Always good to try and evolve things, but do we really need to see the reasons why your guys aren't getting laid? Some people are just made for radio... =)

Nah, seriously, haven't watched it yet. I'm sure it's fine. Only do it though as long as it doesn't hurt the audio edition. More audio > audio+video

I didn't see Walk the Line in any release list for this month.

Rad - video edition!!!

but wmv?!?!? everything is better in Quicktime-land!

keep up it up - loving your work!!

Hey Common,

After some major experimenting, I discovered that I was getting better results with the .wmv format in terms of quality and size vs. the quicktime... which surprised me.

The Quicktimes were coming out almost as good... but with about 15-20% larger file sizes... so I went with the wmv format since it also plays on both Macs and PCs.

Cheers!

Really like the video edition guys, defiantly keep it up plz.

Just a few techy things though,

1) Lighting needs to be turned up a bit, slightly too dark I found

2) If you have the space an actuall round table layout works well, and if you can get yourself a black bit of material to put up behind you, it will help a lot with the compression of the video.

3) I don’t know whether it was just the server being overloaded but it took me a good hour to grab this and was pulling it down at 30Kb/s. Maybe you could try posting the video using the bit torrent network as TWIT do with their vid-casts saving them bandwidth and helping increase speeds.

Apart from those techy things I really enjoyed it :) The banner at the bottom was also very useful for links and headlines etc but it staying there for the whole show was a little annoying, also the insertion of film clips worked well :)

Hey John, we had similar problems with Quicktime in our experiments with video compression. Windows Media seems to be more efficient, but of course it won't play on iPods. If you can get a copy of Quicktime Pro it has an export option specifically for the iPod video format.

Hey guys... John here...

Can anyone point me to instructions on how to set up the Video Audio Edition as a Bittorrent? I've used bittorrent for a while... but I've never sent out a file via bittorrent. Thanks!

~John

That’s what TWIT use John:

http://participatoryculture.org/broadcast/

Just going through the FAQ and documentation now to see how easy it is to use etc. looks a very simple way of creating torrents and setting them up for download.

Hope it helps,
Sam

Didn't u try to do an Movie Edtion in the summer. Anyway keep up the great work hope this last more than 2 episodes

Hey John, I've never done this myself but I've always been curious about it. The basic steps are:

1) create a torrent file from the data file you want to share using MakeTorrent or another utility
2) choose a tracker for your torrent and include the announce URL for that tracker in MakeTorrent
3) upload the newly created .torrent to your web server
4) start seeding the torrent from a desktop computer somewhere by downloading the .torrent file from your server and opening it with your BitTorrent client

The only part I'm not sure about is how to choose a tracker. I think most of the major BitTorrent directory sites run trackers that you can freely use.

Here's the official guide to creating a torrent:

http://btfaq.com/serve/cache/56.html

Great show as usual guys. The hilarity factor was off the scale with this one.

BTW please try to go the occasional actual movie review - they are few and far between lately.

Video Installment Temporarily Offline? Please get it back on so I can watch.

If you're releasing this as WMV then I'm gonna stop reading The Movie Blog: not all of us are M$ slaves.

Why? Read here:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~_dom_/ts_faq/section_05_00.htm

hey john, i thought i'd post you something that would make your head explode:

http://www.stereogum.com/img/scarlett_johannson_nude.jpg

Great show, really enjoyed this. Very funny. Would definitely like to see more (I actually remember one of the early video editions you did and this look so much more professional). Please keep it in WMV though - no QuickTime, I refuse to install any trashy Apple software on my machine.

No seriously, I watched this on my PocketPC and it was great.

Keep up the good work.

Loved the Video Edition. Watching Doug and Darren resist thier brokeback urges on that loveseat was the best.

My wife is not convinced that you have eyes John. So, yes, there were some lighting issues, but you know that.

Keep up the great work.... i look forward to each and every edition.

Keep an eye out for Ana de la Reguera in Nacho Libre...:) and in other news...

If you can help me save some unsuspecting filmmaker some pain by posting this, it would be appreciated, thank you, Luis

MEDIA RELEASE

02/06/2006

ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – The director of Rockets Redglare!, a Steve Buscemi produced documentary which screened at Sundance in 2003 featuring Mr. Buscemi, Willem Dafoe, Jim Jarmusch and Matt Dillon, announced today he has filed a $1.75 million lawsuit in Federal Court against the film’s primary distributor.

