The greatest thing Apple has produced for consumers is not the iMac or the iPod and certainly not the iPhone: it’s iMovie and other software that provide easy, widespread access to video production tools. Thanks to Apple, anyone with a Mac can produce some sort of video asset–shooting, editing and scoring the entire thing right at their desk or laptop. And anyone with a broadband connection can post it to any number of websites for the world to see.
At the box office, this kind of innovation fuels dreams of ‘Paranormal Activity’ which after another relatively-successful weekend is closing in on $98 million in domestic tickets off of a paltry fifteen thousand dollar production budget.
But at home, it’s led to the ever-expanding world of YouTube comedy. Today, anyone can jump on this bandwagon and post their take to help fuel a meme. All it takes is a good, timely idea.
With that in mind, surf here. If you’ve seen a movie in theaters these past few months, you’ve seen a trailer for Roland Emmerich’s latest CGI fest,2012. But you haven’t seen it like this. Consider this a brimming cup full of piping hot comedy for your Monday morning. Oh, and if this pitch-perfect soundtrack doesn’t set your ironic toe a-tapping, check your pulse.
By Dennis Ryan, CCO, Element 79
Totally agree. The wonderful thing about Apple is that it has leveled the playing field for creating video content. And You Tube has given mankind a democratized portal for distributing that content, which is an unparalleled development in history since Guttenberg’s moveable type (Clay Shirky is spot-on with this observation).
I think there’s a fascinating correlation between the cost of production and the quality of content. The more expensive Hollywood tripe (ie: 2012) tends to be devoid of any ideas or value beyond the “orgy of destruction” made possible by armies of Flame artists working at $1500 per hour, while regular folks armed with a video camera and a laptop can produce much more insightful entertainment about how lame these big-budget movies really are.