HelsinkiZim

Ages.
That's my mental association with anything Rode service related.
Expect it.
You will be tired and older when your issue is finally resolved.
EDIT: EU customer.

Since TV became popular in the 1950's, cinema has been playing catch up to lure back its audience...employing cinemascope, Todd AO and other large format experiences to give people sights and sounds that they simply could not get at home on their square black and white box. Now, an average home cinema setup can deliver image and sound fidelity that is light years ahead of any developments made in mass cinema presentation. A bluray is not a huge jump in quality from a theatrically mastered DCP, even 4K projection does not 'wow' the general audience enough to book a babysitter, drive 10 miles and spend a premium on ticket prices.
3D/4D/IMAX/HFR are all recent examples of cinemas trying to offer an experience that can not be mimicked at home...at least not as well.
But we are in a time now where the quantity (or quality) of content for theatrical 'experiences' are not prevalent enough to warrant expensive overhauls in laser projection systems or a return to the days when a screening would physically be at a larger scale - before auditoriums got sliced up into multi screen multiplexes. This can be seen as a marker of when cinema started to be downscaled and be made to rival the revenue from competing home-based media (VHS/BETA etc).
Hollywood (for the most part) are still milking the udders of the comic book movie cash cow. Often with clear intentions of shaping movies to appeal to the chinese market....the days of breakout summer blockbusters such as Die Hard, Jaws, E.T are over (at least for now)...we are currently at the mercy of money men making and marketing movies, the theatrical experience is never a priority, they are looking at cross platform revenue to a rigorously test audience approved demographic. They are selling Pepsi and Happy meals.
The few stand out films of recent memory are from Nolan, Tarantino, Cuarón - where they used their weight to push for a more 'throwback' cinematic experience...big screens, large formats...for content they shot to purposely be shown in that way. We need more of this...with strong stories that really impact the viewer when viewed on a 60ft screen.
Lots of talent can be seen on TV these days, often giving audiences an opportunity of immersion into characters and situations over a season or run of seasons. But this is what film used to be able to achieve in under 2 hours!....before those scripts got dropped in development, over simplistic fighting robot stories. The talent is there, it's just made a nest in TV land until general audiences get tired of the same old shit being spoon fed to them. There seems to be backlash already happening with DC films of late, but annoyingly these films can 'flop' yet still make a billion dollars. Unfortunatly 150 x 1 million dollar indie films are not as an appealing prospect for a big studio to greenlight, as their opening weekend gross of a flagship franchise is what the business has become. 150 x 1 million dollar films would be what you could commision from one blockbuster film's budget - imagine the breakout films that you would (by the law of averages) uncover...maybe the next spielberg and Kubrick. I totally understand why some Directors are migrating to TV, they are simply following the audience shift that would have once been able to see that directors interesting work on a silver screen, but is now seemingly harder to do so. Sometimes this can be liberating for director and story to have a longer run than the 3 act restrictions of the feature film construct.
I am totally hopeful that cinema will get its audience back...and win one over the streaming generation (if there is even one). It's hard to tell when the wheel will turn, but I have hope. There is a great opportunity to be had by both co-existing, but at the moment TV is kicking the ass of most hollywood releases in terms of character development, story and original tone....often because it is not trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator, but rather capture an audience and keep it loyal -  the values of what used to make mainstream cinema great. Modern TV offerings often have comparable production values (and often star power) as that of feature films, often with lower budgets, which seemingly also make for an under reliance on visual effects to support a story - this can often lead to tasteful implementation of effects and used sparingly to support an interesting story. This reminds me of the good old early 90's where CGI was really hard and expensive to produce, so often only used sparingly to great effect....Jurassic Park,T2,Abyss etc.
On the flip side, I sometimes wish Nolan, Tarantino, Cameron etc will stop lording their aesthetics and presentation methods - and simply make more engaging films to the viewer. If Nolan wants to retain the glory days of large format film acquisition and presentation - great, just give me a story with characters I give a shit about first. 3D blue elves in the next 100 Avatar films I would be excited about seeing in 3D IMAX, if I thought it was not going to be like watching an animated pocahontas TV show that is tied to a theme park development. Tarantino has already said he will likely retire in the near future and turn to TV...that could be interesting, his short form episodic style obviously works well for the medium (and of course he's done TV before).
So binge-watching may be the new experience for now, I just personally think that is because there has been such a drought from mainstream cinematic offerings, and maybe the audience are so thirsty for story and character...a sizable audience has simply migrated to TV, for how long we will have to wait and see I guess. 
 
