— M i a b i . F i l m s

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Tag "Vodcast"


This one I don’t get. I could understand 2girls1cup. I could understand the Star Wars kid. But this is one internet sensation I’m missing. Apparently, Delta Air Lines produced a new in-flight safety video with the intention of making it more interesting to look at. Achieved by throwing in higher production values, a touch of comedy, and some sex appeal. The general thinking that people zone out during this part of the flight and if they actually pay attention to this video, they may act appropriately when the time comes. So throw sparkly things at them! ooohhhhh ahhhhhh. Shiny.

Well they were so proud of their work that they decided to post the thing on YouTube for all the world to see. And the video took off. Got something like half a million views in a few days. The nice looking lady who appears in the video has been on a number of morning shows (and Ellen!) Dubbed Deltalina, a portmanteau of Delta and Angelina Jolie, (people say she looks like our favorite goodwill ambassador) has become something of a celebrity. Katherine Lee is her real name and she’s an actual flight attendant for Delta. That’s all well and good for her. I’m sure she takes her job very seriously and deserves the 15 minutes.

But what I don’t get is why this thing became a… thing. There is near zero comedy and little to no sex appeal. I don’t find Katherine Lee all that attractive actually. She’s got some odd looking cheek bones. She’s not ugly by any stretch. But she’s not entering Kardashian territory. Did I just kill my credibility? She does that one famous little finger wag. One little finger wag and you’ve got an internet phenom? Really. It’s JUST a safety video. Is all the hoopla because of those cool rack focuses? Watch it. I swear. There’s nothing to it. Seriously. Go on. Go ahead.

Looking to capitalize on any popular meme I can, I’ve decided to make my own safety video in response. I assure you, after watching mine, you’ll deplane that plane faster than petrification. Mine has no comedy or sex appeal either. But what it does have are lots and lots of sound FX! Zooooom!


or…

| Right click to download the iPod-ready version. 3.3 mb

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I'm gonna be sick.
2008 | 1:34

Like many other people, I surrendered to the hype. That enigmatic trailer. That deliberate exclusion of information. I was there on opening weekend to see Cloverfield. And I was there to nearly vomit on the person sitting in front of me.

We had high hopes for this movie. It’s JJ Abrams. The man responsible for our dear LOST. (Season 4 premieres tonight!) So what if it looked exactly like Godzilla. JJ would see it through. And in some ways he did. We got tons of looks at that cool monster. And the story was a near-perfect post-911 New-York disaster movie.

But there is something to be said about the horrific camera shake. I started pining for the Dramamine about 15 minutes in. Right around when our friend HUD grabbed the camera. The person I was with started feeling it even sooner. I had to shut my eyes and look away every 5 minutes. Probably missed a quarter of the movie because of this. What about reviewers? It can’t be good policy to make a person reviewing your movie physically ill. The girl I was with said it best, “They could have explained it with a simple line of dialogue. Like HUD was a videographer and knew how to handle a camera or something.” In the end, I think it is a gimmick that either failed, or is much better used in small doses. Something the YouTube generation of filmmakers need to get in their heads immediately. (I don’t recall how I reacted to The Blair Witch Project, because I was too busy trying not to shit my pants.)

I would not be surprised if the camera shake is a major reason why Cloverfield has seen such a stiff drop off at the box office. The person sitting in that stadium seat in front of me has no idea how much danger they were in that night.

So here is my interpretation of Cloverfield 2. Bring your barf bag.


or…

| Right click to download the iPod-ready version. 7.6 mb

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Robot!

2007 (1:08) – Here’s the story of two guys, in the throes of a White Castle daze, mesmerized by a flying saucer. The song is “Robot” by The Futureheads. This is really stupid and probably an inside joke. But I think the editing and song have some redeeming value. I had the camera out for no reason whatsoever. This is just cut down from that footage. There was no intention on doing anything with it. The song is from The Futureheads self titled debut record. Hope you go out and buy it.

| Right click to download the iPod-ready version. 5.9 mb (QT7 required)

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A vodcast only Miabi Film! This video arose from a conversation a friend and I had at a bar. We were discussing the fielding pyro-technics of the exceptional baseball player Eric Byrnes from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Byrnesy is one of my favorite players because he risks life and limb on every catch. His complete disregard for personal safety is infectious and its a miracle none of his teammates have killed themselves trying to imitate him. He’s no slouch at the plate either. Anyway, this is my tribute to Eric Byrnes. It’s amazing what booze and Photoshop can do.

iPod/iPhone version. Right click to download. 1.8 mb

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It’s the new year. A time for new things. New ideas. This next one is really going to knock your socks off. Just file it under the “why didn’t I think of that!” category. Are you ready for it+ You’ve heard of audio books… Well I give you Video Books!! You actually get to SEE someone READING your favorite book. Long road trip? Pop a video book into your video iPod. Rather play with your electronic gadgets than read a book? Now you can do both!

