by Marc Hustvedt on June 6th, 2011
Live streaming hub Justin.tv rolled out its first major strike into the booming niche of competitive gameplay in online video with TwitchTV, a dedicated platform for users to broadcast their sick killshots live to the world.
Depending on where you stand on the debate over whether hardcore gamers are in fact athletes will determine whether you cringe or smile at the growing adoption of ‘e-sports’ as the nom de guerre for these fast-twitching competitive masters. The site is agressive targeting the e-sports community. Online video networks like Machinima and Break have long found viewers eating up screencasts of expert gameplay, with even its own emerging stars in this sub-genre like SeaNanners , who’s game walkthroughs have racked up over 81 million views on his YouTube channel.
So now Justin.TV, which is up to just over 300 million streams per month, jumps into a crowded, but arguably lucrative vertical with TwitchTV, which will face competition from similar hubs like own3D.tv, and potentially future encroachment from YouTube itself with its new live streaming offerings. But I found myself oddly captivated by some Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 screencasts, showing technique that I can only wish I had the time to work on myself.
by Joshua Cohen on June 6th, 2011
I watched the season premiere of the original web series Leap Year (the branded entertainment program presented by Hiscox Insurance, a Bermuda-incorporated insurance provider looking to make inroads with small businesses on the web and in America) after I contributed a good 90 seconds to the 470 million minutes of online video advertising delivered by Hulu every month by watching a spot for Vimpat (the medication developed for the “adjunctive treatment of partial-onset seizures and diabetic neuropathic pain”).
Leap Year was better than the Vimpat commercial.
On paper that looks obvious. Of course a series with a low six-figure production budget designed for purposes of entertainment is going to be more engaging and enjoyable to watch than an advertisement created by a global biopharma company! But if you’ve watched original branded entertainment web series for a while, you know that’s not always the case. Sometimes you may even prefer to catch attractive individuals white water raft in adverts for Valtrex than witness an almost outright shill presented with a thin veil of entertainment.
by Marc Hustvedt on June 3rd, 2011
At first glance The Micros is yet another Xtranormal creation, the likes of which are often slapped together hastily to run some topical banter about subject du jour. But a closer look here finds a skillfully crafted animated comedy web series that dives deep into the world of online poker. So deep it struck a chord with poker nerds, raking in just under 1 million views on its 5 episodes so far.
Created by Jay “KRANTZ” Rosenkrantz and John “JimmyLegs” Wray, The Micros doesn’t come as a primer, and much like other niche web comedies like RPG gamer GOLD or MMO-junkie The Guild, assumes a level of aptitude with the lexicon it plays in. The series borrows its name from the nickname for the low-stakes tables in online poker matches.
The pilots episode (below) launched back in November broke out, now with over 230,000 views, netting the series a sponsorship deal from FullTiltPoker.com by the second. Donovan Oakleaf, Kristin Aldrich, Nathan Baker and Jeff Cannata voice the lovable characters, a tight knit cadre of poker junkies, dropping lines like “I’ve been grinding the micros for seven or eight months now,” and “I already hit my target number of hands for the day, now I’m just 20-tabling to cool down.”
by Drew Baldwin on June 3rd, 2011
Hollywood screenwriter Claire-Dee Lim, author of family-friendly film Firehouse Dog, is releasing an original comedy web series about three best girlfriends in San Francisco who stumble upon a magic vibrator that turns their loser lives upside down.
The Power Object, which is scheduled to premiere June 6, is an adaptation from Lim’s R-Rated comedy screenplay, co-story by writer-producers Mike Werb (The Mask, Face/Off, Tomb Raider, Curious George) and Michael Colleary (Face/Off). A cross between Sex and the City and Team America, The Power Object features a cast of customized doll puppets and toys (read: Barbies + arts & crafts).
The original screenplay for The Power Object garnered Lim a lot of attention—which actually resulted in an offer to co-write Firehouse Dog—though no studio wanted to touch it. So Lim turned to YouTube. “I wanted to tell a wacky wish fulfillment story and the only way I could make that happen was to do it myself and turn it into an online series,” said Lim.
