Because I’m just not busy enough, I’ve started guest-blogging on EW.com’s PopWatch blog, detailing some of the madness related to launching [The Nines](http://lookforthenines.com). You can read the [first of these entries](http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2007/07/guest-blogger-j.html#more) today.
One observation so far: I’m snarkier on other people’s blogs than my own.
In preparation for the [trailer competition](), I wanted to see how footage from the movie would hold up when subjected to the Flash compression of YouTube and the other video-sharing sites. So I uploaded three clips in various formats to experiment.
The results? Two clips look surprisingly great. The third looks like ass.
The difference isn’t in the format, or the file size, but the background. The ass-y clip has a forest of sun-dappled leaves in the background, and the compression algorithms freak out trying to handle the level of detail. That’s not unique to Flash; sun-dappling is pretty much the bete noir of video. Several resources recommended applying a soften filter to tamp down the background noise. While it reduced the overall file size, it didn’t end up helping the video quality much.
In the end, the h.264 format ended up working out best for me, but as always, [YMMV](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/your_mileage_may_vary).
The clips are from the DVD that goes out to television stations, for use in reviews and news stories. They show the three different looks in the movie.
* [A Medical Situation](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5tJKiIe-dQ)
* [Kill Off the Hero](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLLAes11LHY)
* [A Videogame God](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQAEIkzOwGY)
Daniel Wallace, the dashing and talented writer who wrote Big Fish (the novel), has a brand new book in stores for your purchasing pleasure: [Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician](http://astore.amazon.com/johnaugustcom-20/detail/038552109X/103-6872397-4470203). I read it a bazillion years ago — books take a surprisingly long time to go from manuscript to shelf — so I’ll let the official blurb handle the one-line summary:
From the author of Big Fish comes this haunting, tender story that weaves a tragic secret, a mysterious meeting with the Devil, and a family of charming circus freaks recounting the extraordinary adventures of their friend Henry Walker, the Negro Magician.
Do you like tales of the South, the circus, and mysterious goings-on? Presumably, if you liked Big Fish. It’s a very different story, told from multiple viewpoints, and certainly worthy of the great reviews it’s been pulling in.
Daniel’s touring, so it’s worth checking when he’ll be at a store near you ((5/3/2011 Update: Tour link inactive)). While you’re at it, explore the rest of [his site](http://danielwallace.org).
A reader alluded to it in the comments of an earlier post, but today we can officially announce that The Nines was chosen to play the Venice Film Festival as part of Critics’ Week.
(At least, I assume we can announce it. We were sworn to double-super secrecy, which is presumably now over, since it was in [Variety](http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=Cannes2007&jump=story&id=1061&articleid=VR1117969003&cs=1) this morning.)
Critics’ Week runs the first week of September; our exact slot should be announced today or tomorrow. Coincidentally — but fortuitously — our U.S. premiere is August 31st, so it will be a busy couple of weeks of promotion.
We’re the only U.S. feature in Critics’ Week this year, which traditionally aims for a wide spectrum of international releases. The other films in our category hail from Mexico, France, Kazakhstan, Russia, Italy, Belgium, and Taiwan.
How psyched am I to be going to Venice? Ohsovery. I didn’t travel to Cannes when [The Nines screened there](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/nines-at-cannes), but that was really just European market screenings for distributors. This is the international debut. I can’t wait to have awkward conversations about the meaning of the film in broken English while jetlagged. And mildly drunk on Italian wines chosen for their melodic names.
Briefly, since I know these will be the first questions raised in the comments section:
* The trailer is done, and should be up within the week.
* The trailer competition is happening, but had to be back-burnered while other stuff got finished.
* No, I don’t know when we’ll be playing in Omaha. Or if we’ll be playing in Omaha.
* Ditto for Argentina.
* I’ve seen the international one-sheet, but the U.S. poster is still in discussions.
* We’re rated R. Presumably for language.
* The official website is getting rebuilt on more-robust servers.
* The movie is unchanged from what premiered at Sundance.
* The movie will be on 35mm in some theatres, digital in others. I’ve seen both projected. They’re different, but equally valid. I’ve considered doing a post about this process, but it would be Geek Factor 8.
* I have no idea when the DVD would come out, but they’re already working on the special features.