HOLLYWOOD: Behind the Scenes

Stargate Studios 2010 Virtual Backlot Demo from Stargate Studios on Vimeo.

Ever wonder what everything looks like behind the scenes of your favorite TV show or movie?  This video from Stargate Studios offers a glimpse of the smoke and mirrors that bring the sound-stage to life.  Truly fascinating.

We use the same green-screen technology every night on the news, but obviously on a much more simple level.  Smaller green-screens in television news studios allow us to put the meteorologist in front of full-screen weather maps, and give us the option of putting reporters in front of still or video images.  You have to be careful though - no green clothing at all, or viewers at home will see right through you!

The whole thing works with computers that are calibrated to recognize a particular shade of green.  The computers then replace the green with whatever image is desired, say a weather map for example.  A person standing in front of the screen blocks the green, and therefore appears in front of the image.

I came across this by accident.  About two years ago, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper stopped the presses, cut staff, and went to an all digital format.  I wanted to see what the website, seattlepi.com, and came across this video.

TECH: Motorola's Super Bowl jab at Apple

In a play on Apple's legendary "1984" commercial in which the computer company unveiled the Macintosh, Motorola is now accusing it's tablet rival of having become "Big Brother." It's no secret that Apple's Ipad dominates the tablet PC market. With Motorola gearing up for the launch of it's Google Android-based "Xoom" tablet, the Super Bowl proved the perfect venue for a 1984 rematch. The ad shows the open-source Android tablet as non-conformist, and portrays Apple users as mindless consumers accepting the latest Apple products. To see Apple's classic 1984 commercial, play the video below.