Broadband Jungle Blog

VBS—keeping it real.

To the rescue ‘from television’s deathlike grip’ comes VBS, hatched from the wicked mind of ‘creative’ director Spike Jonze: At the same time fearlessly investigative and unabashedly entertaining, VBS explores topics as unrelated as coal mining in West Virginia and Baghdad’s burgeoning heavy metal scene.

With a clear flair for subculture and traveling to various conflict zones, VBS doesn’t quite deliver the 6 o'clock news but inspires with guerilla reporting and a good dose of Jackass thrown in.

VBS' motley crew comes across as fellow broadband rookie BudTV’s ill-behaved brothers, and everyone seems to delight in completely defying categorization, unless you count running on adrenalin and a passion for whatever their topics are.

Interesting also the blog and vlog postings from offbeat comedians like Judah Friedlander and David Cross who both contribute to the quirky ‘Do’s and Don’ts and Friends’ section.

For a better understanding and frequently asked questions, check out the VBS mission statement shot while visiting the the streets of Jamaica. My favorite feature: The very practical channel guide / interactive remote.

psychoPedia

psychoPedia is a quirky art and fashion themed site that calls itself proudly an ‘independent online network’, as it should. The site clearly speaks its own language and displays an abundance of casual chic and a clear vision of both their content and audience. The user interface incorporates some of the video projects showcased in a very clever and stylish way.

Dusk2Dawn is a videoblog from New York area events, many of them music related and often provided by musicians in diary form. Melissa auf der Maur is listed as a recent contributor.

Clicking on ‘show past films’  reveals a treasure trove of clips and episodes from recent months, and some actually swap Manhattan for a backdrop in the Carribean, models and photo shoot included. All are consistent in displaying the same knack for visual storytelling.

Serialized content like Flirt Series and Wild Life revolve around eavesdropping on models and fashionistas—it’s done with enough flair, sincerity and remarkable access to their subjects to make up for lack of depth.

A little disjointed but to charming and unique effect, psychoPedia also includes its own Denim section complete with search engine serving up links to every Denim brand known to man.

Liam Lynch podcasts Tenacious D

Liam Lynch, writer / director and composer of United States of Whatever-fame runs a very entertaining website that showcases almost all of his talents. In true 2.0 storyteller fashion, he muses on his experience with Tenacious D, whose upcoming The Pick of Destiny Liam directed, by posting his own behind the scenes footage on his site.

An entire Tenacious D episode of Lynchland, the director’s own podcast series, is dedicated to following the director to various post production sessions. Absolute highlight: Jack Black conducts the orchestra during a scoring session with passionate abandon to the delight of LA’s finest classical studio musicians.

StimTV

StimTV is a quirky channel streaming from Oxnard, California. Launched in the fall of ’05, the player exclusively serves up short clips of movies, television and music videos with some interviews thrown in, sort of like a multi-DVD player stuck in shuffle. If a clip catches your fancy you can play it full length if it’s in the archive. Most certainly sending every viewers ADD into overdrive, I also wouldn’t want to run their legal department and deal with Rights and Clearances issues.

Their StimTV promos are highly original and alone worth the click: Located under ‘tutorial video’ you can find promos that are shot like old fashioned educational films with the occasional low-tech effect thrown in, and there are more hilarious tutorials hidden in search. My absolute favorite—cardboard cutouts of StimTV templates to demonstrate how to navigate the site.

Rehearsals.com music player

CenterStaging are experts for high quality rehearsal spaces with a breathtaking list of top music acts among their clients. They also run a hi-end music portal called rehearsals.com right out of their Burbank studio warehouses.

“Rehearsals” by artists like Tom Petty and the Pussycat Dolls resemble very intimate living room settings and are recorded hi-def at their own state-of-the-art broadcast facility by remote-controlled cameras.

