Gilad Lotan » video

Flickr Clock

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:12:14 +0000

There’s something really wonderful about using the flickr clock interface to browse through people’s moments from around the world. The clock displays only video content and lets you lean back and just click to view another short clip which someone uploaded somewhere around the world.

flickr clock

I love the horizontal timeline below the image slices and I think the general browsing experience is well done. Its always an interesting challenge lining up events horizontally on one level. For example, when browsing through this clock, I first encounter a clip from the San Francisco Pillow Fight. However, when I click on the arrow I am shown a cat sitting by a windowsill. All these events happen at the same time, and are as important for the person who placed them on the clock.

flickr clock timeline

Applications like these make me wonder how we will be consuming news in the future. Will we have a super-set of timelines streaming real-time video people are taking from events around the world? How easy will it be to switch from my personal channel (i.e. my cat on the windowsill) to my relevant events (for example places I’ve been to, people I follow or more general newsworthy events).

[tags] visualization, timeline, clock, flickr,video,news,events,pnn[/tags]

Israelis for Obama

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:23:59 +0000

I’ve been waiting to finally see this video, and now that its out, all I have to say is – lame…lame…lame…!
While it highlights famous actors, politicians, artists and journalists from Israel, the video seems too scripted, “hollywoody” and just plainly cheesy. I’d hoped that there would be more of a documentary feel, highlighting pieces of conversation with these influential Israelis on why they endorse Obama. Kudos on the effort, but big thumbs down on the execution. Heres the vid:

I’ve written about it before on GVO:

Assaf Carmel mentions a clip that has recently been shot for the Internet in which a number of prominent Israelis express their faith in the commitment to Israel of presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Among the public figures to appear on the clip, which is to air in three weeks, are former Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, former MKs Roman Bronfman and Naomi Hazan, Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken and the actor Moshe Ivgi. The clip, a creation of Alma Harel – an Israeli living in Los Angeles – is yet to be released.

[tags]obama,israel,jews,campaign[/tags]

Why Do Fans Accept a Referee’s Blindness?

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:47:02 +0000

A sea of orange shirts shout at the Television screen in the stuffy, dark pub down Santa Monica Blvd – everyone saw how the Russian player faked a faul, yet the referee decided to card the Dutch player.

Satellites transmit slow-motion replays of this split second to the whole world; closeup images of just how the Russian player was only tapped on his shoulder by his Dutch counterpart, and masterfully fakes a hit in the face, taking a fall to the ground and clutching onto his face as if in agony. He does this shamelessly, probably knowing that the whole world is watching, but that the referee is the only person he needs to deceive; the only person who cannot see exactly what has happened.

This is a common event during soccer matches – a wrong misjudgment by the referee, accepted by viewers worldwide for cultural and historical reasons – the referee’s decisions must be respected, even when wrong! Why do they not have a little pocket device to consult in such cases? Why is a technological solution not proposed to fix this situation?

The assumption is that misjudgments and mistakes are an integral part of the game. In sports, like in business and other disciplines, those who play by the rules, tend to lose. The difference is that only in sports, are these actions magnified and accepted worldwide for “cultural” reasons. Or is it only in sports?
more: failing to follow the rules

[tags]rules,culture,uefa,euro2008,soccer[/tags]

Using Online Video as a Platform for Social Change

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 08:46:29 +0000

I’ve spent all day at the 24/7 DIY VIDEO SUMMIT at USC and wanted to touch base on some interesting points. The ‘State of the Art’ panel focused on possibilities to leverage such a popular online video platform as youtube for public good. Alexandra Juhasz showed findings from a class she ran on youtube, concluding that as the site currently stands, youtube is not good at supporting groups to have a conversation and work collaboratively to take action. But the two speakers who caught my attention were Sam Gregory from Witness and Henry Jenkins. They both talked about the potential of using online video for social activism.

Sam described some of the issues Witness deals with, working with online video, and introduced their recent web-video platform, the hub. Sam’s vision of video, is a tool for change. He mentioned the importance of smart narrowcasting rather than the usual broadcasting. When Narrowcasting, one concentrating on a smaller audience, to which the content is more relevant, rather than trying to produce content that speaks to a larger crowd (which is *usually* much more difficult to create). He stresses the importance of video having a reason and speaking directly to a particular audience. Some of the challenges Witness is currently facing deals with creating effective content used in courts discussions on human rights in Africa. How can you capture someone’s testimony effectively abd then project it directly within a judicial discussion?

The Hub is Witness’s solution, a site that provides the context that youtube lacks. Whenever a video on a “different topic” ( for instance human rights issues…) is uploaded to youtube, it is usually followed by a trail of nasty comments. When taken out of context and placed in the generic pool of youtube videos, a social activism clip does poorly, both in hits and in sparking conversation (Sam gave statistics for this – something like 10 times less views on average). I don’t fully agree with this statement, although it might work out when looking at the average. From my perspective it is a matter of production and knowing how to create and enticing narrative that will grab a wide audience.

Henry Jenkins, in return, talked about the importance of having a site like youtube as point of intersection – this meeting point for diverse communities. He recognizes the potential of change when everyday citizens have the opportunity to participate and create content that is seen by and affects masses. He stresses the importance of achieving diversity, and maintaining it even through the many obstacles that exist. Jenkins is optimistic that we can move from a narcicistic, self-indulging youtube to a group-friendly platform. However there are obstacles along the way:

1) Participation Gap – digital divide, access to using technology. If nowadays anyone can produce media, why don’t they all do it? There is still a lack of access to skills and to educational opportunities. Digital Media Literacy is extremely important.
2) Top videos on sites – everyone voting is a problematic method. What are better ways to present minorities in a participatory culture? Youtube masks minority perspectives.
3) Hate speach that surrounds diversity – you’re made fun of and receive racist comments if you are different, sadly. The web enhances social behavior, from which the nastiness is certainly present in forums and the commenting space of popular sites. On the other hand, if we create safe little enclaves, they will be excluded from the conversation. It is important for human rights videos to stay within the main turf, and bubble up more, even on youtube. Moving sideways, or out is problematic.

I want more talk about production and less about access
Access is pretty much taken care of. The tools exist, they are becoming more and more ubiquitous, and are reaching a wide array of users worldwide. While it is extremely easy to upload a video to the web, it is still very difficult to produce it. To make it good. Making an engaging video is much more difficult that it seems. It is a bottleneck which is not catching up fast enough to the rise of the sheer amounts of raw data. I want to see more tools that help with scripting, framing shots, weaving engaging narratives and editing. That is the part which usually makes video content memorable. We are already in a world overloaded with far too much content. Online production tools like Kaltura, youtube remixer and jumpcut are a good start, but the pressure is on… and it is only growing.

[tags] video247, summit, DIY, video, Jenkins, Henry, Sam, Gregory, youtube[/tags]

YouTube Remixer

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:59:06 +0000

Wow. I’ve just had such a pleasant surprise.
I did not even realize this existed, but Youtube has a remixer on their site, made in collaboration with Adobe. Makes it super easy to take your own videos and create a remix, adding basic transitions, effects, subtitles and music (in the near future). Currently it allows you to remix only your own videos… probably a good thing.

I’m impressed.