Q&A with Frank Rose on ‘The Art of Immersion’ | Interview on JWT Intelligence #transmedia

A contributing editor at Wired, Frank Rose is the author of a new book, The Art of Immersion: How the Digital Generation Is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way We Tell Stories. Rose explores how the Internet is transforming storytelling and talks to creative minds who are “rethinking the ancient art of narrative for a two-way world.” He calls their efforts “deep media,” defined as “stories that are not just entertaining but immersive, that take you deeper than an hour-long TV drama or a two-hour movie or a 30-second spot will permit.” Most “deep media” content could also be termed transmedia, a topic we explore in a new trend report, “Transmedia Rising.” Attendees of SXSW Interactive can catch Rose on two panels; he’s also participating in the MediaGuardian Changing Media Summit in London later this month.

What’s your elevator pitch for this book?

Essentially, that the influence of the Internet is changing stories—by which I mean movies, television shows, games, advertisements, any number of ways that stories can be told. It’s changing them in a way that is making them immersive above all, but also non-linear, because the Web itself is non-linear. That’s making it somewhat game-like and certainly very participatory. In other words, no more passive viewing. It means taking a much more active role.

And what’s driving all this is the emergence of a type of media that’s participatory, that is the opposite of the mass media we’ve known for pretty much all of the 20th century. What you’ve seen in the past 10 years or so is the emergence of social media, of any number of other things online that’s, first off, giving pretty much everybody a voice that wants it and is at the same time influencing how stories are told on television and in other media.

Read Marian Berelowitz' full interview with Frank Rose on jwtintelligence.com

Add Erupting Volcano to the Earthquake & Tsunami: Shinmoedake Volcano Erupts in Japan. March 13 2011

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After 52 years, the Shinmoedake Volcano unleashes its second eruption of 2011.

On March 13th, 2011 in south-west Japan, the Shinmoedake volcano in the Kirishima range erupts after two weeks of no activity.

In January 2011, the Shinmoedake volcano erupted for the first time in 52 years - sending ash and rock flying for miles. Thousands were told to temporarily evacuate the area, but the volcano seemed to settle and there was only mild activity until the 1st of March, where it ceased any activity.

Read more at Suite101: Shinmoedake Volcano Erupts in Japan http://www.suite101.com/content/volcano-erupts-in-japan-a358386#ixzz1GVL9eOGp

As Online Streaming Booms, DVDs Hear a Death Knell - NYTimes.com #infdist

THAT distant rumble you hear is the sound of yet another approaching cultural shift, accompanied by all the shouts of joy and gnashing of teeth that come with such upheaval.

Rick Wilking/Reuters

The brick-box Blockbuster, once the dominant DVD franchise, has fallen into bankruptcy in an era of other video options.

The DVD isn’t dead yet, but it’s definitely looking a little peaked, at least in the eyes of the home-video industry. Sales continue to decline (volume is down about 40 percent from this time last year for the Top 20 titles, according to Home Media Magazine), the formerly ubiquitous neighborhood rental shops have all but vanished (Blockbuster, once the dominant franchise, has plunged into bankruptcy), and the major studios have drastically cut back on full-scale releases of library titles.

The days of the digital versatile disc may well be coming to an end, at least in its established form as a factory pressed, attractively packaged object of mass consumption. But there are several new formats competing to replace it, each with benefits and drawbacks.

read the full article on the nytimes.com

I love this idea. Time to Test It: Free GPS Navigation with Turn by Turn - Waze |

Real-time maps and traffic information based on the wisdom of the crowd

watch the guided tour

From the site:

"What are waze drivers building?

Waze is a social mobile application providing free turn-by-turn navigation based on the live conditions of the road.

100% powered by users, the more you drive, the better it gets. Join the community of drivers in your area today!"

Must Read: Excellent post on digital distribution & foreign films on The Film Collaborative #infdist

Top 25 Multichannel Video Programming Distributors as of Sept. 2010 – Source NCTA (National Cable Television Association)

Rank MSO BasicVideoSubscribers
1 Comcast Corporation 22,937,000
2 DirecTV 18,934,000
3 Dish Network Corporation 14,289,000
4 Time Warner Cable, Inc. 12,551,000
5 Cox Communications, Inc.1 4,968,000
6 Charter Communications, Inc. 4,653,000
7 Verizon Communications, Inc. 3,290,000
8 Cablevision Systems Corporation 3,043,000
9 AT&T, Inc. 2,739,000
10 Bright House Networks LLC1 2,194,000
11 Suddenlink Communications1 1,228,000
12 Mediacom Communications Corporation 1,203,000
13 Insight Communications Company, Inc. 699,000
14 CableOne, Inc. 651,000
15 WideOpenWest Networks, LLC1 391,000
16 RCN Corp. 354,000
17 Bresnan Communications1 297,000
18 Atlantic Broadband Group, LLC 269,000
19 Armstrong Cable Services 245,000
20 Knology Holdings 231,000
21 Service Electric Cable TV Incorporated1 222,000
22 Midcontinent Communications 210,000
23 MetroCast Cablevision 186,000
24 Blue Ridge Communications1 172,000
25 General Communications 148,000

read the long full post here:

http://www.thefilmcollaborative.org/blog/#