As
discussed over the weekend, in less than two weeks the millions of videos uploaded to six-year-old erstwhile YouTube competitor Google Video will
no longer be viewable. Though a download button has been added to each video page for easy back-up,
that will only be available though May 13th, and the company will not be offering transfer service for users with YouTube accounts. The search giant has been slowly winding down the service over the years since their billion-dollar buyout of YouTube, controversially
revoking purchased content (with a refund) in 2007 and
disabling new uploads in 2009. The shutdown is a big blow to the web video ecosystem, as Google Video was one of the few major services to allow free hosting of long-form video, including the content for many popular MetaFilter posts. But all is not lost! Reddit users have organized
a virtual potluck to share the most interesting and unique videos not available anywhere else, and the
Archive Team, preserver of doomed web properties like Geocities (
previously), is partnering with Archive.org to
back up as much content as possible. In that spirit, click inside for a list of some of the most popular Google Video-centric content posted here over the years.
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Apr 18, 2011 -
54 comments
Noel Black's first project after graduate film school at UCLA was writing and directing
Skaterdater, a short subject cinematic romance without dialogue, which used only music and sound effects to advance its plot. It won nine international film awards.
[more inside]
posted by snsranch
on Nov 1, 2007 -
11 comments
In 1967, before
"Monty Python", before
"The Goodies", and before
"Marty",
John Cleese,
Graham Chapman,
Tim Brooke-Taylor and
Marty Feldman teamed up to create a groundbreaking show that influenced (and provided sketch material and dialog for) much of what we know today as
British Comedy. Most of the material was erased when its owner,
Rediffusion London, disappeared in England's
1967 TV franchise reshuffle. Here is almost all of what survives of
"At Last, the 1948 Show".
posted by ubiquity
on Oct 10, 2007 -
17 comments
Brass Eye is a hilarious & much missed British parody of "issue" news programs such as 60 Minutes in the U.S. It ran for one year, in 1997 (minus the 2001 special), and only six episodes were produced. Thanks to the miracle of the internets, all six (
Animals,
Drugs,
Science,
Sex,
Crime &
Moral Decline) are available in their entirety via Google Video. If you're unfamiliar with the series, trust me, it's not to be missed.
Previous mentions on
Metafilter. Discovered Via the
good mr hodgman's blog.
posted by jonson
on Apr 29, 2007 -
48 comments
An Islamic History of Europe: (90 minute BBC documentary on Google video.) Rageh Omaar uncovers the hidden story of Europe's Islamic past and looks back to a golden age when European civilisation was enriched by Islamic learning.
When the Moors Ruled in Europe:(102 minute BBC documentary on Google video.) A look at the Islamic past of Spain and the influence it has on the present.
posted by Burhanistan
on Mar 3, 2007 -
15 comments
This time-lapse video of an oil-painting being created by Pablo Picasso is brief, but captivating. The clip is a scene taken from the 1955 French documentary "
The Mystery of Picasso," in which director Henri-Georges Clouzot filmed the artist painting 20 different pieces. Bizarrely enough, almost all the art created for the film had to be destroyed upon close of production due to contractual obligation.
Via
posted by jonson
on Jan 1, 2007 -
28 comments
Merry Christmas, Metafilter! In the spirit of the holiday, my gift for the Radiohead fans among you is
this entire Radiohead concert (Google Vid), a non-bootleg produced for MTV originally recording from the OK Computer tour back in 1997. For the non-Radiohead fans, my gift is that I forgive you your imperfections. And finally, for those who don't celebrate Christmas, my gift is that I made you a cookie...
but then I eated it.
posted by jonson
on Dec 24, 2006 -
39 comments
this body is a prison (google video link)
Go behind the scenes of media coverage of the West Bank and enter a world where terror is a daily reality. Against the backdrop of this politically tumultuous environment there emerges a deeply layered story of a nation fractured by walls both physical and internalized.
Professor of Psychology Khalil Issa discusses the existential dilemmas faced by Palestinian youth as they attempt to develop a sense of self in a land carved by war.
posted by Tryptophan-5ht
on Nov 30, 2006 -
2 comments
The art film at the bike shop: praise is building for
Roam, a 16mm film shot by Vancouver area filmmakers,
the Collective.
Roam and the Collective's eponymous first film are credited for taking bike films to a wider more mature audience. Sophisticated camera work, a compelling narrative and an appropriate soundtrack take the place of the gnar factor and loud hip-hop/metal soundtrack that are the defining factors of most bike films. Comparisons are already being made to the 1966 surf film
Endless Summer.
Google Video clip of ROAM
posted by [expletive deleted]
on Aug 11, 2006 -
38 comments
An act of civil obedience. Kids with cameras drive the speed limit en masse, thereby blocking traffic and raising questions not only about the difference between de facto and de jure speed limits, but also about how incredibly pissed I'd be had I been behind them.
[via]
posted by Sticherbeast
on Mar 1, 2006 -
155 comments
Google wants your porn Google co-founder Larry Page has announced that the company wants the public to send in its homemade videos - and he doesn't mind how mucky they are.
"There might be an adult section, or something like that. I don't think that is going to be a big issue,"
posted by halekon
on Apr 6, 2005 -
32 comments
