When we formalised MEDIAS, we knew managing various brands, platforms and services would be a difficult task. Our focus shifted towards technology platforms and services relating to video, particularly in a mobile context. As a result MyVideo was left to tick over while we observed activity and debated its future. Earlier in the year, I decided to part ways with MEDIAS to renew focus on MyVideo and realise its potential. Parting ways with a startup and my work colleagues was a difficult decision but one that I feel is best given my goals and aspirations for the future.

The idea of MyVideo has always been about a local platform, a way of organising, aggregating and presenting South African video content.The technologists out there have argued that such a platform is insignificant with YouTube dominating the global and local market. There is no doubt that YouTube is a dominant force and I believe its invention to be critical to the evolution of the web. But YouTube will always be YouTube. In an emerging market such as South Africa, local opportunities require flexibility and an understanding of market conditions. There will always be opportunities outside of YouTube and the opportunities for integration, alongside differentiation, are just as exciting. It is in this spirit that the next iteration of MyVideo and its combination of platforms and services will be introduced.

Much has been learned since MyVideo’s inception in 2007 ranging from technical frameworks to content delivery. I’m a huge believer in iteration (the act of repeating a process) and I think we achieved some success leading up to 2010. The challenge for the new team currently working on MyVideo is to lay a new foundation with particular emphasis on future iterations. It will take time and patience but I believe the journey is an exciting one.

The MyVideo blog and MyVideo Twitter Stream will be the best place to follow the developments as we start the new journey.

Feel free to add your comments or queries here if you have any.

I previously titled this site Exploring Multimedia. My blog posts will continue along the same lines, perhaps in shorter more manageable chunks.

I’m involved in a number of freelance and start-up projects, including MyVideo. I decided to part ways with my colleagues at MEDIAS to focus on MyVideo and I’m excited about where its heading. More on that in another post.

In terms of the new design, my services page outlines my skills and my portfolio page has a few updated examples of my work. I’ve also updated my biography and contact pages.

Dave Duarte wrote about getting back to blogging and I echo his sentiment here. With a new design, new projects and renewed focus for 2010, I look forward to sharing the journey.

Shot completely on MacBook Pro webcams, Japanese band Sour shot Hibi no Neir (Tone of Everyday) using a cast from their actual fan base which includes different people from all over the world. Each person and scene was filmed purely from webcam.

Wicked.

[Video link]

[Via GraphJam]

Much has happened since I last blogged about MyVideo. After two years of operation, we’ve quietly observed and monitored the way in which MyVideo is being used by our burgeoning community. We’ve tweaked, tested and listened to the fantastic feedback from our passionate users.

On the surface, MyVideo has been ticking over nicely. We have seen significant brands join the platform, adopting online video as a means to both market and entertain an audience. We have been featured in industry publications and seen steady traffic levels. Lifting up the hood of the MyVideo engine, however, reveals a lot more behind the scenes.

During the past year we realized very quickly that the technology powering MyVideo has an intricate value. Quite simply, it is an enabler. It enables users to participate and contribute to the concept of a South African video portal. It enables brands and companies to market themselves to a community. It enables the dissemination of news, competitions, entertainment, infotainment and various other applications centered around digital video.

With this in mind we have developed all our core components, with the intention of increasing the value of the various levels of functionality. We implemented the platform for clients willing to use video as a means of communication, revisiting the cycle of development and improving upon it. The end result, which continues to evolve and improve, is a set of components and functionality for online and mobile video applications.

Alongside the development of the platform, we have flexed our creative video making muscles by offering various boutique digital production services. This ranged from the conceptualization and execution of viral videos, to product launches and event coverage. We began to experiment more, purchase new equipment, hire talented producers, editors and directors and think conceptually.

With the technology and production divisions in place, we have formalized the way in which we present these offerings. Rowan and I always believed we would evolve into more than just a website and its rewarding to see this vision reflected in our parent company MEDIAS. We have subsequently soft launched MEDIAS to our past and current clients and released our first bizcommunity article. In the bizcom article, we spoke of a new way of thinking. I believe this to be the key to the development of our company culture, and the direction we will be taking our brands.

We chose MEDIAS because of the interplay between the words ‘media’ – broadly defined as communcation, and ‘medium’ – the way in which media is distributed. Media comes form the Latin plural of medium which makes medias a plural of a plural if you will. Simply, we see it as being the nucleus, at the center of all media, affording us the ability to move into these various directions.

There will be a couple of exciting news announcements in the next few weeks, ranging from a new brand we’ll be launching, to a new iteration of MyVideo powered by our new technology offering.

In the meantime, we will continue to grow and improve our services and expand our talented team of developers and creative video producers.

It’s an exciting time in the South African digital media space.

A Thousand Words from Ted Chung on Vimeo.

Directed by Ted Chung

Via Black Notes (The best use of a tumblog I’ve seen for awhile)

Comments via the Video Link include, amongst many others:

a few scattered tears stream along the inside corridor of my soul… i thank you for this very special moment.

Bravo! Zen and the art of storytelling.

I am loving your style. I appreciate the simple character moments that let the audience breath and think. I really like the camera movements and your choice in cinematography. I feel like your actors all are novice but your find ways to let them say so much in their movements and facial expressions. Very well done.

Macro photography is the art of taking close-up pictures that reveal details which can’t be seen with the naked eye. For example, while we can see the fly on the wall, our eyes aren’t equipped to make out the fine details of the hairs on it’s face. This is where macro photography comes in. It gives us a glimpse into the world of the very small, which goes largely unnoticed by us as we hurriedly shuffle through our day.

In this edition of our Monday Inspiration series we present 25 beautiful examples of macro photography. A round-up of some truly revealing and inspiring macro photographs which are sure to have you marveling at the world around you.

This one is my favorite. Which is yours?

Photo credit.

As a visual UI, cooliris is certainly redefining our interaction with search results and content. It is unlikely it will go from a current novelty to a broad consumer requisite anytime soon, but it does point to a unique and inspiring user-centric interface design. You won’t find banner ads, branded UI, or text. Just scores and scores of rich media presented in a manner that changes your perception and interaction with content. As one commentator pointed out: This presents a unique challenge to those of us on the creative side, who marvel at the functionality — yet are stymied by the means in which we can unobtrusively place advertisers adjacent to and within these new interfaces.

Perhaps we should just marvel at the functionality for now.

Awesome.

Photography
Coda’s photostream on Flickr is inspirational. It was browsing through his photos that inspired me to sort out my own. I am a lucky man to have experienced so many adventures on the African continent. More photos and stories coming soon.

Videos
The selection is pretty slim at the moment. It started to become a mission adding and aligning text and thumbnails. Suffice to say a new solution is on the way.

Interactive
I’m planning on adding interesting interactive applications to this category on a regular basis. There are already two wicked videos, one which lets you click and scroll 360° within the video, the other an interactive clickable video which showcases various product placements within the clip. The snowboarding visuals in the second video are awesome.