58

Is 'House of Cards' the Future of Television, or Simply a Forgettable Netflix Experiment?

02.4.13 @ 1:20PM Tags : davidfincher, distribution, houseofcards, internet, kevinspacey, netflix, television

On February 1st, Netflix released the first 13 episodes of the first season of House of Cards, marking a potentially monumental shift in the way we watch content. By now it’s very likely a number of you have seen the entirety of the series starring Kevin Spacey. While it’s not the first original series for Netflix (that would be Lilyhammer), House of Cards is one of the most (if not the most) expensive television shows in history, and has attracted some of the biggest names in Hollywood — like director David Fincher. But will the experiment work, or will binge-viewing ultimately hurt those who produce content? More »

43

Speaking of 4K Broadcast, Japan is Flying off the Handle: TV is 4K in 2014. Plus, an 8K Future?

01.29.13 @ 7:46PM Tags : 4k, 8k, broadcast, h265, hd, hdtv, hometheater, japan, television, tv, uhd, ultahd

Several recent developments are helping to bring more 4K (or “more-K“) to your television screen than many of us might have anticipated, even a year ago. RED has big ideas for your home theater (pictured left), consumer electronics companies are starting to roll out some screens with very high pixel densities, media mega-vendors YouTube and Netflix will (or already do) support 4K, and to bring just about everything together, H.265 will be dilating streaming efficiency on 1 billion devices near you. 4K will likely find its way to you via the web a lot sooner than it will through your cable subscription — unless, of course, you live in Japan. To reinvigorate the country’s (somehow) floundering consumer electronics economy, its ministry of communications will be making 2014 the year of 4K in Japan. And perhaps beyond, not long after that. More »

34

H.265 is Now Officially Approved, is 4K Streaming and Broadcast Just Around the Corner?

01.28.13 @ 9:25PM Tags : 4k, broadcast, codec, encoding, h264, h265, hevc, hometheater, internet, spec, techspecs, television, tv, web, webvideo

Technology’s progression sometimes moves with consistent momentum, and sometime comes in spurts. For instance, processors of mobile devices regularly decrease in size and price with relation to power — while, at the same time, the speed of your internet connection may not change much at all for several years, and make a great leap whenever it does. Both of these tendencies of advancement seem to inform High Efficiency Video Coding, A.K.A. H.265 — the successor to that other codec with which we’re all quite familiar (H.264). Improving efficiency by around double, H.265 aims to set the standard for the next decade in video streaming and encoding — and it’s going to ease mobile data congestion and likely make 4K a reality much sooner than many would have anticipated. More »

6

Cinematography of 'American Horror Story: Asylum' Uses Classic Tools to Terrify in 35mm

10.31.12 @ 9:31PM Tags : 35mm, ahsfx, americanhorrorstory, cinematography, super35, television, tv

If you didn’t watch last year’s premiere of FX networks’ American Horror Story, you missed out on some seriously daring television. There was sex (and scandal), there were scares (and some blood-splatter), and there were spirits — though which characters were truly flesh-and-blood and which were a bit more ghostly didn’t become clear until much later  – all in the context of an addicting melodrama. The series (created by Nip/Tuck and Glee masterminds Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk) recently began its second season with some cast-members returning (to play different roles), but the setting has been moved to a darkly-imagined Massachusetts mental institution. One vital piece of the puzzle that is AHS is its look, which is being achieved on 35mm film — especially notable when FX’s own Sons of Anarchy and Justified, for instance, have opted for Alexa and EPIC respectively. Courtesy American Cinematographer, here’s a look at the shooting style of this aggressively original program — and just in time for the show’s Halloween episode premiere! More »

15

What's in a Name? 9 Do's and Don'ts of Picking TV Titles

03.26.12 @ 6:01PM Tags : television, tips, titles

Coming up with a good title can be a royal pain.  Is it intriguing or just vague?  Is it descriptive but too dry?  Does it suggest a dynamic concept or sit on the page?  In television, good titles can determine whether a project gets backed by development executives, or viewers tune in for a premiere.  As part of a larger feature exploring how shows like Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond and Lost got their titles, the Hollywood Reporter put together a list of 9 Do’s and Don’ts for picking a solid TV title — and there’s plenty for a DIY content creator to mull over as they consider their own projects:
More »