Learning the art of light with Joe McNally

By Lexy Savvides

Joe McNally is a renowned American photographer who has worked for publications like National Geographic, Sports Illustrated and Time.

McNally is in Australia to hold a series of workshops, keynote presentations and seminars across the country, over the coming month.

The one-day workshop, which is also being held in Melbourne and on the Gold Coast, covers the fundamentals of working with light in order to best capture a series of subjects, with McNally providing personal one-on-one tuition throughout the event, as well as group guidance. There’s plenty of advanced lighting equipment to use on the day, including camera flashes, Nikon SLRs such as the D800 and D4, reflectors and professional studio lights.

His approach to lighting is particularly organic, and McNally is a big advocate of “thinking inside the box” — that is, working with what you have. You don’t need to have experience working with flashes to take part in the workshop; just a love for photography and to know your way around your camera in manual exposure mode.

To find out about locations and events, visit the Through the Lens website.

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Hollie Cavanagh couldn’t make ‘Idol’ fans love her

By Andrea Burzynski

(Reuters) – Hollie Cavanagh was sent home from top-rated TV talent show “American Idol” on Thursday night after singing “I Can’t Make You Love Me” – a song choice that proved prophetic.

Cavanagh closed out the show by performing Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb,” remaining composed while fellow contestant Joshua Ledet wept as she sang.

Almost 70 million votes were cast to determine Thursday’s outcome. Audience voting was based on performances on Wednesday night’s episode during which contestants sang songs by artists from California, followed by songs they wished they had written.
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Is Microsoft Already Manufacturing the Next Xbox?

Texas electronics company allegedly begins production.

by Mitch Dyer

The next Xbox console is apparently in the manufacturing stages. According to an IGN source, assembly of the next-generation Xbox hardware started recently at the Austin, Texas branch of Flextronics. This is the same electronics company currently assembling Xbox 360 hardware, and is the manufacturer of the original Xbox.

Prior to reaching the manufacturing stage, Flextronics created a new testing group separate from the rest of the company. This team was solely dedicated to comprehensive marketing, software, and hardware tests of the next Xbox. With that activity concluded, Flextronics started building the hardware — but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll see the Durango soon.

The most likely case here is that new manufactured hardware would be development kits, consoles created specifically so game designers know what they’re working with. Microsoft said flat-out it wasn’t debuting a new console at E3, so rumors regarding new manufactured boxes probably wouldn’t stack up to a reveal.

If we’re under the assumption the Durango will release in the next couple years, potentially at a shockingly low retail price, it makes sense that game companies would be working with new development hardware now.

Microsoft provided IGN with the following statement upon inqury:

Xbox 360 has found new ways to extend its lifecycle like introducing the world to controller-free experiences with Kinect and re-inventing the console with a new dashboard and new entertainment content partnerships. We are always thinking about what is next for our platform and how to continue to defy the lifecycle convention. Beyond that we do not comment on rumors or speculation.

Flextronics, meanwhile, provided IGN with no comment.

The notion that the next Xbox is under assembly is certainly plausible, but without any official word we’re left to continue speculating. IGN will endeavor to bring more information on the next generation as it develops.

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Box Office Shocker: ‘Avengers’ Opens to Record Shattering $200.3 Million

by Pamela McClintock

The Disney and Marvel Studios tentpole makes history in nabbing the biggest opening of all time in North America; globally “Avengers” has earned a massive $641.8 million in 12 days.

Joss Whedon’s The Avengers has set a new bar in opening to a walloping $200.3 million at the domestic box office, the largest debut ever and kicking of summer 2012 in high style.

The Avengers — marking a major victory for Disney and Marvel Studios — easily dethroned Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which opened to $169.2 million last summer, then the largest number in history.
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The Dark Knight Rises’ awesomely complex viral marketing campaign

photo: Warner Bros

Fans unlock the stunning new trailer for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming blockbuster one frame at a time by spotting strategically-placed graffiti all over the world

A new trailer for the surefire summer blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises was released Monday night — and Batman’s superfans worked hard to get it. (Watch the video below.) As part of a buzz-driving marketing campaign for the final installment in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, Warner Brothers announced the trailer on the film’s website, telling fans that to see it, they had to help the Gotham City Police Department locate Batman by tracking down hundreds of pieces of graffiti from around the world. For every piece of graffiti that a fan found and tagged on social media, Warner Brothers unlocked a frame of the trailer.

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2012 MTV Movie Awards Nominees: The Full List

‘Hunger Games,’ ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘Harry Potter’ run away with this year’s noms — don’t miss the show Sunday, June 3, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on MTV!

By Kara Warner (@karawarner)

The Hunger Games - Lionsgate

Who’s already excited for the 2012 MTV Movie Awards?
We’ve already announced that chart-topping indie-pop group Fun. will rock the Movie Awards stage with a performance toasting the greatest party films of all time, plus the addition of five excellent and intriguing new categories: Best Music, Best On-Screen Transformation, Best Gut-Wrenching Performance, Best Cast and Best On-Screen Dirtbag. What more could you ask for?

How about the list of this year’s lucky nominees who will by battling it out for the coveted Golden Popcorn trophy live from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday, June 3? Fan voting opens Tuesday at 8 a.m.

Here they are, in all their eclectic, well-deserved glory: the 2012 MTV Movie Award Nominees!

Movie of the Year
» “Bridesmaids”
» “The Hunger Games”
» “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2”
» “The Help”
» “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1”

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The Avengers Success Makes Justice League Film Inevitable?

By Joseph Kratzer

Avengers Vs. Justice League

So with hundreds of reviews for The Avengers (Avengers Assemble in the UK) ranging from awesome to possibly the best comic book movie yet, Marvel Studios and its parent corporation, Disney, have a long, prosperous road ahead of them in terms of blockbuster franchises. That is as long as they continue to hire similarly talented and capable story tellers like Joss Whedon to take the helms.

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‘The Good Wife’ Leaves for Vacation

By Richard Lawson | The Atlantic Wire

The Good Wife (CBS)

The days grow longer and the weather (for the most part) warmer, and tomorrow is May, which means the sweet, sweet easy times of summer are soon upon us. This is, for the most part, great news. But there is one terrible thing happening as everything else gets good: TV shows are ending. Yes, network seasons are wrapping up, meaning soon there will be so little to watch. For example, The Good Wife, smart sudsy show that it is, ended its third season last night. We’re gonna miss it!

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Chip lets smartphones see through walls, clothes

Researchers at a Texas university have designed a chip that could give smartphones the long-envied ability of comic book her Superman to see through walls, clothes or other objects.

A team at University of Texas at Dallas tuned a small, inexpensive microchip to discern a “terahertz” band of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The design works with chips made using Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor technology behind processors commonly found in personal computers, smartphones, televisions and videogame consoles.

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