Shorts
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Lumo stops forcing you to buy its running shorts
If there's one thing guaranteed to annoy your customers, it's being forced to buy something that they don't want. It's been an issue with the forthcoming Lumo Run, a posture-fixing sports wearable that only worked with a pair of custom-made shorts. Thankfully, the company has seen fit to alter its policy and will now release a version that can just clip onto whatever garment you're wearing. The clip-on version is cheaper, too, priced at $99 rather than the $149/$169 you'll pay for extra shorts or capri pants. Even better is that, until the gear launches this summer, pre-order customers can snag one for just $79.99.
Team Fortress 2 cast sprints in Saxxy-winning footrace
The things people can do with Source Filmmaker are pretty awe-inspiring; we've seen recreations of scenes from Futurama and The Matrix, as well as original shorts like "Rivalry Rush," which you can check out after the break, where YouTuber Leaking Red pits the men of Team Fortress 2 against each other in a footrace. You may be asking yourself why these gentlemen would compete in such an event, especially when they've got perfectly capable guns lying around. The answer to your query lies with the race's prize: a lifetime supply of beer and sandviches. Sounds like a good deal to us! For their efforts, the team behind the short won a Saxxy - an award specifically for films created with Source Filmmaker - in the action category. The Saxxy winners were announced earlier this week.
Amazon Studios now accepting short video bids for feature films
Amazon Studios is hell-bent on developing movies and TV series, and on top of script submissions, it's now asking filmmakers to send in 2-15 minute long shorts to pitch their feature-length film ideas. Those would serve as a foundation for your project and "express an idea that's begging to be seen on the big-screen, in full-length, full-budget form," according to the division's Hollywonk blog. Amazon Studios will spend 45 days evaluating each submission, and those added to the development slate will receive $10,000. After that, you'll get put into the development pipeline, which could get you paid writing and directing opportunities, guidance and feedback from partners like Warner Bros., and up to $400,000 if your baby hits theaters. Private submissions are welcome, but if you're feeling brave, you can also post it for the world to see -- hit the source or More Coverage link for more info.
Barnes & Noble Nook Snaps offer fresh literature in $2 bites
Barnes & Noble's Nook Store has offered short-form works much like those we've seen from Amazon's Kindle Shorts section, but they haven't really been a highlight. The company's new Nook Snaps program may give those quick reads their time to shine, however. The effort will see Barnes & Noble publish three to five original shorts every other month at $2 a piece. While the bookseller is leaning on existing titles to fill out the initial catalog, it hopes that the steady supply of original material will keep us coming back.
NimbleBit holding a fall sale, first episode of Tiny Tower Shorts out now
NimbleBit sent along an email announcing that the company was holding a fall sale, and it made me do a double take: how does a company whose games are all free hold a fall sale? Surprisingly enough, NimbleBit found a way. From this Friday through Sunday, all of the in-app purchases in NimbleBit's freemium hits Tiny Tower, Pocket Planes and Pocket Frogs will be available for half the price that they usually are, so you'll be able to buy Tower Bux, Plane Bux or Potions or Stamps for half price. In other NimbleNews (feel free to use that for your blog, guys), the company has released its first animated short based on Tiny Tower to go along with the Pocket Planes series that was already in progress. This one riffs on Tiny Tower's upgradeable elevators, and how they sometimes tend to go a bit too slow .. or too fast. Enjoy by watching it below.
Future Panasonic G camera's 72Mbps movie-making prowess teased through speedy drama (video)
If Panasonic didn't have attention from movie producers before, it just might as of this week. Joining the quickly developing tradition of camera makers producing elaborate short movies as technology demos, the company has let cinematographer Philip Bloom wield (and tease) a "brand new G camera" to record Genesis, a fast-paced mini-drama showing a man's race to meet his love before it's too late. While Bloom can't talk much about the hardware in question until the 17th, he's allowed to confirm that the upcoming Micro Four Thirds body relies on a "superb" 72Mbps All-I codec for video -- letting it capture a sprint through the streets without the compression artifacts of the AVCHD format used by most mirrorless cameras. Panasonic's upcoming shooter also touts "much improved" results in the dark, Bloom says. It all sounds very tempting, especially if it turns out that Panasonic's inadvertent leaks are for the same camera we see in action here. The full movie is available after the break, and Bloom has the behind-the-scenes details at the source link.
