Dot Com Pho – Flip Flap Edition and Giveaway!
Posted by Stephen on
June 15, 2008
In John Chow’s absence, I was able to take over the production of the weekly Dot Com Pho Video again starting with the May 17th Edition and then the May 25th Edition. Since I shot the pilot episode, it was only natural for me to take on the task once again. Now that the whole crew is back in Canada (except for Ed Lau who is somewhere in Japan) it’s time for another episode of Dot Com Pho!
In order to up my game, I changed the software I used and switched to the totally unfamiliar iMovie HD. Though more powerful, I found it quite a bit more difficult to use versus iMovie 08 so I had to fiddle quite a bit with it. In the end, the software is quite a bit more powerful, although I personally think iMovie 08 has the potential to be better with new plugins down the road.
So what’s your favourite Dot Com Pho Crew up to this week? Tune in with John Chow, Michael Kwan, Greg Morgan, Gary Ng and me to find out! To kick things off, hot off the YouTubes, is my version of the Dot Com Pho – Flip Flap Edition…
For a different point of view altogether, here is John Chow’s Flip Flap Edition. Same day, same people, but totally different editing…
So do I get a break next week? Or do you want me to keep going until I get sick of it? Only you can decide!
Oh…and One More Thing…
As an incentive, I’m going to use this opportunity to start a new contest!
If you leave your comment on this post about who should live to edit another day, I’ll enter you into a draw for an “UNBRANDED” iPod nano 4GB Silver that I won at the ZOTAC Party! Unlike the one that Market Leverage is giving away through John Chow this month, this iPod nano is free from any branding nonsense so that you can enjoy it as you please and if you are Chinese, you can even re-gift it properly because it doesn’t have your blog name or Market Leverage’s name on it. Yay!
To increase your chances of winning, you will get one additional entry if you provide another unique comment on my video’s YouTube Page and if you blog about this contest and leave a trackback, you’ll receive another FIVE entries just because I said so for a total of SEVEN lucky entries! WOW! If your trackback doesn’t show, feel free to leave a link to it in the comments on this post.
To sweeten the pot further, everyone that participates in any of the aforementioned methods will be entered once to win my beloved “Flip Flap” because it’s “Flip Flap” FTW! Market Leverage doesn’t have one. John Chow doesn’t have one. But I have one and it could be yours! Contest closes July 1st on Canada’s Birthday and is open to anywhere that snail mail goes.
Good luck and Have Fun! 
UPDATE: Congratulations to the winners! Check this post to see if it is you!
I think you should both be fired.
Well, I guess I can’t blame either of you. I’m the most entertaining part of Dot Com Pho, after all…and I’m over on the other side of the pond for the next three months.
Ed Laus last blog post..The Innuendos! They’re Everywhere!
If I’m fired for this, then you are double fired for three minutes of filler in your dot com dump video. I was there, and I didn’t want to sit through us wandering the streets
Stephens last blog post..Lowepro Fastpack 350 Camera Bag Review
Wandering through the streets of a foreign country lost and hungry is awesome content.
Ed Laus last blog post..Dot Com Pho…with Flip Flap!
Sure! If you’re a hobbit!
Stephens last blog post..Lowepro Fastpack 350 Camera Bag Review
I think you should take turns
Nice videos, but I think I like Gary’s idea of taking turns each week. Of course Stephen Fung should win it because of his life long fascination with eating non-stop XXL Big Sausage Pizzas!
I also commented on Ed’s blog, thinking it was your blog–FAIL!
I would love to win that Flip Flap because my 10 palettes coming in from Mainland China are delayed, plus it would be neat to have in my new condo.
iPhone in Canadas last blog post..Listen to TalkCast, Win an invisibleSHIELD from Zagg.com
Thanks for endorsing them and telling us about them. I’m sure the iPhoneinCanada Big Sausage Factory discount coupon will come in handy. You must go there a lot
Stephens last blog post..Lowepro Fastpack 350 Camera Bag Review
Wait a minute. That was Initial D music playing during Ed’s clip…
Michael Kwans last blog post..How I Got Started with Blogging and Freelance Writing
Yes… Yes it was. I thought the Music Credits would have given it away.
Stephens last blog post..Lowepro Fastpack 350 Camera Bag Review
I wrote that comment before I watched the credits. lol.
Michael Kwans last blog post..Trading Dollars For Hours
Always watch the credits. Hilarity ensues!
Hi,
Came here via Ed Lau and Joh Chow’s sites. I started watching your videos not long ago (two or three months at most) so my opinion might not reflect what has been done in the past. Said that…
Content: Stephen. It had more content than John’s video, not to mention in John’s the section on the flip flaps went a bit too long, in my opinion.
Caption/on-screen comment: John. Character by character caption, in my opinion, is a bit… confusing (for the lack of a better word).
Music: John. Although well intended, I found the music in Stephen’s video to be a bit of a distraction (and I am not referring to the background noise, here!).
Video: None? Both were good.
Despite the tally goes to John, in the end, I prefer Stephen’s a little bit more. Content makes up for those other “issues”. However, I think both should generate videos, as it gives different perspectives (despite being the same event. Also, in the end, those of us who watch (and could not participate) are the winners! I hope to be there one of these days.
[These comments are duplicated in John's blog]
Thanks for the comments. Don’t forget to comment on the video’s YouTube page and blog/ping this post back so that you will get maximum entries for Flip Flap and the iPod nano!
I usually do a lot more captions, but iMovie HD is a way different beast than iMovie 08 which John was using. It’s better in some respects, but inferior in others. Apple really needs to put the best of both together. Captioning is just a nightmare with iMovie HD, IMHO. You screw up, you sort of need to start over.
For Music, well, I like music. I’m not a fan of “dead silence” or background noise that isn’t music. For example, if I’m working in a room with other people, if there is no background music or noise or TV, I feel really strange, almost uncomfortable. In the video, I picked music that highlighted the situation, for example, I picked the Iron Chef Theme when we went through all the different Pho dishes, and I picked REM’s End of the World as We Know It to highlight John’s announcement that someone is giving HIM money. It must be the end of the world right?
I wouldn’t encourage John to use his music collection. His idea of a good tune is “Rick Astley’s Rick Roll”. No lie. He listens to it willingly and sings along to it enthusiastically *shudder*
I’ve had mostly positive feedback on the music selection, but I feel my mixing was a bit weak. I’m just not used to how to adjust it in the software. The crescendo wasn’t coming up where I wanted it and it wasn’t low enough when I needed it. I did also notice that it sounds different on a set of laptop speakers vs headphones so you might want to take a listen again with a set on just to compare. I do all my editing on headphones, SONY MDR-7506’s to be exact, and get quite a different result. I’ll try to figure out the differences and keep them in mind for next time, maybe run it through an equalizer first.
Again, appreciate it. Tells me where and what I need to focus on.
Stephens last blog post..Lowepro Fastpack 350 Camera Bag Review
He’s right. John has poor taste to say the least.
Ed Laus last blog post..Dot Com Pho…with Flip Flap!
Are you saying you didn’t like the Muppet version John found on YouTube? Who know Beaker could sing?
James – DigitalKeyToInfos last blog post..Tornado Warning!
I say you both should continue to do videos. It gives a different perspective on the same event, which may seem repetitive, but who knows, one of you may miss something that the other guy caught. It’s better than posting the same video on both blogs!
I’ll hit the youtube comment and blog about it as well!
Shawn Knights last blog post..Sanctioned Occasions for Fun
I think having multiple videos each week will just make it confusing. Taking turns is probably a better idea, methinks.
Michael Kwans last blog post..Trading Dollars For Hours
I think its a nice video. I also like your idea of a contest. Am sure you’ll get plenty of comments just for that.
Eva Whites last blog post..Horse Riding
I like to see both videos, but if I had to make a choice, I would say that John Chow’s version is better. I don’t like the music effects, and the black screen caption areas of the first video. But I would like to see them both, they both show a different perspective of the Dot Com Pho.
ians last blog post..CDF Networks – MarketLeverage Contest
Bah I can’t watch the videos till I get home because my work computer has no audio. Oh well.
Tyler Ingrams last blog post..My First DotComPho
I need an iPod! Since I lost mine.. and I really don’t like the Samsung T10 I’m using in its place.
Tyler Ingrams last blog post..Sony Ericsson K850i Cell Phone Camera Review
I believe in compromise so I think that you two should alternate and do the editing!
You also have a comment on your Youtube post and I’ll write a blog entry later this week!
Cool! Thanks Enkay!
Remember folks, a YouTube comment gets you ONE EXTRA ENTRY for the nano. FIVE Extra entries if you blog about this and ping me back, and EVERYONE that comments will be entered to win Flip Flap, because Flip Flap is FTW!
Stephens last blog post..Lowepro Fastpack 350 Camera Bag Review
No problem Stephen. I realize that the contest is over but I still figured I’d give you a link back so regardless of whether this counts or not, I’m cool with it.
http://nkhan.jwmediabox.com/blog/featured-plugin-maintenance-mode/
Enkay Blogs last blog post..Featured Plugin: Maintenance Mode
stephen
well have to go with your edits as have been overall smoother and seamless in editing and have more personality in the video editing.
Yeah I think you guys should take turns
My vote is for the turn taking thing. A different perspective is cool once in a while.
Or, you could just both keep doing it with a contest each time.
James – DigitalKeyToInfos last blog post..Tornado Warning!
What’s up with the people here? Most of them are sitting on the fence and not calling out a clear winner, giving wishy washy comments like both should take turns, 2 videos will offer different perspectives…blah blah blah….
Here are my thoughts:
Video quality – Stephen.
Music – John Chow. It boils down to better timing, and I feel the music in some part of Stephen’s video (especially the initial part) was more of a distraction than help.
Animation/Effects – No clear winner in this aspect!
Personable level – John Chow’s video connected with me on a more personal level as he had more “on screen” time and also had more conversations with the rest of the guys.
Credits – Stephen. I love your closing credits where you mentioned all participants and even gave credit to the music used. Another great move was the muted the background noise and put in your own music to great effect – what I meant by good timing.
Oh gosh, what? It’s a draw???
Now I gotta do this base on my gut feel and my gut says I want to see more of Stephen’s video. Try to get more “on screen” time and connect with the viewers – like having a face-to-face conversation with us.
If I may boldly suggest, don’t try too hard and overdo your videos with all the fancy animations/animatronics and what have you, keep to your original style.
betshopboys last blog post..Turkish Delight – Euro 2008
Noted. It was difficult for me to not play with a bunch of the features of iMovie HD. I’m sure it shows. It is far more advanced than iMovie 08 but also very quirky. Hopefully, as I get better with it, I can nuke that annoying YouTube audio compression problem however, did anyone notice that flip flap actually dances in time with the music in the intro?
Stephens last blog post..Lowepro Fastpack 350 Camera Bag Review
Blow post here:
http://www.shawn-knight.net/ipod-nano-from-stephen-fung/
BTW, what size is the iPod? I guess I missed that…
Also, I tried posting a comment on the YouTube page in both Firefox and IE, but it didn’t seem to work… or maybe it needs moderation? The text box just went grey and that was it… ?
Shawn Knights last blog post..iPod Nano from Stephen Fung
It’s a 4GB silver unit. I’ll update the post with that info and add that if you don’t see your ping back, to just post with the link.
Stephens last blog post..Tuniq 3 Mid-Tower ATX Computer Case Review
OK, just double checked, and yeah, your comment isn’t there. I wonder if it is because YouTube was doing maintenance?
Try doing a video comment? It would be my first one!
It’s better quality vs lower quality…I am for Stephen
I really hope I can snag that iPod and that Flip Flap
-Mike
p.s. Also commented on YouTube
Mike Huangs last blog post..Networking With Bloggers Will Help You Blog
I think Flip Flap is worth it for sure! Flip Flap = WIN!
Split decision: 50/50
I made a comment on YouTube and a post: http://2magicminds.com/flip-flap
Thanks for the post. Good luck in the contest. Flip Flap FTW!
Stephens last blog post..Deca Sports for the Nintendo Wii Review
Why don’t you both shoot video, and then just one person edit it all into one video? You should do the editing though…
Stephen ftw!
Mubins last blog post..Never Underestimate The Value of Good Content
Good luck with that new contest. I am sure that it will become very popular.
I would like to enter this contest.
Quintin Riiss last blog post..Important Update On June Blog Promotion!
You’ve got a nice contest going on over there too. Trade you flip flap for that monitor. My kitchen PC needs something bigger for those recipes
Stephens last blog post..2008 Dot Com Taipei The Video!
I gotta go with Stephen’s video on this one. The only thing I can suggest for improvement is to turn down the music volume at the 4 minute mark. It’s hard to hear what others are saying. That said, the background music is a nice touch to cover up the ambient restaurant noise, that place must be packed!
Simon Laus last blog post..Overclockers Online Internet Explorer CSS Update
Both of you should continue to create your videos. That way there is multiple point of view of what really happens at Dot Com Pho.
Congratulations to the winners! Check this post to see if it is you!
Stephens last blog post..Canadian iPhone 3G Pricing and What You Can Do About It