31/03/2012 Click

victory. Now it is time for Click.

This week on Click, exciting times. We have decided to find out just

how good the video cameras are on smartphones by using one to make a

movie. And you can't get more analogue

then a night at the theatre, but can you? Be at a show where it is

not just the actors doing the projecting.

The latest tech news and a great way to bring your desk top to life

in Webscape. Welcome to Click. Welcome to

Alexandra Palace in London. This was the birthplace of BBC One, the

world's first regular high- definition TV service. Although

this was higis was higon 1930s style. But these days, you can get

higher definition on one of these than at this place ever pumped out.

Some film-makers are using smartphones to make professional-

looking films. We wondered just how good a movie can -- how good of a

mini you can make on a smartphone. We decided to make one. -- a movie.

I am at Alexandra Palace now. We had a Tweet saying there was

something weird over here. I can't see anything at the moment, but...

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 72 seconds

Target required. Attack. Attack. Attack.

OK. Let's try a bit of droid on Her! Broke Android, thought there

would be a nap for that. -- and app. The end. Have you enjoyed that. But

if you would like to try making something like that, you will need

some extra bit -- bits of kit and a The bar has already been set higher

by this movie, Olive, entirely filmed on a Nokia N8 smartphone.

Director Hooman Khalili used a host of professional great film lenses,

a professional sound engineer to capture audio separately, and a

professional at its weight. -- edit suite. For us, the challenge was to

capture high-definition video and sound, colour great the resulting

footage, and to generate those visual effects using only

smartphones and their various attachments. So, which phone to

use? Or those Samsung's Galaxy as to ute seemed to sue the best video,

most of the hardware attachments and the best post-production apps

are currently only made for the iPhone -- iPhone. Location booked,

storyboard completed and batteries charged, we headed to Alexandra

Palace for a day of fresh air and running about. One of the first

problems you will encounter when shooting at smartphone video or is

that the phone tries to be too helpful. It constantly changes the

focus and exposure as you're filming. In comes FiLMiC Pro, one

of the few apps that allows you to lock the camera settings for the

duration of a shot. The next problem You will have is a lens,

which will be lost if you -- which will need for a decent wide-angle

shot. But there are a number of attachments which will give you a

variety of looks. A Siddle wide- angle lens but to capture even more

of the scene. This fisheye lens gives you that warped effect for

the Android's point of view. And a telephoto lens can give any shot a

more professional look. It can give you close-up shots and throws the

background out of focus, which looks really cooler. -- cooler.

This attachment let you screw your phone onto any attached -- tripod

you like. And that tracking shot at the start of the movie will require

something like this. And a steady hand. It needs to be would ever is

more comfortable. If you need to capture the action at a run or a

walk, a steadicam attachment will counteract a camera operator's

natural bounce. We also used it to seem -- simulate the Android's

steady glide. A counterweight is underneath to keep the phone a

level as you twist and turn. It is fiddly to set up. You have to get

the balance just right before you start, but the results are smooth.

As well as getting good looking to forget the sound. In a phone and

microphones are notoriously bad at capturing good quality audio. If we

wanted to record a lot of dialogue, we would have needed this 350 pound

tie line attachment to connect to our professional -- hour in a phone

and microphone. The kung-fu moves are optional but they did allow

them to maintain a steady shot. The sound is possible as long as it is

an old close to the mouth during the shot. Even the voice of the

Android was done in the phone in using a free voice changer. To

those visual effects shot, both were created using Action Movie.

Just a place the target we were the action, record a few seconds of

video and decider at which point you want the effect to begin. --

decider. It is a little hit and miss and you have to create the

final effects shot in the phone before you can have another go, but

for a free app, the brick -- results are pretty cool. It is

impressive stuff but there are some serious technical drawbacks to

shooting high-definition video. The most pressing is the fact that it

will seriously train your phone's precious resources. FiLMiC Pro

chewed through the eye for an's battery. High-quality video fills

your phone's memory to bursting. Three minutes of video takes around

one gigabyte of space. After 40 minutes of filming, our brand new

16 Keig phone was out a space. -- Keig. -- gigabyte. We found

ourselves regularly dumping of footage to a laptop and recharging

it with this. Want to have recorded your raw

footage, you may want to give it more of a cinematic feel. There are

many felt that apps which will process your pictures. We used one

for the overall colour grading and used thank you different apps on

top of that to create the finished effect. Don't forget that despite

what Steve Jobs may have told you, this is a phone, not a

supercomputer. It takes about 20 minutes to apply affects up to one

minute of video, so keep your phone charging and go get yourself a cup

of tea. And go for a nice walk. Once everything is done, it is time

to edit it all together. Even here, it is possible to do it on a mobile

device, although on a small screen, this is very painful. If you prefer

to use a PC, YouTube allows you to perform simple and it's and music

mixes and both Mac and Windows come with video editing software also.

So, it turns out it is possible to make a respectable-looking creation,

shot, special effects, and all using a smartphone. The results

seem to be good enough for the web and a standard definition TV. As

soon as you try to do anything vaguely complicated, he will need a

tonne of patients and the sheer stubbornness to refuse to spend a

relatively small amount on a proper Some of you may have made your own

smartphone movies. You can send us a link. Our e-mail address is

click@BBC .co.uk. Next is Tech News. What many see as rip-off data

charges for using your phone abroad is to end in Europe. European

Parliament has voted to cap data charges for European users when

travelling within the EU to 59p per megabyte. The changes come into

effect in July and the maximum cost for making or receiving calls and

texts will fall by about 20%. Next year, they will fall further and

customers will be given the option of signing with a different

operator while retaining their own number while travelling in the EU.

Two American senators are asking for an investigation into whether

employers asking for Facebook passwords with in job interviews

are violating the law. Facebook says it has seen an alarming

increase in reports of employers trying to gain access to Facebook

profiles. Internet users should have an easy

to use do not track me feature at their fingertips. The

recommendation by the Federal Trade Commission in the US will prevent

online companies from recording use of's behaviour without permission.

They said companies needed to be more transparent but senators may

be too busy to consider this before the election.

We have looked at how some of the latest consumer tape can be used to

make half decent movies. Now it is time to give another of the

creative arts a mate Clover. LJ Rich has been behind the seats of

hi-tech theatre. -- pain make over. Nobody pushes scenery on and off

this stage. It is a south London theatre that has been kitted out

and run by computers. Computers that create crops. That can hide

the stage. -- props. Or create a character's worst enemy. Here, you

can see the virtual set mac back on to the real said. If you look at

the bright white light, these are a series of projects as that are

hitting the walls. When using the project this in conjunction with

the rest of the lighting rig, the idea is it brings together.

seamless whole is actually five Quicktime video files playing in

sync. Each screen overlaps. That is called Edge blending. It allows

actors to interact with all be out staged by the scenery. One of the

highlights is where the hero fights a Samurai. It is a virtual Samurai.

They are going to let me have a go. The principle is the same as

traditional shadow theatre and helps the drought every team in

advance. I did not. -- figure out a routine in advance. Behind the

screens of the production company's studio, our mystery swordsman is a

person in a motion -- motion capture suit. They build a stage

model to get a feel of the space. This is made into a virtual model

using CAD. Now, the creative design process starts in earnest. We are

looking at my it - 3D animation software. We brought the virtual 3D

model into my ear. We used virtual three-dimensional objects in a

virtual space. -- my her. That is then used and projected back on to

the scenery. Despite the hi-tech feel of projected scenery, it is

still down to trial and error to get the virtual and real to match

up. Even future projects like these need tweeting before it is suitable

for the theatre. -- tweaking. This is smart Class that goes opaque

when a current runs through it. The theory is to create quick scene

changes while somebody is acting in front of it. But the actor in front

is currently covered by the projection, assuming this can be

ironed out by projection from behind, it will still cost upwards

of �30,000 to fit this through -- to an average side stage. Team also

showed me another project. Will time voter manipulation, made

especially for an upcoming play about photography. -- photo. It is

a novel idea to use a MIDI music controller to change how pixelated

the images. And what prototype room would be complete without this? The

ex pop -- a Xbox controller that follows a movement is following a

virtual keyboard. But this demo is more about how to configure the get

censored. Actors can effectively direct themselves. They can change

of music used by walking through a specific area which may mean a

longer wait in the wings for everybody else.

Now, a change is as good as a breast, is what they say. I go on

holiday, come back feeling refreshed. -- rest. But then I come

back and I am staring at the same wallpaper. Fortunately, Kate

Russell is not that slack. Here comes Webscape.

For according to Tolstoy, true life is lived when tiny changes occur.

Bring your desktop to life at cover .com. The free desktop at can be

downloaded through PC or Mac and delivers an ever-changing landscape

of desktop wallpapers, designed by some of the world's best artists

and illustrators. Like most people, I rarely get around to changing my

wallpaper. This app has brightened up my desktop. It is like somebody

sneaking in in the middle of the night and hanging a piece of art on

the wall. Lovely! If you do not like surprises, you can register

and browse the archive of stunning wallpapers online. Building a play

list of favourites to streamed your desktop automatically. There is a

Twitter at as well and a company -- companies say they are full steam

ahead developing for the rest of the market. The video you can

record on an iPhone is pretty decent quality these days,

especially with the apps and extras you can get to enhance the picture,

as we saw in today's show. But what are you supposed to do with the

random snippets of BDO if you have no time? Make them beautiful, of

course, with this excellent free app, Magisto. -- video. You can

shoot a video or upload from your camera roll. The case soundtrack

and sit and wait for the magic to happen. -- Pick a soundtrack. You

do not have to sit there watching this green. It took me a few

minutes to work that out the first time. -- this screen. Prices in

takes a few minutes so have a cup of tea. This works like Flixtime

and Animoto. A couple of browser based services that do this. Having

it parcelled up as an up with building links -- built in links

makes this thinner than other ways. One and loins is you cannot we mix

a collection. It comes out the same every time. -- won an audience. But

this is a welcome addition to video sharing.

Time to keep out narrowness style with this app built by the makers

of Plane Finder. ShipFinder.co. It tracks and displays shipping.

Zooming can be jerky due to the sheer volume of load of data. There

is detailed information about where each ship is going and what is its

business. You could in effect track the delivery of a shiny new car you

ordered from overseas or perhaps follow the progress of a cruise

ship will grandparents are holidaying on. You can even sit

there and what the ship move across the map frame-by-frame if you have

a lot of patience. Not quite like being there in person though, is

it? Luckily, the site lets you fast-forward through history so you

can see the ships go sailing by. Or jump aboard yourself with the Sail

Me button which opens the ship's route in Google Earth 4 U2 s --

explore some more. Now, I want to turn things upside down. Yes, it

hurts my brain as well. FirstPersonTetris .com is a new

twist on an old classic but is pretty hard to get your head around.

It is fun to try, though. Finally, finger painting paid off for the

creators of chart-topping Draw Something. Again on android and

iPhone that beat you against other players in a Pictionary like draw-

off. This may not be a Salvador Dali but the price tag is in line

with the great masters. It was revealed this week that the makers,

Zinga, are prepared to pay $180 million for it.