'Thee Backslacpkping With Media' — Page 2

Tobar said:

Is....is that the framework of a graboid in your avatar there Matt?

Not to veer off-topic, but it'd have to be a worm from Dune.   Graboids have one large upper "beak" and two smaller mandibles, rather than the three equally sized ones that the avatar has.

whiteelephant said:

This is utterly unwatchable.  I feels like the creator of this DVD just learned Final Cut Pro and thinks more editing = good editing.  It's the worst kind of ADD cutting.  I watched about 3 minutes before shutting it off and throwing the disc away.  Avoid.

This is just the sort of encouraging and positive feedback that boards like these need, and yes throwing away playable discs is a hideous waste.

This project may not be for you but it's certainly entertained and prompted interest for some people here and if you didn't like I'm sure someone else would.

If it was so wrong for you instead of throwing it away, why not re-edit the material in a manner you would find interesting and put that up for inspection (or at the very least offer some constructive criticism).

Passing judgement after three minutes is bizarre too, that's less time than most title sequences (your DVD bin collection must be bigger than Blockbusters).

I really liked it.

Thanks for the DVD and the Usenet post.

Question: How do you pronounce "Backslacpkping"?

back-slacp-k-ping : [bak-slak-(u)p-kah-pinggG ; verb

I'm not sure. that's a guess, I haven't really had to say it in public yet... if i had too, i would limit the pronunciation of 'U' in up and over stress the PinGGGGG to distract from the garbled middle. The text-2-speech program used for the audio commentary has a version at the beginning I believe.

Because this was a response to teh backstroke of the west, I wanted a back*something* word in the title. This piece began in a shorter form focusing on the mistakes/gaffs by the talking heads. so backslapping seemed appropriate, since the final piece was going to be drawing attention to their reporting errors, they slacked on the facts. The word combination got the final approval when the translator into chinese returned 8 characters.

none / %20

I'm a third of the way through and loving it to death.

Sure, it's not for everyone, sure, it's not something to sit through and watch in one go without a break, but it's an amazing kaleidoscope of just about everything we love, hate and take for granted about this Star Wars thing.

I'd say it's an important disc to have for a lot of fan-edit collectors.

It's certainly not the sort of bonus disc that Lucasfilm would put out but it does chronicle the cultural impact of the saga generally (and ROTS specifically) in a epic of the banal sort of way.

There's a lot of hard work and love in this project if you can get it and you get it, you will get a kick out of it.

+++UPDATE+++

Just got to the end and it's consistantly good, covers so much ground and is full of lovely little touches.

I don't think there has been anything quite like it before and it might be a long time, if ever, that anyone will attempt to do something like it again.

The torrent succeeded then failed. So other options are being looked into. The options being considered are:

1. torrent : trackerless - (preferred method but has it's drawbacks, would need more people to test it out, to work through kinks)
2. torrent : trackered - What sites (public preferred) would you recommend?
3. linktalk : Can someone explain how this works? Is this related to rapidshare?
4. direct from the website. RARs
The problem with this idea is that the disc is 8 gigs. I've contemplated putting it up in RAR segments. Maybe offering a few a day or week. So over a month? the whole disc could be downloaded. Would anyone consider downloading in this method?

5. Is there something new out there?

Once the next distribution method is figured out, i'm going to make a different webpage. Since everyone agrees that the FAQ is to convoluted. For those who've seen it, how would you explain the DVD? What should be on the website, which would entice others to check it out? what aspect/segue/chapter/clip really surprised you?

Also where did the disc not meet your expectations. for instance it was mentioned elsewhere about the backstroke/elite/133t trailer connection, did the DVD provide clarification? If not these type of issues I would like to address in the revised website.

thanks
none / %20

While I think the nebulous almost cryptic nature of the website is part of and adds to the charm of the actual disc, it might stir up more interest if there was a more down to Earth description and maybe a few screenshots and clips so people can get a taste before they go for the full download (which is well worth the effort) .

Rather than explaining what you were trying to do and what the sources are at the front, perhaps you should explain what it is now that it's finished, in plain English (and have all the other details on seperate pages).

A few hints on how it might be found would be a plus too.

But I appreciate it might be a problem when some of the material sails very close and sometimes over the edge of the world of copywrite.

[edit - Info no longer relevant]

The NFO problems this project has been having is because the original version contained Chinese Characters, which makes it a different type of .txt format, not the 'Western' type which is typical for english texts.

'Thee Backslacpkping With Media' is now available for viewing from the FAQ:

http://www.noneinc.com/tBSWM/tBSWM_FAQ.html#DVDChapter

MattMahdi wrote:

If people know what the project IS then they may decide to download it.

To rectify this made a one minute introduction video which might help clarify or just makes things more confusing...

