"Hollywood in your pocket?"

Maybe I'll get an iPhone 13 Pro Max. Maybe.

 

 

Lovin' the dramatic TV commercials of late.

One pick, though: Go to the Tech Specs page, scroll down though screen after screen of impressive detail.

And, under the "Video Recording" heading, merely two words about audio functionality: "Stereo recording."

Nothing about frequency response bandwidth (e.g., "20 - 20kHz"). Nothing about external mic input. Nothing about SMPTE Code synchronization capability—the long-time video and film industry standard for linking up externally captured audio with its video at specified FPS ("Frames per Second"). In particular, shoots involving multiple cameras in real have to have audio SMPTE sync.

Not that consumer-level buyers would notice or care.

$1,599 for the top-end 1 TB Pro Max 13 model. I have not the slightest doubt that the video and still photo optics are fabulous (I have some 35 mm SLR chops with respect to live-action still photography).

That price would buy you a ton of Sony HD camcorder, with badass optics and XLR external mic capability. Dunno.

 

 

You can do a lot anymore just using a HD minicam and smartphone video. See the searing "For Sama" documentary.

 

I had a former life as a performing and recording musician. Even took acoustic and audio engineering in undergrad school at UTK. Below, one of my old home studio original song demos.

 

BobbyG, 1981, "The Once & Future Fool"

My 1980-92 south Knoxville home studio. All you need now is a MacAir.

 

Kind of a stickler for audio quality. Wouldn't want to do iPhone-based video with Mickey Mouse audio.

ANOTHER PROMO VIDEO

Awesome. But don't try to shine me on the audio. That's full-on studio post.

IN THE NEW YORKER

We turn to the Internet for answers. We want to connect, or understand, or simply appreciate something—even if it’s only Joe Rogan. It’s a fraught pursuit. As the Web keeps expanding faster and faster, it’s become saturated with lies and errors and loathsome ideas. It’s a Pacific Ocean that washes up skeevy wonders from its Great Garbage Patch. We long for a respite, a cove where simple rules are inscribed in the sand.

You may have seen one advertised online, among the “weird tricks” to erase your tummy fat and your student loans. It’s MasterClass, a site that promises to disclose the secrets of everything from photography to comedy to wilderness survival. The company’s recent ad, “Lessons on Greatness. Gretzky,” encapsulates the pitch: a class taught by the greatest hockey player ever, full of insights not just for aspiring players but for anyone eager to achieve extraordinary things. In the seminar, Wayne Gretzky tells us that as a kid he’d watch games and diagram the puck’s movements on a sketch of a rink, which taught him to “skate to where the puck is gonna be.” Likewise, Martin Scorsese says in his class that he used to storyboard scenes from movies he admired, such as the chariot race in “Ben-Hur.” The idea that mastery can be achieved by attentive emulation of the masters is the site’s foundational promise. James Cameron, in his class, suggests that the path to glory consists of only one small step. “There’s a moment when you’re just a fan, and there’s a moment when you’re a filmmaker,” he assures us. “All you have to do is pick up a camera and start shooting.”...

Right. And, "if all we had to do was sign up for the checks we'd all be millionaires."

 

I read the entire hour-long article and listened to the audio transcription. It was a continuous "Silicon Valley HBO" moment.

 

Go to YouTube, search for "MasterClass Parodies."

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