Aaron P Kohn

"TIA". This is Africa. That's a phrase I hate. Coined from Blood Diamond, it seems like it's hard to come to terms with a word that represents 54 different nations and nearly 1 billion different peoples over a huge territory.

Yet, some trends or even stereotypes have become applicable to "Africa". The first thing that really blew me away when I first went to Namibia in 2006 was the wide penetration of cell phones. Drive hours from a town and you'll see a cell tower and people who walk out of the bush with Nokia phones around their necks.

But the simple explanation is that people find solutions for their needs. While cell phones tread on the landline market in many countries, most of Africa didn't have the landline infrastructure. Communications are so key that it was not non-profits, governments or any other sort of NGO that came to solve the problem, but entrepreneurs whose private endeavors provided a solution to one of the biggest problems for a huge market.

Mo Ibrahim, whose Index of governance in Africa is widely regarded as one of the best, can certainly expound upon the success of telecom in Africa. Largely from founding Celtel, now under other names but one of the major cell networks in Africa, Ibrahim is a billionaire.

Why is this relevant? Elisabeth Rosenthal reported for the New York Times on December 24, 2010 about electricity access in Africa. Her article is not exactly about renewable energy or efforts by governments and NGOs to help more people gain access to electricity in Africa, but about the solutions being sold on the private sector–personal solar panels–which are in high demand. For millions without easy access to power grids or in places with finicky power, solar panels power their cell phones, provide light for their kids to study with, prevent babies from kerosine burns and also provide an income. People can pay to use your outlets or work under your lights.

It seems that once again, Africa isn't waiting for the infrastructure to catch up. For under $100, people can power their needs and in the long term, save money and time. It seems unclear at this point, but down the line, we should watch out for the Mo Ibrahim of homemade power.

Here is a quick list of some apps that help keep the boat afloat.

Desktop:

Action Method Online Task Management - (Desktop and Mobile Applications)

Reeder Beta Google Reader Synchronization - (You've probably seen the iOS version)

Instapaper  Digital Clippings - (iPhone and iPad app compatible...also can publish an RSS) 

Dropbox Store it and synchronize those files (Mobile Device Compatible)

 

iOS:

Flipboard Make your personal Twitter, Facebook and Google Reader into a formatted publication

Guardian Eyewitness A great photo a day

Wolfram Get solutions to the things google can't answer

Boxcar Never miss a notification in your digital social sphere

Flight Track Pro Imports from Tripit and updates you as flights change

iAnnotate Why mark up that document with a pen, when you can avoid the ink stains?

GroupMe Group text messaging

iWriter The best designed basic word processor for iPad

Due Reminders

 

I owe @ZSims thanks for tipping me off on most of these.

 

If you have apps that you think are "Must-Haves", please share them in the comments below!

I received a pre-production copy of V.I.O.'s new pre-production POV.HD camcorder. I promise I'll do some proper tests with it, but in the meantime, I have to say it's fun to use it to play high-tech tag!

 

 

(That's me running away of course).

For more high-tech/borderline spy tools check out my roundup on Cool Hunting.

Props to COLORS Magazine and GOOD for publishing some of the unreported stories about things going on in Africa! Download the free PDF to learn about why you should be racking up more frequent flier miles on SAA!

A few weeks ago I went to Chicago to help my friends Phil and Colleen shoot a Save The Date video for their wedding. Taking cues from Ted Chung's A Thousand Words, we shot our own little story in an afternoon.

Check out the piece, and if you're in Chicago definitely grab some lunch at Xoco! Really good eats.

 

Save the Date from Aaron P Kohn on Vimeo.

Stranger: Ryan Radke
Couple: Phil and Colleen

Directed and Shot by Aaron Kohn
www.futuresandick.com

Lots of filmmakers love HDSLRs, but the still camera can't be the end solution for video. Follow focus systems, dual-audio, eyepieces, tons of memory cards...it's not simple. Apparently Panasonic and Sony noticed that people were spending money on all these items that are being built by other companies like Indisystems and Zacuto instead of on more expensive cameras that incorporate everything to begin with...so the next evolution of the video camera in the sub $10,000 range appears to be DSLR chips in video camera bodies.  Check out the full story and interview with Philip Bloom at coolhunting. Here's a little outtake from the interview with Philip Bloom. He told me a little bit about his friends:

Philip Bloom's Friends from Aaron P Kohn on Vimeo.

Philip Bloom in NYC with his friends on the Highline

See the full story at coolhunting.com.

