Donuts and Sprinkles
April 19, 2011
Sprinkle Blog
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Love for Loners: Chocolatefest
April 15, 2011
Love for Loners is our weekly feature promoting awesome work that is currently streaming on Netflix. It is written by resident misanthrope Jon Smith.
Yesterday, Cameron and I had the pleasure of going to Pixar Studios for their annual Chocolatefest. Chocolate vendors from around the Bay Area converged on their lot to give away heapin’ helpin’s of gourmet chocolates. Sure, they were also selling chocolate, but we successfully didn’t buy any. Although, we did sneak some extra Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam Truffles on our way out. Tonight we’re going back for their monthly Beerfest. GET JEALOUS.
The Iron Giant
This film was directed by Brad Bird, who also masterminded The Incredibles. Iron Giant was/is my favorite American animated feature. I saw this movie in theaters and freaked out! “A pet robot? AWESOME!” I thought. I got the VHS soon after, and watched it until the tape broke. The only other film I watched so many times I killed the tape was Men in Black.
Labyrinth
The Disney Channel used to be home to many great original features, like Johnny Tsunami, Brink and Under Wraps. They also played a lot of great movies from the 80s and 90s that we young folk would’ve otherwise missed out on. Labyrinth was one of those films, and it introduced me to so many things, including Baby Tossing, David Bowie’s bulge, and hand puppets!
Archer
My favorite shows are the ones where almost every line of dialogue is its own joke. This is one of those shows. I’m also a fan of people who share my name. H. Jon Benjamin is near the top of that list for his work in Home Movies and Wet Hot American Summer. I originally protested this show because the animation reminded me of SitePal, but I genuinely shot it down without watching one second of it (I do this often). After seeing the pilot episode at a friend’s house and realizing who was working on the show, I felt complete regret for being so ignant. -
Coffee Break: Draft and Ditty
Ladies, meet Cameron. Sprinkle Lab’s Account Manager and ad hoc Business Development Extrordeniar, Cameron enjoys gardening, Volvos, and playing bingo with the elderly on Friday nights.
As of late, his days are spent milling about Sprinkle Lab’s HQ, bereft of his girlfriend and whining about how good the new Fleet Foxes album is. A sampling is found below:
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Apple Announces Final Cut Pro X
April 13, 2011
We’re freaking out with excitement.
Apple just announced Final Cut Pro X, a new version of its awesome video-editing software. The new software is a full over-haul from the previous version of Final Cut and has some fancy new features that are going to help make videos even more delicious.
Some new features announced:
- Reworked and refined user interface.
- A tool that detects when people are in shots, as well as what type of shots they’re in (close-up, medium, or wide angle).
- “Skimming”, a feature that lets editors preview the content of a clip just by moving their mouse over it.
- Organizational features to manage clips with tags that can be applied at certain times, giving editors a way to hunt for specific bits of media in a large library.
- “Auditioning” that allows editors to create different audio and visual combinations so test shots can be previewed without having to re-do work if one is preferred over the other.
- A new way to link up the audio and video tracks so they don’t get pushed out of sync by accident.
According to Apple, the announcement is just a sneak peak and much more is to come. The new version will be published this June for $299. Get pumped.
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Love for Loners: Phantom Love
April 8, 2011
Love for Loners is our weekly feature promoting awesome work that is currently streaming on Netflix. It is written by resident misanthrope Jon Smith.
Happy Friday to you! As you read this, Brandon and I are filming a conference on nuclear disarmament in Washington DC, while Cameron is holding down the fort in San Francisco drinking way too much coffee. This means that although I have wished you a happy Friday, it is in fact NOT Friday. How am I accomplishing such a feat? Right now I am passing through the sixth dimension and forcing myself to write the article before I leave. Did it work? If you’re reading this, it totally did!
This is Spinal Tap
Christopher Guest and crew are known for popularizing the mockumentary style over the past thirty years. If you enjoy British accents, rock & roll and bumcakes, then you will love this film. I first watched this movie during Spanish class Senior year of high school. Why? Because our teacher was a surfer who learned Spanish by traveling the coasts of Central and South America. At least once a week we used the entire period to walk to the burrito shop and order in Spanish. “Megustaria un burrito de california con sour cream.”
