Absorbed, Obsessed And Immersed at FITC | Serial Consign

DNA Mandala

[Jer Thorp / DNA Mandala / 2010]

Two weeks ago more than a thousand designers, artists and interactive industry insiders assembled for the 9th edition of FITC Toronto. The theme of this year's version of the festival drew inspiration from the exuberance of the playground and this was evident in a number of threads that ran through the programming. One of these was storytelling and narrative, which was at the heart of a one day symposium (organized by Siobhan O'Flynn of the CFC Media Lab) and a fascinating panel entitled "Storytelling: Absorbed, Obsessed And Immersed" produced in collaboration with the 5D organization. For this session Ben Kreukniet of United Visual Artists (UVA), production designer Alex McDowell (Minority Report, Fight Club), data artist Jer Thorp, John Underkoffler of Oblong industries and moderator Tali Krakowsky held court in a freewheeling conversation about authorship, narrative and world building. I was fortunate enough to attend this session and what follows is a brief summary of the proceedings.

United Visual Artists - Volume

[Fight Club's "Ikea Scene" / 1999]

Alex McDowell opened the session with an overview traditional notions of production design in film where design is limited to creating "backdrops for actors in space" and all thinking and expertise is subservient to the script. Working on Steven Spielberg's science fiction opus Minority Report (2002) proved to be a transformational experience for McDowell as the mandate of this film was to embed "every surface with a story." Many of the technologies within this film could be attributed the speculation of a consortium of thinkers (including Stewart Brand, Neil Gershenfeld and William J. Mitchell) who helped "imagineer" the year 2054 for Spielberg and the film is widely noted for capturing the public's imagination by showcasing a compelling dynamic gestural interface that figures prominently into the narrative. McDowell concluded his introduction by reminding the audience that film was a completely interactive medium – at least until the editing process begins.

Jer Thorp entered the conversation with a provocative comparison of data visualization and palaeontology whereby searching for patterns in datasets is akin to "collecting old bones." The data artist faces similar challenges to this discipline in that they must "find material, clean it up and attempt to assemble a skeleton" – despite being significantly removed from the event or phenomena that they are considering. Thorp stressed that working with data is fundamentally tied to reconstructive bias and that he was interested in trying to reveal connections in the myriad of "digital shadows" cast by individuals and organizations.

John Underkoffler highlighted the importance of accepting a much broader definition of narrative as the traditional linear model of "…and then, and then, and then…" is inadequate at capturing real-world complexities. He brought the conversation back to Minority Report and the development of the g-speak interface. Within the film, the operation of this gestural interface was prototyped through post-production and CGI and then "invented" after the fact. This is not only an example of design fiction foreshadowing the development of new technology but the g-speak interface firmly asserted that the entire body should be involved in manipulating information – Underkoffler believes moving beyond the screen (and mouse) is long overdue.

Ben Kreukniet identified the central thesis of the UVA design process as "making the user a protagonist." As evidenced by the myriad of public art projects currently being produced by the multidisciplinary studio around the world, UVA installations force the user to explore and engage – there are no operating instructions or overt "plot" within this work. Kreukniet described their work as a means to "tell stories with space and foreground awareness of time and movement in the city."

Riffing on a request to adjust the lighting in the darkened auditorium, Thorp suggested that new models for narrative had the capacity to "turn up the house lights" to reveal the presence of the audience as potential collaborators. A query from the crowd prompted a discussion about design and ethics in which Underkoffler pointed out the importance of open works given the ascent of increasingly locked-down proprietary platforms. Thorp expressed some cynicism regarding the future of data visualization given the manner in which communication theory was co-opted by the advertising industry and universities and colleges led the charge to monetize the discipline.

United Visual Artists - Volume

Krakowsky asked Kreukniet to discuss UVA's Volume (2006, pictured above) and how that popular reactive environment changed the nature of the commissions that his studio was receiving. Kreukniet identified "duration" as the main challenge that UVA faced with their new work as the durable, weatherproofed assemblies required by permanent installations are considerably more difficult to engineer. Given archivists and curators often grumble about the complexity of maintaining media art, it only follows that as these kinds of projects move from the exhibition hall to the public realm that these issues will be increasingly pressing.

