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Behind the Scenes of Inter vs Milan for ESPN

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My own notes, invaluable in times of severe panic

Sometimes a feed comes in, gets an English voiceover and is put straight to air on ESPN UK. But on Sunday, we pulled various aces from our sleeves to bring the Serie A “Milan Derby” to an expecting UK audience.

The feed comes in from Eutelsat W3 in HD, the studio for pre match presentation is SD, the commentators are on site in Milan and come in via ISDN. Question is: How do we synchronise comms with pictures, and how do we create HD graphics during the match?

We use pretty much EVERY piece of kit IMG Mediahouse has to offer, that’s how.

In this article, I’ll explain some of the challenges my dayjob in MCR has to offer. My colleagues and I feel like rockstars when a feat like this can successfully be pulled off, and I’m happy to say we did it once again.

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The scary truth about Google’s Chrome Propaganda

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If you’ve recently passed through Oxford Circus Station, you will have noticed only ONE advert on all billboards at the platform: Google Chrome, and how you desperately need it in your life. In fact, this ad is currently plastered all over the UK, and one must ask the all too obvious question:

Why advertise for a FREE product that won’t make any money?

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Bad Toast at Oxford Service Station on the M40

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Particularly rubbish for a shocking rip-off price: £7.99 for “The Big One”. Includes disgusting scrambled egg, terrible sausages and squidgy bacon. Hash browns and beans were OK, but then what can go wrong when all you’re doing is heat up the contents of a can. “Overpriced Shit” sounds way too positive. Verdict: no matter how …

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Treeworshippers (Etch A Sketch)

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I was going to call it “Sunworshippers” in hommage to the song by Mylo – but then I discovered that the “sun” didn’t actually look like a sun… so I turned it into a tree. Works much better.

It’s my first Etch-A-Sketch Masterpiece in Decades!

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We were passing through a service station in Beaconsfield very late yesterday and spent a spontaneous night at the Etap Hotel. It’s connected via a walkway to a 24hr neon world of McDonald’s, Starbuck’s and an Arcade featurung Outrun 2. It felt just like Vegas! We discovered a Pocket Etch-A-Sketch at WH Smith, and I …

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Cycling Diary 2009

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The year is coming to an end rather quickly, and so is the life of the battery powering my Giant Axact 13w cycling computer. Before it loses all its settings, I thought this is the perfect time to put them somewhere safe. Like the internet. This year, I’ve clocked up the following mileage. Keep in …

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YouTube has invited me to make some cash… but it’s a gamble!

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Here’s a funny one…

I made this video on Xbox drive noise over a year ago. It has now had 55.000 views and 129 ratings on YouTube. Out of a sudden YouTube are inviting me to cash in on it.

It means that they’re eager to display adverts in the video and on the page. I can apply for this particular video only, and it won’t affect any of my other 130 videos in my account.

But here’s the snag:

if YouTube REJECT my application, the video and all its 462 comments video responses will be DELETED forever!

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Harry’s Birthday

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It’s Harry’s Birthday next week, so it’s time for a massive party with all his mates. Or is it?

That Friday Feeling

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OK let’s see here, what’s going on in my life right now:

  • Broadcast Magazine are threatening legal action against me over my non-profit project Broadcast News
  • Speaking of which, ever since they called me last Friday the site keeps crashing twice a day
  • My Betacam SP machine got damaged on its way from London to Florida, needless to say my client is less than happy and demands a full refund
  • The penultimate Premier League Day is lurking on the horizon tomorrow
  • I’ve not done ANY Christmas shopping, nor am I anywhere near “that Christmas spirit” I keep hearing so much about
  • And the days keep getting shorter for another 3 whole weeks

Impressive indeed that I’m not completely depressed in a pub by now, and in fact find the energy to devise a new project (HARRY – my new Xtranormal animation series). I even work 4 days a week on top of all that!

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Harry on Dreams

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Harry wakes up from what he believes to be a nightmare. But was it? All new HARRY – weekdays at 9/8c on versluis.com – brought to you by Xtranormal.

Harry on Meeting People

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From my brand new xtranormal series HARRY. In this episode, Harry realises that leaving his flat isn’t as easy as it sounds. It took meabout 30mins to create this from start to finish using Xtranormal’s text-to-movie technology. It’s absolutely awesome! Create dialogue, add camera angles and expressions, then click to share on YouTube or other …

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Booking an Audio Session: Wicked Wicked Creative!

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This is my absolute favourite YouTube Clip of the year: Booking an Audio Session. Anyone working in the broadcast industry will appreciate the bitter truth here. It describes some of the clients we have to deal with to a T! Not only do I appreciate how funny this clip is, I am also excited about …

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