are a few much needed fixes, and some additions that should have been standard features three versions back. The only real innovation is theIChat Theater, which integrates the output of Final Cut Pro into a live video chat for real time playback over the Internet . Its interesting that the feature I find most innovative comes from the integration of a freeware app that comes with every new mac. I appreciate the upgrade toFCP 7, but I won’t hold my breath for another major upgrade. I still think Apple is going to withdraw from the the pro apps market, andFCP as we know it is doomed.

Most of the other apps in the Final Cut Suite were also upgraded. The suite has always been a mixed bag of functionality. Motion and Sound Track Pro have been borderline useless since version 1. If this upgrade gets them operational with reasonable stability, it would be a victory. DVD Studio Pro is conspicuously missing from this upgrade, which I’m thankful for. I use DVD Studio on a regular basis, and I don’t have many complaints. I would prefer that Apple not mess with it unless they want to addBlu-Ray support, but I won’t hold my breath for that either.

What Cameron failed to mention is that, in the absence of an existing brand property, Cameron is the brand. He certainly has the cinematic pedigree to prop up an original sci-fi movie. Furthermore, Cameron leveraged his personal brand into branding Avatar as the movie that will revolutionize the theatrical industry with groundbreaking 3D technology. In the current media economy, Cameron faces the same dilemma as many of us. He can’t get financing for an innovative new property unless he promises to reinvent the entire game in the process. Its a genius marketing scheme that probably helped finance Avatar’s $200 million production, and helped the movie receive an advance wave of press that other movies don’t enjoy. Comic Con was the first time the public had seen a frame of Avatar, but we’ve been reading about the production since early 2008 in everything from Variety to Wired. The technological brand of Avatar even outshines the A-list talent in the film. I realized a couple of weeks ago that Sigourney Weaver stars in the movie, but even her press blurbs are tethered to Cameron’s technology talking points.

Its a $200 million dollar gamble, leveraged by Cameron’s personal brand and hedged by his massively successful box office performance. If it hits, he’s at the helm of a billion dollar franchise. If it tanks, Hollywood will forgive him. But if Avatar is just plain bad, and those core fans are displeased, the credibility of brand Cameron will take a serious hit.

Comic Con has long been the place for Hollywood to market big tentpole movies, so I wasn’t surprised to see an aggressive marketing presence from the major studios. But I didn’t realize the degree to which the Studios and TV networks had built Comic Con into a Sundance style film market, with backroom deal brokering all day, and starlet filled invite only parties all night. The surprising part is how little this Hollywood scene has to do with the
convention itself, creating a virtual two tiered caste system between the Hollywood business sector and the droves of comic and pop culture fans that fill the convention floor. The upper class Hollywood caste doesn’t mingle on the convention floor, and the lower classes of the Comic Book caste don’t mingle with starlets at the after parties. This isn’t terribly shocking, — these disparate groups have very different reasons for attending the show. But its fascinating that Comic Con operates with such a dichotomy, and I wonder if one part could survive without the other. Are they symbiotic, or is one of them a parasite?

The two castes eventually do come face to face in the panels where new films are introduced. The studios parade the talent and preview scenes, and the press eats it up. The studios have engineered Comic Con into the most powerful publicity scheme I have ever witnessed, and the coverage is remarkable. The crowds love these panels too, but only a lucky few get to see them. The infamous “Hall H” holds about 5600 people, which is about 5% of the total Comic Con attendance. If a fan wants to preview a highly anticipated project, it means lining up before dawn and devoting the better part of a day to holding a place in line, creating a dream scenario for the studios where only the most dedicated set of fans end up in the screenings. These devotees just waited six plus hours in line for a screening, and their ready to scream and cheer no matter what they see. Virtually every preview gets a glowing review because the vibe is good and the press and bloggers are just happy to be there. I heard several conversations about how Comic Con San Diego didn’t used to be such a mass marketing event, which is probably true to some degree. But 2009 was the 40th anniversary of Comic Con San Diego, and the printed program guide had a retrospective of highlights from the previous four decades. I read there that George Lucas previewed Star Wars in 1977, so the film business has had its hooks in Comic Con from early on.

Halo-8 had a booth at Comic Con, and we value the one on one interaction with the consumers (this is what Pizzolo refers to as “retail politics”), so we were on the convention floor all day. But at night, we hooked up with the Hollywood set and hit the parties and bars. That meant that we never slept, because the parties kept us out until after 3am, and we were up by 7am to ready the booth. After 3.5 hours sleep on Friday night, I walked out of the hotel at sunrise on Saturday morning expecting to find the streets of San Diego’s Gaslamp District deserted. But in fact the neighborhood around the convention center was teeming with activity. After a stroll down to the coffee shop, I realized that I was witnessing a casual intermingling of the most extreme members of the two Comic Con Castes, as the hard partying Hollywood elite stumbled back to their rooms after a night of debauchery, and the hardcore convention enthusiasts were lining up early for seats in the screenings. Each crossed the others path, oblivious in that moment to their respective roles in the largest comic and pop culture celebration in the world, and the most elaborate marketing hustle in the movie business.

By the way, Syfy opted out of a booth on the convention floor this year. Instead they took over the Hard Rock Cafe across the street and re-branded it into a Syfy venue. If Halo-8 goes back to San Diego in 2010, we’re opening a speakeasy.

I subconsciously use that information on a daily basis, but I hadn’t thought about the philosophical and psychological concepts of color grading for some time, until I found this post on Mike Jones blog, Digital Basin. Mike Jones isn’t a drunk like my old mentor, but he’s got a great take on the psychology of cinematic color grading. The post is called “Colour Grading – Concepts and Paradigms.” Firstly, any reference to “Concepts and Paradigms” in regards to post production is automatically intriguing, because post production tends to be myopically workflow oriented, often avoiding the larger philosophical considerations behind the choices that we make in method and technology.

The post neatly packages the basics of video color grading theory, an art form that seems to have gone out the window in the age ofprosumer video production. Access to very powerful color manipulation tools (I use Color Finesse and Colorista pretty regularly) have created a wealth of color styling opportunity, but there’s an inversely proportional dearth of knowledge about how to apply those tools effectively. Mike Jones breaks down the use of these tools into a set of values that allow the intention of the filmmaker to inform color choices. That sounds like a basic concept, but its easy to overlook if you start fiddling with the color corrector before you’ve without a clear aesthetic plan for the project.

But the X-box isn’t the only way to play your pirated download of “Krull.” There are dozens of these players on the market, and many of them are cheaper and than the X-box, without the format restrictions that Microsoft and Apple are famous for. This isn’t a formal review, or an endorsement of any particular box. Also, this isn’t a thoroughly researched technical synopsis. If I misstate anything, or overlook details, let me know in the comments. I’ll update this list periodically as I find new information and new media players.

WD TV

The WD TV is at once very cool, but slightly bizarre. Its cool because its cheap ($129), it plays HD through HDMI, and its got a slick remote controlled interface. Its bizarre because its made by hard drive manufacture Western Digital, yet its not equipped with a hard drive. I guess its not that bizarre, because Western Digital wants to sell you an external hard drive to go with your new WD TV. Conveniently, the WD TV has a USB port for connection of any external hard drive. It plays just about any media format you’ll come across, but it won’t play DRM protected files from Itunes, Amazon, Cinema Now, etc.

Lacie Multimedia Hard Drives
In his original post, Pizzolo mentioned that the LaCie “rugged” costs $349, but the “LaCinema” series of media players starts at $99 for the driveless model. $149 gets you a 500 gig drive inside. The prices go up to $500 for the DVR model that can record standard definition video and playback HD. That model is also equipped with ethernet and wifi connections for playback of video from other computers on the network. All of the “LaCinema” products are equipped with HDMI for connection to the TV, but only the more expensive models actually play HD video.

Popcorn Hour
As a sure sign that this an emerging market, the interesting innovations are coming from obscure, but ambitious, hardware manufacturers. The Popcorn Hour C-200 seems to be the ultimate “play anything” pirate machine. It doesn’t have an internal hard drive, but you can add storage via USB, or connect it to wifi and send the video files to the box via network. It plays anything, including a few forms of DRM files (I’m not sure if that means ITunes movies or not), and it also plays streaming flash video from several websites to your TV. You Tube, Hulu, and several other prescribed media outlets are all viewable. But wait! Theres more! The C-200 also has an internal bit torrent application, so you can pirate movies right to your TV. At $299, this all seems too good to be true. But the technology at work here is fairly simple. Any computer, even a $300 netbook, can play back all of these file formats and connect to a wifi network. The video conversion hardware is cheap and easy to implement, so there isn’t much reason for these boxes to cost more than a few hundred bucks unless the manufacturers want to gouge us. The C-200 isn’t available yet, and there’s no date for delivery on the website. We’ll see what happens when it comes out.

Apple IPod
Last, and certainly least, any video capable IPod can send video out to your TV. The catch is that Apple wants $50 for the video adapter cable that sends component video out through the Ipod dock. A quick amazon search reveals cheaper solutions in a variety of configurations, but none seem to offer the magic combination of video output while simultaneously charging the battery, as is found on the Apple cable. This is a must because, in my experience, playing video on the Ipod kills the battery in double time. Furthermore, I’ve heard reports of the Iphone / IPod tough 3.0 software update blocking the use of non-Apple cables. Thanks Mr. Jobs!

Apple extends that restrictive methodology to the video files played by the Ipod. The video has to be scaled and compressed to a fairly strict standard. Videos from the ITunes store and other legal sources are formatted correctly. Most pirated video is not, so anything that isn’t in the correct h.264 codec will have to be converted. ITunes will do this conversion for you, but its slow and you don’t get any control over the compression standards.

There’s no HDMI, or any kind of HD signal, and sound is limited to stereo. I wouldn’t buy an IPod to serve as the hub of a digital home theater, but if you’re wiling to cough up $50 for Apple’s proprietary cable, its a serviceable method to watch movies from a device that many of us already have.

But movies that cost in excess of $150 million don’t profit because a room full of 6000 fanboys gives a standing ovation. The marketing chatter created by Comic Con is invaluable, but it doesn’t create an instant hit. That kind of income relies on a long term, multi-platform strategy of vertically integrated marketing and distribution whose success has little to do with any kind of core audience reaction. The studios will use the imagery of Comic Con to create buzz and build the perceived value of a title, but the notion of a “core audience” is a myth when a $150 million movie is opening on 4200 screens world wide.

The channel was doomed to mediocrity from day one because the name “Sci Fi Channel” creates a wide range of expectations across a broad set of demographically diverse viewers. The channel would never be able to please everybody, especially in a class of entertainment that is dominated by high budget production values that a fledgling cable channel wouldn’t have access to. As a result of those early positioning issues, and a recurring theme of poor programming choices, the channel is plagued by the eternal question:

“Syfy, why do you have to suck so bad?”

Despite the goofy handle, Syfy is by no means a total loss. The channel has solid assets in their more recent series like Battlestar and the Stargate spinoffs. Even Eureka is watchable. Better programming decisions can repair the fragile relationship with the audience, and here’s programming fix #1:

LOSE THE WRESTLING.

Every piece of programming on a channel becomes part of the channel’s brand image. The programming itself becomes a statement of purpose for the channel, and you develop a relationship with the audience based on that programming history. There is no scenario where Professional Wrestling makes sense as part of the Syfy brand image. They had to have known this when they programmed ECW, and the audience knows that they know it, so it feels like a slap in the face. Any credibility they have generated with other programming goes out the window with choices like this. Syfy President Dave Howe claims that “ECW has successfully brought new younger viewers to our channel.” Even if that were true, its not a viable longterm strategy. Viewers attracted to a genre of programming that has nothing to do with the mission of the channel are not likely to stay, and any gains will come at the cost of alienating the existing audience. Syfy would gain a temporary ratings bump by showing soft core porn on Saturday nights, but that doesn’t mean its good for the brand.