 
   

Haven't seen either of those, but I've heard good things, I'll have to check em out.
Yeah, I love everything by Cassavetes

You cover a lot of ground here, and I thoroughly disagree with the Sherlock assessment. Bad Sherlock is still good TV... and I thought that way back when I snoozed on The Hound of the Baskervilles (Season 2?) - but it was still the best of British.
I agree that writers are at the forefront in TV. When the second season of True Crime came out, the penmanship was slaughtered, as is every writer on any TV show that loses its way (*cough* Wayward Pines).
I think we are in a Writers Renaissance. I still remember when Charlie Kaufman was an enigma... now good writing is abundant, like uber to taxi drivers - or airbnb to hotels. Its not rocket science and anyone who can download The Poetics by Aristotle is miles ahead of the older generation who were told about it at a dinner party.
But what I wanted to discuss was that experience of spending up to 13 hours watching one show. What dynamics make it work and when would it fall on its face.
Haven't seen Pretty Little Liars or Scenes From A Marriage... will check them out!
... and Breaking Bad and Dexter where serialised formats... I'm talking about the new slow-as-folk stuff (that used to be the domain of BBC drama- Wallander, Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Prime Suspect etc).
Oh! and The Missing (James Nesbitt)- it is the perfect example. Would have been a snooze-fest week by week, but emotionally gut-wrenching when watched in one go.

So I lost my binge watching virginity with the first season of Orange is the New Black. 
Now it  is my preferred viewing experience, so much so that I dont even look forward to films anymore.
With a (well-made) TV season I get more bang for buck and also resolution in my own time.
E.G. British crime drama like The Fall, Happy Valley or River - or American drama like Transparent, Bloodline, OITNB, - or even international capers like The Last Panthers and Top of the Lake. (Most recent binge was Strange Things - it was like the homage to Spielberg that Abrams wanted to make with Super 8 - but much better with its odes to Serendipity and The Goonies!).
Is slo-burn (crime/ suspense) drama (over 6 - 12 hours) becoming and actually art-form?
Is it a digital fad, a new production model or the beginning of the end for cinema?

True. It humanises the characters in a way. I think the best current example is The Walking Dead. We are somewhat 'in sync' with their show schedule and breaks - as humans who are evolving and growing - so are the cast. They are almost the anit-instant-gratification model. Nobody is complaining and it is a welcome repreive to have a show keep you waiting.
But then the show better satisfy.
Or is that too demanding.

interesting discussion
is watching 17 hours of one show nonstop a fad? absolutely not: its the new way, people love it, its a normal part of media consumption now
when i first heard of this phenomenon, i was actually surprised that people have the attention span to watch, say, an entire season of a show at one time. as a content creator who might want to make some abnormally long content in the future, and just in general, i find this encouraging. i think it will allow more options for people like me
be that as it may, theres something to be said for the empty time between installments of a serialized product
when im into a show, i spend that time with the characters, even though theyre not on tv. so when the sopranos comes back after a season break, im like Whats been going on in their lives the past X number of months. additionally, the sopranos wasnt meant to be watched back to back for 6 seasons – it wasnt designed that way. but thats not to say that one could take binge watchers into consideration during the early stages of conception for a product, in order to produce a show that can be watched in 44 min episodes or in 7 hour chunks at a time
waiting is also good. hell waiting is the best. whats better than anticipation? that time is significant
getting a show over that people HAVE to watch live is really hard these days.... live tv used to be a thing, now i think most would prefer watching at their convenience. for narrative its a tough sell. i watched the main event of UFC 202 live the other night because it wouldnt have been the same later (i was rooting for nate diaz btw #stocktonstrong #frownyface)
the times are changing thats for sure

