TorrentFreak TV Launches
Written by Ernesto on October 12, 2008TorrentFreak is proud to present the first episode of ‘TorrentFreak TV’, a recap of some of the best, most interesting or remarkable stories from the wonderful world of BitTorrent. The show is directed by none other than Andrej Preston, who some people might remember as the founder of the legendary Suprnova.org.
The plan is to release a new episode every other week. The episodes will be posted here on TorrentFreak, and in the near future on TorrentFreak.tv, with an iTunes compatible RSS feed.
We’re all very excited about this new project, and we hope to see many more episodes in the future. Below, Andrej himself (aka Sloncek) will introduce people who contributed to TorrentFreak TV.
The idea for the show came when Ernesto asked me if I was willing to produce some webisodes for him. Of course I wanted to do it, since I am trying to get an UnderGrad major in Producing. :)
The first step was to get a team together, and I knew straight ahead who I would want to be the host of it. So, I asked my friend and classmate Ashley Hardy, which did not really need to think twice about this.
Then, I needed somebody to do the introduction and graphics for the show and my good friend Micky Smeds, who is an Animation student, stepped in. He also pointed me towards the people who could create the music and soundFX needed for the show - LJUDAFABRIKEN. Just when I thought I had most of the ‘crucial’ people, I remembered I need somebody to write the script. Luckily, my friend Krista Steinberger jumped in the last second.
With the episodes I want to bring most of the TorrentFreak’s news to people who might not read it for whatever reason, or who just prefer the ‘watching’ format. The whole show is meant not to be too ’serious’, since the things it talks about can get really dull pretty fast if said the wrong way.
Like every pilot, this one has many mistakes. We learned a lot from it, but still it would be great if the viewers could send us an email and tell us what exactly is interesting to them and so on, so that we can be better with every episode.
The episode can be downloaded from Mininova as well. For tips, comments or suggestions, feel free to contact the crew at tv@torrentfreak.com.
Previously: AC/DC Electrify BitTorrent Album Downloads
Next: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies on BitTorrent
117 Responses
Wow, beautiful set! ;-)
Nice Show and nice girl. Love to see more from you an dyour Torrentfreak TV show :D
Greetings to all BTler
Would this RSS feed also be Zune compatible?
Great idea! Best of luck on the new project!
Half the battle is putting your idea into action!
Very nice idea. Although if I may offer some criticism, it would be much better for the show to follow a conversation type setting, for example between you and Ashley to talk about recent issues/news.
It would also be more engaging to the audience if the conversation was not scripted but represented both hosts sharing their genuine thoughts and ideas.
Very nice, but that chroma key needs improvement.
I like it!!! to be honest, i m not really a reading type of person. that s why i think this TV idea s great!!!
NiCe 1. Will seed.
bllody hell, shut up, get rid of your tattos and get your tits out, thankyou
Good job on that episode, a couple of pointers
The set is badly Lit, get more lamps from all sides and angles (except from the back and under)
The detail of the background doesn’t cut it with the resolution of the video, make the pattern a tad bigger, though id personally prefer light coloured background it’s the contrast that’s important.
Your hand movements are distracting and nervous. I sometimes thought you where doing some sort of sign language, speaking with your hands is like speaking in general, slowly and clearly. It really isn’t necessary at all and if you don’t know what to do with yourself while standing upright, it’s often better to sit down. Otherwise just keep your heals together and stand upright yet with relaxed shoulders and crossing your hands in front of the the hip.
Your tattoos are causing chroma keying problems with the background.
Also you are jumping back and forth on the set between shots, mark a spot on the floor b4 staring.
Also remember to speak slowly and clearly. Even if you think you are speaking slowly while filming, you are most likely still talking to fast.
Keep up the good work! :)
can i post it on youtube?!
wicked, keep it up I’m sure the show will get better and better, I like Bunny’s Idea, but I’m sure you guys thought of that already. Cant wait for the next installment.
this is great, love the summery of the past week. i like the idea of the show. makes me not have to read :)
The background music is annoying, also the sound quality is rubbish.
