Film School Confidential
Posted by HDTV in eBooks Jun 27th, 2009 | No Comments
Thinking about going to film school? Don’t send in that application just yet–first read this book, the definitive guide to film schools around the country. The 26 institutions reviewed are rated according to the quality and accessibility of their equipment, the kind of films their faculty encourage students to make (“industry,” “independent,” “experimental”), and cost. The authors discuss the schools’ programs in detail, advise readers about whether film school is the right choice for them, provide tips about getting into the programs, and describe what to expect once film school begins. Karin Kelly and Tom Edgar’s prose is spirited and their entertaining introductory portrait of the state of American filmmaking will interest anyone who cares about contemporary movies. An informative and amusing glossary closes the volume, which explains why no one should try to lift an ARRI kit by the handle, why “experimental film” is just another word for “cinematic masturbation,” and why no good movie script ever contained the line, “you just don’t get it, do you?”
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Chose Chapman U
Does say what it claims to do. Excellant guide, helped me choose Chapman U due to its excellant equipment and policies.
4 Stars Good overview of graduate film programs
Overview of the top graduate film programs: gives good insight into each program and their respective strengths and characteristics. Very helpful in understanding the ‘signature’ of a school. Would be great to have an equivalent for undergrad film programs!
3 Stars A few issues
The book has its value for discussing in detail several schools throughout the country. I would even say it is a must-have before you visit ANY film school (even if’s not in the book). The grudge I have is how the authors sometimes weigh in with their personal preferences while discussing school facts (eg, they call Valencia, CA “depressing to live” – while that may be true it is highly subjective and should not be mentioned in a section which is supposed to inform an applicant). The introductory chapters are helpful, but the authors on occasion fall for juvenile foot-in-mouth comments like minimizing the work of McKee and Field by arguing they haven’t had any produced screenplays (which is ridiculous – that’s like saying a Superbowl team coach sucks because he can’t throw a ball like Joe Montana). The glossary is tongue in cheek but is obviously filler, no substance. Other than that, if one ignores these annoyances the book can be helpful.
4 Stars Book worth it, film school…?
Excellent- great discussion of the value proposition of film school. One thing I found odd though- they estimated one year rent and living expenses in New York at $20k. Living where, in a cardboard box, eating ramen noodles? Anyway, I highly recommend the TV reality show series “Film School,” on DVD. As for the question of whether to go, I think it says a lot that the #1 reason to go is the contacts you’ll make. Do you need to spend three years and god only knows how much money to make some friends/contacts? Anytime that’s used as a justification for the cost of grad school, watch out! They say the same thing about business school, and I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t be where they are today if it weren’t for b-school.
5 Stars Must-read book
An absolute “must-read” for anyone contemplating educational options in this industry. Very easy to read but dense with useful and practical advice.
Would have appreciated more coverage of undergraduate options, though. While the authors make the case for undergraduate school as a time of broad educational exposure, it is conceivable to do that within a context of film.
For a young person interested in film, it is hard for them to delay their involvement until graduate school. They can certainly get a liberal arts degree (and thus the broad exposure) with a film/film studies major and then decide if they want to continue on to grad school (and if so, what particular emphasis). However, there are also undergrad options that are more concentrated on the actual production side of things. Some coverage of the undergrad options would have been very much appreciated.
Samsung LN52B750 52 Inch 1080p 240Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color
Posted by HDTV in Electronics Jun 27th, 2009 | No CommentsSamsung LN52B750 52 Inch 1080p 240Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color
52″ screen (measured diagonally) * widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio * Touch of Color high-gloss black finish with charcoal gray accent * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) * built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required) * Ultra Clear LCD panel (1920 x 1080 pixels) *
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars LN52B750 : Impossible to use Documentation
Samsung LN52B750 52-Inch 1080p 240Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color
Being an engineer, I had thoroughly researched the Samsung LN52B750 but overlooked one item that has caused me enormous early frustration. UNREADABLE DOCUMENTATION.
I received the LN52B750 Samsung LCD from Amazon 2 days ago. Picture with Verizon FIOS and HDMI is beautiful.
The 300+ page User’s Manual is on a thumb drive that you plug into the LCD’s USB port. That’s cool, that is smart I thought. But then I attempted to read the Owner’s Manual to identify the individual back panel connectors. The manual’s English grammar and spelling is fine – but the important info is unreadable.
Instead of using black text on a white background, Samsung uses tiny tiny white text (font size 6 or 4 I estimate) on a deep black background. The diagrams are even worse – very tiny and undiscernable. The critical diagram info details used to identify the functions (lables, the text, the connectors, the thin pointing arrows, etc.) are white, blue, red, purple and brown (I think) on the same black background and are totally washed out and unreadable. (I called for help. But my grandkid’s young eyes could not discern it either then quickly tired of it and resumed teasing each other.)