Jeri Ryan, Michael Jai White reprise 'Rebirth' roles in Mortal Kombat live-action series
Warner Bros. today confirmed the initial casting for the Mortal Kombat live-action digital series, which began shooting in Vancouver this month. Both Jeri Ryan (who spilled the beans last week on Twitter) and Michael Jai White will reprise their roles as Sonya Blade and Jax, respectively, from last year's "unofficial fan short" Mortal Kombat: Rebirth -- which was actually a totally professional pitch for a reimagined MK film, made by director Kevin Tancharoen. (While he didn't land the movie deal, Tancharoen did secure a gig directing, producing and co-writing the upcoming digital shorts.) Joining the duo of do-gooders will be Kano, played by Darren Shahlavi, who voiced one of the Tier 1 Operators in Medal of Honor and was an uncredited "Persian" in 300 -- so, obviously, dude knows how to fight. Surely, punches will be thrown and blood will be spilled as Tancharoen and cast resolve this storied love triangle in a hurry. The Mortal Kombat digital series is expected to span nine short episodes and will also feature Scorpion, Sub-Zero and additional characters from the game's universe. The shorts will be "available online" this spring, in conjunction with the April 19 release of the new Mortal Kombat game. "BTW, just finished reading the whole script for Mortal Kombat," Ryan recently tweeted. "Holy crap... I think u might just love it." [Pictured: Ryan (right) and Jai White in Mortal Kombat: Rebirth test footage]
The Shorts DS game draws our attention
Normally, a DS game based on a kids' movie wouldn't attract our notice -- they're as common as rocks, and tend to be less fun to play with. But the DS game based on Robert Rodriguez's Shorts, a movie about a neighborhood of kids who find some kind of wish-granting rock, appropriates one of our favorite new trends in side-scrolling games: drawing platforms.Kirby Canvas Curse started it, but in the last year there has been an explosion of games that mix traditional platforming with user-created platforms. The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity did it, and the upcoming Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, MarkerMan Adventures (also published by Shorts publisher Majesco), and, outside of the DS, Crayon Physics, Drawn to Life on Wii, Max and the Magic Marker on WiiWare, and Trine allow players to make platforms by drawing shapes.And, as it turns out, we are extremely receptive to this idea, even when it is in a game in which you control a character named Loogie. See the trailer after the break.
WoW Moviewatch: Wrath Shorts 11 - Rather Be Playing DS
And now for something completely different, a comedic short titled Wrath Shorts 11 - Rather Be Playing DS by Apt-T Productions. You might remember them from a short time ago as the same guys who did Frank and Beans and Dude, Where's My Mount? Or, maybe not. These guys are doing a lot of neat short-and-sweet joke reels, and their style is really growing on me.I can't really talk a lot about the plot of "Rather Be Playing DS," because the movie is really short. ("Wrath Shorts" isn't just a clever title, you see.) To sum up, Healer and Tank argue about stepping into an instance. Tank's nervous because of the healer's past performance. There's a punchline, and comedic justice is served.Okay, the graphics aren't fancy. The soundtrack isn't rocketing rolling metal. But, this is a perfect example of "all things come together." Whether you find the jokes funny or not, I think everything in the mis en scene comes together just right for short's formula. Anything more involved than its current graphics would probably distract from the jokes. I did happen to laugh, and I look forward to the next installments.[Via Machinima.com]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ..
2008 Sundance short films on Xbox Video Marketplace
Sundance Institute and Sundance Channel have announced that a selection of 45 short films from the 2008 Sundance Film Festival will be available for sale on Xbox Live Video Marketplace beginning Friday, January 18, 2008. The films will be sold separately for $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points). There are currently no plans to offer the films in bundles or for rental at reduced prices. (A complete list of all 45 shorts is posted after the break.) In addition to Video Marketplace, these films will be sold on the iTunes Store ($1.99 download-to-own) and made available to Netflix subscribers through the rental service's 'instant watching' feature. During each day of the 10-day festival, one short will also be available to watch for free at Sundance.org.[Via Press Release]
Disney to release Oscar shorts via iTunes
According to the great cartoon and animation blog, Cartoon Brew, Disney, following in the footsteps of Pixar, has plans to release all of its Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated shorts on the iTunes Music Store for portable playability on iPods everywhere this summer. Evidently, this information was "leaked" while Amid and Jerry of Cartoon Brew were hanging out with Roy Disney, Don Hahn, David Stainton, and Leonard Maltin at a preview screening of The Little Match Girl, another Disney short. Jerry notes, "Starting this summer, Disney will be making all its Oscar-winning (and Oscar-nominated) shorts available on itunes - for Internet downloading to iPods and the like. Yes, Der Fuehrer's Face will be available to carry around in your hand - along with The Three Little Pigs and Destino. "When it comes to media on the iPod, I'm of the opinion that the more animation, the better.