Also her voice is technically not monotonous, as it has two tones: the one used through the whole of the sentence except the last word.
I agree with #10, especially about the hands, also keep to the point, nobody (not me anyway, can’t imagine who would) really cares you thought Spore was boring, that’s not the point.
Can some one post the URL, so it can be downloaded in iTunes?
Thanks!
“bllody hell, shut up, get rid of your tattos and get your tits out, thankyou”
LULZ. Were ‘ernesto’ and ‘enigmax’ too afraid to go in front of a camera? They had to hire some random to do it for them.
As others I’d much rather hear/see a non-scripted debate about recent p2p news stories than this scripted nonsense. Get some balls guys, do an episode starring yourselves.
I’m in love @}-’-,-
Ouch Ashley is freakin Hot!
congrats guyz. i dig it.
More bouncing please! :D
for the record, I don’t mind the personal inputs (i.e. Spore judgment)it adds character to the format; which seems to be less formal than some stick in the ass major network news broadcast… also, I totally agree about the Spore comment, except Ide slam my friend’s face into his keyboard for suggesting this pile of shit to me.
peace
Torrentfreak FTW. =]
Ashley is realy cute, and does a nice job hosting!
like the tats and the boobs… :)
OK, the host is pretty cool, but personally I want the type of people I like to get drunk with and the type of people that host my news to be quite different. Perhaps that’s just because she’s new to it though. Let’s see what it’s like in a few months. I’ll be watching.
Oh, and lose the text-only bits - perhaps have them come up on the right-hand side as the host actually tells us what they are. This is perfect for watching on my iPod, and I might glance away for a few seconds if I’m on the move while watching. Plus, it keeps it moving.
All in all though, pretty sweet job guys.
Haha. Her tattoo has come colors that are the same as the blue/green/ screen so she’s missing parts of her arm. :P
Really great! It made me chuckle a few times.
There were a couple of times where she talked a teensy little bit too fast, but it held my attention and made me want to watch again, despite already subscribing to the blog RSS feed.
cool! heroes should be in top 10,no!?
Heroes isnt there because the TV list is from a day after the Heroes aired, so we couldnt include it.
more bouncy bouncy pleaz
A lot of criticism here, isn’t there? :P
good idea, but she’s not a very good presenter.
Holy crap, look at those JUGS JIGGLE. =D
Script is a bit too long-winded, keep it short… also too obvious that it’s being read.
This is awesome! I can listen to a pretty girl talk about bittorrent all day long.
I would watch this news over any other crappy news thanks to bit torrent, not bad considering it’s a pilot/1st episode, nice one & will look forward to the next episode.
Ashley is hot… pity about the tats though… why do people feel the need to deface their bodies?
Move camera angle a Lil higher.
Agree with #5 here. You’re just regurgitating articles we’ve already read. By all means summarise them, but you’ve got to add something additional to make this anything more than pointless…
Agree with #10 too. A better presentation might make it more tolerable as well.
She needs to be replaced, too much hand slapping and moving, plus her words run together. ;)
I am now dumber since watching that. 0% useful information 100% bashing. Try lengthening it out, slow down and get a girl that doesn’t need to read queue cards to say DNS. Also compared the ratings but never was I told the difference. etc, etc, etc..
@40
If she didn’t move. No jiggle.
Jiggle wins. Look @ 3’s com. tv show.
Vimeo plays now. when clicked on through this story. Bookmarked. pg2 always blocked the added fluff.
ty tf
I was really looking forward to this video when I read the news about it, but I was pretty disappointed. Most of TorrentFreak’s readership is not dull and dimwitted. Having a moderately attractive girl hosting it is fine, but it’s never good when a host laughs her way through her lines. And more importantly, if TorrentFreak has avid readers, and TorrentFreak only posts a few times a week . . . why make the Webisodes recap the already small amount of news.
