Tag Archives: videos

Good Life, eh?

August 4, 2011 by Frederick | Comments Off

I was at a Passport Canada office today, waiting for essentially two hours for my two minutes of attention. (Seriously, it took that long to get from C360 to C364… and all I really did was fill out my address and sign a slip…)

Anyways. That’s not the point of this post.

When I used to work for my local municipality, one of the regulations was that the radio equipment could only be set on certain approved stations. This made sense, because hundreds of patrons (many of them families and young kids) certainly would have objected to hip hop music riddled with vulgar and offensive lyrics.

I thought Passport Canada, a federal government agency, would have similar rules. And I think they do follow them. It’s just that radios are sometimes lax with how family-friendly their songs are.

Good Life by OneRepublic is one of my favourite songs. Compared with some things I experimented with a few years ago, it’s actually not so far a departure from my old classical preferences. Except, of course, the part about the B.S. that don’t work now.

I enjoy this song. A lot. Really. And this is hardly profanity.

But does it really belong in a public waiting room where hundreds of English-speaking patrons come and go?

Mongolian orphan delivers heartfelt performance

May 30, 2011 by Frederick | 1 Comment

This is a clip from a China’s Got Talent, also known as “中国达人秀”. For those of you who don’t speak/read Chinese, that’s okay—I’ll summarize the boy’s backstory (and the song is in some Mongolian dialect anyways, so few in the audience actually know the lyrics).

Major take-aways (Mandarin speakers skip my notes):

  • This boy comes from the Mongolian plains.
  • The boy’s dream is, translated literally, to invent a (figurative?) ink of which drops can turn the ground into vast plains of greenery.
  • When asked what he’s singing, he responded that the title of the song is (and I paraphrase), Mother in My Dreams. (the song has a distinct ethnic feel)
  • “Then, where is your mom?”
    “Mom is in heaven.” (audience gasps)
    “And your dad?”
    “Dad also died, in a car accident.” (more gasps)

  • In the middle of the performance, one of the people on stage reflects, “this song… we don’t need to know the words, because you should feel what he’s singing.”
  • He’s a little off-tune when asked to sing a cappella but soon finds his key. In an emotional moment, this is understandable.

The deeper meaning behind Friday

April 7, 2011 by Frederick | Comments Off

Who honestly thinks these lyrics are meant to be about foreign policy or financial stability?

Kickin’ in the front seat
Sittin’ in the back seat
Gotta make my mind up
Which seat can I take?

Originally I said: Sorry, Rebecca. You’re too young to be making up this kind of BS. Hire a better publicity agency next time — and don’t try justifying the stupidity of the lyrics.

EDIT: Apparently this is satire. The fact that so many of us were so ready to believe in Rebecca Black’s stupidity says something.

High speed camera: 2564 fps

February 22, 2011 by Frederick | 2 Comments

I was working a gig in Vegas with a brand new Phantom Flex high speed digital cinema camera. I had to try it out. In fact, I never did go to bed that night. I opened up a wormhole shooting at 2,564 frames per second. (via Vimeo)

A device that shoots at 2564 fps in 1080p? I want one.

Visit the blog of the video’s creator for more captivating details.

Best 5 University Promo Videos

November 21, 2010 by Frederick | Comments Off

I’m back, after restoring my site from its recently hacked state. I hope it doesn’t happen again, and I do apologize to anyone who was put off by the changed site title and the blank posts and pages.

Anyways, I’ve been watching a lot of promotional videos for universities, generally published by their admissions offices to attract students, and some really stood out. Many are quite long, but they’re definitely worth watching in full.

Most Awesome: “That’s Why I Chose Yale“

The opening might be boring and conventional, but watch past the first minute — a pleasant surprise awaits.

Beautiful cinematography, great music… Yale’s video is a true piece of art, all the more so because it was produced by undergraduates at the university.

Most Inspiring: “True Learning” (University of Pennsylvania)

UPenn’s 2009 admissions video starts off serenely, and soon crescendos into a deeply moving profile of the students’ lives. The scenery is beautiful, and the music is suited.

The University of Pennsylvania’s video is filled with a sense of purpose. It’s motivating and inspirational.

Most Elegant: “Places like Harvard“

This is one of the most beautiful promotional videos I’ve ever watched. Harvard did a splendid job of presenting all the awe-inspiring statistics about the school in a way that is both simplistic and informative. On YouTube, Harvard has combined all its videos into one long video, but the video below starts at the segment to which I have been referring.

Most Eloquent: “Columbia, An Introduction“

Although Columbia’s video is heavily dominated by interviews and speaking as opposed to the dynamic singing of Yale’s video or the wow factor of Harvard’s, the words spoken in this video are the most moving.

I felt that Columbia’s video seemed very genuine and unpretentious.

Most Relaxed: “Discover Stanford“

It’s probably a testament to the West Coast lifestyle. Stanford’s video made university seem fun and playful, rather than studious.

Notable Mention

UPenn’s older video, “There’s Nothing Stopping Our Students” is also an inspirational work of beauty. It does focus more on students’ admission experiences, rather than how great the university is. That’s worth appreciating.

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/video/UGA_Overview.flv