By KATHY DeSALVO
Putting commercials up on the World Wide Web isn’t a new idea, but FilmCore Editorial has taken the concept to a different level with its Web site, which serves clients of its Santa Monica and San Francisco-based editorial divisions, as well as its Hollywood-based broadcast distribution arm.
FilmCore created its Web site to serve as a real tool for clients, as opposed to a marketing device, commented Charlie Chubak, VP/co-founder/editor at FilmCore. "It’s an integral part of our business now," he said. "It’s not just a shiny button we wear on our blazers."
Its site at www.filmcore.com is divided into editorial and distribution sections. The editorial site permits users to click on and play spots edited by the FilmCore editors. It also includes a "virtual screening room" that allows clients to oversee work-in-progress and finished spots. Among the agencies that have used this service are Portland, Ore.-based Wieden & Kennedy for Nike and Alta Vista; Minneapolis-based Fallon McElligott for BMW; L.A.-based Ogilvy & Mather for Mattel; L.A.-based TBWA/Chiat Day for Apple and Taco Bell; and McCann-Erickson, San Francisco, for Microsoft.
Michael Schunk, VP/general manager of FilmCore distribution, is responsible for heading up the development of new technology for distribution and, through years of R&D, has come up with many of the Web-based solutions FilmCore has adopted.
"With this technology, if a person has a laptop and modem, they can dial in from wherever and download the spot," said Schunk. "We use QuickTime and Real Video for review [purposes]. In some cases, people can download the entire thirty-second spot in as little as two minutes. It isn’t full-screen or thirty frames per second, but it’s good enough for approval, and it’s still very good sound quality."
For clients who are spending big bucks on a production and need to see a spot at the highest-possible image quality, FilmCore can also encode and digitize the spots into a format such as MPEG-2, which requires the client to have T1 or multiple ISDN lines. "They download it as a compressed file, usually forty megabits for thirty seconds," explained Schunk. "If they have a DVD player or just an MPEG-2 card for decoding, a client can actually play a full-screen broadcast quality video right on their computer. So we’ve covered the gamut—from the very low-end 56k modem-equipped client who is mobile, to the client who really wants to see what they’ve invested so heavily in."
A separate section of the site was created for clients of FilmCore’s distribution division (mainly trafficking people, account execs and corporate execs). Clients can see a list of all of their archived spots and production materials, or can find a particular spot stored in FilmCore’s vault (which houses around 300,000 masters and film elements). As with the virtual screening room, clients log on to the virtual vault with a login name and password. Users can look up masters by typing in such information as title, date of creation, ISCI code and file number. Clients who want a master delivered to them can e-mail a request to FilmCore’s vault department, which will ship it out.
"In the old days," said Chubak, "an agency would have to get a printout [of the vault materials] and would have to update it as things changed. Here, they can log in and see everything on our computer, and see where it is and whether it’s logged on or off."
Chubak observed that one of the Net’s shortcomings over the past five years was people’s expectation for better-looking video. "Certainly in commercials, people expect the leading edge of technology," Chubak said. "The notion that they could see their spots remotely is not a new concept; there have been different ways of achieving that, but all of them were rather clunky. A lot of priority software companies required a little too much of a proactive approach on the part of the user.
"Now, with QuickTime and Media Player, and with computers being pretty much video-ready, we wanted to deliver top-notch video quality," continued Chubak. "We are, in many cases, trying to come as close to—if not beat—[the quality of] a videotaped copy of a spot. In the case of editorial and distribution, they were initially a little more forgiving because people weren’t looking at it for creative approvals; they were looking at it for content approvals."
Both the editorial and distribution sections of the site converged this year in their mutual quest for delivering high-quality video to various clients. Chubak claimed that through his Net-surfing, he’s found that very few sites have the same caliber of video as FilmCore has.
The main explanation for the high-quality imagery is that FilmCore has invested in the best hardware and software compression tools. Schunk related that the company uses a Minerva compressionist and a Grass Valley PDR system; both systems do MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. Additionally, FilmCore employs Mac and PC-based hardware solutions to do QuickTime encoding.
Schunk added, "We have a whole suite of software used to make QuickTime video clips for the Web. QuickTime can create some pretty large files, if you want to do full-screen video or 30 fps. But there are a number of hardware and software solutions on the market now … that allow you to streamline and enhance QuickTime. We’ve somewhat perfected the art of compression."
Microsoft Report Says Efforts By Russia, Iran and China To Sway U.S. Voters May Escalate
Foreign adversaries have shown continued determination to influence the U.S. election –- and there are signs their activity will intensify as Election Day nears, Microsoft said in a report Wednesday.
Russian operatives are doubling down on fake videos to smear Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, while Chinese-linked social media campaigns are maligning down-ballot Republicans who are critical of China, the company's threat intelligence arm said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Iranian actors who allegedly sent emails aimed at intimidating U.S. voters in 2020 have been surveying election-related websites and major media outlets, raising concerns they could be preparing for another scheme this year, the tech giant said.
The report serves as a warning – building on others from U.S. intelligence officials – that as the nation enters this critical final stretch and begins counting ballots, the worst influence efforts may be yet to come. U.S. officials say they remain confident that election infrastructure is secure enough to withstand any attacks from American adversaries. Still, in a tight election, foreign efforts to influence voters are raising concern.
Microsoft noted that some of the disinformation campaigns it tracks received little authentic engagement from U.S. audiences, but others have been amplified by unwitting Americans, exposing thousands to foreign propaganda in the final weeks of voting.
Russia, China and Iran have all rejected claims that they are seeking to meddle with the U.S. election.
"The presidential elections are the United States' domestic affairs. China has no intention and will not interfere in the US election," the Chinese Embassy said in a statement.
"Having already unequivocally and... Read More