Category Archives: Coming Soon

How to encode movies in cells using DNA

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As reported widely last week, Seth Shipman, from Harvard Medical School, has used CRISPR-Cas technology to encode a 36 x 26 pixel movie into the DNA of living E. coli bacteria.

“The mini-movie, really a GIF, is a five-frame animation of a galloping thoroughbred mare named Annie G. The images were taken by the pioneering photographer Eadweard Muybridge in the late 1800s for his photo series titled ‘Human and Animal Locomotion.'”

They explain it all in a bigger movie:

They hope to turn cells into living recorders to store information from the immediate environment.

Curiously, the scientists who did this in March of this year don’t seem to have received much coverage. And they accomplished much more: encoding, among other things, a gift card and a computer virus. Obviously, the Harvard brand has better publicists.

And similar feats have been done before. IBM spelled out its name in atoms in 1989.

My take: this is just a stunt to prove we can encode information in DNA, something Mother Nature has been doing for billions of years. But of course, let’s not forget the unintended consequences. When you mess around with Mother Nature, things don’t always go as planned. Imagine encoding ‘Godzilla‘ — and then the DNA mutates!

Truth is stranger than fiction

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I wrote the first draft of my first spec feature film script, the very black comedy 2020 Vision, back in a blitz during the winter holidays at the end of 2009. I had ten days, so my goal was to write ten pages a day.

No doubt influenced in part by The Simpsons, it featured a body-less man who woke up from a coma to find his wife sleeping with his ex-business partner —  but first in order to fight for her he had to find a new body.

Fast forward to 2017.

Later this year, Italian scientist Dr. Sergio Canavero intends to be the first to perform a human head transplant.

Little does he know I predicted this procedure; see the scene at the bottom of page 63. And I didn’t have the benefit of this scientific review.

My take: the question is not really whether truth is stranger than fiction, but rather if this neurosurgeon’s claim is truth OR fiction. I may have predicted one thing, but The Simpsons have accurately predicted the future more than a dozen times.

Google promotes VR180 on Youtube

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Frank Rodriguez, Google’s VR Product Manager has posted The world as you see it with VR180 on both Google and Youtube.

“VR180 videos focus on what’s in front of you, are high resolution, and look great on desktop and on mobile. They transition seamlessly to a VR experience when viewed with Cardboard, Daydream, and PSVR, which allow you to view the images stereoscopically in 3-D, where near things look near, and far things appear far. VR180 also supports livestreaming videos so creators and fans can be together in real time.”

There are two main differences between 360 Video and VR180:

  • VR180 lacks the ‘back 180’ (which can therefore allow for higher resolution up front)
  • VR180 is stereoscopic, using two lenses to create true 3D, from the camera’s fixed point of view.

In addition, Google announced that they want to help build new VR180 cameras, initially partnering with Lenovo, LG, and YI Technology. Team Lucid tells me, “We hope to be the first certified camera for this program and will be sending updates via social on our progress.”

See the VR180 playlist on Youtube’s official Virtual Reality channel.

My take: glad to see Google/Youtube agree with me: 3D VR180 is a friendlier  version of 360 Video and true Virtual Reality. My only concern is that for browsers, be they web or mobile, they’ve removed the mouse or keyboard controls; the immersive goodies are for VR headsets exclusively. However, for a filmmaker like me who likes to shoot on a tripod, this promises to be the best of both worlds.

Netflix upsets France at Cannes

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The 2017 Cannes Film Festival opens today.

For the first time Netflix has two films in contention:

This bristled the Fédération Nationale des Cinémas Français because France has a rule that SVOD services must wait three years after a film’s theatrical release to stream a film.

Netflix has no such plans.

In response, Cannes has decided that all films playing the festival in future years must agree to French theatrical exhibition.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings declared:

“The establishment closing ranks against us. See Okja on Netflix June 28th. Amazing film that theatre chains want to block us from entering into Cannes film festival competition.”

My take: such an interesting conflict! Art versus Commerce. Old versus New. Theatrical versus Streaming. France versus the United States. Big screen versus small screen. Territory versus the world. As much as I love movies in cinemas, I think France’s protectionist 36 month streaming prohibition after theatrical exhibition is absurd.

LucidCam: 3D camera for the masses

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Lucid is about to release a stereoscopic video camera that I feel will be the breakthrough ‘VR’ has been waiting for.

The LucidCam ships in July 2017 for just $499. You get:

  • 180° x 180° Field of View, 4K Images jpg, 4K-30fps/eye Videos mp4
  • Single operation button with light and sound indications
  • Built-in stereo audio with dual mics for stereoscopic caption
  • On-board stabilization and merging
  • Supports Micro SD card, micro USB connection, and mini HDMI output
  • Wifi for livestream, data transfer USB 2.0
  • Splash proof (IP54 certified) with accessory options of waterproof case for diving & mounts
  • Apps: iOS and Android

To clarify, this is not ‘virtual reality’. It is not ‘360’. It is ‘3D 180 reality’.

The cute little camera looks like a morph of a phone and a mouse, with two big eyes on one side.

My take: the ease and simplicity of this camera will finally usher in 3D for the masses. ‘3D 180 reality’ most closely resembles how we truly see the world. I think the storytelling applications are very exciting: imagine point-of-view shots that are undeniably real!

