Tag: TV

How to watch US Netflix from anywhere in the world

Post author By myglasseye
Post date July 3, 2013
2 Comments on How to watch US Netflix from anywhere in the world

us netflix from uk — You can switch region on the Unblock US homepage

We subscribe to Netflix in the UK from our Apple TV but let’s face it, the selection available is pretty lousy – just flicking through the InstantWatcher database (a library of everything available on the US library) is enough to really make you consider cancelling your UK Netflix sub.

Enter Unblock Us to save the day!

Being a bit of a geek I was pretty sure there’d be a way around the Netflix ‘geo-fence’ and sure enough Unblock Us did the job. It’s a $5 monthly service that lets you pretend to be pretty much anywhere in the world and receive that country’s Netflix library. So if you’re in the UK and want the US library, no problem. And, of course, vice versa 🙂

Make the most of your Netflix sub!

I’d seen a lot of references on some forums I frequent (mainly Eurogamer and AV Forums) to two services in particular: Unblock Us and Blockless. Both cost the same, about $5 a month, work on any device you use Netflix on, and setup really boils down to plugging some numbers into the DNS field on your device and restarting. If you want to switch library to another country you just change the country you want to appear to be in on the Unblock Us or Blockless homepage. It’s very easy and we found that in practice we loaded up the US library and rarely changed that setting.

But hey – you’ve got the power to watch any Netflix library at all, so make sure to check out what’s available elsewhere as you might be surprised! For example, at the time of writing neither the US nor UK have The Dark Knight Rises, but the Swedish and Norwegian subscribers have had it all month. (If you’re reading this in 2015 you might not think that’s so amazing, but in August 2013 it’s pretty cool).

So which one to go for? Well it’s up to you. Both have a 7-day free trial so give them a go and see what floats your boat. The two services were essentially identical for our needs, so I’m afraid in the end I made my mind up based on which homepage I preferred the look of, and Unblock Us won.

How to search the world’s Netflix libraries

So once you’ve got access to those libraries how do you find out what’s available and where it is? I use a really cool website called MoreFlicks. You tell it what movie or TV show you’re looking for and it searches the global libraries of Netflix, Vudu, iTunes, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Fox and Crackle and tells you where, if anywhere, it’s available. You can restrict searches to particular services or search by genre or other keyword if you don’t have a particular title in mind.

Once you’ve found the movie or show you want, check which Netflix library it’s in, switch to that region using the unblocker service, restart Netflix and you’re done.

How does it work?

us netflix uk blockless — You can switch region on Blockless too, but only when logged in

You don’t really need to know this stuff to use one of these sites, but anyway: websites like Netflix determine where you are using the DNS address each device is given when it connects. It’s a series of numbers in the form xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx that work as a kind of location ID. If you’re in the UK, your connection passes through a UK-based DNS server and you get the UK Netflix library.

Unblock US and Blockless provide you with a new DNS address you can enter in your router or connecting device that will make your device appear to be anywhere in the world that you want to be by setting that location on their site whenever you want. And it’s useful for much more than just Netflix – most media-related websites that restrict access based on your apparent location should be available, including BBC iPlayer, Vudu, Hulu and MLB.

It is, as they say, pretty cool!

Tags apple tv, blockless, Movies, netflix, TV, unblock us

Editorial

Previously, on Arrested Development

Post author By myglasseye
Post date May 21, 2013
No Comments on Previously, on Arrested Development

Here at Chez My Glass Eye we’re massive Arrested Development fans (well, apart from that naff Season 3 storyline about Mr F and the crazy British girl, which I guess is why people say Season 3 was the weakest) so we’re very excited about the 4th season launching on Netflix this week (May 26th, 2013). Our Netflix sub has been renewed and we’ve started tucking in to House Of Cards and old AD eps while we wait.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the trailer for the new season:

If you’re new to the show, Arrested Development loves its running gags and that trailer is packed with them, but I didn’t really ‘get’ the opening at the airport. Is the gag that he’s at an airport? That the handle is hot? Something to do with the taxi driver? I guess I’m not as big a fan as I thought I was…

Enter NPR’s fantastic guide, Previously, On Arrested Development, which lists and brilliantly ties together every running gag from every episode of the show, cross-linked with the episodes each gag appears in and who they relate to. Go ahead and click a few, it’s all interactive and for fans of the show it’s fun finding stuff you might have missed, or even forgotten about.

And the airport gag in the trailer? It’s a reference to George Bluth’s Cornballer gadget, which causes third degree burns when people use it. Mother of God! It all makes sense now 🙂

Tags arrested development, TV

How-Tos

How to watch Classic Doctor Who on Netflix from the UK

Post author By myglasseye
Post date May 1, 2013
No Comments on How to watch Classic Doctor Who on Netflix from the UK

The problem with Netflix is that they don’t have permanent rights to any of the films and shows on there (apart from their own creations like House of Cards and Arrested Development 4 of course) and they don’t like to tell anyone how long is left on any given show. So when almost all the classic Doctor Who Netflix episodes were suddenly removed from the UK library in April, a lot of subscribers were pretty unhappy and many considered ending their Netflix sub.