Note that the detailed info you need about connections in the Owner’s manual is visible (???) but not readable only on the screen when you are in FRONT of the screen. But you are sitting on the floor BEHIND the set to make the connections. Human engineering?
I disconnected the thumb drive and attached it to my Macintosh and 22″ monitor. Same readability problem. I copied and pasted some of the first pages into Word at a rate of about one Manual page per minute. I printed out a few pages on my good quality HP printer. Being all black, very slow printing and still virtually unreadable. How much expensive toner is needed to print an (unreadable) 300 + black page manual?
Maybe I should view the manual’s diagram with the Thumb drive plugged into my Mac. Hey, then I could use the Mac’s Zoom view feature while I sit on the floor behind the set making connections to the various attachments. Brilliant!
So I called Samsung Customer Support (1-800-726-7864). They did not understand my problem. But said maybe I could download a white background .pdf file of the User’s Manual. Or I could purchase for $13.00 a paper copy of the Owner’s Manual with a White background, black text and readable diagram colors.
So I went to www.samsungparts.com to order the manual.
Sorry: there it told me the LN52B750 (or LN52B750UIM) is not a recognized Samsung product. Ditto on other Samsung support pages. There is a file for the LN52A750 but how relevant is it to the B model?
By the way, the 52B750 Owner’s Manual also lacks a Table of Contents, Index and Glossary.
[...]
Very sad.
Ron Sander
5 Stars the best HD television
I’ve had my Samsung LN52B750 for about 2 weeks now. I bought it from Amazon (of course) the best price.. This is one fine television. I don’t think any t.v.
on the market today, can compare to this one. The colors are awesome, and the picture is super sharp.
HD at it’s best…
Originally I was going to purchase the Samsung LN52A550…But when it came time to buy, I changed to
the LN52B750…Because the reviews were great and also I wanted a t.v. with newer technology.
I mounted the t.v. on the wall on a Peerless mount which I also bought on Amazon…
I have the t.v. hooked up to my Sony 5.1 surround sound system…and the audio is super….
I hooked it all up this way:
SAT box to t.v. HDMI cable…………… DVD player to t.v. HDMI cable
SAT box to receiver optical cable………….. DVD player to receiver optical cable
and it all works fine….
don’t hesitate to buy this t.v., you can’t go wrong….Willie
5 Stars Amazing TV
This TV is amazing. The reviews don’t lie. The TV came shipped quick and was packaged tightly. A lot of these Blu Ray movies I have look 3D even with the HD channels on TV look like their gonna reach right out of the screen. Highly recommened.
5 Stars Best tv
This tv is fantastic. Best picture for the best price. I have had lcd’s since 2004 and other 2008 model Samsung tv’s, I know what makes a great lcdtv. This is by far the best tv. Don’t pay for calibration, just search avsforums.com. Just copy the settings people post and use the one you like.
I have 2 windows, either side of the tv, on same wall. Glare is minimal. Sound is fine for tv speakers. Plenty of picture adjustments. No lag for gaming, I just labeled the hdmi input as “pc”. Buy this tv!
5 Stars Eye Candy
I’ve been researching HD TVs for about 18 months now. I’m glad I waited for the B750 to come along. I have watched plenty of HD television at friend’s houses, and can safely say that none of them compare to the B750.
Simply amazing picture on HD television content as well as bluray. My set has no clouding, flashlights or stuck pixels at least to the naked eye. Shipping was fast (3 days from order) and the delivery guys did a good job.
I haven’t had an opportunity to test drive any of the ancillary features on it so I can’t really speak to things like flickr, yahoo widgets, etc. There are literally so many features on this set it will keep me busy for some time to come.
My main concern with this TV was with the glossy screen. It faces my kitchen and several windows but I’m happy to report that glare is not an issue thanks to the ultra bright screen. Sure you can see some reflections but you REALLY have to look for them and it’s not at all distracting. Bad reflections were a deal breaker for me so I took a chance and couldn’t be happier.
Overall the set is amazing and I would recommend it to anyone.
Sony BDP S350 1080p Blu ray Disc Player
Posted by HDTV in Electronics Jun 27th, 2009 | No CommentsSony BDP S350 1080p Blu ray Disc Player
The BDP-S350 models support BonusView (picture-in-picture) featured on some of the Blu-ray Disc theatrical releases. The BDP-S350 models are BD-Live ready featuring an Ethernet port for an easy firmware update and access to Internet-based interactive content features. They also feature an external port for local storage, so users can add optional flash-based memory. The players feature 1080/60p and 24p True Cinema output. They are compatible with most standard DVDs and feature 1080p upscaling through an HDMI connection to capable HDTV sets, improving the picture performance of existing DVD libraries.The BDP-S350 models offer 7.1 channel Dolby TrueHD and Dolby digital plus decoding and bit-stream output, as well as dts-HD high resolution audio and master audio bit-stream output. The players support AVCHD discs encoded with x.v.Color (xvYCC) technology, an international standard for wide color space reproduction. The standard expands the current data range of video by about 1.8 times, allowing the players to output more natural and vivid colors similar to what the human eye can actually see. The players also feature compatibility with an array of video formats, including BD-R/RE (BDMV and BDAV modes), DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW (video mode), CD, CD-R/RW (CD-DA format), and JPEG on DVD/CD recordable media.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Works Just Fine!
