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Simon PerkinsSHARE
The Adventure of English: the evolution of the English language
"The Adventure of English is a British television series (ITV) on the history of the English presented by Melvyn Bragg as well as a companion book, also written by Bragg. The series ran in 2003.
The series and the book are cast as an adventure story, or the biography of English as if it were a living being, covering the history of the language from its modest beginnings around 500 AD as a minor Germanic dialect to its rise as a truly established global language.
In the television series, Bragg explains the origins and spelling of many words based on the times in which they were introduced into the growing language that would eventually become modern English."
[Complete eight part series available on YouTube distributed by Maxwell's collection Pty Limited, Australia]
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Dara Ó Briain's Science Club: The Story of Exploration
"Science journalist Alok Jha asks whether it is a good idea for humans to reach out to extra–terrestrials and oceanographer Helen Czerski comes face to face with extreme radiation, energy so deadly it could seriously curtail humans travelling further than the solar system. Plus special guest Josh Widdecombe visits NASA in Houston to find out the challenges we face to get humans to Mars and materials scientist Mark Miodownik takes apart a space suit."
(BBC Two, UK)
Fig.1 this animation is from Episode 4 of 6 of Dara Ó Briain's Science Club, Tuesday 27 November at 9pm on BBC Two, voiced by Dara Ó Briain, animated by 12Foot6, Published on YouTube on 27 Nov 2012 by BBC.
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
MySpace funds user-generated feature film
"In a groundbreaking £1 million deal they picked Mr Rocco before 800 other aspiring directors to make the world's first user–generated feature film.
Tomorrow, Mr Rocco's dream will become reality when Faintheart is released in 50 cinemas around Britain. In keeping with every other aspect of the film's creation, this will be a cinema release unlike any other: the venues were chosen by MySpace users, the film will screen for one day only and it will be free, effectively an elaborate advert for the DVD released on February 2.
...
In terms of content, 'anyone hoping for a revolutionary film is going to be disappointed,' Mr Rocco said.
However the way it was made, even that it was made at all, suggests a new model for the industry at a time when film finance is under pressure.
...
If the strategic thinking behind Faintheart is right, direct access to a ready–made audience with a stake in the project is potentially a much bigger prize.
MySpace (owned by News Corporation, which is also the parent company of The Times)"
(Ben Hoyle, Times Online UK)
[Faintheart: Vito Rocco's MySpace £1 million movie about weekend battle re–enactors.]
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
