Did Video Kill the Radio Star? ©

Dear Almighty--

We didn't want to go past the Obama first president in "age of videography" story until it had progressed, but in the face of cold wars/weapons of mass distraction, we had to engage with video production for feature film release and all media.

For 38 years we have been working in the transition from film/video technologies and how they effect people. The path to such work has been full of twists and turns and flips and flops but each event added color to the big picture. In our first production of "Did Video Kill the Radio Star?" we wonder we are facing future which is going to be new comedy/tragedy. We cite Orson Welles "War of the World's" 1938 radio broadcast. Funny? . . . not so much. Important? . . . you betcha. And just as we think the show must be tragedy we are reminded of Erma Bombeck's "When humor goes, there goes civilization." So as the form takes shape it is still balanced between comedy/tragedy.

Having said that Videography Lab is pleased to announce production on a feature length motion picture produced using proprietary videography techniques.

One great "Radio Star" in our book, has always been Stan Freberg, who's foray's into radio, TV, film and phonograph records of his comedy and music video expertise, stand as testament that "Stan the Man" [deference to Stan Musial :] Freberg rightfully championed the title "Radio Star", while acknowledging many others with whom he worked. Michael Nesmith and Tom Lehrer . . . are you out there? We must add here that "radio star" was The Buggles words to describe what video was killing. The "radio star" at that time covered a lot of territory . . . most notably the entire music industry. We appeal to Trevor Horn and Geoffrey Downs to give their ideas of what they meant by "Video killed the Radio Star." [Harsh:] on camera to the documentary film. Our comedy research led us to this gem:



Any old lazer disc collectors out there who remember the groundbreaking guitar work of "Takanaka". . . a true video star but is it still shining?

And my favorite and most personal connection with a video star is with Michael Schultz, who conceived and directed the music video feature films "Car Wash" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" [a remarkable film when viewed any time in the 21st Century:]

Many will note our use of [_____:] brakets. They are a way of saying that contained herein is the source of citation and that the discovery remains a work in progress.

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Press Release: May 13, 2009
Videography Lab - Oceanside, CA announced this morning that it was in production on a feature motion picture produced entirely using state-of-the-art videography, entitled:

Did Video Kill the Radio Star? ©

The prduction will feature assets compiled over the decades between the fading of phonography and the emergence of the new video/digital media. Bob Kiger, producer of the film, is sending a "message of aloha" to any and all video and radio stars to contact him via email or comments made below on how they would like to be a part of this film. "Technical quality of all historical assets is of primary importance" says Kiger. The most critical viewers will eventually be watching in a motion picture theater.

This poses provacative problems for todays producers. Should we produce at 24 frames per second to make the product optimal for the feature film viewing or should we produce at the traditional 30 frames per second that has always been with us through TV. [actually 29.97 fps:]?

We will be deploying TALL video technology [a work in progress and Dreamweaver is not our forte:] for many of our interviews with radio and video stars. The idea that is driving this project is Networking as opposed to deal making.

All contributing members to the production thusfar have felt an abiding agreement that education of children at a very early age [we are currently pushing an 8th grade mandatory class :] on living in the age of videography. Our goto favorite institution to do this education documentary is Chapman University in Orange, CA. The reason we chose Chapman was that it was a convenient train ride away from our lab/home. Kiger was recently invited to attend a "Women in Focus" event at Chapman and was pleasantly amazed at how sophisticated their program had become.

In spite of this great line up there exists substantial issues getting the highest quality assets from early videography sources. They always seem to be hidden in vaults both physical and mental that make acquiring intellectual property assets challenging.

Videography Lab is deploying every "trick in the [videography book:]" into the production of this feature film.", says Kiger. This is but the first installment in a number of projects under the VID franchise which we registered with the Writers Guild of America in 1998 [might be 1999. Bob sent himself a certified and unopened letter with the certification an all that stuff . . . but now gotta go through a lot of old paper work and tons of video assets to be viewed but the sun is shining":]

Dateline May 14, 2009
The sun may be shining but getting digital copies of early Bob Kiger photography and Videography Studio archives present challenges.

Dateline May 25, 2009
We have discovered specific instances today that show how Video Market Fragmentation has impacted global culture. A separate article will be rolled out on this subject very soon.

