vineri, 15 aprilie 2011

Official Google Blog

Official Google Blog

Lights, camera, doodle!

Posted: 15 Apr 2011 09:06 AM PDT

Charlie Chaplin wasn't just the greatest star of the silent film era; he also wrote, directed and produced more than 80 movies in a career that spanned decades and included such masterpieces as The Kid, The Gold Rush and Modern Times. He scored many of his pictures as well, and on at least one occasion served as an on-set hairdresser.

Chaplin is also one of my creative heroes. Despite being an art-obsessed high schooler preemptively bored by anything in black and white, I borrowed a VHS tape of Chaplin's work from the library on a lark. It's not an exaggeration to say watching it changed my life. I laughed, I cried—I cried from laughter. For the first time I realized the power of visual storytelling.

We sometimes tell small stories with Google's logo, but for Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin's 122nd birthday tomorrow, April 16, the Doodle team created something extra fun. For the next 36 hours the Google homepage will pay homage to Charlie Chaplin's creative legacy with our first-ever live action video doodle.

The simple, silent short film stars the entire Doodle team (with fellow doodler Mike Dutton sporting that famous mustache, hat and eyeliner) and was shot on location in Niles, Calif., the setting of several of Chaplin's early classics including The Tramp. Niles is also home to our advisers for this doodle, the ever-helpful Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum.

True pieces of art, Chaplin's films still feel fresh today even though some of them are nearly a century old. We hope that our homage gets people talking about his work and the many virtues of silent film.

As a bonus, check out some of these fun behind-the-scenes shots:



Posted by Ryan Germick, Doodler, Writer, Director, Keystone Cop

YouTube highlights 4/14/2011

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 12:16 PM PDT

This is the latest in our series of YouTube highlights. Every couple of weeks, we bring you regular updates on new product features, interesting programs to watch and tips you can use to grow your audience on YouTube. Just look for the label "YouTube Highlights" and subscribe to the series. – Ed.

This week on YouTube saw several new initiatives, especially in the realm of real-time content. Celebrities also embraced video this week to stand up for a good cause.

Pencil us in
What if you could easily find when your favorite band was performing live on YouTube, or add upcoming live sports to your calendar? Events taking place right now have become an increasingly valuable part of YouTube, including concerts, sporting events and interviews, but sometimes you may not get the heads up until the excitement has already passed.

To make live events easier to discover, and encourage more of them in the process, we've created YouTube Live, which brings live-streaming capabilities and discovery tools to YouTube. At www.youtube.com/live, you'll be able to view the latest live events happening as well as subscribe to your favorite live-stream partners to stay informed on the latest. We've also built in a live comments feature enabling you to engage with live-streamers and the YouTube community.


Celebrities join forces to fight sex trafficking
When celebrities stand up for a cause, people listen. By adding YouTube to the mix, we hope even more people will listen to the powerful "Real Men Don't Buy Girls" campaign. The campaign is supported by the DNA Foundation, founded by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, and aims to take a stand against sex trafficking. Watch the first episodes from the campaign here and join the cause to put an end to the $32 billion global sex slavery market.



Back in action: The Indian Premier League
Millions of cricket fans around the world are anticipating match-ups like Chennai Super Kings vs. Kolkata Knight Riders, two of the 10 teams that make up the Indian Premier League. In partnership with the India Times, we're live streaming the entire 51-day tournament, enabling fans to watch games as they happen, view past matches and enjoy highlight clips on www.youtube.com/indiatimes.

This week in trends
Some quick highlights from YouTube Trends:

  • The tragic tornado that ripped through Merrill, Wisc. this week was captured in bits and pieces through video. Residents posted clips, which we've collected into a playlist.
  • We tracked how President Obama's 2012 campaign announcement video was shared across the web.
  • We saw a sharp rise this month in search volume for videos utilizing a technique called tilt-shift. Tilt-shift videography manipulates the camera lens to make real footage look like a mini-model of itself. Take a look for yourself.
  • Trending on YouTube today with 3.8 million views within a week: Is this even human?

Until we meet again, stay on top of what's going in the world of video via the YouTube Blog.

Posted by Neha Mandal, Product Marketing Manager, The YouTube Team
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