Harris’ Heroic Exit

Laura gears up for action

Laura Karaoke from Que Pasa on Vimeo.

Last week Laura Harris departed QP’s video department for pastures new. And what better send off than a few beers followed by a round of karaoke? Bonnie Tyler’s ‘I Need a Hero’ was the track of the night. Bye Laura, you rock!

A Little More Conversation…

My turn to speak!

Are you the sort of person who dominates the conversation? Or do you keep it short and sweet? We’re loving Talk-o-Meter, the new iPhone app which monitors how much each person speaks on a voice call. It’s time to fight for equal speech rights rather than getting your ear chewed off by a motormouth.

Assistant Video Producer Wanted

Want to work for Que Pasa? Of course you do. Well if you’re an assistant video producer with two years experience then your dream could become a reality – we’re recruiting. Reporting to the Producer you’ll be responsible for assisting the creation of video content across any platform.

You’ll be able to work on your own initiative and contribute creatively to the development of ideas and management of video shooting and production, including research, bookings, sourcing, managing resources, creative development, running shoots and providing feedback as required.

Interested? Then email your CV to freelance@que-pasa.co.uk, quick smart.

Found in Translation

Fed up with everyone raving about iPhone apps? Unveiled this week by Google CEO Eric Schmidt at the Mobile Web Congress in Barcelona is every lazy language student’s dream – Google Goggles. It works like this. You’re in Japan and see a shop sign but aren’t sure what it says. Open Google Goggles on your Android phone and a translation – powered by GPS and a compass – will appear on your screen.

While this latest advance in visual search technology might just save us from having to master Mandarin it makes Amazon Remembers iPhone app seem pretty basic. Like Amazon’s app, Google Goggles can identify a book from a photo but it also works on business cards, menus and landmarks. However Schmidt is keen to emphasise that visual identification of food and animals hasn’t been perfected. We’re not complaining, some of the best laughs on holiday come from things which are lost in translation.

QP in Creative Business Documentary

Where's David Brent?

Another day, another camera crew in the office. Today it’s the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) filming a documentary. Last April Que Pasa was pinpointed as a ‘top creative business for tomorrow’ and was one of 24 companies selected from hundreds by NESTA to take part in its industry mentoring initiative. Since then we’ve been mentored by Stephen Woodford, Chairman and CEO of DDB. Watch this space for more info about where you can see the film.

QP Revamps Red Bull Bedroom Jam

There are a lot of people in this bedroom

Hooray! Our latest project – a multi-platform project for Red Bull’s annual Bedroom Jam campaign – launched on Wednesday (Feb 3). Working with our specialist Drupal developer, we’ve overhauled the existing site, which encourages fresh musical talent to upload performance video. The cream of the crop go on to play the UK’s biggest festivals, make an album at Red Bull’s new recording studios and support an established act on tour.

The Que Pasa Video Production Team will be whizzing around the country producing weekly live webcasts of bedroom gigs. The show also features interviews with some of the world’s biggest and best rock bands, kicking off with Hadouken! on 15 February.

On the website you can get involved by watching, rating and commenting on your favourite videos and marvelling as they fly up The Buzz Chart. You can also watch previous live shows and keep up to date with the latest Bedroom Jam happenings on our blog.

We hope you’re as excited by the launch as we are. Watch the first show at www.redbullbedroomjam.com on Monday 15th February at 5pm.

Shooting Hadouken!

Last Friday the Que Pasa video production team kicked off the filming for the Red Bull Bedroom Jam campaign with a Hadouken! gig at Pure Groove in Farringdon. This is what they got up to.

It's a hard life being on location

Richie T and Goldierocks meet the band

Richie T, Dan and Laura

Future Music Stars

Love him or hate him, Brian Eno has always been a musical innovator. So we were interested to read on The Guardian website that he doesn’t care about the demise of vinyl.

‘I think records were just a little bubble through time and those who made a living from them for a while were lucky. There is no reason why anyone should have made so much money from selling records… I always knew it would run out sooner or later… I don’t particularly care that it is and like the way things are going.’

He’ll be interested in our re-launch of the Red Bull Bedroom Jam competition then which combines social networking with live webcasts of bedroom gigs by new talent. It’s where you’ll discover the Eno of the future.

Calling all Sponsors! – Camden Crawl 2010

Que Pasa’s Camden Crawl 2010 project is Idea of the Week on Get Me Media. Full details here

Soaking up the iPad

Big deal

They call it ‘magical’ but really it’s just a showcase for Apple’s latest technology in the guise of a giant iPhone. The hysteria over the announcement of the iPad has been astounding and more than anything shows how strong the Apple brand is. Yes, it’s beautifully designed and makes watching videos and browsing the web a delight, and you can do flashy – but not flash – things with stacks of photos and fancy apps. But quite rightly, the critics have been quick to point out all the things it can’t do -   the lack of camera makes Skyping rubbish, there isn’t a USB port and you can’t Tweet and watch a film at the same time due to the lack of multi-tasking.

What we’re forgetting is that Apple aren’t our fairy godmother but a company who want to sell us lots of different products. Of course they’re not going to stick everything on one super gadget because they need us to buy an iPhone to take photos and a Mac for editing and video chat. The way that the iPad seamlessly connects to a bookstore hints that this a product designed for mega consumption.

Of course you want to own an iPad because it’s another cool Apple toy to play with but remember to limber up your fingers before you use it. We reckon that all that screen stroking points to RSI.