We at CopyCatFilms are all about the conveniences & wonder that is…the iPhone. After staring at a computer all day, it’s nice to have a different machine (even a tiny computer) to look up any and everything, to never be lost in a city of 4 million people, to be more organized and connected with friends and family than ever before. It’s also nice because I don’t have to fight carpal tunnel while using my phone–at least it’s a new kind of repetitive motion right?

Right.

So combine those goodness points with the fact that Apple has released the new iPhone at bargain basement prices! Then tell me… why aren’t more websites taking into account the increasing number of visitors to your site that will be on an iPhone & start making videos viewable to iPhone users as well as regular users all at once??? Seems easy enough to me. Get with the program web designers!! When I’m sitting, working, writing, dreaming and think of something to look up or watch, I grab my iPhone.  I don’t go to the computer anymore.  I sit at a computer all day–why would I do that??

So I’ve decided that maybe they just don’t know how? Maybe they aren’t savvy enough to google it??? Seems highly unlikely–this is a savvy group we’re talking about. Regardless, I’ve decided it is my duty to help spread the word of HOW.

Ya see, if you’re on an iPhone you can visit my reel and watch our Obtuse Episode Loftbed or Moto Mirage short films regardless of where you’re at! Yeah, it is designed to pick between 3 versions of QuickTime files and select the best one for your current connection and/or system…whether you’re on a computer (best quality); iphone wi-fi (good quality); or iphone cellular network (almost shit)….

But wherever you are, when you find me.  You’re gonna watch.

To Do This for your own site:

1. Download QuickTime Pro upgrade ($30).
2. Compress Files by selecting File–>Export for Web
3. Check all 3 options: iPhone, iPhone (cellular), and Desktop.
4. You can even select a poster frame for the movie on your site! Easy…
5. Next Quicktime will provide a folder on your desktop that makes it extremely easy and even provides all of the embedding code…

More info:

Compressing Video for the iPhone…
and Part II: How to Embed Movies in your web page!!  Now, Chop Chop! Millions of iPhone users are out there just WAITING to watch your movies, commercials, spoofs, and how-to’s from their always-within-reach-iPhones!

Ha.  We’ve loved each other for a million years–but only 8 years in this life.  So we spent the day celebrating our past together by laying in the sun, eating hummus & pita, listening to free live music in Millennium Park, and ending the day with a visit to the Art Institute’s new Modern Wing.  It was the perfect day.  I absolutely LOVE museums with Mariela.

Inspired…

I’ve decided to focus more on cinematography & photography this summer. I may take a class, if I can afford it.  The sun has lifted the gray cloud over Chicago and my camera is happy
Off for a mini-vacation…
and a FILM FESTIVAL!

The Interrobang Film Festival has announced their schedule for the upcoming Film Festival during the amazing 3 Day Creative Roots Arts Festival Downtown Des Moines. MOTO MIRAGE is an official selection this year, showing in the Professional Shorts program, for our second film festival this season. MOTO shows @ The University of Iowa John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center auditorium on the second and third floors on the following schedule:

• Friday, June 26th:  4pm in Room A (2nd Floor)
• Saturday, June 27th:  12:30pm in Room B (3rd Floor)
• Saturday, June 27th:  3:30pm in Room A (2nd Floor)
• AWARDS CEREMONY — Saturday, June 27th:  8pm in Room A (2nd Floor)
• Sunday, June 28th:  10am in Room B (3rd Floor)

We can’t wait!  See ya in Des Moines!  Where even GAYS CAN GET MARRIED…

Yeay! CopyCatFilms exhibits MOTO MIRAGE for a second time at this summer’s Interrobang Film Festival in Downtown Des Moines, IA during the 3-DAY Creative Roots Arts Festival June 26th-28th, 2009 at the University of Iowa Pappajohn Education Center. If you’re in the area, be sure to check it out. The festival is top-notch, completely free with artists from all around the country!

We are extremely excited to have our first Design Cinema style film picked up by these extraordinary local fests! We have been hard at work to roll out production on a number of new projects along the mixed genre of Design Cinema: the combination of video, still photography, graphic arts & design, collage, anything you can add in! This style of film just makes my mind open up & explode with endless tools & possibilities! I find that I can concentrate more easily on the actual storytelling aspect which is terribly exciting…

So definitely more to come. If someone could just hurry up and trigger some actual NICE WEATHER for CHICAGO ALREADY!

See ya in Humboldt Park next weekend.

It’s a revival! I’m so excited that we came up with a brand-new idea for our beloved craft show. Obtuse has always been our go-to for highlighting our crazy craftiness but it’s been a little unfocused thus far. This hasn’t really been a big deal, as it’s been a great way to work out some filming techniques and document our crafting.

But, now I’m extra excited because we had a great idea for a new show & we’ve been dying to highlight F’s new Obtuse Season 2 intro!! So it’s really exciting. This new idea will have an actual story, be very timely & funny if I do say so myself, & the best part is that it will also feature a new product in our newly revised online store. We are all kinds of ready for some cross-marketing. Soooo there are lots of new things to come and I am so excited to write the script for this.

The process was nothing short of amazing. We had a low key brainstorming session about it and we were just on, ya know. Like we didn’t even have to strain to come up with ideas. It just came together as we asked questions and threw out scenarios. It was like the old days of writing note cards but better. We actually have all of the resources to film this! I think this new breakthrough was in direct correlation to our finishing of the door/table. We have slaved over and poured so many quarts of envirotex on our lovely dining room table that I have lost count! but now she is done– for now. As Milton Berle once said, “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”