So I lost my binge watching virginity with the first season of Orange is the New Black. 
Now it  is my preferred viewing experience, so much so that I dont even look forward to films anymore.
With a (well-made) TV season I get more bang for buck and also resolution in my own time.
E.G. British crime drama like The Fall, Happy Valley or River - or American drama like Transparent, Bloodline, OITNB, - or even international capers like The Last Panthers and Top of the Lake. (Most recent binge was Strange Things - it was like the homage to Spielberg that Abrams wanted to make with Super 8 - but much better with its odes to Serendipity and The Goonies!).
Is slo-burn (crime/ suspense) drama (over 6 - 12 hours) becoming and actually art-form?
Is it a digital fad, a new production model or the beginning of the end for cinema?

What are your thoughts on Steven Soderbergh's TV ventures - The Knick and The Girlfriend Experience?
I personally enjoyed them more than any of his actual films...
Edit: Gonna check out A Woman Under the Influence, haven't seen it...
Edit Edit: albeit, Sex, Lies and Videotapes was the first VHS I rented because of the title. Boy was I disappointed. All they did was talk.

It draws in a large audience, no doubt, maybe even more than a film these days, but I don't prefer it or anything.
I've heard some filmmakers say they're "switching" to tv.. and that's just baffling to me. Maybe it can work that way for comedy or if you include mini-series as tv, but for me the best part of a film isn't the viewing experience or budget or anything, it's the ending. The Graduate, Reservoir Dogs, A Woman Under the Influence, The Departed, Primal Fear, Drive, etc - the ending is what makes the whole thing count, and shows you they were competent the entire time. And tv shows made without an ending in mind often flop when it counts. Most shows jump the shark, and the very end can be even worse. For Lost, the important part was definitely supposed to be the ending.. which turned out to be.. who even cares? it was so-so. Purgatory or something. The end of Dexter nearly killed the whole series for me. Breaking Bad, ugh. I'm slightly embarrassed to say I used to watch Pretty Little Liars, 80% as a joke, but I was curious who A was.. turns out it's no one! Or everyone.. the writers don't have a freaking clue, and it shows. Scenes From A Marriage is an amazing show, but if Bergman wrote the first episode and then let new writers swoop in and carry it to nowhere for 10 seasons.. and then try to end it with JUSTICE, kill me. Season 3 of Sherlock was a mess, made me wonder if any of it was ever good. Anyway, too many examples.. For a comedy, I don't care how it ends, especially if it's episodic, like Cheers - and those endings are so much easier, just pat yourselves on the back and say goodbye to your fans.
I AM, however, very into Girls and Love. And to a lesser extent, You're the Worst and Casual. The genre those all fit under I think has real potential. Not sure what it is, but it's a great tone, very human, and I don't particularly care where it's heading. but again, none of them have ended.. I'm a little scared what may happen. And I have noticed a little drop in quality of Girls in some of the latest season episodes I think, but their good stuff is so good, I can forgive them. anyway, those are my 4 cents

So I lost my binge watching virginity with the first season of Orange is the New Black. 
Now it  is my preferred viewing experience, so much so that I dont even look forward to films anymore.
With a (well-made) TV season I get more bang for buck and also resolution in my own time.
E.G. British crime drama like The Fall, Happy Valley or River - or American drama like Transparent, Bloodline, OITNB, - or even international capers like The Last Panthers and Top of the Lake. (Most recent binge was Strange Things - it was like the homage to Spielberg that Abrams wanted to make with Super 8 - but much better with its odes to Serendipity and The Goonies!).
Is slo-burn (crime/ suspense) drama (over 6 - 12 hours) becoming and actually art-form?
Is it a digital fad, a new production model or the beginning of the end for cinema?

