HipSide TV

Entertainment for a changing world

Kristen Bell Kills it in Party Down

Jul 23

Posted by Chris in party down | No Comments

kristen-bell-party-downI like the show Party Down, which is on the Starz network, which may be evidenced by that fact that to date 50% of the posts on this blog are about the show, and even further, by the fact that the show has its own category on this blog.

Anyways, if you haven’t had a chance to watch Party Down and you have Starz, then you really should get your act in gear.  But, be warned, the show is done in a smart, witty and very dry, slightly dark comedic style.  If you like Flight of the Conchords, yes.  If you’re more of a Kevin James fan, no. Nothing against Kevin James, since the dude is hilarious and can do an epic fat guy pratfall, but still you know what I mean. 

Oh yeah, this post was supposed to be about Kristin Bell and her work on Party Down.  I just finished watching season one, in which she has a recurring role, and she’s hilarious.  She has great timing, she can deliver a line and add a lot to it, and she’s just really fun to watch.

You probably know this already if you’ve seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but I think Party Down proves that Kristin Bell is one of the top female comedy actresses out there today.  She’s got talent.

Go check out Party Down.  And don’t work too hard tomorrow, wherever you may find yourself working.

In this first clip watch as “Uda,” her character in the show, relishes saying “Let’s work.”

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43% of All Web Videos are Viewed on Google Owned Sites

Jul 7

Posted by Chris in web video | No Comments

youtube sharing video According to a recent Comcast “Online Video Rankings” report, Google pretty much owns online video.  This may come as no surprise since Google owns Youtube, but still the numbers are quite staggering.

In April, 2010, 43% of all web videos were viewed on a Google-owned website, with 13.1 billion total videos watched (primarily on Youtube).

As online video becomes even more pervasive in entertainment, marketing, and even daily life, it will be interesting if Google will be able to maintain its lion’s share.  What happens when Google moves to TV?  That’s another big question.

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Web Video Tips for Beginners

Jul 6

Posted by Chris in web video | No Comments

handy cam for web videoThis post over at Mashable Video has some really good tips for experimenting with web video.

Whatever kind of video content you create, you will find some useful advice about how to get started getting some traction and getting people to actually see your video creations.

In summary, here are the tips offered (go to the actual post at the link above to read all the details):

Break the Rules: If you do what everyone else tells you to do, then you will end up with a product like everyone else’s.  Be original.  Videos don’t always need to be super short, although it may be smart to start short since it is easier to make short videos and easier to get people’s attention with short content.

Understand What You Need: Take some time to figure out what equipment you need.  See the full article at Mashable for more details.  There are also great resources like nextnewn

Learn How to Properly Upload Your Video: Obviously, this is crucial.  You don’t want to expend a ton of effort on your web video only to see a crappy copy on Youtube that no one is going to want to watch.

Update Regularly: Fresh content and simply more content gives you a wider net to gain an audience and fans even.

Choose Your Outlet Wisely: Learn about the different websites that host videos.  Pick the one that makes sense for your audicne.  In other words, where is your audience already?  Go there.  And everywhere else if you want to.

Promote Your Videos: Rarely is there a situation where a web video creator is going to upload an amazing video and immediately get a huge amount of views.  It takes promotion.  Twitter, Facebook, Ning, ShootingPeople are all free social media sites that can help you get some viewers.  Also, a little bit of link-building never hurt a content creator.

Web video is all about experimentation and hard work.  But it’s really about creating high quality content that makes people laugh or cry or inspires.

(via Mashable)

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Cast Yourself in Mad Men at Jib Jab

Jul 6

Posted by Chris in tv shows | No Comments

mad men jib jab promotionMad Men may not be as hot as it was three years or so ago when it burst onto the scene as a fresh, realistic, colorful, and thought-provoking drama.

I lost interest about three episodes into the third season, but maybe I should get caught up by watching the rest of the episodes I missed and getting ready for season 4.  But I (and you) can get caught up quickly with the “Mad Men starring you” Jib Jab tool, which gives a summary of the past three seasons of the show with you or your friends faces on the characters.

It’s a clever way to promote the show in a fun way, while getting new potential viewers caught up on what happened over the previous seasons of Mad Men.  It’s smart Internet promotion, which isn’t surprising, since AMC has been savvy with the past couple of off-season promotional efforts.

You can also “Mad Men” yourself (or a friend) at AMC.com by creating a cartoon Mad Men character.

So what do you say?  Do you see yourself as a Don Draper or more of a Roger Sterling?

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Find Legal Songs for Your Youtube Video at Friendly Music

Jul 5

Posted by Chris in online video | No Comments

youtube music soundtrackThanks for the tip on this one Mashable.  A new website called Friendly Music has just opened up and it’s a good thing for Youtube video publishers.

For $1.99, you can download original professional songs to serve as the soundtrack to your Youtube video.  You always have the option of just using a song you already have by a popular artist, but there’s a good chance that the sound will be deleted by the copyright owner of the song or the “click-to-buy” link will appear at the bottom of your video.

In order to avoid both of these cases, you can purchase a song from Friendly Music that you will have the license to and can modify it for your video.

There are a few shortcomings that you need to consider when you buy music from this site.  One is that you cannot use the music on a “commercial” video designed to sell something or an ad-supported web series.  I would think that web series creators would be an audience that would want this service, but it seems Friendly Music is tilted toward people who want to add music to more personal videos.

But then again, song prices are very cheap at the moment, and you would expect that commercial licensing would cost a lot more.  Another slight negative is that you have to attribute the song to an artist, which would probably require brief text in a corner of the video much like music videos on MTV.

I can see Friendly Music being a good site to find a song for a recent event like a family vacation, but professional web content developers may need to look elsewhere for soundtracks for their Youtube videos.

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