28 april 2011

Beach beast



Info:
Theo Jansen is a Dutch artist and kinetic sculptor. He builds large works which resemble skeletons of animals that are able to walk using the wind on the beaches of the Netherlands. His animated works are a fusion of art and engineering

Jansen says: "The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds."

Since 1990 Theo Jansen has been occupied with the making of a new nature. Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic material of this new nature. ; Eventually he wants to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives.




Jansen has been creating Strandbeest (Dutch: strand=beach; beest=beast), wind-walking examples of what Jansen suggests is a kind of artificial life, since 1990. What was at first a rudimentary "breed" has slowly evolved with the aid of evolutionary computation techniques into a generation of machines that to some degree are able to react to their environment: "over time, these skeletons have become increasingly better at surviving the elements such as storms and water, and eventually I want to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives.

Constructed from PVC piping, wood, and fabric airfoils, Jansen's creations are constantly being improved and are designed to function in the sandy beach environment in which Jansen releases them. The creations are also able to store air pressure and use it to drive themselves in the absence of wind. Jansen's more sophisticated creations are able to detect once they have entered water and walk away from it, and one model is capable of anchoring itself to the earth if it senses a storm approaching.

 


27 april 2011

Benishop



Filminfo:
Multimedia is usually recorded and played, displayed or accessed by information content processing devices, such as computerized and electronic devices, but can also be part of a live performance. Multimedia (as an adjective) also describes electronic media devices used to store and experience multimedia content. Multimedia is distinguished from mixed media in fine art; by including audio, for example, it has a broader scope. The term "rich media" is synonymous for interactive multimedia. Hypermedia can be considered one particular multimedia application.


 

25 april 2011

Barrio de Santa Cruz Alicante


filminfo:
In photography and videography, a filter is a camera accessory consisting of an optical filter that can be inserted in the optical path. The filter can be a square or oblong shape mounted in a holder accessory, or, more commonly, a glass or plastic disk with a metal or plastic ring frame, which can be screwed in front of the lens or clipped onto the lens.

Filters allow the photographer to have more control of the images being produced. Sometimes they are used to make only subtle changes to images; other times the image would simply not be possible without them.

The negative aspects of using filters, though often negligible, include the possibility of loss of image definition if using dirty or scratched filters, and increased exposure required by the reduction in light transmitted. The former is best avoided by careful use and maintenance of filters, while the latter is a matter of technique; it usually will not be a problem if planned out properly, but in some situations filter use is impractical.

21 april 2011

Beauty sleep



Camera or computer image editing programs often offer basic automatic image enhancement features that correct color hue and brightness imbalances as well as other image editing features, such as red eye removal, sharpness adjustments, zoom features and automatic cropping. These are called automatic because generally they happen without user interaction or are offered with one click of a button or mouse button or by selecting an option from a menu. Additionally, some automatic editing features offer a combination of editing actions with little or no user interaction.


19 april 2011

Elche the city



Miro is a tool for finding, downloading and watching video from a wide range of online sources. ; It is free software made by the nonprofit (NGO) Participatory Culture Foundation : http://participatoryculture.org/.

Miro plays a wide range of formats including Theora, and it runs on a variety of platforms (Operating Systems such as Windows, OSX, and GNU/Linux). In addition to video playback, Miro makes it easy to search for and download videos from specially formatted lists of videos known as podcasts or vodcasts.

You can use Miro to play video on your desktop, or to download and watch video from a URL pointing directly to the video file.

Alicante seafront



Fictional film or narrative film is film that tells a fictional story or narrative. Narrative cinema is usually contrasted to films that present information, such as a nature documentary, as well as to some experimental films. In some instances documentary films, while nonfiction, may nonetheless recount a story.
Since the emergence of classical Hollywood style in the early 20th century, narrative, usually in the form of the feature film, has held dominance in commercial cinema and has become popularly synonymous with "the movies." Classical, invisible filmmaking is central to this popular definition. This key element of this invisible filmmaking lies in continuity editing. In this style, narrative and characters are foregrounded, helping the audience to lose themselves in the unfolding fiction.

15 april 2011

Dutch Island


Digital photo slide shows can be custom made for customers, using their photos, music, wedding invitations, birth announcements, or virtually any other scannable documents. Some producers call the resulting DVDs the new photo montage. Slide shows can be created not only in DVD, but also in HD video format and executable file for PC. Photo slideshow software has made it easier to create photo slideshows, eliminating the need for expensive color reversal film, instead requiring only a digital camera and computer.

By using computer software one therefore has the ability to enhance pictures in a way that isn't otherwise possible. There are several new variations on the tradition slide show.



Fantasy ride



Filmtips:

In motion picture terminology, a tracking shot (also known as a dolly shot or trucking shot) is a segment in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken. One may dolly in on a stationary subject for emphasis, or dolly out, or dolly beside a moving subject

The tracking shot can include smooth movements forward, backward, along the side of the subject, or on a curve. Dollies with hydraulic arms can also smoothly "boom" or "jib" the camera several feet on a vertical axis. Tracking shots, however, cannot include complex pivoting movements, aerial shots or crane shots.

12 april 2011

The palmeral of Elche



The Palmeral of Elche is a plantation of palm trees in the Spanish province of Alicante. It is the largest palm grove ; in Europe and one of the largest in the world, surpassed in size only by some in Arab countries.

The Palmeral includes the Parque Municipal and many other orchards (huertos), covering over 3.5 km2 (1.4 sq mi), including 1.5 km2 (0.58 sq mi) within the city of Elche (Elx). It contains more than 11,000 palm trees, mostly date palms , with individual specimens up to 300 years old. At its peak, in the 18th century, it may have covered an area twice as large, with up to 200,000 trees. The dates are harvested in December.

It is thought that palms were originally planted in this location as early as the 5th century BC by Carthaginians who settled in south-east Spain. The plantation survived under the Romans and the Moors.



09 april 2011

Winter-wonderland


Cinema Verite
Documentary filmmaking is as old as the motion picture format itself. There has always been a desire for film and video directors to 'tell the story as it happens'.

Just like any other story telling device, documentaries can be broken up into three types; Docudrama, Observational Documentation and Cinema Verite Having shot all three styles, cinema verite has proven to be most challenging. Roughly described as 'Film Truth', cinema verite is the filmmaker's attempt to give an unbiased look at living stories.



07 april 2011

Green Murcia



Filminfo:
Among the very best resources on the web is the Library of Congress American Memory site. The purpose of American memory is to provide free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. Its Motion Pictures section is a marvellous example of this, offering users access to a wide range of predominantly early cinema subjects, all available for viewing and downloading, in MPEG, QuickTime and RealMedia formats.