Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Kick Ass Program: Got Noise

So I am a fan of filmmaking. I am also a fan of teenagers making films. (Well, most of them anyway.) So a few, or several, months ago, I posted an entry about Samsung Mobile Fresh Films. I also got to have the amazing experience of participating in their program last summer. Well they have a new sibling in the form of the Got Noise? program. (It's sponsored by milk.... get it yet?) If accepted into the Got Noise program they'll fly you out to L.A. for a week to make Usher's new music video with other teens from across the country. The coolest thing about the program? They give you the equipment, guidance and everything you need to make the music video, but you get to make a lot of the decisions. (AKA you might be able to work it in that Usher is shirtless in your general vicinity at some point. Possibly.) Now I leave you with a really cool promo video and a link.  Oh, and did I mention you could win a MacBook?




Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Wicked Sites: Finding the Perfect Presents

It's December. You can tell by all the chesnuts, Snowmen, Santas, Jesuses, and jewlery commercials that are blasted at you anytime you have contact with the outside world. The holidays are upon us, meaning we have to find presents for people. Here are a few sites I find really helpful for getting out of this conundrum.

Gifts.com has a personality profiler to help you find gifts for people. I've found it pretty handy, they give you a ton of options for each personality so there's bound to be something perfect in there. It's also very helpful for finding gifts to give yourself, and there's no harm in steering your friends and family to the site so they can be sure to find gifts to fit your personality. (Ok, sometimes I find myself pretend shopping for myself with my imaginary million dollars on here, it's just like they know me.)


Changing the Present is like a database for gifts that give back. I was surprised at how many small ones there were (six pages of gifts under $5!) Have a friend that's all for saving the environment? $11 reduces 2,000 pounds of carbon (or 6,000 miles of air travel) or $125 can adopt a Polar Bear from Defenders of Wildlife. There are also micro credit loans, (around $40 to $500 give loans to help small businesses in developing countries) education gifts, (everything from school supplies, tuition, and uniforms for students in need) and research (things like $67 for 1/2 and hour of Breast Cancer research or $100 for 300 DNA samples for the Strang Cancer Prevention Center.) There's something for everyone.


Uncommon Goods could be the solution for the person who has everything. Products range from funny, useful and even recycled. There's stuff like picture frames and bowls made from vinyl records and bags made from reclaimed billboards. Oh and if you need to furnish your home you could always get the rocking chair made of skies. Or if you have $3700 laying around you could get the Road Tested Chair made from "Walk/Don't Walk" signs from New York City. I could go on for a while, this site is packed with unusual stuff, and it can be addicting.

P.S. Sarah Haskins sums up the ridiculous-ness of all those annoying jewelry commercials.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

"For once I'd love to drive down a road and actually get lost" Show I'd Love to Save

So I seem to have a thing for cancelled TV shows. Or TV shows that get axed before they're even aired. We live in a world where there are more votes in most reality shows than elections and the People Choice awards have a category for youtube videos (actually more than one.) Quality TV, smart TV, and non-cheesy TV are rarely aired anymore. 

So a few days ago I found a hidden gem in this world of mutilated quality TV. "What Goes On" is a drama about a bunch of kids living in the suburbs. There are a million ways this plot line could go wrong, but "What Goes On" has a surprisingly fresh air to it while still remaining realistic. The show was scheduled to air on The-N in 2007, until something happened and something else happened causing "What Goes On" to be axed into oblivion. (I have no idea what exactly went on behind the scenes, but given what that channel has turned into, it's not that surprising they discarded quality to restock tweeny-bopper rubbish.)

Head on over to the Sri & Company Website for a trailer (I can't link to it directly, click on "Our Work" at the bottom, the the "What Goes On" tape, make sure you let it load all the way)
Oh, and that amazing song in the trailer is called "Fireworks" by Threes and Nines.

Then I have youtube links (yay!)

Each episode is only a half hour long (Though the first two kind of go together) and they've got a bit of a "Skins" vibe to them, they alternate which character they follow in different episodes. 

Here's the user page that has all the videos.

And the first part of the pilot.