The Sony Blu-ray player has the same interface at the Playstation. Looks good, works good. This player is juuuuuuust fine!
4 Stars Excellent player
I am extremely happy with this blu-ray player. There were several other brands I was looking at before ultimately going with this one. Deciding factors were the price & reviews, even though I usually avoid Sony like the plague, lol.
Pros:
1. The picture quality is amazing on both blu-ray & up-converted SD DVD disks.
2. The player starts up very quickly.
3. The player can get the the disk’s menu very quickly (compared to other BD players)
4. Frequent firmware updates (this is also a con, see below).
Cons:
I’ve had the player 5 months now, and so far there have been 3 firmware updates for it, each improving the player in some way (1 of them resolved an HDMI issue I was experiencing); however, I do NOT like how long it takes to update the firmware, and I don’t like that in the middle of this it kills the HDMI handshake (which kills the video signal to the TV).
5 Stars Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player
Exactly what I expected, Great product, really impressed with upconverting of regular dvd movies. Can go wrong weith this one. Some folks state that load times are slow, not my experience. Completely satisfied, will purchase another for my bedroom.
5 Stars Great picture & awesome sound! Perfect Blue-Ray for the money
The ONLY negative about this is the time it takes for the door to open up for the DVD or Blu-Ray disk. Other than that, this is perfect!
…hATCh
“You can trust me, I’m an air traffic controller”…
4 Stars Solid Blu-ray Disc Player
Unit arrived and works well. Up-converted standard DVDs look great. Haven’t played too many Blu-ray, but the few I have look great. One complaint: it is very slow reading and initialing. Shipping was a day early.
SquareTrade Warranty Free In home service on TVs 32 inch LCD 1000 1250
Posted by HDTV in Electronics Jun 27th, 2009 | No CommentsSquareTrade Warranty Free In home service on TVs 32 inch LCD 1000 1250
Protect Your Item for 3 Years!
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Some issues are not covered. These include accidental damage from drops & spills, software issues, or accessories & parts meant to be replaced by the consumer. Get a SquareTrade warranty for all your electronics |
Save 40% with SquareTrade’s Low Prices
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SquareTrade Care Plans are great value. 3 years of dependable, hassle-free coverage for just 10-15% of the item price on average.
Backed by a low price guarantee.If you find a comparable 3-yearservice plan for your item that is cheaper than ours, we will gladly refund you 110% of the difference. Our promise to you – no warranty rip-offs. That’s why traditional service plans are sold by pushy sales people with high pressure sales techniques. At SquareTrade, we price them low and deliver great service and let you decide if it’s right for you. |
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Absolutely Hassle-Free Coverage
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Manage it online. You can view, print, cancel, transfer, and even file a claim online and keep tabs on its progress.
Cut the paperwork. You never need to keep a copy of a service contract around as – always available online. You can fax us your item receipt any time, and we’ll keep it for you. Cancel anytime. In the first 30 days, you may cancel for a full refund. After that, you are reimbursed the unused part of your service plan -e.g., if you cancel your 3 year service plan, after 18 months with no claims, you’ll get 50% of your money back. Transfer at no cost. When your device changes ownership, so can your Care Plan. Transfers can be done online or via phone. No refurbished replacements. The last thing you want when your item breaks down is a cheap refurbished item that is 2 generations old. If your item breaks and can’t be fixed, you will be reimbursed your full item replacement cost. |
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In business since 1999,SquareTrade is the only warranty consistently rated 5-stars by consumers. All our warranties are underwritten by an A- rated insurer.
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Other Things You Should Know
| Upon purchase, you will get an email. This is your official confirmation of a purchase. The email will also have a link to the “My Warranties” section on the SquareTrade website where you can view and manage your Care Plans. You will not get a paper contract unless you request one.
