Kate Bush played an important part in the soundtrack of my childhood. My sister loved her music, and we used to spend a lot of time together listening to her CDs.

But as the years went by, my musical taste changed.  I started listening to  Prodigy and heavy metal bands -- music that energized me -- instead of more relaxed music.

When my daughter was born, I started to play music from the 80s and 90s.   (I'm doing my best to make sure she doesn't become a Lady Gaga fan, people.)  And it was then that I rediscovered Kate Bush music and videos.

YouTube replaced CDs, and for my daughter, music will forever start as a visual experience.

Kate Bush was an artist, who knew how to tell deep and meaningful stories, as well as convey experiences, through a seamless blend of lyrics, music, visuals, and choreography.
In this clip, she tells the compelling story of a son's inability to save his father. Little did I know when I first heard this song that it is based on the story of Peter Reich and his Father Wilhelm Reich, a controversial psychoanalyst, who was jailed in 1957.
This clip is a great example of storytelling. Hope you'll enjoy it.

I love zombie flicks but this is too much:

"If you encounter this just as you are going to the funeral service to make arrangements for a loved one, it could be upsetting. People of a certain age group could find it particularly challenging."

More about this here

When I came across Blank, I was intrigued by the combination of three thing that I love - graphic novels, crime stories, and social media. So I had to interview the creators, Ian Lewinter and Don Richmond.

This is their story:

What is your background?
We are the Brothers of the Silence, creators of Blank - The Graphic Novel. Ian LeWinter is the writer and creative strategist. Don Richmond is the writer/illustrator and creative strategist. We come from a visual media background. We met and 2006 and decided to launch Blank in May 2009 as the first graphic novel in history to launch on Facebook and Twitter.

Why did you decide to write a comic book?
Graphic novels are currently, without a doubt, a mega-burgeoning market. Society is poised for a new age in graphic novels. These are exciting times. There are people entering this arena who will amaze and inspire beyond our comprehension. Publishers are recognizing this fact and expanding their labels. Fans are what this market is all about and they are driving the generation of the most creative work seen in decades. We're going to Comic-Con this week and we can't wait to see the brilliant projects. We're like kids in a candy store.

Our schooling was that shared experience everyone has: life. Some brains collect formulas. Some brains collect algorithms. Our brains collect art -- whether in words, in visuals, or in sounds. Because of this, our interest in graphic serials began the first moment we touched one. The promise of creating a world in which we can communicate the unique patterns we see in life was and still is the most important discovery we ever made. So graphic novels were a natural medium for us to explore.

Why did you decide to make it available online?
Our goal was simple: find the most effective means to tell the world about Blank. Whether that means transferring a portion of the rights or keeping them outright makes no difference to us. The medium will dictate. Our responsibility is to the project and to future generations who must know about the Trilogy. The book is being launched on several social media platforms with a new 2-page spread viewable every other day. The pages are always viewable free on the website: JohnBlankMustDie.com. Before the project is over, for us to accomplish our goals, we will have published three graphic novels, negotiated a motion picture deal and produced spin-off books.

What was the inspiration for the plot?
The concepts came in parallel from both of us. Don was obsessed by an after-world in the Greek tradition in which its inhabitants metaphorically drank from a river of forgetfulness -- in other words, its inhabitants were unclear of the reality of a prior existence. Throw in a young girl-ghost who would be the ostensible guide for a hitman who is new to that world. Ian was haunted himself by a megalomaniacal intellectual giant who was raised to believe he was the incarnation of Uranus, much in the way the Dali-Lama is raised to believe that he is the incarnation of the Buddha. Ian also gave John the quality of personality fragmentation, making him a melting pot of competing mental images of self.

As such, Blank is a novel that defied genre from its inception. It is a McLuhan hot and cool media experience; which is to say, an experience that vacillates between passive, singular visual media and active, multiple-sense media requiring abstract thought and deep pattern recognition. John Blank has what psychologists term a compromised ego integrity -- one that is continually fragmented and redefined, possessing no reliable sense of self apart from his unique capability to kill. The antagonist, Ouranos Gaia, has a psychopathic megalomania that stems from a mythic iconography that has been nurtured by his family for generations. The child-ghost Angel will attempt to enlist John to defeat Ouranos' purpose and therefore save humankind from extinction. We wanted to explore that image-rich conflict.

How does it work for you? What did you learn from the process?
Work is an interesting term here. We knew it already worked by the artistic excitement we felt when discussing the project. It had all the attributes of a magnum opus, of a life work on such a grand scale that it would survive for many generations. Whether it worked economically was subsidiary to that fact. The only challenge after that realization was to listen to what the characters were saying and to find the most productive means of telling everyone about the story.

