Tag: video

  • Credit Rating System Baffles Japanese Influencer

    Kemio is a Japanese social media influencer trying to make his way in New York and is now in between apartments. The hilarity of this bit might be lost on you if you don’t understand Japanese but even if you don’t, you’ll get a sense of his breathless exasperation.

    Sooo Confused

    The set up is that he has 30 minutes to pack his things into boxes because he has a trip back to Japan and he doesn’t want prospective future tenants of his apartment to root through his things while he is away. The fact that landlords will let strangers tromp through your apartment while you’re still living there is bizarre to Japanese. Apartments are always shown empty and cleaned up.

    At the 4:10 mark he starts talking about how something called a “credit history” is necessary to rent an apartment and that he has no credit history because he’s essentially been paying for everything with either cash or a debit card since he moved here. He then got a credit card just so he could build up his credit score but is sooo confused by all the rules and guidance on how to build up your score. You can’t spend up to your cap, but don’t spend too little, don’t pay off your entire bill each month, etc. Soooo confusing!

    Kemio also gets into trouble because, as you can see, he’s quite anxious so he checks his credit score all the time to see if it’s going up but is surprised because, due to all his checking, the score actually goes down!

    He then gets in further trouble because he starts looking at new apartments and puts in applications all over town because he’s running out of time to find a new place. This spray-and-pray application tactic backfires because it generates even more credit checks so his score goes down even more!

    So here we are now – he’s packing his boxes and heading off on his trip from which he will return with no place to live. Mon dieu!

    Subscribe to Kimio’s channel to stay up-to-date.

  • Ambient Antarctica

    I’m feeling a lot of emotions now. It’s a mix of things that contribute to a marking of time. Hearing the Derrick Chauvin verdict feels like the end of a chapter that started at the beginning of the pandemic (even though I know it’s only the beginning of another chapter).

    I also video-chatted with my parents tonight and see that my father is losing his hearing. He can’t hear what I’m saying and he’s too stubborn to try out a hearing aid. This leaves him to only excitedly talk about something and then leave me to watch disappoint cross his face when he realizes, once again, that he cannot hear my response.

    I’m feeling mortal – conscious of the passage of time. If you are feeling the same way, may I recommend this beautiful video-scape of Antarctica, preferably on a big, flat screen TV, in a dark room, with a tumbler of your favorite whiskey by your side.

    Balm for the soul.

  • Jordan Peele warns of Fake News

    Don’t believe everything you see online. Good on Jordan Peele for making this PSA which uses some readily available software literally put words in Obama’s mouth. You can read more about it on Buzzfeed.

    We’re about to enter into an intense period of “he said/she said” with the Cohen trial and Comey’s book tour that is going to put a premium on verified evidence and face-to-face interactions.

    Who do you trust when everything can be fake? News brands built up their reputation on continually telling the truth, as best as they could. Photography, television, and the internet helped chip away at that dependency as people were able to view the raw materials on their own and make their own judgement. As the sophistication of counterfeiting technology improves such as in the example above, the value of a trusted source that can verify and corroborate videos such as the one above will increase.

    I’m calling it here. We’ll be hearing more about technically-savvy forensic journalists in the very near-future.

    Related: How To Spot A Deepfake Like The Barack Obama–Jordan Peele Video

  • Stunning video shows off Turkey and its people

    This masterfully edited video splices together a journey across the Turkish landscape. With all that is going on in this region, it’s important to celebrate the joy and culture of this country too.

    Watchtower of Turkey from Leonardo Dalessandri on Vimeo.

  • Walking Backwards

    Do you ever feel like you’re moving through a fog, going backwards? The clip from Tokyo Reverse is a highlight reel from a 9 hour video of someone who did just that, walk through the streets of Tokyo, in reverse. Ludovic Zuili, the man in the video, was filmed walking backwards and then the footage was flipped around so that he was shown walking forwards and everyone else is shown walking in reverse. The effect is strange and, trippy.

    Those of you who know Tokyo will recognize Shibuya, Harajuku, and Akihabara in the clip.

    Read more on BBC and Le Monde

  • Town & Country Time-Lapse

    Two stunning time lapse videos that are worth seeing. For full enjoyment, click and expand into full screen and turn up the volume.

    The first is by Simon Christen who has been following the San Francisco fog for years. Thank you Mie for forwarding on this link. I agree, it’s a beautiful city we live in.

    Adrift from Simon Christen on Vimeo.

    Simon says on his page, “I spent many mornings hiking in the dark to only find that the fog was too high, too low, or already gone by the time I got there. Luckily, once in a while the conditions would be perfect and I was able to capture something really special. Adrift is a collection of my favorite shots from these excursions into the ridges of the Marin Headlands.”

    The second video is by two friends that meet each other on Vimeo and shared a love for time-lapse photography of Yosemite. It really is a majestic place.

    Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite on Vimeo.

    I went on a spur-of-the-moment hike last weekend and am in awe of how beautiful it can be.

  • Tilt Shift, Timelapse Cities

    I think I stumbled across a new genre. Shooting your city in time lapse and giving it the tilt shift treatment.

    San Francisco

    New York

    Tokyo

    Paris

    Does your city have a particularly nice timelapse, tilt shift video?