Cameron made an interesting comment when asked about using their equipment to shoot soap operas and sitcoms. He said a 3-4 camera shoot on a stage would be easy compared to their 35 camera shoot in the snow and he looks forward to working on a standard multi-camera TV shoot. (He also admitted he prefers being a cameraman. That would be an interesting production.) 3D is often more intriguing when the camera is close on a person talking than in big action scenes. We can actually relate to it more since it almost perfectly replicates our own conversations with people in 3D space.

Another really cool event, because I’m a TV and zombie geek, was the panel discussion with the creator and producers of The Walking Dead series. Comic creator, Robert Kirkman, is one of the first creators I’ve heard who understands that when you move a story from one medium, like comics, to another, like TV, certain things need to change. He is all for making the shows somewhat different than his comic. He works in the writers room and loves how the series has turned out.

Figure 05, The Walking Dead panel. Be still my geeking heart.

OK, there is one really awesome piece of hardware I saw that has nothing to do with creating content, but I have to talk about it briefly. A few of the booths, like Sony, had glasses-free 3D TV displays. I’m amazed how quickly this technology is working out. But the Dolby 3D TV unit knocked my socks off. In fact, everyone at their booth was amazed. The image looked incredible and it looked just as good from 45 degrees off to the side. They showed lots of action footage, including some scenes from the Captain America movie.

Another super cool product is the Segway with a steadicam attachment, the Steadiseg. I want one. I don’t need one. I probably wouldn’t use one. I just want one.

Figure 06. Segway with a Steadicam attachment. Too freaking cool.

I saw lots of equipment that I want, but not a lot of prices I wanted to pay. But it did help me understand what I needed. A number of things I saw, like cheap jibs and LED lights and teleprompters, got me hungry, and Amazon and eBay satisfied my hunger with much lower prices.

One press event I went to was relevant to independent creators, but not in an obvious way. Limelight Networks, which sets up online video streaming solutions, talked about their systems. Fine. Not very interesting. But, they also brought in George Gomez, the web director for cesarsway.com, the website for Dog Whisperer star Cesar Millan.

Figure 07. From the left, a Limelight marketing exec and George Gomez, web director for cesarsway.com.

The Dog Whisperer is a popular series on National Geographic, but the website is owned by Cesar Millan. This is important for creators to understand. Cesar built his own site to build his brand using the success of the show. If his only presence was on the National Geographic site, it would end shortly after they stopped producing new episodes. This way, he has control over the longevity of his brand.