DNA Mandala

McDowell and Underkoffler's Immersive Moviemaking course at USC is used as a springboard into conversation regarding narrative and education. Underkoffler suggests that a failing of traditional film education has been to focus on firmly established roles and hierarchies and that these paradigms can easily be overturned by asking students to build and deploy tools for storytelling. The syllabus for this studio concisely summarizes the goals of this experiment as follows: "An intensive lab-based project course in which students will construct a prototype of next-generation film production practice atop a gestural interface platform." Underkoffler identified (moving towards) dismantling the traditional models of "one to many" authorship as an endgame with this kind of research. Thorp observed that true interactivity is rare and Underkoffler conceded that there is a certain threshold required for engagement. To illustrate this point, Underkoffler likened the traditional model of film narrative to "riding a monorail" and referenced Don Bluth's classic 1983 arcade game Dragon's Lair as a harbinger of the inevitable shift towards more choice-based fiction. Offering some additional perspective, McDowell suggested that reflexive multi-dimensional narratives not only reflects "the database paradigm" but how the human mind processes information and memories.

The conversation wound down with an audience question that connected the trajectory of the panel discussion with extravagant budgets – this suggestion was swiftly rebutted. Underkoffler cited Shane Carruth's 2004 film Primer about time travel as a definitive high-concept low-budget project and Thorp noted that he had the funds for his next undertaking "in his back pocket."

-->

Trackback URL for this post:

If you missed this panel with Tali Krakowsky, Alex McDowell, John Underkoffler, Jeff Thorpe, & Ben Kreukniet at FITC, this is an amazing, detailed summary of their rich discussion - with pics! THANK YOU Greg Smith

UP THERE - Stella Artois' Ritual Project short doc series - gracias Alicia Kan!

This is one of the painting/video projects in New York commissioned by Stella Artois. Ritual Project is a 21day painting project in SoHo New York, with a number of artists painting 20 by 50 foot (6×15 metres) billboards.

The creator of this short doc, Jon, describes this video: "I wrote this documentary along with my friends Malcolm and Christine, as part of The Ritual Project sponsored by Stella Artois (more at uptherefilm.com). So proud to help these painters tell their story.

Concept: Mother NY; Production Co: Mekanism; Director/DP/Editor: Malcolm Murray; Music by The Album Leaf; Painters: Colossal Media/Sky High Murals/Bob Middleton; Presented by Stella Artois"

Things They Don't Teach You In Business School: Why Transmedia Is The Next Social Media

This is indeed a wonderful idea - if it's done the right way and doesn't end with some clumsy commercial (like it happened to some bloggers, e.g. with a shaving-kit--ad). I really love the take on this. It's a little like indoor-geocaching. For so many years media professionals talked about interaction. This finally is real interaction, it's participating in a story instead of switching view angles on the remote or clicking buttons on a website.

The marketing industry for years now has been accused of utter lack of creativity - and for the most part, the accusation was justified. Transmedia to me seems to be a wonderful playground for truly creative people - and only for those.

I also love your example of the Blair Witch Project. Instead of jealously safeguarding so-called intellectual property (which it not alway is) with laws and lawyers, some of the most successful marketing approaches basically asked the audience to be a part of the creative process. Record companies sue people for singing their artist's songs in a supermarket, while some artists (like Terra Naomi) publish videos on how to play their songs yourself and publish cover versions on their own website. It's a new world and it's high time that the marketing industry finally catches up.

Okay, this got a little longer than expected ;)

 

Great post by Alicia Kan on a 10 minute transmedia experience at SXSW & further thoughts on transmedia

Indie films await sign of VOD, Web download success / Reuters

By Christine Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Like an actor waiting for a big break, the nascent market for watching independent movies on TV video-on-demand channels or online via streaming or downloads still needs a big hit to make believers out of moviemakers.

Last month, the Tribeca Film Festival launched an unusual effort to acquire films and release them on video-on-demand (VOD) in an effort to help kick-start the market. Typically, film festivals screen movies, not distribute them.

As the festival wound down earlier this week, the success of Tribeca's effort was still unknown. But market players said VOD and online sales are not likely a financial game-changer anytime soon for the beleaguered independent film industry that in recent years has fallen on hard times as too many indie movies competed for space in too few theaters.

"They (VOD and Web downloads) have generated meager revenue at best. The total revenue has not been up until now anything resembling financially compelling," said Eamonn Bowles, President of Magnolia Pictures.