While there’s now only a handful of classic Who eps on UK Netflix, there’s still dozens on US Netflix. In fact, the UK Netflix is pretty lousy across the board, especially compared to what’s available in other countries. If only there was a simple, cost-effective way to watch any Netflix title from anywhere in the world…

And there is! There’s a fantastic service called Unblock Us that costs just $4.99 a month (with a free 7 day trial) and gives you access to not just global Netflix, but any website or video service anywhere in the world, from whichever device you like.

And that means that a wealth of classic Doctor Who episodes are suddenly yours to watch again, mostly spread across the US and Canadian Netflix libraries. For an up-to-date list of what classic Who stories are available and where, check out this custom search at MoreFlicks.com then head over to Unblock Us and set your account to the relevant territory – easy peasy.

Welcome back, Doctor – it’s about time!

Tags doctor who, netflix, TV

Photographic Pictorial

Something For The Weekend: behind the scenes

Post author By myglasseye
Post date April 2, 2012
No Comments on Something For The Weekend: behind the scenes

One of the shows I used to work on regularly as a cameraman was Something For The Weekend, a Sunday morning magazine-style chat and cookery show for BBC2. I’d always enjoyed watching the show before I started working on it and it’s been one of my favourite jobs despite the 5:30am start, which probably seems like a lie-in for the folk who work on breakfast telly.

There’s a really friendly atmosphere on the studio floor between presenters, crew and production, and I’ve known chef Simon Rimmer for years since Great Food Live for UKTV Food, so it was definitely one of those jobs that hardly felt like ‘work’. Another bonus is the fact that it’s live, which always makes things a lot more fun.

I got to shoot publicity stills for the show in recent years (a selection are in my portfolio) and on those days grabbed some behind the scenes shots too, just for myself really. Those are the first few shots below.

Then I got into using apps like Hipstamatic and Instagram on my phone and started using that during the rehearsals to catch arty shots; there’s 7 or 8 minutes of hanging around between recipe rehearsal set-ups so I’d snap photos for fun. As we got closer to the last episode I started taking more and posting some to Twitter for the fans; I find behind-the-scenes photography fascinating, and on a show like SFTW there’s always something going on somewhere.

The atmosphere of the whole show is quite different to most other things I work on – we’re all tired but we have to be alert so the art of preparing and serving the perfect coffee from the shiny espresso machine in reception is prized amongst runners and crew alike; as we rehearse, the light through those huge windows transforms in just an hour or so from broody darkness to the piercingly bright golden glow of sunrise. It’s just a great space to take photos in.

So to commemorate the final show, and also just because these have been collecting in my hard drive for the last four years and they wanted to be seen, here’s a hundred or so of my favourite snaps from behind the scenes of Something For The Weekend, presented in roughly chronological-ish order, culminating in a set from the last show on March 18th, 2012 (you can click here to skip straight to that bit).

I should add that none of these are ‘official’ snaps; I simply love documenting what goes on behind the scenes in my job and I thought fans of the show might appreciate these particular pics now it’s finished.

Thanks for visiting, and if you watched the show, thank you for watching!

SFTW Something For The Weekend — The famous recipe chalk-boards

The last ever show

The last show wasn’t a great deal different to make than any other show, except there were a lot more studio guests watching behind the scenes including former producers, executives and friends of the show. There were a lot of cameras and smartphones out snapping pictures throughout the day, and I came away with around a hundred photos via Instagram; here’s some of my favourites:

And with that, Something For The Weekend came to the end of it’s 5+ year run! We had a lot of fun making it, and I hope you enjoyed watching it and flicking through these snaps.

Thanks for reading.

Tags Behind The Scenes, TV

Editorial Photographic Pictorial

T4 Behind The Scenes Photos

Post author By myglasseye
Post date March 23, 2011
1 Comment on T4 Behind The Scenes Photos

I’m very lucky to have two main jobs, both of which I enjoy – stills photography and television camera operation. I work on T4 as a camera operator a lot, and they just got a new set with lots of colourful neon lights so I was asked if I could bring in my camera and get some behind the scenes and action shots for the studio website. I also had a go at doing some for myself in black and white. I like to use the Nikon D700’s B&W mode. It’s a lot more flexible than most digital camera B&W modes, with extra controls for contrast, brightness, and colour filter to change tones of grey to suit the scene (I usually leave it on orange). The result is a nice punchy B&W with more character than if you just removed all the colour data like most B&W modes do.

(I’d still like to run them through PS for individual tweaks to contrast and brightness but these are all untouched, straight out of the camera.)

Tags Behind The Scenes, TV