My opinion is that their episodes should focus purely on original content. Get an interview with that Cohen guy who invented the torrent file system. Or do some educational pieces on how the fine print piracy laws really work. Interview people on both ends of the spectrum to unbiasly show how people in Congress really feel about these issues, as well as interviews with underground warez sites that educates the masses on how pirated material trickles down from the warez scenes to UseNet and then torrents. Hell, get a non-visual interview with Axxo and have his voice muffled, supposedly you guys have contacted him. Or even just review and rate different torrent sites. Anything but weekly recap info.
The music and intro is great though, and I really like the matching background of the video and the site’s background. Hopefully my suggestions help.
She’s pretty but the tats are… meh, notsomuch.
This is a great idea. As has been mentioned, the technicalities of film production could use some addressing, but it’s an overall decent production with a great premise.
Long live TF.
All great dude!
Just one pointer - Why a .mov quick time file?
I had problems with some lag using it on GOM player and VLS, guess cos I didn’t play it in Quick Time…
Perhaps next time use Xvid or somethin?
To start, excellent job getting this up and running. Love the idea of a torrent show.
As far as follow through…
I agree with #10 and #43.
First, drop the script. Or find someone who will convince you all to do multiple takes and get it right. It looked like it was shot live and she had no idea what she was reading. I don’t know what your production constraints are, but seriously. Stop shooting, and have the host do it over until it’s done right. Or at least better than this. Please. I’d rather have one show every two weeks done well, than two shows every week that look like 3rd graders made it.
Second, get a man to host. Having a female host is great, but not here. Before anyone jumps down my throat, I’m not sexist, nor do I believe that women don’t understand torrents and such. I’m just stating that it seems like she was picked simply because she has boobs and tattoos, neither of which helped the presentation. Find a male host, and maybe keep her as a co-host if having breasts on screen is really that important to you.
Third, give us real content. #43 pretty much nailed it on the head. Give us insight into the laws pertaining to piracy. Have interviews with prominent people. The first person, hands down, should be Jack Thompson. If you want viewers, get him. It would be entertaining as hell.
Fifth, make sure to remain unbiased. It’s OK to throw in your personal feelings every now and then, but don’t act cocky and arrogant while presenting it.
I really want to see this go somewhere. Step up to the plate and deliver.
And yes, I did skip 4.
i miss torrent pod that was way as he would say way fuckin better
She is freakin hot!!
Great job on the show guys!
Please keep them coming!
How about you all get a studio and camera and make a webisode your self?
Seriously STFU
Where else is ther anything close to this on the net?
Where is another TorrentFreak?
Let alone a webesode
If you can do better go ahead but seriously stfu n gtfo and let them alone
Do you think all productions started off with what they are at now?
NO
Go look at early episodes of everything you watch and youll see they learn over time.Considering this is the FIRST FUCKING ONE
god damn shouldnt you guys be in sunday school or something
am i rite?
What was that at the end?
If you want to email me, do it here.. SO FRACK YOU!
(For those who dont know frack = fuck in the tv series battlestar galactica)
Could you plz in the next shows apply eng sub file with it to be easy to translate .
coz a lot of my friends not good in english and i like to translate this awesome show for them
10 miles in the right direction
nobody cares about the delivery
you guys are way ahead
horrible. bleh…
@43: What he said.
i think a conversational format would work better for this, or some one with more experience delivering news, the girl seemed a little bit awkward and nervous getting in front of the camera by herself and trying to sound like a news anchor while not being boring. Either get a second person and go conversational or more professional and get someone to coach her, as it is this is just a bit awkward to watch.
using tv format… succumbing to the mainstream appeal ?
megalol @ the guy who wants it on his zune. Rebel but not without his technological toys heh ?
And using an empty-brained bimbo isn’t very honourable neither.
Replacing quality of information by spectacle is quite nonsensical.
Watch this instead, so you don’t waste your time :
http://ubu.artmob.ca/video/Debord-Guy_Society-of-the-Spectacle_1973_Part-1.mpg
http://ubu.artmob.ca/video/Debord-Guy_Society-of-the-Spectacle_1973_Part-2.mpg
and the complete translation :
http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/debord.films/spectacle.htm
next time white t shirt
nice boobs :) ugly tatoos :(
they bounce up and down every split second, I like!