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
I grew up witnessing Jack Nicholson’s later career, wherein he pours his heart out to Helen Hunt & Diane Keaton. It wasn’t until I started exploring the history of cinema that his name kept popping up in incredible films. This was one of the first movies I found on my own and asked my dad to rent. I got super jammed when I realized the Joker, the Penguin and Doc Brown were all in a movie together.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
When you say, “anime is lame” without really trying it, essentially what you’re saying is “these here cultural differences are too vast for my brain to comprehend”. Just as there’s good work and utter shit on American television, there’s good anime and superlames as well. Good anime usually comes from good manga (comics). Unlike film adaptations of books, where massive story lines are condensed into two bite-size hours, the adaptation of a recurring comic into a television show allows for the entire story to be told. This means a better story with more rounded characters. I promise that if you give this show time, you’ll come to understand its awesomeness. -
Sprinkle Lab on The Hill
Who is that old man Brandon is fondling? Why it’s Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon of course! Sprinkle Lab is working with Global Zero this weekend to cover their annual convention in Washington, DC. Hundreds of young leaders from around the world are converging in the city to chart a course for the elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide. Yesterday we got to sit-in on a sit-down with the leader of the United Nations. We then stayed up all night to produce an introduction video for the conference, with a little help from our friends at Yuengling.
You’ll have to wait until after the conference to see anything, but we’ve got some pretty powerful footage!
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Michael Wolff
April 6, 2011
I am obsessively interested in everything. And that gets expressed more through my eyes than through my ears.
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Love for Loners: Throat Kicks
April 1, 2011
Love for Loners is our weekly feature promoting awesome work that is currently available for streaming on Netflix. It is written by resident misanthrope Jon Smith.
Happy April Fool’s Day! I would’ve tried to pull some clever ruse, but I think we can agree my life is already one big joke. Did you know the tradition of April Fool’s Day started inside of correctional facilities? Every year the warden would tell all the inmates that they had made parole, and later deny the statement. Riots ensued.
Enough tomfoolery, here’s some cool shit to occupy your lazy asses:
Go
I rented this film during my “go to Blockbuster and rent ten movies, then watch ten movies” phase. Before bittorent, my paychecks would go toward late fees on never-to-be-returned rentals. Anywho, have you ever had a night that turned into an adventure without your consent? Go is about one of those crazy-ass nights, set in the LA rave scene of the late 90s. It follows a collection of characters as their stories overlap with disastrously comical results. I suggest watching this movie, then watching it again.
Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior
I love kung-fu films. Why? Because they’re badass. Another reason is because it contains extremely impressive choreography. The physical stunts achieved in kung-fu are far more impressive than anything you’ll see on any dance-related reality show. Recently, kung-fu films have been overproduced, and rely on special effects and wires for all their stunts. Ong-Bak is a Thai Boxing film that keeps it old school. No wires, no stunt-doubles. Tony Jaa stars as the heroine, and can single-handedly jump six feet in the air and kick people’s throats off.
The Cosby Show: The Complete Series
There isn’t much to say about this except let you know it exists online. The entire series, right there for you to watch and enjoy for hours on end. Although he’s now super old and uploads strange monologues to Vimeo, he is still worthy of your worship. Yes, I want you to worship Bill Cosby, in all his glory. -
Video for Landing Pages
March 31, 2011
According to a study from Eye View Digital, the addition of video to a website’s landing page increased user engagement and conversion by 80%.
This is in no way surprising.
A few reasons why video lifts landing page conversion rates:
- Humans are lazy; most prefer watching content over reading it.
- Video stimulates both the eyes and the ears, which engages the viewer and helps them to focus on your message.
- People who watch videos stay on web pages longer, giving your brand more time to stick.
- A well produced video earns the viewer’s respect and helps to gain their trust.
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Milagres del Musica
March 30, 2011
Brooklyn-based Milagres were in town last night for a show at Hotel Utah. Brandon (one of our directors) shot the performance for Friends With Both Arms.
The band’s tunes are composed of moody, brewing, bursts of energy mixed with beautiful synthy verses and interludes. They communicated their energy well for such a quaint venue. More photos & words here.