Thanks for those who have commented on this project some of your words are in this clip:

http://www.noneinc.com/tBSWM/tBSWM-Video-ArchiveOrg/Thee_Backslacpkping_With_Media-Chap_00-Play.html

SKot wrote:

The one thing I wish could be changed was the inconsistent audio levels

Yeah, this is one of the things I neglected early on and just never got back to.  I fixed a some audio which didn't sync up and a few who were extremely soft, but a global effort to equalize wasn't done.  I'm using headphones 99% of the time and with my tinitus, they just didn't seem dramatic to me.  Will do a visual EQ check on future projects.

SKot wrote:

Think about having a day of intense web surfing where one link leads to another, and another, and another, and you keep learning and learning more which drives you onward to follow more links for more information to learn even further.

I completely understand the idea of tuning into a service like this and forgetting everything else, but the other side would benefit as well.  A service which could complete requests like this could also condense out the essential info the individual is search for.  For instance let's so you were traveling to a location and wanted to know how to say a certain street name or other geographical features.  A service like this could filter out just the video parts which have this street name mentioned and were recorded in the desired location, so you'd be watching a short piece of several people from the desired location saying the term which your looking to pronounce correctly.

MattMahdi wrote:

And I'd love to read material that expands on the information from "about this disc" on the main menu.  What's the history, how the project morphed from one thing to another, whether you think it's complete or merely released into the wild.

The DVD is as '"complete"' as it will ever be.  Conceptually there are ideas which didn't get flushed out to make sense.  For instance the relationship between the Chinese influences and overall production / presentation.  I wanted to have more of a storyline about the DVDs production/release.  The idea was going to be that the main DVD was created then 'captured' and bootlegged by either Chinese or the Galactic Trade Federation (or both) [who would add their subs to the project] and subsequently re-release.  You can see these influences in the menus, the inner frame is the GTF or something and the Chinese influence added the additional information.  Llike how the 'backstroke of the west' came into existance.

Another of the in-jokes which didn't happen was in the Chinese Subs, everytime 'Blynth' was said I wanted to have a HUGE 10 line Chinese subtitle which would be some joke, but I never got around to it.  Nothing seemed right.

The main video presentation had one main development point.  During the recording process, it became more and more frustrating listening to the gaffs/mistakes which we're being made.  So the original piece was just going to be a compilation of those clips which had errors.  But then as I visited websites who offered their own view of the phenomenon it seemed more interesting to cross compare.  Then as the amount of material increased, certain trends started to re-appear.  And by the time the movie came out i'd had many of these chapters already defined.  Then the early release happened, and the news media attention shifted.  And I found myself contemplating a project which relies on copyright infringement to accomplish it's goals.  The clip of the News commentator complaining about the annoying numbers at the top of the screen, while her channel logo is equally annoying at the bottom just seemed to ironic.  Then a few months later I found several other video hosting sites and video editing softwares which greatly expanded the scope of the project.  Most of this material turned out to be from independent individuals who became their own form of news commentators or interviewees, and their contribution added another layer to this presentation.

Another aspect lost was the additional material related to bloggers rights and circumvention of governmental/corporate censoring programs.  I wanted to include several documents which help individuals get past great firewalls or understand copyrights in relation to online content.  I figured having them inside an RAR'd DVD uploaded to Usenet would be a great way to get this information into other countries.  See:

http://www.ultrareach.com/

http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=542

http://www.eff.org/wp/unintended-consequences-ten-years-under-dmca

Unfortunately, by the time i'd finished the DVD, times had changed and the info I had seemed out of date.  And I was having problems (besides being unemployed) squeezing everything onto the DVD...

none / %20

Moth3r wrote: "The flash media player doesn't work for me. However, I did find it was possible to extract the URL and download the MP4 file directly."

Thanks for checking it out, there's just so far I can beta. Added direct download links to the Mp4s, since the player might not work for a lot more people. Online video is fraught with complications. I ended up using the Mp4s and archive.org's embedded media player figuring it would be fairly universal, but it would seem that's not the case. I couldn't get it to work in windows explorererer but got cross platform performance from firefox when i was testing.

the nice thing about the player, although it doesn't work on my site but from files housed on archive.org, the player can automatically start playing the next chapter. So in theory, if OT.com members wanted their edits online, they could post the segments they've changed and with enough of those online, the whole movie could be recreated and 'edits' of edits could be set up to automatically stream.

Video compression was one of the major headaches making this thing. pulling sources from everywhere it seemed like every location had a different format which required a different program or codec to repurpose the video into the miniDV format i thought was fairly universal. major phucking pain in the ass.

Moth3r wrote: "And yes, I think this introduction does just make things more confusing..."

the intro does accomplish three things, first that the main feature is a shit load of tv clips, so people would understand that. (there goes half the audience) Second, a chance to read through the chapter titles to see if any of those ideas might be of interest to them (and another 40% dissipates) and third, people's reactions. (so after another set of fleeing clicks) The remaining .001% should get a kick out of it... if they can figure out how to download and play the clips!

Moth3r wrote: "It didn't help that the voice over is pretty much unintelligible."

