58 Incredibly Mysterious Artwork From The Highly Addictive Lost Series | Little Box Of Ideas.

Take some time to enjoy these really creative, yet mysterious, posters from Lost.

“What in the world is a POP?”

That’s the question I’ll bet you’re asking yourself. Well, it’s one of those fancy TV acronyms like NTSC (Never Twice the Same Color or National Television System Committee), JVC (Junk Video Corp or Victor Company of Japan) or NAMBLA.

POPs are “Proof of Performance” spots; basically, a spot to promote what we did. You’ll often see POPs after ratings periods, following elections, at the end of the year and any time there’s a really big story that particular station covered especially well.

Here are two POPs we threw together during May sweeps. The same person wrote both, then I picked SOTs and edited/graphic-ed the spots.

So for the Indianapolis 500 this past weekend, the good folks from Extra graced us with their presence. My department got to help out with production do production for the show.

We shot all of the standups and wraparounds with Mario Lopez, plus an interview with Danica Patrick in her garage.

If you haven’t seen Extra, they open the show with people tossing around a “monitor” playing video of something. For anyone not in television, it’s just a flat piece of wood painted green, with a checkerboard pattern for motion tracking so it can be added later in post-production. They usually have the person toss the board at the camera to finish out the opening. Danica was holding the board, and it was my job to sit right beneath the lens of the camera and catch it as she tossed it to me.

The first throw was a little low, it kind of looked like she tossed it on the ground. Our photographer told her to “throw it a little higher, it’s got to fall.” Boy did she come through. The board made a pretty nice parabolic arc, and came down gracefully, right on top of my head. I was assaulted by Danica Patrick with a piece of green wood.

We did a third take which ended up being a keeper. You can watch the raw video from ExtraTV.com after the jump, and see all the pics we snapped while working with Mario.

Things have been a little busy around The Big 6 over the past few weeks. With the end of February/March sweeps and the week of fun that was Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, there hasn’t really been time for anything else.

But I did have a chance to go out and visit the Extreme Makeover site; and I must say it was quite an impressive experience. We were out on Oxford, temporarily renamed McFarland Drive, for the big reveal when Bernard McFarland and his three sons saw their new home for the first time. Talk about an emotional experience.

It’s no wonder the show has found a way to capitalize on those “moments.”

After spending the week dealing with all of the extreme-ness, it was time to throw a Proof of Performance spot together for the 6 News coverage of the event. Enjoy (it’ll be running for the next few weeks).

And, here’s just a few of the photos I managed to snap on the ground at the site:

February 17, 2009. D-Day for television. As in “Digital Day.” It’s coming.

Or at least, it was coming.

Now word has it we’ll be pushing this train wreck of epic proportions back to June 12, 2009.

The Internet audience might not be the right place to address my concerns about the switch to digital broadcast television. Why? Because you can obviously afford to pay an Internet Service Provider, provided you’re not in a library at the moment. This means you probably pay for cable or satellite service at home. Meaning the switch is taken care of for you. The Hoosiers most at risk for experiencing problems from the switch have absolutely no disposable income and are getting pretty far up there in years.  But you’re hear, and you’re apparently willing to listen/read for a moment.

Let’s start with some background on the DTV switch. For television stations, it’s really no big deal. We’re already prepared; we’ve been broadcasting a digital signal for years now, all it will take to switch is to turn off the power on the analog transmitter.

What’s one of the huge problems? Education.

Consumer education could be the biggest hurdle for the process of switching from analog to digital broadcasts. The people who rely on broadcast television are usually lower class, older and/or live in rural areas where cable television isn’t an option or local stations are not available on satellite.

Local broadcast stations have been running “100-day countdowns” for the past 70-some-odd days to let Hoosiers know that the world would soon be coming to an end. To help educate viewers, PSAs have been running non-stop for the past few months. The spots provided viewers with an 800-number and a website to visit to get more information and coupons to help defray the cost of a converter box.

Well, the money ran out. Whoops.

And now Hoosiers living paycheck-to-paycheck can’t afford a converter box, meaning they’ll only be able to watch WALV. I don’t think I could take that much SkyTrak Weather Network.

I feel bad for the people who can’t afford their own converter box and want to keep watching television, I really do. And as part of a program called “Night Light,” safety wouldn’t be a factor. In a weather or other emergency we would be allowed to broadcast messages on our analog signals even after the shutoff date. But there is no right to television. There is no conspiracy to take the information away from you.

And that brings us to the second biggest problem. Hoosiers who don’t want a converter box on principle.

During our coordinated shutoff test of all major broadcast stations in Indianapolis, I helped answer phones up the street at WFYI. We were helping viewers make sure converter boxes were hooked up properly, and reassuring Hoosiers whose cable systems hadn’t yet upgraded their equipment.

But I received a lot of calls from people saying that it was completely unfair and a tactic the “liberal media” was using to keep hard working Americans in the dark. Some said they would never again watch “my” station, though the phone number was given out on WTHR, WISH, WXIN, WTTV, WNDY, WRTV and WFYI so I don’t know how they knew which station is my employer.