Nice, really nice.
Not really necessary if you are already a regular reader of the site, but a nice thing to post somewhere else and draw attention to TorrentFreak… ;)
I am sure the show will improve fast, never mind the minor glitches, that´s normal for a new conept.
And to all the whiners: DO IT BETTER!
Suggestion for future scripting: Don’t use “illegal download” but rather “pirated download”. Words mean A LOT and how they are used change hgow we think.
Ashley for ki.. Torrent Queen!
Lovely girl <3
Agree with 51 slowman and 55 Nef, pretty mutch said all i could say.
jiggles disctracted.
felt embarrased watching her even… all i could think were dirty thoughts, old stories didn’t help.
re tats, don’t mind’m. next time try sitting down, less up down movement, might even watch your face then…
Don’t drink the Kool-Aid
Please think about releasing your feed as a channel on Miro. :)
“I’d much rather hear/see a non-scripted debate about recent p2p news stories than this scripted nonsense.”
I agree…
Nice, I liked it. Though I have a few points of criticism.
First and foremost; the intonation. It’s very annoying and tiring to listen to. Like someone already said; to monotonous and going up at the end of every sentence. Also it sounds to me (European) as the way undereducated white Americans talk. Can’t help it. This is an international show, so do some research on international opinions on the US and its citizens.
That leads to a second point, which has already been noted too; subtitles. When Torrentfreak.tv comes up, I’d love to see a huge range of usersubmitted subtitles per episode somehow, all derived from a originally created English subtitle file.
Some more in depth stories might be nice, this was too superficial. I don’t fully agree on the Slacker Uprising part too. For me it was quite insightful how fucked up and what a circus the US elections are. Again, view it in an international context. I agree though that it was a total selfloving production. But saying Moore sucks because of one fail is overdoing it. (and sorry to say, it seems to be quite American to do so too..)
Also, loose the tattoos. Don’t get me wrong, I love tattoos. Very much. But when you have a tattood presentator on the only show dedicated to bittorrent, it’s way too easy for the dumb mass to stigmatize. Details are important, just as #55’s comment shows. For the rest, she’s a good choice, representing a new generation to replace the old one.
Also, create a youtube account and post the video on there as well. More exposure is better.
Lastly; perhaps a bit higher resolution, and preferably xvid .avi format?
I’m looking forward to seeing this show develop. It’s an excellent initiative and it should be supported by all torrentfreaks. Kudos for creating it, and best of luck with future episodes!
plz torrentfreack creators,put yourselves in the channel I don’t know, try making it a little more interesting,by taking interviews to people on the street,taking yourselves interviews about torrentfreack.i know what about you do a episode based on viewer questions,that should do the trick,but use your faces creators of torrentfreack people like to see the real men that make this site what it is today,I don’t see TPB admins scared about getting arested, and they make internet interviews all the time,heck they even made “STEAL THIS FILM 1&2″,and where not scared to show up in theire movie and so shoudn’t you.
Another idea is doing the show before posting the articles,this would atract more awareness to the tv show,but also, getting yourselves in the tv show also would raise the ratings.
Thank, and good luck with the project,and sorry for my spelling mystakes, i don’t live in the us.
Not bad. Not bad at all. I’ll still be reading though I think.
nice jiggling ! :)
The spore background is false. You can install the game an unlimited amount of times (retail/pirated) you cannot use the online functionality an unlimited amount of times (5 for retail/0 for pirate)… This is where you should check your background. The crack only removes/emulates correct settings for the SecuROM. The DRM of Spore has made people very annoyed but other games have had it a couple of times before! xD
Beautiful job
Sorry , But the b(.)(.)bs were boucing around. .. and i was lookin at tht . oh yeah .. hosting < boob bounce attack
Nice with no bra and everything , but a rather unprofessional style and language ,made this so much worse than it could have been . If you want to emulate a real newscast , do it properly
TFTV totalyl ROCKS! Awesome!
http://www.anonymity.at.tc
May I pirate TorrentFreak TV and sell it on the street at a reasonable price?