Still, Tribeca organizers and industry executives agree the old financial model of a film creating buzz at festivals and being acquired for theatrical release needs changing.

"So many filmmakers still want that traditional route, they want to be able to walk down that red carpet at a cinema," said Tribeca's chief creative officer Geoff Gilmore.

"But I can't make that world exist any longer when it doesn't," he added. "I can't tell (filmmakers), 'you are going to have a number of different buying opportunities' when in fact it has been more and more mitigated...so we are trying to create new opportunities."

Tribeca's distribution arm, called Tribeca Film, acquired more than a dozen films and over half were shown at the festival, including "Climate of Change" and "Metropia."   Continued...

Previous PagePrevious Page'+i+'Next PagePrevious Page 1 | 2 | 3 Next Page

very interesting read

The Beautiful Luscious Tactility of Paper

I’ve been having a lot of conversations about paper recently. About how much pleasure there is in the feel of paper, the texture and the turning of pages. That I am not alone in this is attested to by the success of book stores like Type Books in Toronto, which specializes, not in discount books, but in beautiful editions, small press editions, art, architecture and design books. So it’s lovely to see this delight in the aesthetic qualities of paper and the book present in video & digital works. 

 

below are a few of my all time favourites...

 

The New Zealand Book Council video - watch - what can I say?

 

 

Just launched, this stop motion video is a teaser for the upcoming animated film doc on Ivor Kenk, Toronto’s notorious bike thief.

 

MIT Media Lab student Jie Qi’s Electronic Popables integrate paper & electronics in an entirely visionary way

 

 

I have spent a ridiculous amount of time playing with this website for digital designers, One Bit Wonder and I know half of my enjoyment is the gorgeous paper cut world.

 

http://www.onebitincrement.com/#/home

 

This stop motion Mykonos video by Grandchildren takes geometric shapes on a lyrical journey

 

 

This stop motion video is a reminder of how evocative & immersive playing with paper can be

 

TITANIA — Kickstarter

KICKSTARTER IS A FUNDING PLATFORM FOR ARTISTS, DESIGNERS, FILMMAKERS, MUSICIANS, JOURNALISTS, INVENTORS, EXPLORERS....

"Last week, Neil Gaiman recommended Titania's world of high fantasy and gothic stylings to his 1.4 million followers on Twitter. Lisa Stock's melding of Greek mythology to Shakespeare and Russian fairytales left an impression on the master of gothic fantasy himself. Click to see why."

PROJECT BACKGROUND
TITANIA is written and directed by Lisa Stock, and produced by InByTheEye Films.

A low-budget fantasy which relies on a strong story, compelling characters, and creativity. TITANIA is a retelling of the fairy tale of the Armless Maiden through Shakespeare's faery queen. The story is romantic, shocking, intense, and ultimately hopeful!

This unique project has already garnered an enthusiastic fan base, numerous features in the press, and growing interest within the fantasy industry. To learn more - please visit our official website at: www.TitaniaFilm.com

(those outside the US can pledge via Kickstarter, but if you have trouble - please see the Investor page on our website for further instructions or drop us an email. Thanks!)

Playing in the imaginative gap

Picture_13

Playing in the imaginative gap

 

I got super-excited the other morning reading Tali Krakowsky’s post ‘The Spaces In Between’ as my approach to digital storytelling has from very early on focused on the power of what I call the imaginative gap. This for me is the idea that fragmented, non-linear narratives achieve richness through what we do to actively fill in the gaps and make connections between fragments. The film, Memento was an early model of this for me as was Scott McCloud’s notion of ‘blood in the gutter’ between panels in a comic, where we instinctively stitch together disparate events into a continuous story. So the idea in Tali’s post, that the gap is a place of play and exploration absolutely resonated with me.

 

http://bit.ly/bXK1ae

 

I think we now see this principle in the use of dynamic spatial maps as the interface through which complex interactive narratives are told. You can see this in HBO’s Imagine (see above) and Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure 

 

http://www.sonyclassics.com/standardoperatingprocedure/site.html

 

In each, we see the fragmented elements of the stories  in a dynamic model that allows us to intuit if not fully understand the whole. Interactivity allows us to play with fragments and the experience becomes rich when we stitch the pieces together into meaningful wholes, creating narrative closure between elements. 