I hate talking politics because its a zero-sum game. Nobody wins. Every ideology is flawed, because we as humans are flawed.
A liberal management unchecked will exploit capitalism and everyone suffers when free trade consumes their daily bread - like Uber to taxi drivers and AirBnB to hotel workers, or China and Mexico to automobile factory workers.
A conservative management unchecked will end up exterminating... well anything that walks funny.
But everybody embodies both ideologies at different times and in different situations.
As a whole, people are stupid en-masse and selfish, but as Bronn said in Game of Thrones about Geofrey:
There is no cure for being a cun*

I have a story for you all:

I work in a small non-profit independent movie theater. We saw a trailer for documentary on the economy that was well reviewed and booked it. Not thinking anything was amiss, just booking the documentary because it was well reviewed.
What followed was a certain political party in town going absolutely ballistic. Calls came in that they would boycott our theater, one of our employees walked out (they came back, but would only work for us, but would never see a movie in the theater again...way to hold to you principles.), the leader of the party said in a public email to all their members that we were in cahoots with the other political party, that we had talked to party leaders and we should have our non-profit status revoked.

Emergency board meeting was called, to give them credit, everyone on the board took a stand "Fuck em', show the film!" It was attended by every single board member and they told all their friends to go, it was the highest grossing documentary we have ever shown. It did far better than it would have if no fuss had been made. We threatened to take the party representative to court for slander unless he retracted his statement. They agreed, but only if we showed a political film from their side! During which a political candidate spent 20 minutes talking about the bad things the other party had done before the film started.
Now when people come in asking for documentaries that have even the slightest political ties (most requests come from this party) we tell them we are never showing political documentaries ever again. People are no longer rational about these things, cannot take critism, and have created a us vs. them mentality.

It's going to get really ugly before it gets better.

I hate hacks and respect them at the same time. They are super intelligent people that know how to push buttons of segments of society. A word here and there, and they are repeating facts, but molding your opinion at the same time with adjectives, word placement and headlines for these facts.
Edit: I always look at the Drudge Report everyday before I look at the BBC, because I find it so fascinating how Drudge molds opinions with a single headline or omission. BBC says the Trump did something insane, a black man gets shot in the back, or next to his girlfriend and dies on mobile video, and no mention on Drudge or even an acknowledgement... but his followers believe he is reporting the 'truth'. Fascinating. But I am old enough to know that even the BBC is anti-trump, which in itself is not great. They constantly add stuff like his exact dialogue in quotes and of course that makes him look dumb because he is not a public speaker. I can hear the journalist chuckling to himself.
I consider someone writing for the Sun, Daily Mail, Daily News, NY Post, the Mirror, etc... hacks. But they all have Master's degrees or excelled in school and they know what they are doing. In the UK you would be hard pressed to find a journalist on Fleet Street who did not go to Cambridge or Oxford. Even at the tabloids. These are professional (and the original) trolls. Piers Morgan for example.
Documentary has the same.
 

I hate talking politics because its a zero-sum game. Nobody wins. Every ideology is flawed, because we as humans are flawed.
A liberal management unchecked will exploit capitalism and everyone suffers when free trade consumes their daily bread - like Uber to taxi drivers and AirBnB to hotel workers, or China and Mexico to automobile factory workers.
A conservative management unchecked will end up exterminating... well anything that walks funny.
But everybody embodies both ideologies at different times and in different situations.
As a whole, people are stupid en-masse and selfish, but as Bronn said in Game of Thrones about Geofrey:
There is no cure for being a cun*

I hate hacks and respect them at the same time. They are super intelligent people that know how to push buttons of segments of society. A word here and there, and they are repeating facts, but molding your opinion at the same time with adjectives, word placement and headlines for these facts.
Edit: I always look at the Drudge Report everyday before I look at the BBC, because I find it so fascinating how Drudge molds opinions with a single headline or omission. BBC says the Trump did something insane, a black man gets shot in the back, or next to his girlfriend and dies on mobile video, and no mention on Drudge or even an acknowledgement... but his followers believe he is reporting the 'truth'. Fascinating. But I am old enough to know that even the BBC is anti-trump, which in itself is not great. They constantly add stuff like his exact dialogue in quotes and of course that makes him look dumb because he is not a public speaker. I can hear the journalist chuckling to himself.
I consider someone writing for the Sun, Daily Mail, Daily News, NY Post, the Mirror, etc... hacks. But they all have Master's degrees or excelled in school and they know what they are doing. In the UK you would be hard pressed to find a journalist on Fleet Street who did not go to Cambridge or Oxford. Even at the tabloids. These are professional (and the original) trolls. Piers Morgan for example.
Documentary has the same.
 

