George W. Bush Beheaded, Condition One’s VR Video App – 06.14.12

First up, did HBO’s runaway success Game of Thrones commit treason with one of last year’s episodes? One reddit user claims to have spotted the 43rd President’s severed head on a spike during a scene where evil king Joffrey makes his bride-to-be look at Sean Bean’s impaled head. That claim was backed up by the show’s creators themselves on DVD commentary for the episode. So what happened? Well, apparently, to keep to their budget, the show’s producers had to use whatever prop heads they could get, reiterating that the decision wasn’t political, but financial. In any case, the showrunners and HBO have issued an apology and promised to alter the offending scene in future DVD releases. What do you guys think? Did Game of Thrones cross the line? Let us know. www.hollywoodreporter.com Next up, after spending years photographing the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, acclaimed photographer and video journalist Danfung Dennis sought a better way to communicate the reality of war through video. So he teamed up with a group of engineers to create Condition One, an immersive, 360-degree, virtual reality app for the iPhone and iPad. By shooting footage through a convex lens and linking it to the iPad’s gyroscope and accelerometer, Condition One creates a unique experience for viewers who can look around the videos by swiping or moving their iPad. With major deals already in place with companies like Mercedes, The Guardian, Discovery and investor Mark Cuban, expect this type of video to soon …