People keep asking how I shot the timelapse in this video that I made for the Columbia newspaper's new blog.  It's not the greatest, as it was the first that I did, but let me refer you to the resources that taught me how to shoot these. Check out Spectrum - 7D from Aaron P Kohn on Vimeo. The first video I've made on my 7D. Check out Spectrum at http://spectrum.columbiaspectator.com First of all, Philip Bloom seems to be the master of timelapses on DSLR's.  Below is one he recently made in Dubai. Room with a view: Dubai timelapse tests from Atlantis hotel from Philip Bloom on Vimeo. All shot from my room in the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai. Different timelapse shots to test the best way to capture day to night and vice versa. First sequence and penultimate sequence done with Panasonic GF1, the rest with the Canon 5DmkII and Canon 7D. To be used in Documentary on Dubai Royal Family for Media Prima and Talkabout Media. Read all you need to know about shooting timelapses with DSLRs here: http://philipbloom.co.uk/2010/01/17/dslr-timelapses-addictive-frustrating-and... Most people assume that a timelapse is a sped up video, but it doesn't have to be that complicated (and that would be super hard with 14min clip limits on FAT32 cards).  Also, people assume that I'm panning my tripod head, but there's an easier way around that. First of all, you'll need a juiced up battery, solid tripod, DSLR, and some sort of interval remote.  Canon makes one that's absurdly expensive.  You can get a wireless one for less, but I have two knock-offs that I've bought from Hong Kong (!) that have worked really well (takes a week or so to ship from Asia).  They make the same remote for Nikon/Pentax/Canon and probably others, though I think Nikon has the function built in. Then you need to think about how many frames you want to have.  If you're mixing the timelapse with 24 frame video from your Canon, like I did, remember you'll need 23.98 frames per second. It adds up, so make sure you have room on your memory card.  If you're not going to pan through your video (coming later), you won't need to shoot an 18/21 megapixel file.  This is a chart that I finally saved.  Even though it's really simple to do the numbers on the fly, it's easier just to have this printed and thrown in my wallet or camera bag. The way I process the footage is through Quicktime 7 (Quicktime Pro).  Quicktime in 10.6 doesn't have the feature, but you'll find Quicktime 7 in your Utilities folder in Applications if you have Final Cut Studio installed. You can watch Philip Bloom's tutorial on his website, but basically inside quicktime you open an "Image Sequence" from the folder that has the stills from your camera.  It allows you to pick your framerate that defines the duration of each individual frame and makes a movie.  When you save the movie, you can open it in Final Cut Pro. Remember, if you composed your timelapse of 18 megapixel images (5184 x 3456) is a lot higher than even 1920 x 1080, so it is bigger than your video canvas.  This means you can either shoot a lower resolution (on my 7D even a 4.5M image is 2592 x 1728), or you can take the 5K video, and pan or zoom (even "Ken Burns" effect) your video clip using motion keyframes in Final Cut Pro. I hope this helps!  Post questions of comments!

Here it is! A full post coming soon...

People Suck! from Aaron P Kohn on Vimeo.

"I need hardly remind you that people are more inclined to believe in bad intentions than in good ones, and hence my account will carry no less conviction than yours."
-The Decameron, Boccaccio

Richie is a normal guy who tackles the question many of us face in life about how much to trust people. Just as Richie decides to give up on humanity, things change for him.

Directed by Aaron KOHN
Written by Robert CAUDY
Starring Kostas PARAGIOS

Shot on a Canon 7D
with Support from Zeiss, Indisystems, Humble Monkey, Columbia University Film Productions.

While Philip Bloom and gang are probably recovering from a long night in midtown, I decided to try to be the first to get some pictures and video up from the NY DSLR Meetup, which was awesome!  About 100 filmmakers and photographers who are all interested in the video capabilities of DSLRs met up in Times Square, and well, geeked out, met some new people, checked out gear, exchanged cards...and of course, we all got to meet Philip Bloom who basically was the main attraction (If you haven't seen his work, check it out!). I pitched my work a bit, and also talked about the new DSLR rig that I designed with Tim Ovel over at Indisystems, the WRAITH (more coming soon!).  Sadly I didn't have it on me. Anyway, about halfway through the meetup I got pushed aside by a film crew with a 7D on a steadicam...as it turned out, by coincidence.  It was a Brazilian crew shooting a doc with the Zeiss 50mm lens we had for People Suck and a 7D.  I followed one of their shots where they had our gang line up in a circle to pretend to be paparazzi.  I think my video is steadier than theirs! The meetups should be a more frequent event! Nice meeting everyone! [SlideDeck id='1' width='100%' height='300px'] PS: Check this awesome still from Tramm Hudson, the creator of Magic Lantern!

Just released from the ER, The Actor, a Picasso canvas that was torn in January when a woman fell in to it, is back on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as part the Picasso show that opened Tuesday. The painting, now protected behind plexi-glass, certainly raises numerous questions about the balance between making art accessible in museums, while still protecting it. Since the story of The Actor’s restoration will certainly be one of the big headlines in the art world this year, what are museums to do to conserve their art? I am not an art appraiser or historian by any means, but here's what I've gathered: Maybe the Metropolitan Museum of Art was lucky to have the accident occur. First of all, Picasso was one of the most prolific artists of the last few centuries. He produced more than 50,000 works. It is impossible to be familiar with them all. Most people are familiar with Picasso’s Guernica, his portrayal of the Spanish Civil War, and his work that popularized cubism. Many of his other “Rose-Period”, “African-Influenced”, and “Blue Period” works are lesser known—of which The Actor was one. Maybe the unfinished painting on the back of the canvas even suggests that Picasso painted the work as a casual exercise. Either way, the lesser-known work headlined Art sections and blogs when the accident occurred, and is doing so again now that it is being re-released part of the new Picasso Show at the Met opening April 27. Last year, curators probably thought it might be lost amongst the 300 paintings they were planning to install for the exhibition, but now The Actor stands chance to be the star of the show. The large canvas will be a draw for tourists, conservationists, art historians, and interested visitors. No longer a minor work in the Picasso repertoire, The Actor and woman who tore it [accidentally] created a new narrative that helps the work stand out, maybe to become one of his most scrutinized pieces. The curious painting on the back that historians know little about will probably be studied by many more, and students studying Picasso and Conservation will probably have a new work added to their syllabus. It may even make it into the ArtHum curriculum, which already studies Picasso. Sure, the art community is lucky that this event took place at the Met, a museum that probably has some of the best conservationists on hand. Carol Vogel of the New York Times wrote in one article, "It's virtually impossible to tell" that the painting had been damaged. But, to say that the tear devalued the work, I think is a misunderstanding of the narrative of The Actor. It's hard to hide things at the Met, but if museums are incentivized by devaluation from damages, I wonder how many other pieces have been restored elsewhere without the public knowing. Maybe in the future they’ll try to make headlines!