Isn’t video the next logical step after audio? With download speeds always increasing, youTube becoming a household word, and the dissemination of internet video as a whole, I feel video books are the next big thing. Keep an eye out for them at your local iTunes music store.

As a proof of concept, I give you a reading of the first Chapter of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Timequake. I did not get Mr. Vonnegut’s permission to use this book. I hope he doesn’t mind, or Kilgore Trout, or Berkely Books.

Thanks.

| Right click to download the iPod-ready version. 10.2 mb (QT7 required)

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I know I’m late in the game to be professing my love of the show LOST. But I want it to be archived on the internet for all the world to see. I adore this show. LOST has changed the way I view television. It has changed what I thought was possible on network TV. An intelligent show with interesting story lines, intriguing characters, AND good-looking people? Witty writing. A sense of humor. Its no wonder this show is so often compared to Twin Peaks.

The gem of this show is clearly its rich character development. They take their time with each character. As a result, the audience not only knows the name of every character, but actually cares about them. Never mind that the mysterious island is a super-character unto itself. Its no wonder we lemmings go back for more week after week. Its also no wonder we feel a fragmented sense of well-being when the show goes on hiatus several times during the season.

What else is amazing about this show is that it’s practically interactive tv. Each week thousands of people scour dozens of online communities and forums for pictures, discussions, spoilers, rumors, theories and anything else to do with the show. Several times during the show’s existence the dialogue onscreen has acknowledged its fan-base. Veiled lines spoken by certain characters (most often Hurley) have addressed issues the fans have had. While its not exactly breaking the fourth wall, I’d still consider it a blurring. And its really sweet to be recognized.

There are rumors going around that LOST producers will release mini-episodes on the iTunes Music Store. Each mini-episode would revolve around a subordinate character. While I’m salivating at the idea of more LOST, of course I’m skeptical. We’ll see what happens.

I would also like to let it be known that I have been a mega-fan since “Walkabout”, the fourth episode. Only because I missed the pilot when it aired and subsequently forgot about LOST until I caught episode four. I’ve single handedly pushed the show on approximately 12 people. All fans now. It took a lot of work too. Those DVDs have a lot of mileage on them. I’ve never been a such a champion of a TV show before. A testament to the power of LOST. Now if it can answer some of its own questions…

For fans of the show. We’ve become accustomed to that eerie noise that sounds over the opening title. There’s no theme music. But this guy has re-imagined an opening title sequence. Its pretty cool. Check it out. A product of the show’s interactivity! Quicktime 7 required. I don’t have Chosen’s contact info, but if he/she ever sees this, please contact me.


Download the new LOST opening credits (2.5 mb)
by Chosen.

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2005 (4:49) – This is my first attempt at a thriller. Basically I’m ripping off David Lynch. Right down to the Angelo Badalementi score. John was a great director of photography on this one. It would have been out of focus without him. I don’t remember how the idea came to me, but I remember it materializing very quickly. I hope you’re terrified.

iPod/iPhone version. Right click to download. 49 mb

check out the parum Diabolus teaser…

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“Hemroid”

2005 – This is from a series of short films I did for the Spymac Film Club. This was the club’s second assignment… And there were no other submissions! The goal of this assignment was to capture a lie. I threw my own Miabi spin into it. Enjoy. Christian and I came up with a few different “lies” we thought would be funny.

Check out the entire series:
A Lie
Hemroid
Nepal
Unicycle

| Right click to download the iPod-ready version. 1.6 mb (QT7 required)

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“A Lie”

2005 – This is the first of a series of short films I did for the Spymac Film Club. This was the club’s second assignment… And there were no other submissions! The goal of this assignment was to capture a lie. I threw my own Miabi spin into it. Enjoy. Christian and I came up with a few different “lies” we thought would be funny.

Check out the entire series:
A Lie
Hemroid
Nepal
Unicycle

| Right click to download the iPod-ready version. 1.4 mb (QT7 required)

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2000 (1:14) – Cafaro and I decided to film a 30 second Polish joke. This was our first experience with a real location. We just walked into Harry’s Hardware in Livingston, NJ and asked to shoot a little movie. (using the student angle of course) Praying that there were no Polish employees or people without senses of humor. I felt rushed at the store so the performances suffer greatly. Then we got kicked out of ShopRite shooting pickup shots for the opening. There was a Super8 version of this, but I lost the audio somewhere.

| 5 mb

| Right click to download the iPod-ready version. 4.5 mb (QT7 required)

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