See 1984 on Tuesday, because it’s 4/4/2017

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The United States of Cinema is coordinating a mass screening of George Orwell’s 1984 in almost 200 art cinemas in five countries on Tuesday, April 4, 2017.

“Orwell’s portrait of a government that manufactures their own facts, demands total obedience, and demonizes foreign enemies, has never been timelier. The endeavor encourages theaters to take a stand for our most basic values: freedom of speech, respect for our fellow human beings, and the simple truth that there are no such things as ‘alternative facts.’ By doing what they do best – showing a movie – the goal is that cinemas can initiate a much-needed community conversation at a time when the existence of facts, and basic human rights are under attack. Through nationwide participation and strength in numbers, these screenings are intended to galvanize people at the crossroads of cinema and community, and bring us together to foster communication and resistance against current efforts to undermine the most basic tenets of our society.”

The date is significant because April 4 is the day Winston Smith, played by John Hurt, decides to begin his illegal diary.

The five Canadian venues are:

My take: I admire using film to spark thought and conversation. ‘1984‘ is not going away anytime soon. It’s back on best-seller lists. And it’s coming to Broadway in June. Orwell’s 1949 book is more timely than ever and getting the multi-media treatment.

Report signals big changes coming to culture in Canada

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The Department of Canadian Heritage has just released a report titled ‘What We Heard Across Canada: Canadian Culture in a Digital World’.

The 52-page PDF organizes the feedback into eight themes:

  1. Showcasing Canada’s cultural sector
  2. Reasserting the role of Canadian creators in the digital age
  3. Defining Canadian cultural content and Canadian cultural creators
  4. Adapting current funding models to a constantly changing cultural landscape
  5. Finding new sources of public funding is required, but where should these funds come from?
  6. Modernizing Canada’s legislative framework and national cultural institutions
  7. Clarifying the role of Canada’s public broadcaster
  8. Collaborating to take up the challenges ahead

According to the media release:

“Minister Joly and the Department of Canadian Heritage will continue to work together with the goal of launching Canada’s new policy toolkit for creative industries in 2017. This will mark Canada’s new direction as the country kicks off its next 150 years.”

My take: changes are coming! Maybe before July 1, 2017. With a huge portfolio and ramifications for many companies and jobs, Minister Joly must realize that change is often difficult. Will we see new programs added to the status quo, or wholesale change?

Gender Parity Coming to Canada Soon!

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The Canadian Media Producers Association recently released a study of gender inequality in Canada’s media industries titled “Women & Leadership: A Study of Gender Parity and Diversity in Canada’s Screen Industries”.

The 62-page report spans the globe and is number-heavy. It concludes with a call for a six-pronged approach to gender parity:

  1. Disclosure & Research
  2. Financial Incentives
  3. Conscious Inclusion Initiatives
  4. Skills Training
  5. Confront the Portrayal Issue
  6. Diversity within Gender

Specifically, in terms of financial incentives:

“Many of the senior women interviewed pointed to levering ‘financial purse strings’ as the only effective and immediate means to change. The two leading suggestions identified are: 1. introduction of 50/50 allocation in all public funds as between female-led and male-led projects; 2. introduction of incentives for both producers and broadcasters such as top-up funding or a bonus tax credit for female-led projects.”

Proving it can be done in Canada, the report releases figures on BravoFACT‘s move to gender parity in 2015:

“Most importantly, the results of this initiative clearly demonstrate how setting firm targets can have an immediate impact on social change. In this instance, one year after setting parity as a firm goal, the percentage of female producers and directors of projects funded rose to 59% and 49% respectively.”

My take: this can’t happen soon enough for me. Maybe we can solve the wage gap at the same time.

“Live Cinema” to go live tomorrow night

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A cinematic first is happening in London and the United States tomorrow night.

Woody Harrelson is directing his first feature film, Lost in London. It’s a film he wrote and stars in.

But what’s particularly notable is that this film will be the first to be streamed directly into theatres in real time, while it’s being shot.

Woody’s friends are telling him that’s a bad idea.

Entertainment Weekly has interviewed him:

“EW: What’s the closest comparison between this and something else you’ve done?

WH: Holy moly, I’ve never done anything where I felt like this. I guess a comparison might be Saturday Night Live. That’s like doing live theater, though you have commercial breaks. But to do it 100 minutes in a row with no break? Yeah, it might be accurate to call this insanity.”

The show starts at 6 p.m. on January 19, 2017 (9 p.m. on the West coast) at over 600 theatres.

My take: I applaud Woody for the audacity to try this. With 14 locations, it’s not a filmed stage play. But with no editing possible, the acting and cinematography need to be excellent. He knows there was post-production on Russian Ark, right? Must be watching too much Periscope Live 360 or something.

The best posters of 2016

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Adrian Curry of Notebook on Mubi recently picked his choices for the best movie posters of last year.

He lists ten fascinating works for films you probably haven’t heard of and comments:

“Smaller films — indie, foreign-language, documentaries — not only need the extra attention that a great poster can provide, but also more creative risks can be taken in marketing them.”

My favourite poster of these is for the documentary Obit — perhaps because of its print heritage which reminds me of my graphic design and magazine work.

My take: I’m not really sure where you might actually see these posters except as one-sheets inside multiplexes, but most of these films would probably never play there. Nevertheless, the take-away is that every film needs a graphic identity which contributes to its brand. Check out these Netflix notes on their A-B testing.