%20 is a text-2-speech entity, for better or worse. So added to the page is the transcript. Part of the goal of a project like this is to get someone to realize that this kind of work could be created by a computer, so a computer voice as the pseudo-author leads a tad more credence to the whole thing. Now yes maybe i've used the wrong text-2-speech since there are many words which get mangled. I'll blame that on resources.

As the Sith anniversary (the all important 4th) approaches, we'll see where this things goes in the public's attention span. I'll be contacting random places as i think of who might be receptive. Not sure if i should go directly to blogs or post in message forums? but it's a time sink so that's a draw back, hopefully the splitting into chapters will help people become more familiar with the ideas?

none / %20

I quite like the idea of a bionic fan-editor (The Six Million Dollar Fan) ;-)

Please Help Celebrate Annual June 4th Backslacpkping Giving/****ing Day

It was 4 years ago when 'Thee Backslacpking With Media' stopped it's media recording. To celebrate please consider giving away or ****ing copies of this documediamentary!

How to help: download (http://noneinc.com/tBSWM-RARs/) and burn 'Thee Backslacpkping With Media'.
Go here:

Give Away or **** Disc. Thanks!
none / %20

R.I.P. Magnavox 1988-2005

Change a word in the title above.

'tBSWM' is currently under under going the FanEdit.org review process. If you'd like to have your say: http://www.faneditforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=6352

The project also got bootlegged in the DVD-Rip CD size variety. And a blind mention on the People vs George blog.

And if we only knew what was being said (really... i'd like to know), but the den of the infamous SW artists 'Shabby Blue' the Star Wars Erotica Forum @ Yuku are saying something. Let you know once we find out.

none / %20
Forthcoming is the 20 challenge!

New to this project? If you watch one chapter from the website per week for the next year, you'll be all up to speed: http://noneinc.com/tBSWM/tBSWM_FAQ.html#ChapWeek

What is Open Video?

As internet video matures, we face a crossroads: will technology and public policy support a more participatory culture—one that encourages and enables free expression and broader cultural engagement? Or will online video become a glorified TV-on-demand service, a central part of a permissions-based culture?

Open Video is a movement to promote free expression and innovation in online video. Join us for three days of inspiring talks, awesome video and film, open hacking sessions, parties, and cutting edge tech from around the world.

I'll be around, listening to discussions. Printed out a few copies to hand out.

Looking at making another trailer. (FanEditForum had similar issues with this project as you all did) Below are two ideas.

TRAILER OPTION 01 - Political - :30 to :40 seconds
------------------------------------------------------
[Scene fades into computer cluster/bar/home.]
[lighting from computer screen only, two characters appear as shadows in front of flickering tubes]
[Speech in chinese, subtitled in chinese with english subs on top of those]

Speaker 1 : "Check this out."

Speaker 2 : "What is that?"

[brief pause as two characters read/watch 'tBSWM' DVD]

Speaker 1 : "Not sure. Latest reject from thee Green Dam Youth Escort."

Speaker 2 : (reading) "...for sale at Tiananmen Square, that's lame, nothing happens there."

Speaker 1 : "Looks like a mash up to me." "heh (mumbling under breath) Star Wars (clear audio) has A Posse."

Speaker 2 : "Nah it's too jarring, must be a bad fan edit."

Speaker 1 : (FFWD'ing) "Sheesh! Look at how long this thing is..."

Speaker 2 : "Could be a documentary, cus it sure ain't entertainment at that length!"

Speaker 1 : "...soooo muuuuucccchhhh Mmmmeeeeddddiiiaaa..."

Speaker 2 : "Wish I could do this for some other topic..."

[fade out]

]['tBSWM' Logo][
][Search Coming Eventually][
][but Star Wars 2005.02 thru 2005.06 now sorta available][

TRAILER OPTION 02 - Cliche Movie Trailer - :30 to :40 seconds
------------------------------------------------------
[Deep Voiced Announcer Guy like voice]

"In a Media Saturated Environment, the people of an insignificant world dream of finding that one bit of information relevant to their search...

[alt.1 : "...of finding the relevant information to which they search...]

[fade into many clips of people saying Sith]
[use Sith string where each clip is slightly shorter in length]
[as the crescendo builds...]

"...but the Media Sea is as endless as the galaxy is far far away..."

[Clip pulls back into tons of tv clips & tons of voices]

"...this is madness..."

(maybe computer crash / breakdown of graphics / or mimic slowed projector / hard pause with frame flicker)

[My Voice]
"Ok well nothing exists yet to do this, but i've attempted to accomplish this task for the subject of 'Star Wars' in the time period of just around the release of the last movie."

(bring back tons of clips)

"...the search will be up to you, eventually."

[fade out]

]['tBSWM' Logo][
][Search Coming Eventually][
][but Star Wars 2005.02 thru 2005.06 now sorta available][

none / %20

New to this project? If you watch one chapter per week for the next year, you'll be all up to speed: http://noneinc.com/tBSWM/tBSWM_FAQ.html#ChapWeek