Lim and art director Jean Kang searched the Los Angeles Toy District to find dolls whose faces they chemically stripped and repainted . The dolls’ hair is custom dyed and styled and the wardrobe is all original. “Working with the dolls was so much easier than live actors, joked Lim. “They never complained about the craft
by Marc Hustvedt on June 2nd, 2011
E3 and its flurry of press announcements doesn’t officially start till next week but that stop the gamer chatter from flowing early. Looks like Activision’s super franchise FPS Call of Duty is set to launch a premium subscription service called Call of Duty Elite later this year coinciding with the November release Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. And with it comes a members-only web series.
The monthly subscription fee—the amount hasn’t yet been announced—will give members access to in-game bonuses and features like clans and tournament play. But the real kicker is an online episodic narrative series that is being developed with some also-to-be-announced talent attached.
“We have engaged some top Hollywood talent to create linear video content that will be exclusive to Elite members,” Activision Publishing chief executive Eric Hirshberg told the Guardian. “That content is inspired by Call of Duty.
“If you’re a sports fan, there are lots of ways for you to connect with that hobby, that passion, not just on the day that the games are played, but throughout the week, and we wanted to give [Call of Duty players] real entertainment value.”
by Marc Hustvedt on June 2nd, 2011
Zach King knows a thing or two about Final Cut, and thankfully he’s sharing the knowledge. People are starting to take notice of his gripping edit sequences and penchant for fast-paced VFX shots. His YouTube channel Final Cut King, once a witty blend of his last name with an amusing brand name to sell video courses and workshops on editing, is now a rising star in the innovative filmmaking circles within the world’s biggest video network.
With 5.7 million total views and 37,700 subscribers, Final Cut King is on the verge of a breakout. His latest pop came in early May when King was tapped as one of the 25 winners of YouTube’s NextUp program—its first—which set the rising creator up with $35,000 and a trip out to New York City for the four-day creators camp.
This week saw the release of his first collaboration project out of the NextUp program, an office Nerf warfare video (below) with Jimmy Wong that gives even the 2008 CollegeHumor Nerf fight with Woody Tondorf a run for its money. Spotted in the video are Backyard FX’s Erik Beck, The Fine Brothers and fellow NextUp classmate Richard Ryan (aka: RatedRR)
by Drew Baldwin on June 2nd, 2011
Skateboarder footwear company etnies launched a web series chronicling etnies team riders traveling through Costa Rica on the mission to plant the first trees of the “etnies Rainforest.”
The series, entitled Pura Vida, is part of the Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree program which started out as a part of etnies’ owner and CEO Pierre-André Senizergues’ vision of reforesting the Earth through sales of etnies’ Jameson 2 Eco shoes, and is on track to plant 35,000 trees.
etnies surfers CJ Kanuha, Chris Del Moro, and Benji Weatherly, and skateboarders Kyle Leeper and Ryan Sheckler learn first-hand about the land where the etnies Rainforest will thrive. The series follows the group roaming and skating through the rainforest, talking to La Reserva Forest Foundation, and creating some artwork.
If you can get through the intro, which looks like a highlight reel for a trust funder vacation to South America, it actually gets interesting as the real purpose of the trip—reforesting a dilapidated rainforest
by Drew Baldwin on June 1st, 2011
In case you didn’t get the message, summer has arrived. And more heat means less clothing—which in many cases is a good thing. But for most of us it is also the dreaded season of shirtlessness, when we are compelled to venture out at the pool/beach/backyard bbqs, and either suck it up (and in), take off our shirts, and courageously join the party, or hide in the safety of the shade with the other outcasts. How can we compete with these tanned Adonises, flaunting their six pack abs at the slightest provocation.
Mark Malkoff to the rescue. Known for his outlandish challenges, like racing a NYC Bus on a Big Wheel, Malkoff set off with a personal trainer Robert Brace, creator of the NY Lean 25 workout, in an attempt to get six pack abs.
Inspired by the barrage of men’s magazines’ headlines that promise six pack abs within thirty days, Malkoff wondered, “Is it really possible for a gut that doesn’t work out, i.e. me, to get a six pack within a month?” He took one last meal of puffed Cheetos, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream before embarking on a four week diet of hard boiled eggs whites (330 over the course of the program).
“Two to three times a day working out was rough at times, but the most challenging part by far was the diet,” Malkoff told Tubefilter. “All I thought about during the month was food. I’d dream about eating cookies at night and actually spit them out in my dream when I realized I wasn’t allowed to have them. Never seriously considered quitting though.”
Does he do it in 30 days? Watch and discover the surprise twist