Please read the terms & conditions. There is even a plain English Summary that is easy to read and understand. You’ll find it at the top of the page. It’s a 3-year plan. Your plan begins on the date you purchased your item and is inclusive of the manufacturer warranty. If you have an issue and are covered by the manufacturer at that time, you’ll be directed to the manufacturer first. Your item must have been bought on Amazon. If you bought your item elsewhere, please call us at1.877.Warranty. This warranty is not available for purchase by consumers resident in Oklahoma or Maine. 1.877.WARRANTY. That’s the SquareTrade phone number. Call us from 6am-5pm PST (M-F) or 9am-5pm PST on weekends. |
WarCraft War of the Ancients Archive
Posted by HDTV in eBooks Jun 27th, 2009 | No CommentsWarCraft War of the Ancients Archive
Months have passed since the cataclysmic Battle of Mount Hyjal, which put an end to the Burning Legion’s invasion. Most Legion forces on Azeroth have been slain or driven into hiding. Yet now a mysterious energy rift in the mountains of Kalimdor propels three heroes to the distant past: the dragon mage Krasus, the human wizard Rhonin, and the weathered orc veteran Broxigar. It is a time long before orcs, humans, or even high elves roamed the world. A time that marks the Legion’s first invasion of Azeroth, brought about by Queen Azshara and other night elf nobles. A time when the Dragon Aspects are at the height of their power unaware that one of their own will soon turn on the world he was charged to protect.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Timeline
This review is for people who are about to start reading somw Warcraft books. I have created a chronological list of the Warcraft novels for people to get an overview of all of the books and for people to know where to start:
Warcraft books timeline
1. Warcraft War of the Ancients Archive
-Trilogy Book One: The Well of Eternity
-Trilogy Book Two: The Demon Soul
-Trilogy Book Three: The Sundering
-Rise of the Horde (about the horde in Outland)
2. Warcraft Archive (Warcraft 1)
-Book One: Day of the Dragon
-Book Two: Lord of the Clans
-Book Three: The Last Guardian
-Book Four: Of Blood and Honor
-World of Warcraft: Tides of Darkness (Warcraft 2)
-World of Warcraft: Beyond the Dark Portal (Warcraft 2 exp)
3. Warcraft The Sunwell Trilogy Archive (Warcraft 3)
-Trilogy Book One: Dragon Hunt
-Trilogy Book Two: Shadows of Ice
-Trilogy Book Three: Ghostlands
-World of Warcraft: Cycle of Hatred (Right before World of Warcraft)
Warcraft Legends
-Volume One
-Volume Two
-Volume Three
-Volume Four
Others
-World of Warcraft: Night of the Dragon
Hope that you can use this. Cheers Martin!
4 Stars nice to know history
It’s nice to read the story behind the game if World of Warcraft is something that you play. I do so I was interested. It would be an interesting read for anyone that likes dungeon and dragon type stories to read. Considering the content
5 Stars Good even for those who don’t play WoW!
I have to disagree with other reviewers who found this book mediocre. I have read nearly every World of Warcraft book, and I found this one to be among the best. For people who don’t play the game, this is still a great fantasy novel.
The book actually contains a trilogy about a group of heroes trying to defeat the ultimate evil, with the very fate of the world hanging in the balance. I found the way Knaak wrote the characters of Krasus, Rhonin, and the Night Elves to be very well done. I also thought the story plot was well thought out, with plenty of twists and surprises to keep it entertaining. I was grateful that I read this book after all three original novels were completed so that I wouldn’t have to wait to see what happened!
Knaak does an excellent job of writing a “history” of WoW, while also putting together an outstanding story.
3 Stars Informative. Entertaining. Wordy in the extreme.
When you’re on a two-week trip out of town and plan to be waiting in line and sitting in planes for hours upon hours, a 700-page fantasy novel by an unbelievably long-winded author is just what the doctor ordered.
4 Stars Knaak’s Illiad
This is most definitely Knaak’s best work among the warcraft novels he has penned and I highly recommend it.
I would almost agree with another reviewer that Knaak is at best a Most average fantasy writer but this series invokes a bold, fresh, and exciting innovation that although is difficult to notice at first,really pays tribute to his creativity
Within the context of the books, especially the latter two, KnaaK’s story plays out with an odd similarity to Homer’s Iliad. Knaak’s take on achilles’s rage is somewhat manifest in Neltharion (a character which should have had more development), the fields of troy akin to the plains between Zin-Azahri and Mount Hyal, and champions on both side of conflicts. Mind you, he does not rip from the Iliad, i am merely saying that he seems to draw inspirations from it to create a story that truly has a most epic feel. Which is befitting for this particular chapter in warcraft lore.
Also of note: Knaak goes to great lengths to really expand on the framework of the warcraft lore in such a way that the book becomes most nostalgic to warcraft fans yet he retains a simplicity that allows those unfamiliar with the warcraft universe to enjoy it as well (the warcraft archive (another bookset) does not have this versatility).
I was dissapointed in aftermath/end of the book. It seemed as if the author was rushing what should have been an additional 3 chapters and rolling them into 1. It’s brevity downplayed the grandness of the story
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