12:01 AM, Monday, July 16th, 2007:

 

So I've been getting complaints about people not being able to stream CBS videos and something has indeed changed this season as it will no longer work on firefox. So if it ain't workin' for ya - I put it on YouTube. And finally, just in case all of those are down for some reason, as always - I host my own version which is also linked at the picture up top and on the month page.

There are no copyright issues concerning this piece so please share it, steal it, wear it, feel it. :-)

Well, I guess it was bound to happen. At some point someone from CBS New York would get wise and demand some sort of proof that Cameron and I were indeed brothers and not the same person. I guess I'm surprised they haven't asked sooner. So Cam and I did the show from his house with a handheld camcorder - and hopefully that puts all of this to rest. I'm offended they even entertain the notion I look like my dork of a brother, but what can you do?

...and that will end the fantasy in this entry. Heh. So Tyson was out this week and we weren't able to get a replacement in time so we were in a bit of a bind. So I just said "Don't worry, I'll come up with something". Well, time to fire the script guy on this one, because this ended up being the hardest, most hair-ripping out, frustrating...and eventually most satisfying video I've ever made. And it's truly a case where pictures don't do it justice, although this one is cool:

No, the real star of this episode is one Paddy Culham. A longtime Journey Player who long surpassed my After Effects abilities when he started working at an effects house in '01 showed me a way to motion track a regular handheld shot, and apply it to a static shot - resulting in an unbelieveable sense of realism. I took it a step further by actually doing a handheld shot as if I were taping Adam & Cam (moving towards them when they speak) and the result is astounding.

We really are to that point where you can no longer deny how far this can go. I think I've watched this 8 times now, and although if you look for it, you can see some mistakes (split screen, eyelines) - it doesn't raise your suspicion unless you're told. If I put a 10 second clip on YouTube with no explanation I guarantee you a stranger would have no idea this was one person. And this is with the two most similar characters! Imagine Spence and Gary? Whew. We may have a new tradition for Finalist Rounds with this twosome thingee.

Hopefully it'll be a bit easier next time. My computer crashed constantly (there's an undetermined heat issue), the timing was unbelieveably hard as there's no edits and I had to load Adam's footage and play it during Cam, all sorts of incompatibility issues with HD files in After Effects - one thing after another all ending with a crash that knocked out a video card (2 of my monitors) and 2 harddrives from their RAID array. A call to pcusa.com is forthcoming later today...

...but the result is stunning. Man, with some fake SS #s and photoshopped documents - I bet I could get me and Cam some work! LOL. There's a movie in there somewhere...

 

So enjoy Week 4 and we'll see ya back here next week with 3 new selections. Ha, I just said the classic Living Room Live ending.

 

:-)

 

Adam