JISC Digital Media Blog Archive
February 2009

Copyright controversy in New Zealand

Posted by Steve Hull on Tuesday 17 February 2009 at 2:55pm
Tags: copyright |

Fair dealing is the idea (known as fair use in the US) that it is permissible to quote from a copyright work under certain circumstances. A new law coming into effect on the 26th of February in New Zealand will, astonishingly, require the blocking or closing down of websites merely on the basis of an accusation of copyright infringement.  For more details see the Creative Freedom Foundation.

Pendulum Music - a location recording case study

Posted by Gavin Brockis on Tuesday 17 February 2009 at 12:41pm
Tags: composition | digitisation | microphones | sound recordings |

I've decided to use a recording of pendulum clocks, and found a pair of beautiful antique grandfather clocks - with a combined age of well over 400 years - today at Blaise Castle House Museum. They have kindly given me permission to record outside of opening hours, to avoid the clamour of the half-term hordes, and tomorrow I'm setting up a pair of Neumann KM84s, a Mackie Satellite interface (24bit/96kHz , low noise and phantom power), and Logic on a Macbook Pro to capture the two clocks slowly drifting in and out of phase with each other. I'm hoping to reproduce the hypnotic sound of the two clocks in the large marble entrance hall by amplifying each through a separate speaker, and placing them a distance apart within the Long Corridor at shunt, to take advantage of its great acoustic.

For me this is a nice combination of sound art, the documentation of an unusual ambient sound environment, and audio Cultural Heritage. I'm hoping to gather some additional information about the clocks themselves, and get some high quality photographs too, then copy it all into a little metadata package to accompany the audio. Apparently they have another pair upstairs, which I'll try to capture if I have time, and will certainly do at a later date.

It was interesting to talk to the stewards at Blaise, both of whom commented on the relationship between the rhythms and sounds of the two mechanisms, and the meditative effect of the slow shift. Hopefully Steve Reich would approve.

Can I take a photograph anywhere?

Posted by John Hargreaves on Thursday 12 February 2009 at 12:21pm
Tags: data protection | photography |

Have you had experience of ‘stop and search' by the police under section 44 of the Terrorism Act?

On Tuesday 10th February the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Law in Action' included a piece on the law as it relates to taking photographs in public places. The motivation behind the piece is the increase in the use of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act by police officers on professional and amateur photographers. A brief explanation of the law as it relates to taking photographs in public places was given and included the following:

• It is legal for people to take photos of buildings (public and private) for non-commercial purposes. Local bye laws might come into play when the images are used for commercial purposes.
• It's okay to take pictures of people in public places as long as the subject is not harassed. If those photographs are subsequently published (including on social network sites such as Facebook) then the subject of the photograph has recourse to the civil law. The law is not concerned with the taking of the photograph but only with its publication.
• Section 44 of the Terrorism Act allows the police to stop and search anyone they suspect of being involved in terrorist activity. The police can only confiscate property or delete any images found having first received a court order.

You can hear the 10th February edition of Law in Action via the BBC i player.

Red’s new cameras

Posted by Steve Hull on Tuesday 10 February 2009 at 2:20pm
Tags: cameras | photography | video |

Scarlet, the (relatively speaking) economy model, has a sensor array size of up to a full 35mm frame with up to 6K image size (6K by 4K, around 24 megapixels) and up to 72 frames per second.  The Epic brain, meanwhile, will offer up to an astonishing 6cm x 17cm (anamorphic) frame at 28K (around 281 megapixels) with a frame rate of up to 350 fps.  No, that's not a typo.  The rest of the modular system includes monitors, battery packs, lens mounts, handles, I/O modules and recording modules.  Red continues to support the use of Canon, Nikon and Arri PL lenses as well as offering their own line.

The mention of Canon, Nikon and Arriflex in the same breath is indicative of what is perhaps the most interesting aspect of Red's philosophy.  There has always been a fuzzy dividing like between moving and still images; moving images are, after all, just a lot of still images shown one after the other very quickly.  Enlarged single frames from films have long been used as (admittedly low-quality) still images in film studies courses and practically all modern stills cameras (and mobile phones, for that matter) provide a limited videomaking capability.

Red, however, has decided that it's time to end the distinction once and for all.  They refer to their cameras as DSMCs, digital stills and motion cameras, and consider them to be up to the task of both video and still image work.  That said, the specifications for the cameras, the configuration of their components and the area of greatest customer interest are firmly rooted in the world of video.  Nonetheless, the eventual merging of the still and moving image worlds seems inevitable and Red is taking a big step towards that goal, however distant it may be.

TASI re-brands as JISC Digital Media - 9th February 2009

Posted by Zak Mensah on Monday 09 February 2009 at 8:00am
Tags: news |

From help with finding and using the right media, to advice on creating and delivering digital formats or consultancy on managing a digitisation project, JISC Digital Media promotes good practice, technical expertise, the use of appropriate standards and the sharing of knowledge within the UK FE and HE communities.

To learn more about the service join the JISC Digital Media team for drinks and canapés at one of the following venues:

• 12 February 2009
  The Light Studio, Arnolfini, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA 3.00pm to 6.00pm
• 23 February 2009
  Gallery 5, The Lighthouse, 11 Mitchell Lane, Glasgow G1 3NU 3.00pm to 6.00pm
• 5 March 2009
  Run Run Shaw Room, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 195 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LN 3.00pm to 6.00pm

Please note there will be a short presentation at 4.00pm.

Please view the invitation here.

RSVP: launch@jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk stating the launch venue you wish to attend and the names of any other guests you wish to bring.

JISC Digital Media - Still images, moving images and sound advice

For further information about JISC Digital Media's services please visit:
www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk, email info@jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk or call 0117 331 4447

Good housekeeping

Posted by Zak Mensah on Wednesday 04 February 2009 at 12:07pm
Tags: e-learning |