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Patriarch of the <a href=”http://www.eotc-patriarch.org/index.htm”>Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC)</a>, His Holiness Abune Merkorios, officially opened the St. Mary of Zion Church’s new building in New York City on, Nov. 28. 2009. This marked a special day in the church’s history and the Patriarch’s visit was heavily publicized. <a href=”http://www.movingboxstudios.com/index.html”>Moving Box</a> Videographers Matt Lenz and Jeffery Hellman captured the event and this is a brief recap of the momentous day.

It’s a rare thing when I see a website, my heart skips a bit and I say to myself “I NEED TO BLOG THIS RIGHT NOW.” But it happened today, with this very, very cool website by music group The Arcade Fire. It’s called The Wilderness Downtown, and if you use Google Chrome it’s definitely worth a watch.

HTML5 is the new version of HTML, the programming language that nearly ever website is written in (in some capacity or another). The significance of HTML5 is that common 3rd party plug-ins used to play music, sound, and video, are no longer needed, HTML5 can handle rice-media by itself. You’re probably saying to yourself “Well, Chris, that sounds like some jibber jabber! What’s that mean to someone who doesn’t wear thick glasses and a pocket protector?” Nerdiness aside, if HTML5 becomes the way we media is delivered, it means 3rd party plug-ins like Adobe Flash and Apple Quicktime won’t be necessary, making websites faster, more compatible, and more accessible. If it becomes what its developers are saying it will.

What do you think of this website and HTML5? Let us know in the comments.

Joe Zohar, the head of Moving Box’s Videography Department, is finally putting the finishing touches on his thesis film entitled “Chalk Outlines.”. It has been a labor of love for Joe over the past several years. Check out what the man himself  has to say about the film below:

So if you have talked with me at all about what I want to do in life in the past four years, I am sure I told you about my steady diet of Moving Box and the movie I have been working on called Chalk Outlines. In describing Chalk Outlines, I’ve used the phrase “It’s almost finished” too many times to count. I can now say for certain that it is actually almost finished. I am so pleased with how everything is looking. I just recently got the film color corrected, or “mastered”, and have a final edit I am currently test screening in-house at Moving Box. I have been getting some really helpful critiques and reviews about the film. Their enthusiasm has really helped fuel my excitement about finishing the film.

Once this edit is picture locked I will be sending it to my sound designer and music composer to have the auditory part of the film match it’s visual counterpart. Ryan Mauk at Digital One in Portland, Oregon will be helming the sound board. You may remember him from such Moving Box films as “Repentance” and “Olympus Burger”. Ryan is the man and will give the film’s sound the treatment it deserves!

Providing the musical accompaniment is Erik Spangler (DJ Dubble8) from Baltimore who you may remember from the Moving Box documentaries “Charm City Remix” and “Mandala of the Four Directions.” There is nobody better suited to create the ominous feeling and tension for the world in Chalk Outlines than Erik. I could not be happier with this all-star team and know that Chalk is going to be a heavy hitter on film festival circuit. I have included some stills of the film to whet your appetite. I and hope the style and look intrigue you as I am planning on releasing some more stills soon as well as a trailer in the near future so stay tuned. Much love, Viva La Box!

- Joe

Luke made his second video contribution to The Ithaca Post with a piece about Elisa Sciscioli, frontwoman for the local Ithaca band Solstice. You can find his piece on the Ithaca Post’s website by clicking here. It’s fascinating to hear her talk about her inner life of meditation and how it has helped her find her own voice and the strength to make the move to center stage after her career as a backup singer. For those not familiar with The Ithaca Post, it is a terrific source for music, art, and culture in Upstate New York and features a host of high-quality contributors. Be sure to check them out over at TheIthacaPost.com.

Joe shot these auditions for Erin Hilgartner with the support of her family for several professional casting calls. This isn’t the first time the Hilgartners have come back to Moving Box to put together audition reels. The Hilgartners have worked with Moving Box on several occasions to get the most out of Erin’s performances.

The Hilgartners understand the importance of making the best impression possible and know that Moving Box is the best suited to help do so. Moving Box takes the time to put together quality audition tapes that really help the actor stand out from their competition. We love to get the chance to work with up and coming actors and have never seen such determination from someone as young as Erin. For her to have her family in her corner along the is a very special thing. She is very talented and it is only a matter of time before she has her big break.

Luke and Joe spent this week going through the great footage we captured at the GrassRoots Festival. Some of the bands we were on stage capturing footage for included Arrested Development, The Black Seeds, John Brown’s Body, Burning Spear, Samite, Johnny Dowd, The TalkToMes, Keith Frank and the Soileau Zydeco Band, Locos por Juana, JSAN & The Analogue Sons, & more. All these bands had a unbelievable sets and the energy coming from the crowd was amazing. GrassRoots is always a great time and if you haven’t had the opportunity to experience it, check out the festival’s site at GrassRootsFest.org for more info, band listings, and future dates. We are kicking around a ton of cool ideas and project concepts for the footage so stay tuned.

On August 7th 2010 Chip-Con International had their first event, REBOOT, a concert at Little Field, NYC featuring five rock-awesome chiptune artist and one killer VG. Moving Box animator and sound engineer Chris attended this event, much to his nerdy heart’s desire.

The show featured DEADBEATBLAST, Smiletron, Chromix, I, Cactus, and IAYD, with live visuals by Invader Bacca.

We attended the show, and it was very cool. It was a great experience to meet some of my Chiptune Heros (please Harmonix, don’t make this into a game) and see them throw down live.

I’m consistently blown away by the raw power and crunch behind the DMG Gameboy. Other artists used tools like laptop computers, effects pads, and PSPs.

REBOOT was the first in a series of international chiptune concerts. To get an idea of what when down, check out this video courtesy of DEADBEATBLAST.

If you would like to learn more about chiptunes and events like this, visit VideoGameDJ.com

Last Call, Cornell University’s all male a capella group, came to Moving Box Studios looking for a professional quality video to put out on DVD. This year was Last Call’s alumni reunion year and they wanted to make sure it was captured in the best possible way. Moving Box answered the call. Jeff, Luke, Nick, and Joe recorded and edited a three camera shoot of their reunion concert .The production consisted of several original songs and covers from various bands and singers known to all. They did an amazing job and was a pleasure to document such a talented group.

Big news for Moving Box’s own Chris & Christian ( aka Dj CUT MAN and MC DEATH BEAR ): This weekend they headed down to Baltimore, MD to attend OTAKON, the east coast’s largest Anime and Japanese Culture festival attending approximately 30,000 people. The convention is named after the Japanese word “Otaku” which is used to refer to people obsessed with Japanese animation (anime), Japanese comics (manga) or Video Games.

This was a big milestone for Dj CUT MAN, Chris’ project proudly sporting the tagline of “Video Game DJ,” as it was a live performance in front of thousands of Otakon goers. Dj CUT MAN played his new mix, DUBTROPOLIS (available soon on SoundCloud), a collection of Dub-Step influenced Chiptune songs. If none of those words make sense to you, here’s a song that exemplifies the musical style. MC Death Bear became a true Master of Cerimonies that night, hyping the crowd and providing vocal interludes and shout outs throughout the set.

MC Death Bear has been creating art for Dj CUT MAN for months, and is responbile for the killer flyers for the series of shows at Ithaca’s own Waffle Frolic. Dj CUT MAN has created three full-length mix albums so far and his fourth is expected in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more.

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Okay, so it’s not really a tour, but it is going between states frantically to play shows. This weekend also marks Dj CUT MAN’s return to Waffle Frolic, a guest spot at Load Of Fun studios in Baltimore, MD, and another rad show at The Giving Tree cafe put on by the warriors at Ithaca Underground. I could go on but I’d rather post the rad flyers: