Photoshop TV is produced by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), the nationally accredited and leading resource for Photoshop education and news founded by Adobe in 1998. The show is hosted by three members of NAPP- “The Photoshop Guys”- Dave Cross, who authored/co-authored Illustrator CS2 Killer Tips, The Photoshop World Dream Team Book, and Photoshop CS2 Help Desk Book and currently work with education and curriculum development at NAPP along with Matt Kloskowski: a regular contributor to Photoshop User and Layers magazines, and author of Illustrator Most Wanted and Extreme Photoshop; and Scott Kelby: president of NAPP, CEO of KW Media Group, editor of Photoshop User, Layers and Nikon Software User magazines, andauthor of a number of best-selling Adobe related books. The first episode of Photoshop TV was aired in October or 2005.

Photoshop TV is essentially a series of Photoshop tutorials on camera with some of the most experienced Photoshop users in the world. Episodes run about 30 minutes long, are released every Monday, and while the latest episode is free to download or stream, previous installments must be purchased for $1.99 a piece.  They touch on various technical issues such as how to create a product shot for advertising, how to color correct “by the numbers,” how to make a photo “jump” out of its border, or how to create a photo within a photo (both episode 27). Each episode features three different problems and solutions- one from each Photoshop Guy- as well as information on various contests and prizes, a “to do” list that is really an advertisement for the various magazines, books, and websites of the Photoshop Guys and their friends at Adobe, and advertisements from their sponsors. Photoshop is definitely the kind of program that you need someone to show—not just tell. (Wouldn’t you rather watch someone use the gradient map to colorize black and white images than try to read how to do it?) Keep in mind, however, these episodes are not necessarily for beginners, they are not sequential lessons in that build on the skills gained from previous episodes, nor do they promise a comprehensive knowledge of the entire Photoshop program. Also, they are not exactly entertainment. (I mean, the Photoshop Guys are funny, but it’s a software lesson!.) Photoshop TV is an assortment of interesting and highly useful tips for the Photoshop professional or enthusiast.

Take a look at episode 75, and learn how to use adjustments, filters, and free transform to create a professional looking product shot, how to remove a color cast using curves, how to execute a new method of color correction, and then how to apply it to many photos using automation. Also see Scott Kelby insult Matt Kloskowski’s book Photoshop Speed Clinic, which shows you how to be super fast with your Photoshop skillz.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Kate Dundon
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Simon Dorfman moved to New Orleans in the Summer of 2000. He fled to Austin after the hurricanes and only returned in the summer of 2006, finding that many of his web and graphic clients had relocated and there was little work for him.

He started People of New Orleans in June 2006 with a better appreciation of his city, recognizing that he’d never visited entire neighborhoods that are now irrecoverable and that there are many people he will now never have the opportunity to meet. But by telling the stories of New Orleans one person at a time, he gets to become more acquainted with his city as it is now (and lets us in on his cultural educationl).

To appreciate the site, you have to understand Simon’s one-take, no-editing philosophy, which has been both extolled and berated by viewers of the site. He does so to give viewers an unaltered sense of the stories the hurricane victims tell, from their evacuation tales to the struggles they’ve faced getting their lives back together.

Each interview focuses on one or two people – mostly white residents, to the dismay of some viewers – as they share stories, unprompted by Simon for the most part. He also avoids attaching microphones to his subject, allowing the city’s background noise to permeate and sometimes dominate the interviews with atmosphere. He limits the interviews to 10 minutes in length.

The interviews help reveal parts of the story that the “big media” has been unwilling to show. One of the more endearing stories comes from Fran Ledger, who reports not just on the use of the toll-free 211 number that replaced the defunct 911 during the emergency situation, but also on a positive that came about during the tragedy: her falling in love.

For a lighter look at it all, take the kid’s point of view, from interviews with the pre-teen Steve, filmed in Champaign, IL, and with Zeke, a real charismatic kid who has some unpleasant words for his former schoolteacher.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Rebecca Halpin
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Being named after Patrice Lumumba, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first Prime Minister, probably isn’t the most expected first step in a path towards stand-up comedy, but Boston comedian Patrice Oneal has clearly found a way to get laughs on stage.  At an imposing six-foot-five, three hundred pounds, ONeal has a style of cringe-inducing, race-relations-related humor that is designed to fill the audience with uncomfortable hilarity.  It’s not surprise that he lists George Carlin and Richard Pryor among his heroes.

After numerous appearances on Late Night With Conan O’Brian, a two-year regular spot on Comedy Central’s short-lived “Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn,” two seasons as host of VH1’s Web Junk 20, and various other TV and film roles, in June 2007 Oneal launched his raunchy persona into the censorship-free World Wide Web with The Patrice Oneal Show Coming Soon!.  Produced by internet TV production house, For Your Imagination, the series documents Oneal and his entourage’s behind-the-scenes exploits as they develop a sketch-comedy show for broadcast that doesn’t really exist.

A good deal of The Patrice O’Neal Show Coming Soon! consists of Oneal and his crew of fellow comics and friends– Bryan, Dante, Harris, Wil and the only female member, Von – shouting insults at each other from across the room. There is no overall premise or thread to the series. Each week is another haphazard idea that tickled Patrice’s fancy.  Most episodes are filmed in front of a green screen, before which abrasive racial humor unfolds.  This isn’t the sly ethnic comedy of the Dave Chappelle variety – ethnic slurs are thrown around with a sense transgression that focuses more on being caustic than being clever.  If you’re into that, it’s funny.  Really funny.  If you’re not, it’s offensive.  Really offensive.

In Episode Six: Reading Your Email, Oneal reads his viewer’s suggestions, all of which eventually become opportunity for everyone to insult everyone else. The other comics attempt to match his invectives but fail to rise to the occasion.  This is the Patrice show after all.  Attempted sketches like Episode Seven: The Last White Man Alive never quite turn out as intended. The premise of three thugs hunting the last white man on the planet (or “cracka” rather) is abandoned when it’s discovered Patrice’s friends are poor actors and the one white guy of the bunch can’t even say the n-word aloud.  One gets the impression that sometimes the best-intended plans of the Patrice O’ Neal show are often scuttled by the cast’s desire to simply call each other names.

Episode One: Brainstorming features Patrice and friends hurling various show ideas over discarded pizza boxes. Perhaps it is here we best understand the inner machinations of the series, where the distance from a blurted insult to show premise is a short one indeed.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Greg Rock
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In September 2004, the TRIO channel – owned by NBC/Universal –launched a new programming block called OutZone. Targeted at the gay community and featuring a host of new series alongside re-runs of gay-friendly fare, it was intended to bring more entertaining and relevant content to its loyal homosexual viewers. To reach an even broader audience, they teamed up with Bravo Television – also owned by NBC/Universal – and PlanetOut to bring OutZone to the web. Launched in June 2006 to coincide with Gay Pride month, the site is complete with never-before-seen footage and outtakes and original programming, as well as archived videos from the ‘50s and ’60s.

OutZone separates its video into a handful of main categories, including: Movies, featuring old favorites like ABC TV’s 1972 “That Certain Summer” as well as newer films like “Three of Hearts”; Reality, mostly from Bravo TV’s successful series like Boy Meets Boy, Party Party, and Gay Weddings 101 (and 102); Camp & Kitsch, with archived film classics like the 1950’s “Much Ado About Hair-dos” and clips from the early 90s Men’s Bikini Open; Fashion, which profiles designers like Trovata and Karl Lagerfeld; Beefcake, with profiles of male models; and of course, Kathy Griffin. In addition to video, there are News articles relevant to the gay community, Blogs from gay icons like Daniel Vosovic of Project Runway’s second season, Photo Galleries, and Community boards that allow OutZone patrons to speak out on the website and its content.  

If you don’t swoon over an old clip of Ashton Kutcher and Josh Duhamel strutting down the catwalk, you might as well be catatonic. OutZone may target the gay community, but this girl’s equally entertained.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Rebecca Halpin
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After almost two full decades as America’s Finest (and Fakest) News Source, The Onion newspaper has ventured into the foray of 24 hour cable news with the online Onion News Network (ONN).

The paper itself was originally started in 1988 by students at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. In 2001, the Onion relocated to New York City and was purchased by New York money manager David Schafer, who kept on the staff at the time and hired now-President Sean Mills, former head of Adgile Interactive, an online media-buying agency.

Mills has taken the Onion viral in the past half decade (including a deal with Myspace in August of 2007) and ONN is the latest step for this mock journalistic institution. ONN launched in late March of 2007, and is headed by supervising executive producer/director Scott Dikkers, a co-founder of the original paper, and head writer, Carol Kolb, who has been writing for the Onion since 1996.

In its first promotional video, ONN promised to deliver “TV news that’s faster, harder, scarier, and all-knowing.” The stories are broken up into three categories. The first, labeled ONN, are journalistic style reports with an anchor, interviews, correspondents, statistics, and reportage style footage. The second style is called In the Know, which features roundtable, McLaughlin Group type panel discussions about issues such as Kim Jong-Il’s Approval Rating Plummets to 120% and Should We Be Shaming Obese Children More? The third, and least frequent stories are O-Span, which present either the US Department of Lost and Found, or floor footage where fake members of Congress discuss issues such as Hobo killing and Ladies night.

The presentation of the fake stories is impeccable. The Lou Dobbs/Brian Williams/Katie Couric style anchors sit in front of control room screens as high intensity sound and graphics packages introduce stories, experts are named and titled, and occasionally, a fake news crawl scrolls at the bottom. Like its hard copy paper predecessor, ONN is fake news in the truest sense. Unlike Comedy Central’s satirical staples The Daily Show and The Colbert Report (both of which featured Onion alum Ben Karlin as an executive producer), ONN invents stories and presents them in the guise of actual news, as opposed to comedic perspectives on current events accompanied by audience laughter.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Devin Delliquanti
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Formed in 2002 while Juniors at Bard College, The Brooklyn-based Olde English comedy group, named after the famously cheap malt liquor stars five guys: Ben Popik, Raphael “Raizin” Bob-Waksberg, Adam Conover, David Segal, Caleb Bark, and a bevy of guest stars and former members on the side.

It all started when posts of their classic sketch, “Gym Class,” in 2004 prompted so many visitors and links on other comedy sites that they felt the need to finish the mini-zeitgeist they had already begun. In response to their surprising popularity, they made a blog and a vlog to share both recordings from live shows and clips created solely for the web.

By November 2006, even Good Morning America took notice of the troupe by airing their other famous clip, “Ben Takes a Photo of Himself Everyday,” on national morning television. You can also watch their DVD for free in five segments on the site.

Their videos are actually funny. In an age of self-publishing and an industry where hit-or-miss is the accepted norm, that’s a pretty commendable trait. (Just check out their “Project Runway” parody to see what their sense of humor is like. It’s definitely one of their best.) The brief episodes are listed blog-style on the site’s main page, with little fanfare and even less description.

They don’t let their videos do all the talking, though; they keep a unique photo gallery and a traditional blog, and that both get updated very frequently, providing fans with news, stories, and behind-the-scenes conversations about the group, its shows, and the blogging experience, as well as special video clips available exclusively on the blog. There’s also a very active message board, which viewers mostly use to ask questions like, “Which song was used in your last video?” Fans also use it to vote on t-shirt designs and comment on recent postings, although they can do that below each individual video as well, and they do. And if you manage to befriend the group, perhaps by attending enough of their live shows or adding them on MySpace, you might even get your own birthday video!

In The First Date, a boy has to decide between playing the word “Love,” which will diminish his Scrabble score even further but gain respect, or “Vaginas,” which will give him several hundred points, but turn off his date forever. It’s a funny concept on paper and it plays even better onscreen.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Rebecca Halpin
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American Idol meets MySpace at Music Nation, the online destination for independent artists to strut their stuff, and for fans to discover some aural pleasure beyond mainstream top 40 playlists. More than a forum to publicize their talents, the site also offers musicians the chance to compete and win major prizes including their own recording contracts.

It launched in 2006, and was co-founded by Daniel Klaus, Lucas Mann, Kevin P. Ryan, and Peter Read. Prior to starting the site, Klaus co-founded and served as the CEO of The Fabric Group, an interactive services and media strategy firm. Mann previously established Mann Media Partners, an organization involved in product distribution and brand consultancy and acted as the president of award winning new-media company Clique Inc./Sparkart LLC. Named one of the “50 Most Influential Business People” by Crain’s New York Business in 2005 during his tenure as the CEO of Doubleclick, Ryan was subsequently involved in the creation of Shopwiki and PantherExpress. A major music industry player, Read served as the president of VNU/Nielsen Entertainment Group, and currently operates Entertainment Insights Limited, a consulting company. The co-founders’ combined expertise thus spans the music publishing, development, entertainment product distribution, Internet media, and e-commerce industries.

Music, music, and more music – the site hosts artists in all genres, from hip-hop to electronic to jazz to just plain pop, and allows users to create personal pages where they can feature their favorite bands, make friends within the Nation, and receive feedback and commentary from other users. Video quality ranges from awesome to amateur, and many of the featured artists are comparable to chart toppers. Artists can upload videos, MP3s, photos, and slideshows, to their pages and enter them into a 12-week competition that grants its winner a recording contract. Finalists are chosen by a judging panel made up of industry bigwigs as well as members of the site’s registered online community. The first competition concluded in May 2007 and included 2,500 contestants. Three musicians featured on the site – punk rocker Kid Deposit Triumph, Latin diva Yolanda Ruiz, and hip hop artist, T-Max – were awarded a contract with Epic Records, the company which launched the musical careers of artists such as Good Charlotte, Jennifer Lopez, Matisyahu, and Sean Kingston. In short, the site offers the opportunity of a lifetime for unknown artists and an outlet for music lovers to hear and see what’s beyond the billboards.

The homepage previews a rotating group of featured artists and “most viewed videos” if you are looking for a good taste of the kind of talent which graces the Music Nation.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Anusha Alikhan
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Nearly each weekday since February 2006, SoCal-based Steve Tatham (a stand-up comedian and Disney Imagineer) has broadcast a news show from his house. While his wife and kids wonder how their house became a studio, Steve continues to create his 3-minute daily episodes that cover everything from Condoleezza Rice and Nancy Pelosi to Nicole Ritchie and Tom Cruise.

His style is a cross between “The Daily Show” and the Weekend Update sketches on “Saturday Night Live,” combining headlines with punch lines and witty, tongue-in-cheek commentary.

Steve acts as anchorman and introduces new stories, delivering his caustic commentary in three-to-four minute episodes. On Wednesdays, he breaks the mold by bringing in special guests, often other comedians and musicians; on Fridays, he gives viewers a summary of the week’s headlines and the Ointment News quiz (oddly, answers are not provided on the site). There are even occasional special reports on weekend shows.

The content of the stories follows politics, celebrity news, and anything bizarre enough to warrant a snicker or two. For instance, when Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace for over $500 million, it was time for an Ointment MySpace Special Report, taking the show to the streets of Bakersfield, CA for a fake interview with a typical MySpace user (“Oh my goodness, Orlando Bloom just said he’d be my friend”). The guest stars range from comedians who already have a following, like the hilarious Cathy Ladman, to amateur singer/comedian Robin Roberts.

A discussion on swing voters in Arizona is hilarious, if only because “journalist” Mary Manofsky spends most of the video at the Grand Canyon talking about the “national hazard” that is a canyon’s lack of a railing. “It’s very dangerous here, look at this. There’s no railing. Children and little puppies are just falling every day to their deaths.” It’s the guest reporters and fake interviews that round out the show and make it worth watching.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Rebecca Halpin
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Since the early years of the mp3, music labels have been cracking down on illegal music downloads. But Sony Bertelsmann Music Group, one of the Big Four music groups, adapted to the new culture under CEO Sir Howard Stringer with an inspiring approach to the problem. Rather than alienate consumers with lawsuits, Sony BMG Musicbox went in the opposite direction in June 2006 by providing access to its impressive catalogue of music videos and by allowing bloggers to post their favorites on their own sites.