Sexy girl, i would donate one of my balls to bang this girl
u guys rock!!!
such awesome n’ creative ideas all the time:D
How do u manage to be so superbly lovable and adorable always??
you ink is messing with the green screen effect, other then that good job.
The host is a complete ditz
those are really bouncy!
You need a nerd ass male with a good sense of humor as the presenter. IF you have to use a chick, then get her wearing her bikini.
real deal.
Consider the Naked News approach for your next segment (this applies to female reporters only).
where did u find this girl?
Had to be at Cheetas Cabaret in some lonely red-neck town. Pathetic! Horrible!
White-trash!!!
1) Redundant. Nothing new.
2) Host: annoying, annoying annoying. If she could sound even 20% less smug I would watch another one of these. If you’re going to take all these recommendations seriously, then the future might not be so bleak, but if you’re gonna just keep this junk up, save it. It was like torrentfreak for retards.
3) Set, technical: Audio needs work to. Mic the boobrack. Kept mistaking the cleavage for a mic.
ROFL THAT WAS PAINFUL TO WATCH!
Cool show - keep up the good work.
Keep it short and simple (you know we have gnat like attention spans).
The sound is a little echoing but certainly not a terrible problem.
gotta give me a reason to watch it.. just a recap.. and if anything its hurtfull since it doesnt tell the whole story.. just random tidbits.
LOL i love this keep it up..
It’s all about breasts!
Atleast that’s what i got out of it…
Please make XviD version available. Not everyone has Quicktime installed.
Oh god!
Oh GOD!
Oh GOD! I should smite thee…
you really don’t do well for your cause here gents.
We know you are 500lbs+ uber cools…
but come on, show your FACE!
She needs a public speaking, or journalism refresher course, pronto!
Music is annoying… sound is horrible…
Don’t be critical of films you never seen before, that’s not very journalistic of you.
Come on guys, you can find someone better, and I know you pirated Adobe Premier, so why don’t you USE it!
“We;ve heard…” Thats a big big no no if you want to be taken seriously, douche
Hey guys! Pretty nice for the first time. But seriously some changes need to be done. First of all, I’d like to suggest you to think about the format of a webisode once again. To my mind, it would be far more interesting to see not only the host, who is charming by the way, but also some other related video material. It would be also interesting to watch interviews with notable people, connected to BitTorrent community, taking place either in your “studio” or on the phone. Background music is sometimes a bit annoying, I think it should be switched to something light and not noticable.
There seems to be a lot of people thinking they can just regurgitate some niche news on video podcasts and have the next diggnation. What makes the good ones interesting are the personality, discussion, and comments of the host or hosts.
Being that the host does not write her own copy, it seems like she might not have an interest in the subject matter, which I could be wrong on, but she would probably come across more natural if she was speaking her mind rather than someone else’s.
Also, “Screenplay by” This isn’t a screenplay, I think the credit you’re looking for is “Written by”.
My advice, get a co-host where there’s some chemistry and have a natural discussion of the news and what makes the news interesting. What I enjoyed in this episode was the contrast between the top ten torrent files versus the Nielsen ratings, which would have been a great opportunity for discussion, possibly a panel of informed guests. What wasn’t good was the Spore news, which is 3 weeks old.
Nice show. a good idea but I’d lose the green screen… Also, great pair of tits, I love how they have their own personality.
Cool idea ! good job, there’s of course room for improvement.
I agree with #10
For nervousness I recommend a little technique I learned:
When talking to the Camera just think you are talking to a particular friend you always feel at ease with , he’s not going to judge you he’s interested in what ever you are saying The Message you bring , that’s it
And (this is basic) rehearse in front of a mirror even if it’s simple script or you have cards rolling while filming etc
You’ll for sure notice any unconscious moves .. etc
Good Luck :)
http://www.idolornot.net
There is a problem with the chroma key. The chroma keying is not sensitive enough to distinguish between the background and the tatoo. Perhaps wear a shirt with sleves, or select a different background color to film against.