Luis Fernandez de la Reguera charges that Michael Broder DBA Small Planet Pictures and Undecided Films, based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, is in breach of contract, failed to pay advance fees and royalties, distributed the film illegally outside of North America, and did not honor marketing commitments. Entertainment lawyer J. Christopher Robbins is handling this case.

In a two-count federal lawsuit, the film’s owners allege that Small Planet Pictures,Undecided Films and its owner, Michael Broder, “obtained gains, profits, and advantages as a result of his wrongful acts.” They seek a court order preventing further unlawful distribution of the film, dissolution of the contract, and damages.

For more information contact:
Catherine Timilty, Esq.
(866) 862-6878
http://www.rocketsredglare.tv
http://www.floridalawyer.com

Here I go again:

1) Very interested at first to see what you guys look like. I mean I've seen pictures, but that's not the same as "live action." So that was interesting to put a face to the voice of Darren and the boys.

2) I like the animations and visual cues you are able to put up e.g. Bubble, Silver Surfer, Walk the Line, etc.

3) Very well done for a first attempt guys.

4) The novelty wore off quickly though. I much prefer to put you guys on my iPod and just listen in the car or while doing paperwork at my job than sit at my computer and watch you talk.

5) Download time. A little long but eh, whatever.

6) You guys do what you want. Seems like a lot of people dug it. I didn't hate it, I just ended up not caring after a while. As long as the audio only edition is still available through iTunes as well as the video version, I'll be happy.

7) Also, if you do keep the audio only edition available, make sure there aren't topics that absolutely REQUIRE a visual stimulus to know what you're talking about.

8) Keep up the good work guys. I'm always excited when I go to my computer and see a new episode available on iTunes. You've also inspired me to start my own podcast and it has seemed to work well so far. Although major technical issues knocked out my most recent and best podcast regarding the Oscars.

peace.

-Drewbacca
moviepatron.com

Hey, anyone know what song that was playing at the end of the "video edition"? If so, please post! Thx!

Hey there Jim,

The song is called "Downside" by a band called "Klank"

I don't understand, video edition is new?.. I swear I've seen you guys do one before.. and I also think it looked better and was more "showy"..but hey its all good... good stuff guys

freakin awesome!
i had to wait till wednesday to download it, so i threw it on my Xbox, turned on the surround sound, dimmed the lights and openned a fresh 12-pack of Miller High Life.

freaking awesome! you guys should try the george lucas approach and remake old audio editions, VIDEO STYLE! well, probably not, but still, i can't wait to see what you guys do next

keep up the kick ass work

Good stuff. I don't think 'Walk The Line' is coming out that quickly though, it could be just an 'estimate time window'. It makes more sense to wait after the Oscars, so if (when) Reese wins, they can plaster her Oscar nod all over the back cover. Either that or 'Line' didn't do jack in Canada.

I got tired of waiting for the Window to buffeer, so I just went for the regular audio edition.
Holy turd, you guys were really LOUD...and very high in megs- it was also an unusually slower download.

So I can't comment on everything; I waved the white flag halfway through. Not because of the slow half hour and ten minute wait, but because...holy turd! You guys were freakin' LOUD.

I turned the setting to the lowest and I still could see the ripples in my glass of water.

-Sealer

Windows Media???? Sure it'll save you 10MB per file but is that really worth the lack of playability. I say multiple formats. Bit torrent. At the least, let you viewers decide...I'm certain it won't be wmv.

I'm all for video editions! Best of luck in your new vodcasting. Just don't make me reply again...clicking on your massive full page ads to do so is almost as annoying as downloading a wmv file.

That dancing lens flare in the opening's very Alias. And the new apartment looks like a huge improvement over the old one. You didn't even need to hide it behind a black sheet.

Some feedback:

1. I like the old intro music better. Maybe you could get it in an instrumental version, so you don't have to worry about when the lyrics starts?

2. Go for the diggnation approach. All tree of you in a sofa and a stationary camera.

3. Look into the camera when you speak to the audience.

Keep up the good work! :)

/Joel

A few stupid comments from a stupid viewer:

1) The camera angle makes you feel like you're looking at people in wheelchairs

2) Leather couches make noise every time someone moves.

3) Sound quality reminded me of the old movie blog days

4) The old theme song was much better

Anyway, i'm still not sure if i'd subscribe to an video-audio edition. There's very little there to enhance the experience but then i know its just the start and things will get better.

You guys definitely need a bittorrent file. It will save boatloads on bandwidth.

Any idea when the next audio/video edition is coming out?