Created and directed by Jimmy Diebold of Bodega Studios, this short features a spectacular light show in CenturyLink Field, Seattle (home of the NFL’s Seahawks). Making it all the more spectacular are that Diebold and a skeleton crew made the short sans special effects and with only one night in the stadium.
Diebold took thousands of still photos from assorted perspectives, and assembled them to sync up with a dubstep rendition of “Midnight City” by M83, remixed by Patrick Reza. Choreographing the light show was a logistical challenge in but one night given that the stadium lights take considerable time to warm up. Securing the help of DP Adam Marsden, CSC, and recruiting via a Craigslist ad seven Seattle-based photographers, Diebold and his producer Clint Goldman, San Francisco-based executive producer/partner of the bicoastal Bodega, were able to bring the short to fruition and had it posted online prior to the Super Bowl; at press time, it had generated some 350,000 hits and counting.
Calling the piece a light show doesn’t do it full justice. The show plays almost like an art film, essentially like a classic animation, made up of thousands of still images and entailing the selection of the proper light combinations from potentially hundreds of thousands in order to capture the rich details of each light in a unique manner.
“Creating the light effects in-camera–how it bounces and spills off of the stadium’s contours–requires special consideration, but it’s the only way to achieve such beautiful, natural images,” related Diebold. In the big picture, the director said he wanted “to create a piece that was an architectural appreciation and provided a sense of place, but also captured the raw energy and excitement of what happens there. I knew it would be a departure from anything I’d done before.”
Diebold worked closely with Reza on the latter’s already existing dubstep remix of “Midnight City” and how to best deploy it in the film.
The spec piece, a passion project for Diebold, is picking up momentum online–and there’s the prospect of it perhaps being used by the Seahawks and the Seattle Sounders soccer team during their games at CenturyLink Field.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More