I liked the host’s caustic attitude. I thought she could speak more clearly though.
But hey - I realize you guys aren’t a professional Tv station, and this looks alot better than most internet tv shows. I hope you continue making episodes.
Miro is a great torrent based distribution system. It makes it really easy to get the episodes as soon as it comes out. I’m not sure how much involvement from a distribution stand point it is to get the media on there but I can’t imagine its hard. It makes getting video podcasts nice and easy.
I was really looking forward to watching this. I like the format, and and it is fresh and interesting.
But I had a few problems with it.
The first i noticed was the “canned” sound. You guys should really consider a better microphone/position of microphone.
Second, I think Ashley was a bit too “pffft-whateva’-they-suck” at times. I know you want to make this stuff more “hip”, but to me that just made it seem silly. You don’t have to go all MTV-jack-ass to make things interesting :). But other than that Ashley did good, and with a little more practice could be great.
Script was really good, I liked it a lot.
Another small thing I noticed was the chart showing the difference between the TV-show ratings. Maybe next time let Ashley speak while we are watching the chart, and not only before, while having total silence when we see the chart. That just feels silly.
Anyway, a good pilot, but with room for improvement :)
Music was terrible - worst and most obvious loop i’ve ever scene.
I can open up logic and have a play for you if you want.
I also thought it was very very one sided. Whilst people might not like moores film, nothing was mensioned about his views on piracy and I thought he was generally portrayed as a bit of a twat, whilst if you read between the lines, its actually quite obvious that he wanted everyone to have the film for free regardless of what country they are in.
Also, the repo guy. Granted, he was a bit of a nob to get his fans to upload fakes, but again, no mension was made about the other artical where he explained why he felt so protective over his creation, which imho changed my opinion of him.
I also got the impression that the host didn’t have a clue what she was talking about, and that bit at the end was just inmature.
i like it
HMMM INTERESTING ASLO SHE’S hot
Did anyone else find this chick boring and monotone? The show would have been better if she just stood there and DIDN’T speak.
tits @_@
nice
Work on the Keying job ….
EXTREMELY SEXY GIRL, but, maybe get her a little more less SCATTERy, and less ARM FLALING everywhere
All we want to concentrate on are here words (mouth) and the body movements to add just a LITTLE emphasis here and there…
…unless..as anonymous suggests she wants to make it one of those FANTASY casts we see in movies where the news anchor girl gets naked..
Yum :)
excellent, this is definitely the right move for people wanting to keep up with this site but, couldn’t be bothered reading full articles,
Great Job.
I really like the idea, and also this pilot. For the future I’d like the host to speak a little slower and clearer in a way that’d be easer to understand for non native english speakers, remember bittorrent is used worldwide!
The fact that neally every other comment seems to be about the hosts tits surely shows that its making us loos focus from what the shows about.
Sound is shite and she moves her hands too much.
Good Luck Torrent Freak….
for
the
new :)
PROJECT
nicely done for being the first, it takes guts to read all these comments.
Helpful pointers on what you should do while you are standing in front of a camera, Naked News has a lot of examples that can show you what to do, and what not to do.
Adding a second person to pass stories back and forth with is dead on for quick delivery and gives you time between script reading, and build a repore with someone other than yourself. (don’t want to end a segment with egg on your face)
Relax, you are great in front of a camera, you can DO IT!!
To the girl giving the presentation: you must stop moving your hands around. Look at other newscasters and notice they don’t move around so much. Its very distracting.
wow that was horrible
you should really get another host
I don’t like Ashley as a host. You aren’t supposed to add your own opinions to the damn show. Along with the fact that she HAS A MORGAN WEBB KIND OF FEEL
its not that great.
Great idea, but I HAAAAAATE the girl!
Nice job! Feedback: Ashley, you’re doing great, but you would look even more professional if you held your hands still :) I know it’s a hard thing to do, but it’s worth the trouble. :P
I didn’t think the lighting or anything need improvement..
but I did see some black dots flashing over her right arm tattoo throughout the whole feed that distracted the hell out of me :-/
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