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And Now, the Animated News

Posted by samzenpus on from the portions-of-this-report-have-been-re-enacted dept.

theodp writes "'You have a lot of missing images, in the TV, in the news reporting,' explains billionaire Jimmy Lai. It's a gap that Lai's Next Media intends to fill with its animated news service. Artists lift details from news photos while actors in motion sensor suits re-create action sequences of stories making headlines. Animators graft cartoon avatars to the live-motion action, and the stories hit the Web. When news agencies didn't have footage of scenes from the Tiger Woods car crash, Lai's team raced to put together animation dramatizing the incident that became a YouTube sensation. Thus far, Lai has been denied a television license, but with or without his own station, he thinks his animations are headed for televisions worldwide. His company is currently in talks with media organizations to churn out news animations on demand using Next Media's graphic artists and software tools."

12 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Tiger woods played by Kermit the frog by syousef · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can't you just see Elin as Miss Piggy? Haaaaayyyyaaaahhhh!

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  2. Just what modern news needs by OG · · Score: 4, Funny

    My first thought was that this is totally unnecessary and sensationalist use of technology. My second thought was that CNN is going to love this.

    1. Re:Just what modern news needs by paiute · · Score: 5, Funny

      Are you kidding? Fox will jump on this like an ugly centipede.

      Sean Hannity: Some people are saying that Mr. Obama makes obeisance to Mecca every night and kisses a picture of bin Laden. We are not saying that we agree with that, but here is a vivid recreation of what that would look like if it were true.

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    2. Re:Just what modern news needs by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Eh, can't be any worse than the Colbert Report.

      The Colbert report is 50% news and 50% bullshit, and is billed as entertainment. CNN is also 50% news and and 50% bullshit, but it's billed as news. You don't really see the problem with this?

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    3. Re:Just what modern news needs by sorak · · Score: 4, Funny

      My first thought was that this is totally unnecessary and sensationalist use of technology. My second thought was that CNN is going to love this.

      "Today on CNN, teabaggers are alleging that the president is actually from Narnia, and that he killed the Lion, had sex with the Witch, and hid in the wardrobe. Here is a cgi rendering of that event, with a bad-ass dragon added in, and for some reason, Rush. Who the hell listens to Rush? Our CNN instapoll says that 15% of you listen to Rush, 80% do not, and 5% of you were just pressing buttons. Next, we're going to spend thirty minutes reading twitter"

  3. Finally! Just what we need! by happy_place · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can't wait to see what my favorite cartoon characters are doing day to day, when they're not starring in films/television.

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    1. Re:Finally! Just what we need! by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Funny

      I can't wait to see what my favorite cartoon characters are doing day to day, when they're not starring in films/television.

      Apparently, making porn is the likely answer. :-P

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  4. Re:I like it! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And that's just the problem. People have enough trouble differentiating "news" from "opinion pieces" as it is. This may be fine under the banner of 'entertainment', but 'news' it is not, nor should it ever be.

  5. interesting, but dangerous? by Jesus_Corpse · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Although from a technological point of view it is very interesting, a lot of details missing from the regular videos need to be 'made up' for the reconstruction. I think that's a dangerous move, as the viewer may base its opinion on video footage.

    1. Re:interesting, but dangerous? by Culture20 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Exactly. Someone already tagged this "idle", but I think it should really be "yro", because this opens up the possibility for mass-market real-time "Wag The Dog" scenarios.

  6. Re-enactment Top 10 Wishlist: Slashdot by GPLDAN · · Score: 4, Funny

    Number 10. Carmack and Romero fist fight
    Number 9. Woz sex with Kathy Griffin
    Number 8. A series of tubes, not a big truck
    Number 7. Wesley Crusher sucked into a warp drive
    Number 6. Ballmer doing Dancing with the Stars to the 'Developers Developers Developers Developers' remix
    Number 5. Darl McBride being force fed into a wood chipper by the guys from Fargo
    Number 4. Stallman and Schneier as banjo dueling Santas
    Number 3. Cowboy Neal
    Number 2. 10,000 Anonymous Cowards hacked to bits by the 300 Spartans yelling "This is Slashdot!"

    And the Number one re-enactment wish for Slashdot: Duke Nukem Forever

  7. Crap. by MaWeiTao · · Score: 4, Informative

    I remember when this guy's magazine, Next Magazine, was introduced in Taiwan. It was basically a sensationalist tabloid style rag. The magazine's big thing was shock. They ran stories which graphic photos of dramatic accidents, high-profile murders and sex scandals. Or at least they went as far as they could get away with, which was pretty far. They were also notorious for running stories which turned out to be untrue. If I remember correctly they were one of the originals to run the story of people in China supposedly eating unborn fetuses. It turned out it was all staged as a statement by some artist.

    This new concept seems designed to skirt the sensors. However, I'm curious to know if this guy has been inspired by others. A couple of years ago I found Taiwanese magazines publishing illustrations of crimes to depict what had happened. Except that they get comically gratuitous with what they depict. It was so absurd I had to clip a few of these to show some friends in the states. In one case a girl was about to get raped and instead offers to perform fellatio on the rapist instead. When he's done his business and leaves, she takes the "evidence", spits it out in a napkin, and takes it to the police. This was all conveniently illustrated in detail, the girl on her knees with the guy standing in front her, and the girl spitting out the stuff. While this technique has been applied to many kinds of stories, predictably, the majority involve sex crimes of one sort or another.

    I think news networks have already been running similar cartoons and the Taiwanese government has gotten involved to deal with this. It's pretty much a blatant violation of broadcast rules, but it's pretty easy to dance around the rules there. I'm sure many will argue free speech, but the think here is that this is not driven by desire to inform the public. It's driven by a desire to shock and titillate to boost ratings. People will definitely complain about how indecent it is, but they're all going to happily tune in anyway. It wont be long, however, until this guy no longer has a monopoly on this sort of thing. Everyone will be quick to copy this, at least until the government puts a final stop to this.