Laugh. But this is what your next movie will look like to the rest of us. But it will be in 4K.

I hate talking politics because its a zero-sum game. Nobody wins. Every ideology is flawed, because we as humans are flawed.
A liberal management unchecked will exploit capitalism and everyone suffers when free trade consumes their daily bread - like Uber to taxi drivers and AirBnB to hotel workers, or China and Mexico to automobile factory workers.
A conservative management unchecked will end up exterminating... well anything that walks funny.
But everybody embodies both ideologies at different times and in different situations.
As a whole, people are stupid en-masse and selfish, but as Bronn said in Game of Thrones about Geofrey:
There is no cure for being a cun*

I hate hacks and respect them at the same time. They are super intelligent people that know how to push buttons of segments of society. A word here and there, and they are repeating facts, but molding your opinion at the same time with adjectives, word placement and headlines for these facts.
Edit: I always look at the Drudge Report everyday before I look at the BBC, because I find it so fascinating how Drudge molds opinions with a single headline or omission. BBC says the Trump did something insane, a black man gets shot in the back, or next to his girlfriend and dies on mobile video, and no mention on Drudge or even an acknowledgement... but his followers believe he is reporting the 'truth'. Fascinating. But I am old enough to know that even the BBC is anti-trump, which in itself is not great. They constantly add stuff like his exact dialogue in quotes and of course that makes him look dumb because he is not a public speaker. I can hear the journalist chuckling to himself.
I consider someone writing for the Sun, Daily Mail, Daily News, NY Post, the Mirror, etc... hacks. But they all have Master's degrees or excelled in school and they know what they are doing. In the UK you would be hard pressed to find a journalist on Fleet Street who did not go to Cambridge or Oxford. Even at the tabloids. These are professional (and the original) trolls. Piers Morgan for example.
Documentary has the same.
 

He's been around forever. Used to be a speech writer for Reagan. Was married to Ann Coulter who is another top notch troll. Just go back and look at his old writings/twitter/books. He claimed Obama was a secret Muslim who was planning on destroying America. I've read some of his books on religion which are actually pretty interesting. He's a very smart guy but he's gone totally bat shit crazy in the past few years on conspiracy theories. He was arrested for campaign fraud and is crying out that Obama is after him, and sent his minions to arrest him.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not a super political person and I respect all points of view but the people like him and Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Moore, (sometimes) Bill Maher are just bad for the country. They cause so much unnecessary divisiveness.
It's actually quite sad b/c he used to be one of the best debaters around. He would debate Christopher Hitchens frequently on religion and hold his on. Hitchens respected him and they were friends. He wanted to debate Richard Dawkins but Dawkins was hesitant. They finally debated on Hawkins terms (which was prerecorded responses). Great debate.
Just in the past 6 years or so he's gone kind of crazy and paranoid. Such a bummer.
I saw the Obama movie just out of curiosity and it was so awful. I don't think I could sit through this. Check out Rotten Tomatoes though and you'll get an idea of the reviews: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hillarys_america_the_secret_history_of_the_democratic_party

That guy is a hack. He's one of the biggest trolls in politics.

I hope so. 

I don't want government having any type of power of anything someone can do on a website or software. They would be able to shut you down on anything (they) seem is illegal. They could shut down this site because gear is being sold and they're not getting taxes from it. I just know government shouldn't have to much power over anything plain and simple.

Laugh. But this is what your next movie will look like to the rest of us. But it will be in 4K.

I stumbled across this interesting article and thought I'd share it, something non-gear related for an odd change! ;-)
 
http://www.screenplayology.com/content-sections/screenplay-style-use/1-1/