Michael Shivers + mdshivers Creative Media » Blog

Earlier this week I had an amazing opportunity to attend the induction/ceremony of the Dalai Lama as a professor at Emory University. It was a really exciting experience due to many things. First they had traditional Buddhist Monks praying/chanting while they played their instruments. This lasted about 30 minutes and was calming and very interesting. Though I was really close to the front of the stage where the Dalai Lama was sitting and the monks where playing, I was able to look at two huge High Def screens to my left and right. The production people had two main HD cameras in the front of the stage shooting front left and front right. These cameras were huge bulky broadcast cameras- but I couldn't see the brand of them. Then on the stage they had two Canon XHG1's. This is the HD version of the GL-2 with SDI out. I have never seen any footage from these camera's so I was excited to be able to see what they could produce and how the footage would mix with the two high-end cameras When the show started, the director stayed on the two main cameras for a while and then started switching to the two canon's. My reaction? AMAZING. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. In fact the images were sharper, cleaner and had higher contrast than the two "Broadcast" cameras. So with these Canon's you really could have a professional live HD video shoot with these $8,000 cameras, hands down. The SDI out on these cameras really comes through. The only downside of these cameras is if you wanted to record in camera using the HDV tapes, you suffer major quality degradation. But for live shoots, these camera's are well worth the money.

The induction and lecture lasted about 2 hours and it was one of the most memorable events that I have been too. The Dalai Lama was very humble and very very funny. He just did things through out the event that made every laugh. From helping hold the microphone when the President of Emory was having trouble with his notes; to making jokes about how people should listen to him now since he is a "proffesor". His ability to connect and relate to the 4,000 attendants was something I've never experienced before. And to top it off, the video production was a pleasant and unexpected surprise.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I joined YouTube last year and posted a video for a contest that "The Fray" were holding. Since then I've been featured on the Fray's website and on youtube. It's now at 531,708 views. Needless to say, thanks for everyone viewing the video and sharing it over the internet. Though the video was originally made for a Radiohead song in 2002 (which is available to view on my website) this new version has taken a life of it's own.
So if you haven't seen it, go to Youtube to check it out. And again, thanks for stopping by and checking out my work.
P.S. Yes life has been really busy lately, but I plan to start back up with some new short films soon. Stay tuned.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well it's about that time. October 26th is quickly approaching. The new version of OSX is about to be released. I've seen some great stuff floating around the web showing new features of Leopard, but Apple's new guided tour is one of the best.
Here are some links to get you familar with what is coming out on friday. These are some of my favorite addtions:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/guidedtour/

List of all 300 new features
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/300.html

.Mac's new ablility to share screens/harddrives. Now this makes me want to buy .Mac once and for all.
It's called Back to my Mac
http://www.apple.com/dotmac/backtomymac.html

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So after thinking about it for a while, I changed my mind about the last post I made about the new Radiohead album. I figured they are going out on limb to offer the album for what ever I would pay for it. The money counts now. It also counts when the CD is released, but this is the big tester- ie offering it for download and potentially free.

So I made decided to pay the reasonable I-Tunes pricing for a new album, $10 U.S or 5 Pounds. Will I still by the CD for $15 dollars? Probably. Why- Because they deserve it.

I'm on track two-Bodysnatchers now.

Good stuff.

Here is the album art if you want it for your I-Tunes/I-Pod

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New I-Pod Touch screen, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

(check out more pictures below)
I bought the new I-Pod Touch a couple of weeks ago. I am really pleased with the quality of the device. I had been holding out for a while on a new I-Pod. My family had given me some gift cards and money for my birthday earlier this year and I've been saving it for something good. So far my impressions of it is amazing. I can watch a full movie and my eyes won't strain at all. The pictures are amazing and web-surfing is a lot of fun.

They don't have cases yet for the Touches. It's shinny and I really don't want to scratch it. So once the cases are available I think I'll bring it out more. Also being a video guy, I have never owned a video I-pod. So i've put some of my short films on there and have download some TV shows and podcasts. It's a whole new world for me!

So this will hold me off for the I-Phone. I've got a contract till mid next year and by then they'll have Rev. 2 out for the I-Phone.

The photos are of the I-Pod Touch alongside the 4th 40gb I-Pod Photo. Just look at the size difference!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of my all time favorite bands- Radiohead is releasing their new album called "In Rainbows" DRM free in mid-October. They don't have a contract with EMI anymore and are releasing it on their own. The catch- you go to there website and purchase it. How much? You decide. You can even pay nothing for it. What an amazing concept. In december they will release the album on CD and record.

These guys are amazing. Not sure what I will do, but my first thought is to download it for free and then when the album comes about buy it on CD. I always buy my favorite bands on CD, then import it into I-Tunes. And not to mention you can't buy Radiohead on I-Tunes. They only want to sell full albums and not by tracks.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-et-radiohead2oct02,0,1634979.story?coll=la-home-business

Posted by Michael Shivers at 08:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)