 

This is one way of thinking about how the imaginative gap functions. And really here we can go back to Barthes’ distinction between the readerly and writerly texts in ‘The Death of the Author’ with the understanding that Barthes’ vision of active readers creating their own texts is exactly what is now happening in digital media. So the death of the author/authority is really what we see happening now in the birth of participatory co-creators of online stories.  Check out Philips’ invitation to fans to create the 6th short  film in their Parallel Lines online series. The governing rule is that fan created short films have to contain the key lines of dialogue that link the existing films across genres and divergent story lines. 

 

http://www.cinema.philips.com/gb_en/

 

A second aspect that I am also fascinated with is that the spaces between are also spaces of play. That stories that are not closed, not perfectly rendered, but gapped, like the space between Chloe’ teeth in Tali’s blog, engage us in the act of playing with content, with meaning. This often means that there is more than one way to stitch a story back together. In the exploratory website for Hail the Villain we have to piece together the story behind a car crash.

 

http://www.hailthevillain.com/

 

Third, play is not just what we do within the story space, for me ‘play’ has become the defining characteristic of digital storytelling and I mean this in multiple ways. We play with the content AND we play with the interfaces and this second play is often the source of intensely satisfying immersion in the surprise and delight of unexpected nuances of interface design (see Eric Zimmerman & Katie Salen on play & game design). Most recently for me I find this in the preload bar on the NFB/Jam3 Waterlife website. And I will put on record here that yes, I often deliberately go the site just to play with the preloader.

 

http://waterlife.nfb.ca/

 

The digital space is a playful medium and to really understand its potential means to not approach it as a content delivery system (to borrow from Russell Crowe in The Insider) but to understand it as a poetic medium. And poetic in that we look for patterns, rhythms, and multiple levels of meaning, just as we do in film or literature. This extraordinarily beautiful site is ‘a three-dimensional, interactive rendering of the Torah, to be written by over 300,000 global participants’ (source: cabengo.com) 

 

http://www.peoplestorah.org/

 

Storytelling in the digital environment is immersive, rich & satisfying when we are called upon to interact in two ways simultaneously and when there is integrity between these two modes: in the playfulness of the interfaces that extend and support the content and in the imaginative engagement with the content whereby we create and experience a story or stories in the moment. And there is more chance of this happening when the story is distributed, when fragments exist in dynamic juxtaposition, when the experience can really be different through each iteration. This is different from a branching tree model because the structure itself is designed to be mobile, giving the completion of the experience and narrative to the participant. Jonathan Harris’ The Whale Hunt, for example, offers multiple ways to follow his journey north, linear and non-linear

 

http://thewhalehunt.org/

 

And this leads into what may be the most important distinction between film & tv and digital storytelling. I have also noticed that when digital creatives talk about their process and how projects are developed, they often talk about the importance of taking time to play. Sometimes, this is time set aside for brainstorming and discovery. Sometimes it is taking your staff out to to go indoor parachuting as Adrian Belina of Jam3 described at Storytelling X.O recently. And sometimes play means actually playing with tactile media, paper, toys, you name it. My most favourite of these stories is Joshua Hirsch, Minister of Technology of Big Spaceship (is that not a playful title?), tale of their most important purchase, a smoke machine and the value they found in playing with it. (Hey Josh! put that video up online!). You can see the results in the video below

 

 

In this latter sense, play is also exploration. It is not goal oriented and it is not bound by criteria of success and failure, and because of that it allows for the unexpected. 

 

So know that when you start creating in the digital realm, you are not only allowed to play, play is also fundamental to the process. Here Big Spaceship’s foosball table becomes the interface for projected content:

 

 

The very best sites on the website engage us not only through the power of the story we discover but also through the delights of interaction. And it is this paradoxical combination that allows us to engage with content that can be serious and frankly depressing while still enjoying the experience. Understanding this is one aspect of being able to ‘design for the middle’ (Hirsch again - no wonder I love their work), as in digital storytelling the experience often means more than the arriving at the end. The interface to this last documentary, Gaza/Sderot, is beautifully conceived to reflect the crisis that impacts the lives of the Palestinian & Jewish communities depicted.

 

http://gaza-sderot.arte.tv/en/#/time/