These Hoosiers have the means to change, they just won’t until the plug is pulled. They may protest a little in their own homes, or even call our stations, but eventually they’ll go down to Wal-Mart and buy the cheapest converter box they can find. Not so they can see local and national news (information which I think all people should be able to receive), but so they can watch CSI and Grey’s Anatomy.

I even had one person talk to me for fifteen minutes and end by telling me that she shouldn’t have to pay for television because it belongs to her. I tried to tell her that the airwaves belonged to her not the broadcasts, but she didn’t believe that. She said that she wasn’t going to pay for a converter box and was going to tell all of her friends not to buy one either. She even added, “maybe I just won’t pay my light bill this month.” I told her that was a terrible idea. A really terrible idea.

The idea of not having to pay for television signals sounds good on its face. But you didn’t get that TV in your living room for free. You had to buy the set. That FM radio you have wasn’t given to you, even though you own the airwaves the signals travel across. You’ve got to make the original investment. You aren’t entitled to television.

Why blame us?

For some reason everyone thinks the broadcasters made the decision and that we’re making out like bandits on this deal. You know what? It’s cost us millions of dollars to upgrade equipment and lease spectrum space from the American public. This was a big investment, and Congress is the group who authorized the change. If you want to be mad, WRITE THEM.

So now, after all this work that has been put into publicizing February 17, we’re going to delay the switch. Or so the Congress will declare early this week. Now we’re like the boy who cried “wolf!”

We’re going to have to start the countdowns all over again, and do more “soft shutoffs” so people can test their television sets. But at this point there’s NO MORE MONEY to help the people who can’t afford converter boxes. The government burned through the $1.3 billion allocated for digital converter box vouchers, and there are already 2.6 million Americans on the waiting list if they’re ever reissued. Nielsen says more than 6.5 million homes aren’t ready for the switch! (CNET)

If Congress delays the switch, we’re just going to keep delaying it for the next decade. Remember, this won’t be the first time it’s been pushed back. This is one of those moments where it just needs to be done. As our General Manager said on his blog:

TV stations across America have run millions of pubic service announcements, served up millions of web pages of information, conducted on-air simulations and manned phone banks. Anyone that isn’t prepared now is going to be in the same shape in four months.

Exactly.

Oh, and to answer the question posed in the title of this post, “no.”

The Inauguration is closing in quickly. In just a few short weeks, Barack Obama will officially take office as President of the United States of America. And 6 News will be covering it, live in Washington, D.C.

Of course, there’s promotion to go along with a story of this magnitude. I put about 10 bench hours into this spot, but that’s mainly because the After Effects render of the :15 took more than 30 minutes.

Here’s the :15 version of the promo that starts airing Saturday evening on RTV6.

With the end of 2008 closing in, we had to prepare our year-end promo. Basically a highlight reel of big stories for Central Indiana over the last twelve months.

This spot really came together in the edit bay. I was provided with a script that had the big words for the spot (“challenges,” “controversy,” “change” and “hope”) and the desired cut of music. I dug up the soundbites and did the graphic work. This spot debuts Christmas Day on RTV6. Enjoy.

Next spot: Obama Inaugration. Starts airing Friday.

Our “Happy holidays” promo that starts running this Friday evening. You’ll see it through New Year’s Day, so I doubt you’ll miss seeing it on television.

I was digging through old bookmarks and *.txt files and came across these four things. I thought they’d be worth a second look for me, and a good time-killer for you.

Movie Showtimes Map
http://hurwi.net/map/

The Movie Showtimes Map is extremely helpful if you know what movie you want to see, but have no idea where it’s playing near you. Just type in the ZIP code or address where you are, then select a movie from the list on the left.

Here’s a link to the Indianapolis map.

Shopping Cart Fail

Pretty self-explanatory. If you’re a fan of Fail Blog you’ve no doubt already seen this. If not, enjoy.

ABC Bohemian Rhapsody Music Video

This is really old, well September-old, but very good. It’s basically a clip reel of the then-upcoming 2008 season on ABC, set to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

The Promotions Office

If you’ve ever worked in the News or Promotions/Creative Services department at a television station you’ll see this is reality, not just comedy. This is really how my job goes some days…

A new television season is quickly approaching.

ABC has dubbed next week “National Stay at Home Week,” despite the fact the Wednesday and Friday night lineups won’t be debuting. (Trust me, I cannot wait for Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone to return. They are fantastic shows, no matter what your neighbors and friends say).

@mmagnolia22 and I will be in North Carolina on vacation, and probably won’t want to watch our favorite shows while we’re gone. But that doesn’t mean we want to miss them altogether . So, I’ve assembled the show lists from the Big 4, plus HBO and Showtime; this way I can coordinate the DVR schedule a little more effectively than in the past.

The shows in red are what we’ll be recording, with a few more additions for @mmagnolia22 I suspect. We’re not recording the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, because we do plan on watching that while at the Outer Banks. It just might involve flipping over to NBC for a while every now and then.

What are you planning to watch next week?

Here are the program guides I created, without my recording marks. Or you can download the Photoshop file (≈4MB) (right-click and select “Save as” or “Save target as”).