Our typical process is to discuss the project from various vantage points. Afterward, Ian jacks into the ether and begins listening (and sometimes confronting) the characters as they craft the story for him. As a story designer, he sees the action, he hears the conversation, he feels the emotions. When the characters eventually get it right, he records his vision and sends it to Don. Don's responsibility at that point is to become immersed in the words as one drowning and then draw that floating, suspended death as beautifully as his hand will allow. The Flash site is a collaborative effort after Don's illustrations meet with both our approval.

What's next on your plate?
We have a franchise idea on deck and one in the hole, making three longterm projects. But for now, our shortterm goals necessitate that we focus on hitting the tipping point with Blank. It's too important not to do that. After that, we'll play with expanding that franchise and nurturing the next two. It's hard to believe that we have this opportunity. We feel that we're being encouraged to play, to inspire, to create and, ultimately, to bring to life the greatest cast of characters our genre has seen to date.

Thanks guys and good luck!

Black Dawn

An apocalyptic end of the world series by Webserials.

Why watch it? Nice special effects, and refreshing theme for a web show

Why not? actors are not as good as the special effects

FilmFellas

Taking a note from Scoresese masterpiece, FilmFellas is trying to capture the indie movie makers spirit.

Why watch it? beautiful images and lighting is crisp HD, interesting conversations, and the young guy is getting bashed all the time.

Why not? if you are not into filmmaking and indie movement, you'll probably get bored

Flying Kebab

A Brazilian indie project, about a young guy flying to Beirut following a letter in Arabic about his past.

Why watch it? great art work, good actors, interesting story, very good editing, great storytelling.

Why not? Episodes are not released frequently, as the project is community supported. Also, episodes are subtitled.

What is your favorite Web Show?

NYTVF did this great panel about web show production:

Panelists include my buddy Bill Cammack, FYI CEO Paul Kontonis (who made a very smart business decision to hire Kathryn Velvel Jones as VP of branded and sponsored entertainment), TubeMogul's CEO Bret Willson and others. I wonder how come blip.tv were not there... Enjoy some good tips.

Sometimes there are those shows that just make you smile. Daniel Ravner, an online video addict, who writes a local blog, did one of those . I m a huge crime film fan - look at this short video, so it definitely hit a chord...

Film Noir Parody - Diary of a Freelance Hitman - video powered by Metacafe

Mark Cuban wrote a thought provoking post about content and platforms:

...One thing is becoming increasingly clear, while more people are "snacking on Internet video", the real "meal" continues to be TV....Events look great on HDTVs, whether they are sports, shows or movies. Quick hits and short clips are great for the internet. Sure some people will watch shows that perform better on other platforms on the net. We all use what we have available when its our only choice. Which is why so much video consumption online is in the office. Its our only choice. Replays and breaking news and anything that helps us kill time are what we will use our MIDS, PDAs, and phones for.

The platform is the message from viewers to content providers.

Reading his post made me think about the basics.

TV or TV Set?

In the past, TV and TV set were the same thing. You couldn't watch TV shows, unless you had a TV set. TV sets where connected to a broadcaster which in turn provided content to TV sets.

Today the situation is different - you can buy TV shows in iTunes, or watch them online. Therefore, TV, at least for me, is a creative definition. The Wire is great TV. Olympics is a great TV event. But I can watch these events and shows on different devices - computers, HDTV sets, iPods, etc.

TV set is still the best way to watch long form content. It is the closest thing to movie theater you can get. Events, movies and high end shows will always look better on that set.

Internet - Distribution or Format?

The internet changed its form over the years. It is true that internet videos are short - as users tend to view them in short breaks in work, and due to the form factor (small screens). But when I connect my laptop to my TV - there is no difference in the experience . Therefore there shouldn't be any difference in the format. And when online video becomes another part of the EPG, who cares where did the content come from? When AppleTV can deliver both high end movies and low budget indie flicks directly to your TV through the Internet - what is the platform? Is it TV or Internet?

The Missing Link

Like in every vision, the missing link is a business model. In my opinion, if online distribution and monetization would have been profitable enough, we would have seen more direct to internet TV quality shows. As long as the average online video CPM is 12$, nothing will change the current level of Internet originated productions. But I am positive that things will change as ad dollars are going online.

What's your opinion?

Daisy Whitney's "new media minute" is a great resource about online video.

I love this episode especially, as it stars key videobloggers (including Kent Nichols from Ask A Ninja, and Steve Garfield), who give their advice for succesful videoblogging.

Enjoy!

[blip.tv ?posts_id=753024&dest=-1]

A funny article about this amazing movie can be found here