Sony BMG has six of its legendary subsidiaries represented on the site: Columbia Records (Dixie Chicks, DMX, Three 6 Mafia), Epic Records (Shakira, Matisyahu, INXS), J Records/Arista (Gavin DeGraw, Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood), RCA Records (Christina Aguilera, The Strokes, Avril Lavigne), Zomba Music Group (Pink, Britney Spears, R. Kelly), and an archive of rare and collectible music Legacy Recordings (Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Soul Asylum). Each video streams in Music Box’s Brightcove player with links to related artists and labels. Although most of the videos appear daily on MTV and VH1, Sony BMG has fewer restrictions to follow, resulting in less censorship. Of course, there’s the full catalogue of pop royalty like Xtina, Britney, and American Idol’s Kelly Clarkson, but nostalgic viewers will appreciate the Legacy Recordings warehouse, which includes everything from Michael Jackson’s epic “Thriller” to New Kids on the Block doing the Roger Rabbit and “You’ve Got It (The Right Stuff)”.

The fact that you can now legally imbed Michael Jackson’s Thriller on your blog is hands down the coolest thing about the site.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Rebecca Halpin
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Octane TV, an online video network for motor enthusiasts, is the newest platform from on demand video giant Ripe Digital Entertainment. Octane TV is the sister site for Ripe Digital’s online forum, RipeTV, and targets the same young male viewers with videos of fast cars, dirt bikes, gruesome crashes and beautiful women. The site was launched in late 2006 and supports Ripe Digital’s blueprint, synthesizing video online, on TV and on your cell phone. Octane TV presents viewers with every aspect of motor trend lifestyle, from motocross to import tuners to drift races. It’s a top stop for the hormone-charged motor head.

Beautiful porn stars are the oil in Octane TV’s engine. Kendra Wilkinson, the cute, energetic tomboy from Playboy’s Girls Next Door, is the face of the site and host of the channel Now On Octane. Each Wednesday, Kendra and other lovely pin-ups break down the newest news in the world of motor sports and the car and bike scene. The site is broken up into several channels, each displayed across the bottom of the screen like a macho iMac dock, which enlighten the average viewer about car culture as well as unabashedly flaunt the assets of the female hosts. One of the channels, Sexy Road Test, lets viewers hit the road for a tour of a new vehicle accompanied by a sexy and knowledgeable host. Drift Scene profiles a relatively new fashion in street racing called “drift,” a method of hitting turns in a car without slowing down. Hot Import Nights is a channel for the hobbyist and car tuner. Viewers of this channel are invited to check out the hottest and fastest imports, as well as Ms. Amber Lancaster, the channel’s smokin’ host. All of the videos play on the site’s one internal viewer, a feature that makes the browsing easy and efficient, and episodes can be stored in a playlist as well as rated by viewers for quick and personal customization. A free membership entitles the viewer to downloads, extra footage and photo galleries, but is unnecessary for general viewing and enjoyment. Overall, the videos on Octane TV’s channels are informative and fun, with a commitment to the culture and a sense of humor about the provocative marketing methods.

As a Francophile, I went crazy for Marseille Madness, an episode of Fuel Girls that follows the delicious motor vixens through the arrondissements of Marseilles as they promote Octane TV worldwide. The charismatic trio gets drunk, naked and loud as the girls hit the streets and the clubs. I particularly enjoyed when, posing with French troops, a topless Fuel Girl fires a round from the biggest gun I have ever seen in my life. Mon Dieu, my pistons were firing!

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Timothy Stanley
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Mr. Deity is the brainchild of writer-director-actor Brian Keith Dalton, whose previous credits include indie films Killing the Dream, which he’s trying to expand into a feature called 15 Minutes Later, and Ennui. As described by Dalton himself, “Mr. Deity is a semi-monthly video series (every two weeks) that looks at God and the Universe with a smile (and sometimes, a wink).” Dalton’s aim is to get Mr. Deity picked up as a half-hour series for television, as explained in this interview with Humanist Network News, where both Dalton and Mr. Deity take turns at answering poignant questions. While the show has yet to garner any offers from major television networks, it has still managed to develop a substantial fan base.

