Word Clouds of Romney & Obama's Convention Speeches

Mitt Romney:

President Barack Obama:

Bill Maher with Reagan, Ferraro and Dukakis

Two ridiculous scenes from the little known 1991 film, Pizza Man, which features a 35 year-old Bill Maher and an assortment of 1980's politicians. In the first scene, Maher walks in on Ronald Reagan and Geraldine Ferraro having an affair and in the second he hitchhikes with Michael Dukakis. Enjoy:

"INSIDE THE EAGLETON AFFAIR" Documentary: When a VP Selection Went Terribly Wrong

Before there was the controversial Sarah Palin pick in 2008, there was Thomas Eagleton, George McGovern’s ill-fated selection in 1972. The Eagleton affair, in fact, ultimately changed how vice-presidential running mates are now made.

With political watchers on veepstakes alert for Mitt Romney’s eventual VP pick, below a mini-documentary on the Eagleton affair.

A little backstory: When McGovern arrived at the Democratic convention in Miami during the summer of '72, his campaign priority was to fend off rival Hubert Humphrey's last-ditch attempt to win the nomination through an obscure rule change. Picking a running mate was relegated to the backburner. After officially gaining the nod, McGovern was left with only an hour and a half to choose a No. 2 -- and he hastily settled on Sen. Thomas Eagleton (D-MO), a man with whom McGovern had only spoken twice.

"Vetting" the candidate was an afterthought, a decision that came to exemplify VP selection gone bad. 

Watch my documentary for the full behind-the-scenes story on NBC's First Read Blog or below:

"CHIEF EXEC": The Mad Men Opening Sequence, Featuring President Obama

In anticipation of AMC's season premiere of "Mad Men", we feature our own version of the opening starring President Barack Obama on Sunday's The Chris Matthews Show. Titled, "Chief Exec", our homage to the iconic sequence features Obama cascading past his rivals and the issues that may complicate his reelection in 2012. Click the thumbnail for hi-rez versions of the below screenshots and watch the video at the bottom of this post:

 

In making this 2012-themed interpretation, the Oval Office was paired down to its most recognizable pieces of furniture and then re-assembled in Photoshop by our graphic artist Colleen Clapp, who carefully cut out the items so each could be moved as a separate layer. The bulk of the graphic and the animation work was completed by Rodney Turner, who went through the original Mad Men opening shot by shot, rendering each building in Cinema 4D and then adding the broadside images on the buildings. The silhouette was recreated to match President Obama's profile (emphasis on his ears, and the fact that Obama is seemingly slimmer than the Draper outline we're used to) and then, to boot, Obama was animated to make him look more lifelike as he descends: " the Obama limbs actaully move, which was accomplished using the puppet tool in After Effects." Below are some screenshots showcasing the complexity of the project, including AfterEffects, Cinema 4D and Photoshop:

Robert Bruce created the music from scratch to match the harmony and cues of the original: "it was all created specifically for this project...  nothing directly pulled from the original." The new theme music even includes a "Hail to the Chief" motif that you may recognize if you listen closely: "the melody will sound familiar but somehow a little off because the original 'Hail to the Chief' is written in a major key, and in order to effectively communicate a darker tone, it needed to be transcribed into a minor key."

See how it all came together: