X-Message-Number: 23940
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 14:56:30 -0800 (Pacific Standard Time)
From: "Billy H. Seidel" <>
Subject: new Video

I am thinking this is getting out of hand.  If anyone else is interested in
the questions that Kennita has asked below, and my answers, please send me a
personal e-Mail and I will respond.  You may have other questions of your
own.  In the mean time I will not use Cryonet and clog up the site with
stuff that may be real boring to a lot of you folks.

Thank you.

Billy H. Seidel

928-203-0161




Message #23915
Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2004 04:42:55 -0700
Subject: Re: New Video
From: Kennita Watson <>
 
Thanks for your comments, Billy!  Now that I know some of the
difficulties with a video project, I can put it in my files as
a possible future project without being plagued by the worry
that maybe I should be doing it now.
 
A couple of things:
 
On Saturday, Apr 17, 2004, "Billy H. Seidel" <>
wrote:
> **** I don't think I misunderstand your intent.  I do believe your
> intentions are honorable and not intended to promote any thing but a
> greater
> understanding of cryonics.
 
Thanks -- I'm glad that at least is clear.
 
> **** Other venues that I can arrange?????  Well I wish I could.  Maybe
> we
> need Mell Gibson and his distribution network.
> I would not even know where to start.  What you mention
> above would take a great deal of travel time, just to find
> the people involved with each of the methods you mention and
> co-operation with each of them.   This has been done by a
> lot of other media people.
 
I was thinking of offering to send free copies to some local
high schools, or doing some showings at libraries or on
public access cable -- nothing anywhere near as big as you seem
to be thinking of.
 
How was "The Alcor Adventure" distributed?
 
> **** You are correct the ALCOR adventure could be re-edited but I
> could not
> use any of the interviews.  I have Individual Release Agreements for
> use by
> ALCOR only.  I could not and would not use any of the interviews
> without new
> "Individual Release Agreements"....
 
Don't assume you couldn't get them.  Maybe not all, but some,
for a project for the good of the cryonics community at large.
You make it sound like you'd be asking to use the footage for
selling cars or something!
 
>> Well, you _can_ just go out and make a video, though it might not
>> have the production values you'd like.  But that doesn't mean it
>> won't be successful -- witness "The Blair Witch Project"....
> **** If I recall correctly the Blair Witch Project had a budget of
> over $200
> 000.
 
I was using TBWP only as an example of a show that survived
having crappy production values.
 
>  Sure you can just go out and make a video.  DO IT.
 
Maybe it's just the capital letters, but that reads as
very defensive to me.  I don't mean to say that there's
something wrong with you for not just going out and
making a video, or that you would even _want_ to -- but
if you have a video camera or can get one, you _could_.
I see no value in telling yourself you can't.
 
The other reading the capital letters could have is as
a dare.  If so, I won't bite.  I don't want to do it
just to prove I can.  Frankly, it would suck, so I don't
think the result would be worth my time, because I don't
have the energy, the talent, the memory, or the equipment
to do as good a job as I'd like.  But if it had to be
done, I'd get it done somehow.
 
People use the word "can't" way, *way* too much, which
bothers me no end.
 
>> - How much would it have cost if people had been charging for
>   their time?
>
> ****Production costs about $1,000 a minute. (for The ALCOR adventure
> $30
> 000) This does not include cost for talent, or transportation, food and
> lodging.  I can not begin to estimate that.
 
Please humor me here.  For each minute that somebody was on
screen, how long did you spend with them working on their
part?  An hour?  Half a day?  Five minutes?  Some of each?
 
>  The opening disclaimer on The
> ALCOR Adventure gave credit to all the volunteers.  They may not have
> volunteered for anything else except ALCOR.  I know I would not have.
> Fred
> and Linda Chamberlain have been a great inspiration for me.
>
>> - How long did it take from start to finish?
>
> **** I put in about 200 hours of editing and previewing the rough cuts
> that
> I had from other sources.
 
That's valuable information; thanks!
 
Actually I was originally thinking of a different question --
how many calendar days was it from when you first started
working on the project to when you handed the finished
product to Alcor?
 
>  Gregory Prentiss put it travel time, food,
> lodging and provided equipment.  Fred and Linda Chamberlain put in a
> lot
> more time getting the Asilomar conference together.
 
They didn't do that just for the video, did they?  Did they
even know they were making "The Alcor Adventure" when they
did the Asilomar conference?
 
>  The participants put in
> time and money.  Double this for a 1 hour video.
 
What money did the participants put in other than travel
expenses?
>
>> - What is NCARB.RA ?
> **** I have no idea what this means. I think something from e-mail
> transfers
 
:-)
>
>> - I counted 27 people in the credits -- 20 named spoken parts,
>>   8 production and media (Linda did double-duty as production
>>  consultant).  What did the 8 unsung heroes do?
>
> **** WOW someone actually took notes.  My compliments to you.  There
> are a
> couple of bogus names taking credit for operations that I did.  I just
> got
> tired of seeing my name in the credits.
 
? That would mean there were fewer than 27 people, and you said
there were 35 -- I still wonder what the other people did -- or
were you guessing about the number?  If so, that's OK.  I just
won't want to leave out things that will need to be done.
...
> **** Kennita, you bring up some good points.  I have a lot of stock
> footage
> from ALCOR, Cryospan, and Cryocare.  I can not use any of it for a
> commercial product and would not release any of it with out written
> consent
> from officials of each company. .  If you know whare I can get stock
> footage
> that is not copywrited I would like to know.
 
Maybe we mean different things by "stock footage".  I mean things
like "bird flying over trees" or "full moon" or "rain on water"
or "city street on rainy night".  I did a Google search on
"royalty free stock footage" and got 15,700 hits.  Even "public
domain stock footage" got 1,020 hits.  Not free, but (relatively)
cheap.
 
>  Also, what you mention above,
> I have been interviewed in some of the programs and provided
> information for
> others. I know of at least 4 , 1 hour shows from England, Brazil, USA
> and
> others.  All seemed to have the same thread as you present above.
 
Did any of them have significant segments on cryonics?  Maybe a
video I can show at FDGD has already been done!
 
>  The ALCOR
> adventure is different in that it presented interviews from real
> people. I
> tried to present a real person with real questions about the problems
> of
> cryonic suspension.  I tried to keep it on a personal level, to keep
> it real
> and belivable.  My thrust was, "it is what it is".  There are a lot of
> other
> subtleties in the video but not necessarey to go into here.
 
If talked about the problems of cryonic suspension, it _was_
subtle.  I've only watched it once, but I don't remember
anything about the things I've considered the problems of
cryonic suspension -- incomplete perfusion, warm ischemia,
relatives who object, lapsed insurance policies, inability
to enter hospitals or homes, etc.  I guess those come later.
 
As for other subtleties, do you mean things like choice and
arrangement of words on the paper, background music, order
of interviews, and like that?  I'd be interested in an
article on "artistic and other choices in the making of
'The Alcor Adventure'".
 
> If I do another one, I would like to have every person in it preview
> the end
> product and offer suggestions before it gets a final release.  Some
> organization would have to take on the distribution.  What company
> would pay
> for it and do it without having their name and logo prominent in the
> video?
 
That's what a nonprofit organization is for -- to solicit
donations for such projects.  If someone wants to get started
on this before I can get to it in a year or two, please do. :-)
 
> On and On and On etc., etc.
>
>> I look forward to seeing other people's ideas!
>
> **** Me too.  Me two.
>
> Billy H. Seidel
> 928-203-0161
 

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