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

I must applaud Bright House’s efforts to get our service back up and running.

I vented online, on this blog. We called Bright House to schedule an appointment, the earliest they had available was Monday (this was Thursday). After @mmagnolia22 called, I received an e-mail from one of their representatives, the NEXT MORNING there was a technician at our house.

The techinician traced the problem back to the lockbox at the curb. Someone had apparently disconnected our service again.

No one can give us a straight answer as to why our service has been delibrerately deactived more than once, but hopefully this has been the last time.

Our cable went out. Again.

Apparently it is impossible for Bright House to have too much bad attention. They must just love seeing bloggers vent.

I haven’t been able to get in touch with anyone at Bright House, so I’m waiting to call in the morning. Here’s the letter I’ve drafted to their customer service e-mail, along with the translation of what I really mean.

To: customersupport.indiana@mybrighthouse.com
From: seth@sethkeever.com
Re: Service outage

TRANSLATION:
To: youjerks@thecablecompany
From: someonewhoistechsavvyenoughtohavetheirowndomainname
Re: Your crappy service 

To whom it may concern:

TRANSLATION:
I don’t care who you are, just read this and feel my pain

For the second time in a month, our service has been completely interrupted.

TRANSLATION:
Your crappy service really, really blows.

We are able to watch recorded shows on our DVR, but cannot view television programs on the cable box or through a TV hooked directly to cable. Our high-speed Internet service has also been interrupted.

TRANSLATION:
Your cable box may suck, but it’s not the root of this problem. Oh, and the only shows we have recorded are an old episode of The Daily Show, The G Word and Marie Antionette. Oh, and I can’t bitch about this on the Internet.

The last time this happened, one of your service technicians arrived at our apartment and discovered that the cable connection at the Bright House box on the side of the building had been unplugged. It took 7 days to get that technician to our residence.

TRANSLATION:
This is not the first time this has happened. Your service has failed us before. Last time I was apparently too nice on the phone and you did not understand the statement, “this is not acceptable.” Oh, and apparently the problem was with YOUR equipment. 

The agent on the phone offered to credit our account for the days our service was out. This is a nice gesture, but no amount of credits will keep our loyalty if our service continues to be inactive. Especially considering our jobs require Internet access.

TRANSLATION:
I don’t want $5 back on this month’s bill! I pay you to keep the service running. If you don’t figure out what in the hell is so wrong with your product, I will be forced to switch providers. And the “jobs” reference is supposed to make you look closer at the signature line of this e-mail which indicates I work at a TV station. 

We will call your customer service number in the morning to schedule an appointment.

TRANSLATION:
ARGH! 

–
Seth M. Keever

TRANSLATION:
My name isn’t the one on the bill. It’s @mmagnolia22’s.  

I’m getting really sick of cable news (and local news), claiming every story is breaking.

If you’ve had enough time to put together multiple packages on the subject, and have “team coverage” in the field, it’s probably no longer breaking. The one exception to this rule is weather. A hurricane just coming on shore is breaking news, and most networks will have people there on the scene, ready to lay their lives on the line for “journalism” (no where are you taught journalism is standing on a rain-soaked pier as a hurricane prepares to rip you limb from limb).

This brings me to my problem.

ABC News (and I’m sure other networks) broke in at 10:30 am to announce McCain’s Vice Presidential pick.

At 12:30 pm it was made official by McCain himself.

But at 4:01pm?! Is it really still breaking news when Wolf Blizter comes on for The Situation Room? Especially when this story is all his network has been talking about for 4 hours?

And we wonder why people don’t listen to the media. And why the media isn’t living up to its title as the “Fourth Estate.”

You’re never going to believe what happened on Wednesday.

Yes, I know it’s Friday. And I know it means I’m late posting this.

@mmagnolia22 was getting ready for work when the doorbell rang. She ran downstairs and found a Bright House installer waiting at our gate. Weird. They weren’t supposed to come until Thursday.

The gentleman on the other side of the fence asked where the Bright House box was for this block. She told him she didn’t know, but that our cable had been out for a week. He asked if we had an appointment for someone to come out, she told him that someone was supposed to be dropping by the next day.

That’s it. He leaves.

15 minutes later, @mmagnolia22 calls me and is recounting what has happened. That’s when the doorbell rings again. He’s back. He wants to take a look at our cable box. Why?

BECAUSE ALL OF THE CABLES AT THE BRIGHT HOUSE BOX WERE UNPLUGGED

What.

The.

Hell?

Cable works. Internet works. How and why would someone have unlocked that box and unplugged the cables?

Then Bright House calls @mmagnolia22. “One of our workers needs into your apartment.”

“I just let them in.”

“No, that was your neighbor’s apartment. We need in to your apartment.”

[At this point I think @mmagnolia22's head exploded]

“He was just in my apartment.”

“Well, he says he needs in to Apt. C, isn’t that your unit?”

“No. We’re Apt. B. We’ve tried to have you change our address.”

“Oh. Well, we still need in to Apt. C. Do you have a key?”

“NO! And the person who lives there is already at work. And she doesn’t even have cable. She uses Dish.”

“Oh. Well, thank you for your time.”