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Patent trolls: this is why we can’t have nice things
Alert:Amazon has patented shooting a white limbo setup.
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5 Replies
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Because I never get tired of watching the clips, here’s an article I wrote in 2007 about Errol Morris’s work with white screens. My two favorite specific pieces were shorts that he did for the Oscars telecast in 2002 and again in 2006.
They’re truly magical bits of filmmaking….and yes, he used an actual white screen. He has some great stories about it too. You read enough of my other crap, so read something GOOD I wrote for a change. LOL With movies no less. And it’s STILL shorter than most of my posts.
He notes that he didn’t originate shooting on white backgrounds — Avedon was doing it in the 40s — even if he was the first doing it in a high-profile way on film.
I’ve always loved that he moves so smoothly between documentaries and commercials — and his highest-profile use of white screen shooting was the I’m a Mac ads he shot for Apple.
In fact, the real surprise to me is that Apple, the ultimate patent trolls, didn’t patent this first. I’m sure they’re kicking themselves.
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One of my good friends is a patent attorney. Thinking maybe I should call him to see if anyone has snatched up BLACK limbo yet…
…or the mottled gray painted canvas… I could be living large off all those school portrait residuals….
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Did Ken Burns patent the “moves on stills” way of using still images in video production? He should TOTALLY patent that.
Oh, no…Yahoo should. Because they TOTALLY thought of it first.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Does Apple pay Ken for naming it’s plug-in the Ken Burns Effect? Rostrum camera animation existed before Ken, you know.
I think the industry should collaborate to fight Amazon this one.
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Speaking of white backgrounds and Apple…
Vince Becquiot
San Francisco Bay Area
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