Bread&Circus
“Bread & Circus is a distraction of two Birmingham based designers. Posting travel, design, fashion, music and food.” Claire Hartley (who helped make CiB look like it does) and Gavin Auty got a blog
I’m not just posting this because I think the idea of sticking Dappy on CiB is somehow amusing (although I do) but because there are a few agencies around Birmingham who work behind the scenes on big music releases, it just doesn’t get pointed out very often.
WeVee launched last week, having been shown off all over the place since ArtsFest in Sept last year. It’s an online tool described on the intro video:
WeVee gives you the chance to explore the past, create your very own short mash-ups from archive film clips, edit them to music and share them online
Here’s an example of the sort of thing, put together by the folks at Clusta:
I was given access to it a couple of weeks back but, truth be told, I’ve not had much of a chance to have a poke around it until now. I’ve just had a play for 10 minutes (it’s that kind of rigour that CiB is known for) and my initial thoughts are that it’s good… as far as it goes.
Thumbs ups – It’s beautifully made, reasonably intuitive (for what’s potentially a very complicated thing) and there are some good clips, including some stuff that’s apparently never been seen before.
Thumbs downs – It’s hard to search through the archive clips (and the video pop-ups when selecting clips got on my wick), I can’t add my own stuff into the mix, the help section consists of 5 videos when perhaps a little user self-help forum might be nicer and the minimum clip size is too big for what I wanted to do in the vid I was messing about with. Also, you can’t overlay audio from one clip over that from another (which forces you to make quite jumpy edits). Ah, and I’ve just spotted that the raw archive footage can’t be embedded on other sites unless you make it into a WeVee of its own. Still, let’s bear in mind the about page‘s caveat that ‘this is just the start’.
I can only use content provided by WeVee – I can’t add in my own audio or video
Once I’ve made something, WeVee keeps hold of it – I can’t download it or put it on other video services like YouTube, etc (although you can embed clips elsewhere)
If it was meant to be an online video library of archive footage it would have been commissioned and designed as one. It’s not though – it’s got other features built in. However, as online video editing tools go, JayCut beats WeVee hands down by letting me edit anything I want. Kaltura‘s worth a mention too as advanced video editing tools go.
WeVee’s a tool for educational use really, it’s just that no-one seems to be saying that. A press release (PDF) says that:
WeVee is targeted particularly at 14 – 25 year olds, an audience typically hard-to-reach with a regional history brief
WeVee’s nice and is a credit to Clusta and Television Junction who’ve built the thing and I imagine it’ll be a slick kinda educational tool (as well as looking great on the everyone’s showreels). It just threw me at first by claiming to be different to what it is.
Critical Mass West Midlands
“Critical Mass is a free 11-week ‘Introduction to Playwriting’ course for black and minority ethnic writers aged 18+. Workshops will run from January – April 2010, one evening per week (7-9.30pm) at both The Drum Arts Centre in Birmingham and The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry”. Nothing to do with cycling then
Clusta | The Almanac Zoo
“The Zoo has an array of new characters to meet. Remember to keep watch as some of our furry friends appear a little shy at first. The Zoo is open morning, noon and night, so be sure to revisit when it gets dark”
Museums at Night | Culture24
Bit early on this, but nevermind – “Night owls can look forward to a weekend of ghostly goings on as museums unlock their doors for the annual after-hours celebrations. Museums at Night 2010 will run from Friday 14th May to Sunday 16th May”
Clusta are looking for talented Birmingham-based photographers who may be interested in showcasing their work on the back of The Vaults Bar and Restaurant‘s food and wine menus.
The Vaults showcases many artists and photographers work on its walls and Clusta have designed the bar and restaurant menus to complement this. Several Birmingham photographers includingMatt Cannon, Paul Ward and Emma Clarke have all taken up on this opportunity and we are now looking for two more photographers to feature their work.
Interested? Contact edwina@clusta.com no later than Friday 13th February.
Vote again for CiB – last few days
Thanks to some fantastic support CiB has a slim lead in the voting. Polls close on Tuesday 13th at 10pm. Please vote daily (and encourage others) until then
Screen WM – Birmingham filmmaker shortlisted for the Auteur Award
“Birmingham filmmaker Steven Rainbow’s short film ‘A Small Silent Film About Death’ has been selected for screening at the 6th London Short Film Festival (9th – 18th January 2009) and been shortlisted for the Auteur Award”
D’log – Henry Reed
D’log has found “a huge website in memory of Birmingham poet and dramatist Henry Reed”
CMYKern » Clusta
James has a peek at some new bits and pieces from Clusta
Capsule Blog » Home Of Metal at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
The next Home Of Metal open day will be at Waterhall at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery on Saturday 7th of Feb, from 11am to 4pm. It’ll be hosted by none other than Brummie of the Year, Johnny Doom
début » Local shorts – Film Club
début has a reminder that the dates for the Local Shorts Film Club in 09 are 28 Jan (theme is Art and Politics) and 29 April (Super Eclectic Mix Special)
Artism is an independent organisation aiming to create a book bursting with artists/graphic designers work which will be sold to raise money for the National Autistic Society charity through the use of Art
From Birmingham Clusta and Z3/Design Studio are both submitting work, possibly a few more are too. Artism are looking for sponsorship, if anyone’s interested.
Gigbeth – What’s On
The schedule for Gigbeth is coming together. Young Knives, Guillemots, The Destroyers, Sugarhill Gang and Einstellung are down so far with more to come
Light House October Highlights
Featuring independent film releases and new photography exhibition ‘Imagined Lines’cib by Matthew Hammond
Curates Egg Autumn Programme
Here’s the Curates Eggs’ latest mailout. All sorts of things going on including some stuff for the Birmingham Comedy Festival. There’s also some recommendations for other peoples events, which is always good to see
The Bad One review
Whatsonstage Midlands reviews Women & Theatre’s latest play… and they like it
Clusta Brand Cool Brands
“CoolBrands, the annual survey of the UK’s coolest brands, appointed Clusta to overhaul the brand identity for its 2008/09 programme”
Another Byte Of Banality: Turn It up Sonny…
Looking for used Soundsystems, PAs, Speakers, Amps, Microphones and other audio miscellany? Mark 19 October in your diary as the date of ‘Urban Village’ Dave’s Used Pro Audio Fair at the Custard Factory
Homer Creative
“a creative communications agency” who seem to do any number of related things including graphic design, web design, writing, editing, art direction, photography, etc and so on. They designed the cover for Gaynor Arnold’s Booker longlisted ‘Girl In A Blue Dress’ too
Capsule’s Sonar Showcase
More news of Birmingham hitting the international scene – Capsule are taking Birmingham’s ZX Spectrum Orchestra and Pram to Barcelona for a showcase next Thursday.
Antonio Roberts at B-VAC
Antonio says thanks to everyone who went down to the first B-VAC exhibition and has copies of his work for those who couldn’t make it.
Autumn Store – A Post about Blogs
Dunc from the Autumn Store rounds up some blogs by local indie popsters and such, incl Colour, Bettyblog, Superbonusland and Ace Bushy Striptease