The humor of Mr. Deity works by way of anthropomorphism. Mr. Deity is not some unknowable, awe-inspiring god but rather a neurotic, often inept and aloof businessman who must bargain with Jesse, a.k.a. Jesus (Sean Douglas), to do his bidding; makes the “Let There Be Light” command respondent to the Clapper; and consults with Lucy, aka Lucifer, on the décor of hell. Usually in the midst of a white, cosmic nether region, Mr. Deity (bearing, as one youtuber has commented, an uncanny resemblance to George Lucas), Jesse, Lucy, and reliable assistant Larry engage in dialogues that touch on the more absurd aspects of Judeo-Christianity, from the Lord’s allowance of evil to the tendency of athletes to claim a higher power responsible for their triumphs. The production and performances of the show are impressively top notch, but the quality of the show’s musings vary from episode to episode and sometimes within a single one—the best of Mr. Deity can be compared to the philosophical comedy of Woody Allen, while the worst can be likened to an all-night conversation among college theology nerds. At the very least the show contains a ridiculously catchy muzak theme, available through the site as an mp3.

The fourth episode of Mr. Deity is the most consistent of the show, and certainly contains the wittiest dialogue. Titled “Mr. Deity and the Messages,” it has our favorite omnipotent being checking prayers left for him on a cellphone (upon learning he has 2,996,804,760 messages: “Unbelievable. I just cleared these yesterday.”) He flippantly deletes a grace said before dinner (“That’s 60% of my voice mail right there—spam”), heartlessly skips over a suicidal plea for help, and derides as a pest a certain young girl named Margaret. When Jesse expresses incredulity that God should leave prayers unanswered, Mr. Deity responds with the perfect line: “That’s all I can do—I listen to a few and delete the rest.”

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Michael Joshua Rowin
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Access Nurses is a job placement company that sends traveling nurses around the country to work at hospitals and medical centers that are in need of an extra pair of hands. In fall 2005, the company decided to highlight this noble profession with the broadband reality show NurseTV: 13 Weeks. The show follows six travel nurses as they move to Southern California to live in a mansion together, while they work at four area hospitals and experience a variety of adventures. Their mission is to inform internet viewers about the joys of travel nursing and to recruit new nurses to address shortages. The six stars (4 women and 2 men) were chosen online from hundreds of applicants by 26,000 online voters. The show started Thanksgiving weekend in 2005, with the final episode of the season posted on March 22, 2006.

Steve acts as anchorman and introduces new stories, delivering his caustic commentary in three-to-four minute episodes. On Wednesdays, he breaks the mold by bringing in special guests, often other comedians and musicians; on Fridays, he gives viewers a summary of the week’s headlines and the Ointment News quiz (oddly, answers are not provided on the site). There are even occasional special reports on weekend shows. The content of the stories follows politics, celebrity news, and anything bizarre enough to warrant a snicker or two. For instance, when Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace for over $500 million, it was time for an Ointment MySpace Special Report, taking the show to the streets of Bakersfield, CA for a fake interview with a typical MySpace user (“Oh my goodness, Orlando Bloom just said he’d be my friend”). The guest stars range from comedians who already have a following, like the hilarious Cathy Ladman, to amateur singer/comedian Robin Roberts.

The most compelling episode is the finale, a real nail-biter that ends with a major cliffhanger. While taking one of their day-off excursions, the six Access Nurses are sent skydiving. Naturally, anybody aware of how high in the air she is might be a little nervous before she jumps out of a moving plane, but no one who’s already up there ever really expects the worst. However, the closing seconds of the finale are clips from Angel’s headgear-camera as her parachute struggles to open, then the footage cuts to a shot of paramedics opening a stretcher back on the ground.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Rebecca Halpin
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