Obama first President in "Age of Videography"

On January 20, 2008 the Consumer Electronics Association welcomed Barrack Hussein Obama as the first "digital president". We made comment on the story and waited for 24 hours while "message was being reviewed" when the URL was refreshed. Here is the CEA site link or a PDF of the page.

Obama's lifestyle have shown his use/mastery of digital communication tools.

As it turns out President "Barry" Obama, as he is called in Hawaii, is OK to use his Blackberry as he works as our Commander in Chief. Score one for the "digital president". But that does not speak to the whole man. President Obama appears to have mastered the art of living an analog life in a digital world.

Here is vidiots.us review of the Oath exchange.

1. Robert's began by reading beyond the first recommended pause and ran on.
2. Obama stopped at the recommended pause and listened on.
3. Robert's is distracted by the Obama pause and word's of the oath are switched out of order.
4. Obama heard the switch of word order coming out of Robert's mouth.
5. Obama paused a moment and than recited Robert's words faithfully.

This entire exchange was Analog! It shows President Obama's capability to stay "in the moment" [Be Analog] even when all around him were overwhelmed by pageantry. It was also a moment of brotherly respect for Chief Justice Roberts. We note the lesson taught and learned after Obama helped re-write Robert's rules of order during the Oath of Office.

President Obama is the first to lead in "the Age of Videography".

Expect an avalanche of news / feature stories to saturate all Media about our first "digital president". Vidiots know that the real story is President Obama's balance of Analog / Digital with exceptional skills in both output and input. He'll need all of those skills when he meets with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Videography Lab predicts Obama/Putin Meeting sooner than previously envisioned because of the economic peril that both know faces the world. What may be less known is the partnership in space peril currently facing US Astronauts and Russian Cosmonauts in the International Space Station.

So are the US and Russia buddies in the eyes of the world? These two "super powers", former cold war enemies, have only half a billion of the world's population of nearly 7 billion people. The remainder of the world watches from the margins. And the margins are geographically huge, including the whole of Eastern Europe [former Soviet Block countries], the entire Middle East and Southern Asia. We could also add the surging power of Cuba, Venezuela and many South American and African nations are watching the US/Russian "balance of power".

Recent events, including Georgia, Ukraine and along the traditional "Silk Route" to South Asia suggest that the world is watching what we refer to as "Battlespace Videography". We used to call it a "Propaganda War" but in the age of videography it is far more complicated and open than in the past..

The emerging world [nearly 5 billion strong], are looking for reasons why they should align themselves with either the US and it's allies or the Russians and their allies. And they are getting their information from the astounding array of cellular and broadcasting that now exists. They realize that in spite of the relative peaceful growth of life since the Cold War, there are still only two countries that could annihilate all of humanity in a few hours. Sure, there are other powers, including China and Iran, but they do not have the power of world annihilation . . . yet!

The notion of a Obama/Putin meeting is quite interesting. Should it be a video game or a reality show? The world is watching.

Dateline February 11, 2009 - "Out of control" Russian Sattelite smacks down US Iridium Satellite

Dateline February 12, 2009 - Watch President Obama celebrate Lincoln and Darwin Bicentennial

Dateline March 30, 2009 - After watching this evenings CBS evening news our article stands as the G20 begins.

Dateline April 2, 2009 - Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Nation calls it like it is.Dateline May 7, 2009 - Really Cold War Nuclear Confrontation in the Arctic Circle

Dateline May 23, 2009

This week it became evident that President Obama has to deal with a ghost of the past before the Obama-Putin meeting could become feasible. The face of the ghost is former VP Dick Cheney.













Dateline June 7, 2009

Building on his vision of a better future, President Obama is methodically making the case for a meeting with Russian leader . . . Vladimir Putin.

He spoke eloquently in Cairo to open peaceful dialog with the Muslim World and followed up with a powerful message that squarely addressed the old "cold war" and diplomatically challenged Putin to answer. without insult, but with an emphatic refrain that "This is the Moment!"

Here now is the speech that has the nuance to be a subtle invitation for the Obama/Putin meetup.

Dateline Midnight - June 12, 2009
The analog transmitters are now supposedly turned off and as we are turned on as we watch PBS "Charley Rose Show" the Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, states that President Obama is scheduled to visit Moscow July 6-8, 2009.