The name's Snell. Just Snell...

Pro-Bel and Snell & Wilcox have decided to move forward into the brave new broadcast future together under the name Snell. So much so simple, but the enjoyment comes from the press release accompanying said announcement, which is an entertaining masterpiece of corporate cobblers.

"At the same time the Snell name and new branding position for the company introduces the ambitious, passionate and customer-focused agenda that will define our activities in the future.”

Marvelous.

Kermode & Mayo - not for long?

Looks like Simon Mayo has declined a move up to Salford when 5Live relocates and, as a result, the best hour of radio in existence is under threat.

Still, a good interview with the Good Doctor K. Prize quote: "God's role in the world? Oh, come on. I'm just a guy who likes The Exorcist."

Drawn to the devil: 5 Live's horror-loving film reviewer Mark Kermode talks to Mark Lawson | Film | The Guardian

More Dwarfism

Writing about Red Dwarf: Back to Earth again. Just had to do a primer for people who've never heard of it (which includes most of the US apparently. Inevitably they tried a US version full of quite bewilderingly attractive people, but the pilot never screened). Anyway, it was difficult to do without using the word 'Smeghead' once or going into the wonders of Mr Flibble. but 'twas done all the same. Now looking in a bit more detail at the vfx work. I'd post a pic, but I'd be shot if I did and then large men called Len would come round and shoot you too for having seen it. Maybe after Easter...

Now, smoke me a kipper, I'll be back by breakfast.

UPDATE: Seen the first ep and the vfx work is, indeed, rather splendid.

That April Fool release in full

BBP! Introduces VFX For All

1 April 2009 – Film goers and game players will soon have a whole new way of looking at the world thanks to radical new realtime VFX sunglasses technology being introduced by Biff Bang Pow!, a new knowledge-based, satisfaction-oriented start-up based in Peterborough.

The glasses, dubbed Eye Candy, work by overlaying realtime special effects sequences over real life events. Wearers can thus add explosions to everyday events such as making a cup of tea, dinosaur rampages to mundane tasks such as popping out for lunch, or even complete alien visitations to something as simple as taking the dog for a walk.

And while it perhaps sounds gimmicky, according to company founder Tiberius J Kirk, it addresses a serious psychological need in today's Web 2.0/Film 3.0/Reality 1.0 world.

“Research is finding that people who immerse themselves in violent gaming or Hollywood blockbusters for any length of time experience profound sensory deprivation and a psychological disconnect when they decouple themselves from their media ingest and return to what we refer to as the 'normal world',” he says. “We call this Sensory Grieving. By wearing Eye Candy, however, they can augment reality, and the default setting is that the glasses 'dial down' the vfx augmentation over a couple of days. For example, explosions become smaller, dinosaurs turn from raptors to vegetarians, and aliens come in peace rather than wanting to take over the world and enslave humanity as a food source. After a couple of days, when they have been parachuted back to the so-called 'normal world' with a soft landing, they can then remove the glasses and get on with their lives without experiencing any residual trauma.”

The glasses, which also feature ear buds for realtime soundtrack delivery, are powered by sept-core processors and the latest generation Graphics Processing Units, which, along with batteries, are carried along in a separate backpack. Glasses and backpack send and receive data via Bluetooth, and a handbag model for fashion-concious female wearers is also in development.

Interest in the glasses is widespread and not just confined to the entertainment community. “We have even had calls from religious groups who want to be able to use the technology to pixellate out body parts so that their members can walk along beaches without fear of seeing something sinful,” says Kirk.

The Eye Candy glasses will go on sale this Summer. Pricing to be announced.

Vegas here we come?

That's the first of the NAB previews finished. It'll be interesting to see how many actually go out to Vegas this year. Numbers were down last year already - albeit by a mere few thousand - and, of course, the economy has driven a long way off a very tall cliff since then.

One aspect of all this a few people have commented on is that it could herald the growth of the local show. Broadcast Video Expo was quite a lively little event back in February, and the feeling is that smaller, local shows with associated lower travel costs, could be the way forward in straitened times.

27,000 overseas visitors went out to NAB last year. Bets on it being under 20,000 this year?

Sony projector success

Quite a big story from the States: the AMC cinema chain has just ordered a rather large amount of Sony 4K projectors for its theatres and is paying $315m for the privilege.

Important because a) it brings Sony almost level with TI (5000 projectors as opposed to TI's installed base of 5500) and b) it gives 4k production a real boost. There will probably be a c) and a d) too - perhaps time to try and line up an interview with someone there...


Sony to Install Digital Projectors in AMC Theaters - NYTimes.com

Mid-Week Humping

After a few diverse shenanigans involving a dog that went through rather than over a fence while chasing a small deer and subsequent visits to the vet, back in the work groove. An NAB preview is taking most of the waking hours, with a couple of press releases zipping in for urgent attention along the way.