1979 saw the release of what is universally considered one of the scariest movies of all time. Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, told the story of a crew trapped in a spaceship with an organic killing machine. The film spawned a series of sequels and spin-offs, and Scott returned to the genre to work on Prometheus a whopping 30 years later. Now he’s back in space again directing The Martian, starring Matt Damon … and a little device known as a GoPro.
In a recent press release, GoPro, Inc. stated that the collaboration between Scott and the company marks the most significant use of its action cameras in Hollywood history. “We used GoPro cameras in several of our biggest scenes in The Martian, and they really allowed us to capture not only the intensity and suspense of these moments, but also the intimacy of the characters themselves,” said Scott.
Initially, Scott implemented the cameras as part of the astronauts’ space suits — a prop more than anything else. But then he discovered that the cameras added authenticity and helped drive the narration forward. Once Damon’s character Mark Watney is left alone on Mars, he uses his camera as a personal diary, and it becomes his sole companion. This also solved Scott’s struggle to adapt The Martian from novel to film. The book was written from a first-person perspective by author Andy Weir. By giving the protagonist a device to speak to, the audience is privy to his thoughts and experiences. Watney’s relationship with his camera has been compared to that of Chuck Nolan (played by Tom Hanks) and his volleyball Wilson in 2000’s Cast Away.
As a film, The Martian provides the audience with a unique perspective on Watney’s life on the Red Planet. When mounted to his suit, we see and hear everything he does, and it feels natural and authentic. Since they were first introduced, GoPros have been used to capture footage of the most mundane and extraordinary adventures people can come up with. Some of these videos command tens of millions of views on sites like YouTube.
Earlier this year, NASA astronaut Terry Wirts took a GoPro outside the International Space Station and filmed two of his EVAs (extravehicular activities). The stunning video includes footage of the astronauts working while the sun rises high above the earth. The entire hour-long video can be seen here.
Imagine when we’ll get real GoPro footage from Mars?
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.