We got drones!

Husban Quad Copter

The Husban H107 Mini quadrocopter, with built in HD camera, I ordered for Christmas finally arrived yesterday. This was fairly cheap and yet functional mini drone. I was interested in getting one for a few months now. I had decided to bite the bullet and snag one after visiting some of my colleagues in the media program at York College during a recent conference. They have integrated drones technology into various aspects of their new media curriculum, which covers everything from videography to programming. The visit made me think about Continue reading “We got drones!”

HTC RE – Time Lapse Test

This was my first attempt at time lapse video. I shot the video from my Manhattan office window and used the new HTC RE camera that I got for Christmas. It is a nice little low profile handheld point and shoot camera that captures HD video and 16 megapixel still photos. The camera also has a built in Time lapse feature and a built in wide angle lens for capturing everything you put in front of it.

The camera is also waterproof up to one meter (3.3 feet) for up to 30 minutes without an additional housing. The HTC Re is a periscope-shaped heir to the Flip and pistol-grip Sanyo Xacti pocket cameras while offering some of the durability of cameras like the GoPro. I have a Contour Roam camera that I regularly use when riding my bike and the RE stacks up very favorably to the action camera in terms of features and image quality.

I love it because the HTC camera is pure simplicity. In fact, there are only two buttons one the entire unit. The first is a Continue reading “HTC RE – Time Lapse Test”

Super Power Beat Down: Batman vs Darth Vader

I am probably the world’s biggest Batman fan so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I didn’t agree with the outcome of the most recent Super Power Beat Down fan film pitting the Dark Knight against the Dark Lord of the Sith.  However one of the things that really ticked me off was how good the production was for the film. I was visually stunning. It was probably the best fan-film I have seen since Batman: Deadend.

One of the problems that I had with the video is that Bats had plans to the Death Star and the location of a lightsaber, but didn’t come up with a contingency plan on how to disrupt Vader’s force abilities. Keep in mind that this is a man so paranoid that during the JLA: Tower of Babel (or Justice League: Doom movie) storyline Batman developed contingency for neutralizing his closest allies in the Justice League. In the Vader scenario, Continue reading “Super Power Beat Down: Batman vs Darth Vader”

New Media Tech Info Session

This a short video excerpt of a discussion on the field of digital development and the upcoming changes to the New Media Technology program at LaGuardia Community College. Last year I was tasked with the responsibility of conducting the Periodic Program Review (PPR) for the New Media Technology program at LaGuardia. In drafting the PPR I was forced to research the current status of the industry in which the program was preparing students to enter in the hopes of developing a plan to assess the effectiveness of the major and improve student outcomes.

Based on the information discovered during my research, I Continue reading “New Media Tech Info Session”

CUNY SPS – Communication and Media degree

Earlier this week we recorded a marketing video for the Communication and Media program at the CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS). The purpose of the video was to give potential students an overview of the program and the admission requirements. The information in the video is very similar to the material that we present to attendees to our monthly open house sessions. I was excited to record this video because not everyone can make it to the in-person informational sessions that we hold during the semester.

For those of you that are unaware, the Communication and Media program at the SPS is a four year online degree program that offers an interdisciplinary focus on issues related to the convergence between new and traditional media. The goal of the program is to prepare Continue reading “CUNY SPS – Communication and Media degree”