Study: Mobile-TV Viewing Surpasses Broadcast Viewing

Posted on March 5, 2012 by DW

Mar 6, 2012 4:24 PM, by Franklin McMahon

(Courtesy http://broadcastengineering.com)

It is good news for advertising-supported mobile-TV content that consumers’ viewing and purchasing preferences seem to be closely aligned.

InMobi has just released the results of its latest survey, and the results may not come as a surprise to many. But it is also a look into the future and a good indicator of exactly how far content creators have come in designing a mobile-TV landscape.

The survey is tracking the numbers, and it shows that now 27 percent of participants are spending more time viewing content on mobile as opposed to 22 percent viewing actual TV. As mobile use continues to climb, these numbers are the reverse of even a year or two ago, where broadcast was still the king and mobile was just getting up to speed.

The biggest boom is not the content though, it is the advertising. The survey outlines that consumers are now more comfy with mobile advertising and their purchase behavior is more geared toward purchases centered around mobile.

Willingness to do transactions over mobile has been steadily increasing and, as more ads appear on mobile, along with more ways to have mobile transactions, it only makes sense that consumers are enjoying more TV time in the palms of their hand.

The survey states that 42 percent of respondents have said that mobile was the place where they first learned of a new product, and a beefy 76 percent have stated that they will make mobile purchases over the coming year. Twenty-three percent noted that they feel mobile purchases can save them time and money, and they are influenced by mobile advertising.

All of this is good news for mobile-TV content producers. There has always been a growing need for shows on devices, but content needs to be advertising-supported, and this survey clearly shows that consumers are eager to support the programming with their dollars and purchases.
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Read more: http://broadcastengineering.com/mobile_tv/study-mobile-tv-viewing-surpasses-broadcast-viewing-03062012/#ixzz1oI3QIsu5

How’d They Do That?
(Installment #1)

Posted on January 2, 2012 by DW

Re-posted from:

How Did We Do That?

By Production Insider on April 1, 2010 8:07 AM

Okay, so when a patient comes into Mercy Hospital gushing blood from a gnarly injury, we all know it’s fake. After all, it is TV. But the sight of all that blood still makes us jump, and we all sometimes do a double-take when we see a particularly gruesome wound. So the question is — How do we make it look so real? To answer that, we’re getting up close and personal with a key department here at Mercy — Special Effects Makeup.

Not to be confused with the Makeup Department (which handles all the essentials, from lipstick to concealer), the Special Effects Makeup Department is in charge of anything out of the ordinary, from stab wounds to molten-Snickers-bar-in-the-face burns. So what’s the secret behind the gory magic? Prosthetics.

DID YOU KNOW? A prosthetic is a specialized piece of plastic designed to conform to an actor’s skin and resemble a real-life wound. To make one, makeup artists begin by collaborating with medical technicians to research the specific type of injury they need to depict. For example, if a script calls for a character to have wounds caused by penguin bites, the artists and technicians will refer to medical books with photos and descriptions of actual penguin bites. The makeup artists then create a mold to resemble the injury — in this case, swollen bumps and skin lacerations. Then they pour silicone into the mold and wait for it to dry. Ta-da! A penguin bite prosthetic is born. Next, it’s applied to the actor’s skin (using a medical-grade adhesive), carefully painted to match the actor’s skin, and then painted a second time to resemble the specific injury.

FUN FACT: The blood used to paint on wounds goes by many different names, including “reel blood,” “theatrical blood,” “movie blood,” and plain ol’ “artificial blood.”

But the Special Effects Makeup Department isn’t limited to blood and gore. In fact, they handle details you might not even realize are fake. Take tattoos, for example…

SNEAK PEEK: In an upcoming episode of Mercy, a storyline requires certain characters to don specialized tattoos. To create this effect, our makeup artists created individual designs and printed them on special, sticker-like paper — similar to, but more resilient than, those fun fake tattoos from childhood. The different paper tattoos were then applied to each actor’s skin and pressed with water and alcohol. This technique creates realistic-looking tattoos that last for several days and even hold up against water and sweat. And when touch-ups were needed on set, our makeup artists applied a special dry paint directly onto the skin.

Do those look real or what?!

Alright, that concludes our behind-the-scenes exclusive with the Special Effects Makeup Department. Thanks for stopping by!