The broadband player’s offering also includes a variety of other terrific programs, such as Lessons from the Legends, an Emerging Artists showcase and weekly The Newz.

summer movies

Lots of web-exclusive bonus footage made it onto the various summer blockbuster sites, here are three that definitely walked the extra mile:

Nacho Libre, this summer’s first comedy hit, boasts an entire series of clips called ‘Jack Black’s Nacho Libre Confessionals.’ Filmed during production in Mexico it’s obvious that they got Black’s full cooperation – the pieces revolve around him and are produced like a diary that’s very much in tune with with the comedian’s particular blend of humor. Look for ‘Waxed Jack’ for insights into the extent to which this actor is willing to prepare for a role.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend took a different route by creating a micro-site that’s generously dispensing valuable relationship advice. Or are they break-up tips? Be My Ex is spoofing educational films, complete with a free video course that includes lesson videos and case studies, all under the watchful eye of a Dr. Thorhammer, ‘social behavioral expert’ at the renowned ‘Be My Ex Institute’.

This summer’s prize for motion picture broadband promotion, however, needs to go to Snakes on a Plane – and it all happened initially possibly without the studio’s participation. Storylines, clips and trailers (accidentally?) leaked to fan sites while the movie was still in production and excited fans flooded the Internet with fake trailers, ‘lost’ scenes and online forum opinion pieces.

When director David R.Ellis briefly considered changing the hideous title to ‘Pacific Air 121’ the outcry echoed from hear to China. The filmmakers decided to embrace what was brewing in front of their eyes and in an unprecedented move accepted the fans as co-creators: After taking in hundreds of Snake-themed videos on YouTube alone, they decided to toughen up the storyline for some re-shoots and allowed fans to select the title track by Cobra Starship for the soundtrack via the website.

Snake-enthusiasts generated an avalanche of products that New Line is marketing through Café Press by paying licensing fees to the fan-designers. 250,000 fans almost brought down the official site this week when they used a feature that allowed visitors to send customized phone messages from Snake’s star Samuel L.Jackson.

In its boldest move, the studio decided to pass on press screenings but instead is hosting ‘fan appreciation’ showings on August 17 to build momentum the day before its release.

Snake charmers? No – just your regular broadband jungle.

muzak

MTV, the favorite lifestyle channel for adolescents of all ages, relinquished its monopoly on music a while ago. A lot of the cooler activity shifted to the Internet where most of the music videos are being watched these days anyway, several billions a year on Yahoo alone.

It’s no surprise that various outfits are rushing to launch full-fledged music networks for their online audiences. I particularly like AT&T ‘blue room’ which seems to have grown out of a CBS Radio property called “Street Date.” More than just a music video Wurlitzer, ‘blue room’ does interesting A-list interviews with acts like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, goes on tour with Tom Petty and reports from major festivals like Bonnaroo all around the country.

AOL went out with Bruce Springsteen in a big way this summer, covering ‘18 Nights of Bruce’ during the current tour with the Seeger Sessions Band. The Boss himself handpicked different highlights from every concert each night so they could appear on the site within hours after the show. Only being there would have been more immediate.

Film and Television director Peter O’Fallon of ‘Suicide Kings’ and ‘House’ fame followed his love for live music when he purchased Hollywood alternative rock venue the’Gig.’ When the broadband revolution came around, he outfitted the venue with cameras and invited his buddies from the film industry to help capture the unpredictability of live performance. Most acts playing at the Gig are unsigned and widely unknown, making the broadcast an additional incentive for the bands.

Mog is a cool and fairly new web community for advanced music lovers who like ranking specifics like ‘Favorite Pieces of Music Over 20 Minutes in Length’ in their profiles. Connoisseurs, celebrities and insiders alike are allowed to mingle and post titles and clips that range from the very eclectic to the beautifully obscure. Judging by the photos everyone’s also styling and taking their music wonderfully seriously.

If you feel like ripping a bunch of music videos after work but don’t want to go through the trouble of finding and loading them yourself, then eyespot is your place: this site comes with free clips, its own video mixer and you can even send each masterpiece to everyone’s cell phone when you’re done. The first legal mash-up site and a great place to keep a video-log. Not sure about giving everyone access to my vlogs for their own mash-ups, but hey, that’s me!