Hanley Films Blog - Site News

Test Post

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 23:54:15 -0700

Every blog needs an obligatory test post, right?

Right.

This is mine, and this is how I write it. These are words. As are these. Apparently, there are actually a fair number of words in what is supposed to be a short test post. Oh well.

Site Rebuild is Coming Along

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:11:56 -0700

Most of the behind-the-scenes gruntwork of setting up core functionality for HanleyFilms.com has been finished, and I'm now working on inputting content. As the notice at the top of the page states, the front page will probably continue to be a bit disorganized for the time being.

The About section of the site is essentially finished, including my current Resume. Additionally, I've posted my current Demo Reel of Visual Effects work.

Most of the video content is still missing right now, but soon you should be able to find much of it on my YouTube channel. (I'll update this post once that process is underway)

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to comment on this blog, or drop me an e-mail at "mikehanley" @ this site.

KDKA's Farewell to Analog Television

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:23:42 -0700

This past weekend marked an interesting moment in the history of American television. After many, many delays, June 13th marked the final cut-off date for the end of analog NTSC television broadcasts in the United States. From here on out, the only free over-the-air TV that will be available is digital.

The original date for this had been back on February 17, but Congress got worried that too many people were still unprepared, so they fast-tracked a bill to delay it until now. Stations were still allowed to shut down on the earlier date if they wished, and many across the country did. (it's rather expensive to keep an extra transmitter running...) When they did, many stations did something special on their analog feed right before shutting it off, to mark the occasion. I wondered whether any of the Pittsburgh stations would do this now, and set up a humorously-involved chain of antenna, VCR, MiniDV pass-through encoder, and computer... just to catch anything that might happen. KDKA didn't disappoint:

The first part of KDKA's farewell is apparently a resurrection of an old film they used to use for their sign-offs... back when television stations did sign-offs, instead of just cutting to an infomercial. This is followed by a very nicely-put-together retrospective montage of the station's history. The montage made it to KDKA's website, but they didn't post the High Flight video. To my knowledge, I was the only one recording that night, and I haven't been able to find that particular snippet of film anywhere else.

Also, I'll admit, I was a little disappointed the other Pittsburgh stations didn't really seem to do anything. WTAE and WPXI just unceremoniously cut to snow at midnight. Come on, you guys. This is a moderately significant moment in geeky television technology history!

2009 Good Government Awards Completed

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:07:29 -0800

For the fourth year running, I produced a series of video introductions for the recipients of the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh's annual Good Government Awards. This year I was finally able to attend the awards dinner itself, and I'm happy to say the videos were very well-received.

Here's one of the videos from the evening. The recipient of this one is SmokeFree PA, and the presenter is John McIntire.