FanDependent to receive support for Innovative Distribution via Screen Australia -

Screen Australia’s Innovative Distribution program recognises that new models are allowing access to expanding markets and there is a need to support a variety of low-budget screen content that does not fit into a traditional distribution and exhibition paradigm. Josh Pomeranz and Thomas Mai’s FanDependent will partner with 10 filmmaker teams over two years – helping producers build an initial audience and raise finance through crowd funding. Selected teams will then be supported to market, sell and release their low-budget feature, maximising its commercial potential and audience. Workshops and video blogs for the wider industry will also be provided.

“A true hybrid incorporating marketing, development and production, the FanDependent Entertainment model promises real outcomes for filmmakers including visibility of films, support for low-budget content, revenue, a greater understanding of audience, tailored marketing support and the deployment of innovative release strategies,” said Kathleen Drumm, Screen Australia’s Head of Marketing.

“Digital convergence and social media have removed the gap between filmmakers and their audience,” said Thomas Mai. “Now, independent filmmakers can build and commercialise their own IP and audience. FanDependent will be looking for audience-focused filmmaker teams with strong projects, ideally with an existing or growing fan base. We will then assist producers to finance, complete and commercialise their projects, without them having to give away any of their rights.”

The full announcement is on the Screen Australia site:

http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/news_and_events/2011/mr_111208_innovdist.aspx

Must read: Volkswagen adopts semantic search technology (Wired UK)

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Excerpt from WiredUk post:

"...The new search also allows new search terms to be easily added without having to manually retag content. It also allows content to be repurposed across the site in different contexts, meaning that a developer no longer needs to write new publishing code every time Volkswagen wants to share information with a third party.

In order to create the new search functionality, Tribal DDB had to create a detailed list of search tags, known as ontologies, to describe cars online. These were devised with semantic search expert Professor Martin Hepp, who has previously worked with Google. VW is making the ontological system they devised available for other automotive manufacturers to adopt and adapt for their own sites...."

Read the full article here:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-12/07/semantic-seo-volkswagen#

Oh. So. Cool: New Glasses-Free 3-D Approach Could Work on Thin, Flexible Displays: Scientific American

3d,oled AUTOSTEREOSCOPIC 3-D DISPLAY: This schematic illustration shows the concept of an autostereoscopic display with the lucius prism array. When the prism side of the lucius prism array is placed on a mixed image in good alignment, two distinctively different images are seen by the left and right eyes. (b) Pictures taken from the positions of the left (SNUlogo) and right eye (smiley face). (c) Transformation of the printed picture when the flexible lucius prism sheet is bent backward (SNUlogo) and forward (smiley face) while holding the left-hand side firm. The slit area was 4 centimeters by 4 centimeters. Image: Courtesy of the researchers and Nature Communications

Three-dimensional television and the like got a major marketing push nearly two years ago from the consumer electronics and entertainment industries, yet the technology still has major limitations. Whereas glasses-free 3-D on television screens and computer monitors is seen as crucial to generating widespread interest in new consumer electronics, for the most part, viewers still need to wear glasses to experience stereoscopic 3-D images, although glasses-free TVs are starting to hit in Japan.

The use of 3-D sans specs has been much more successful in smaller screens such as smartphones and portable gaming devices. But these LCDs must be backlit to work properly—which can be a big battery drain and limits how small the gadgets can be made.

Now a team of researchers in South Korea is developing an approach to autostereoscopic 3-D using tiny prisms that would enable viewers to see three-dimensional images without glasses on organic light-emitting-diode (OLED) screens. Because OLEDs do not need to be backlit—they get their lighting from organic compounds that emit light in response to electric current—they can be thinner, lighter and more flexible than LCDs. The innovation is detailed in a paper published in the August 30 issue of Nature Communications. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.)

read the full article on Scientific American:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=no-glasses-3d-oled#

Oh man. Is this cool: An Interactive Table With An Elastic Touchscreen Surface | from Co. Design

As part of this year's Esquire apartment, Hush Studios built a table that responds visually and sonically to touch.

Every year, Esquire magazine enlists a scad of designers (and corporate sponsors) to transform prized pieces of real estate into surreally decadent playhouses for the über rich. This year’s site: Brooklyn's most expensive digs, the $23.5 million penthouse of Dumbo’s ClockTower Building, which Esquire converted into the ultimate bachelor pad, replete with a tequila bar. The standout piece in the capacious crib is a dynamic, interactive table in the “study” (surely, no work, as you and I would define it, is likely to happen here) that is part instrument, part light installation.

The entire desk is based on the experience of driving an Acura

read the full post on:

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665565/an-interactive-desk-inspired-by-automobil...

Mozilla Popcorn & Interview with Kat Cizek on BBC World Service « o p e n m a t t

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"The BBC’s tech program “Click” interviewed Kat Cizek about her new interactive documentary, One Millionth Tower, and how she used open source technologies like WebGL and Mozilla Popcorn to make it unique. (Listen to the MP3 or OGG version.)"

visit the site:

http://openmatt.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/popcorn-on-bbc/

Super Cool: Girl Talk's All Day Gets A 71 Minute Music Video | via The Creators Project

Girl Talk's All Day Gets A 71 Minute Music Video

by The Creators Project Staff December 05, 2011

When Girl Talk released his last album, All Day, the internet went pretty wild. Visualizations and breakdowns of his expertly crafted remixes abounded as the album seemed to capture the collective imagination of the entire music-loving world and provide a hearty dose of creative inspiration as well.

But perhaps the mother of all Girl Talk tributes is debuting this week, a 71-minute-long music video created as a visual accompaniment to the mashup album called Girl Walk // All Day. It features a ballerina who has a bit of a freak out and a blonde guy in skeleton leisure wear who dances like he’s made of rubber. The first part of the film, School’s Out, was cast out into the world wide web a few days ago, and subsequent parts will be rolled out over the coming weeks. But those of you who are in New York can watch the entire thing at the Masonic Temple in Brooklyn this Thursday, December 8th when they screen it at the release party. Get your RSVP here.

We spoke with the film’s managing producer, Youngna Park, to find out more about the project and what, exactly, the team had in mind here.

The Creators Project: How did Girl Walk come into being? What in the world possessed you to try and make an album-length music video?
Youngna Park:
As a child, Jacob [Krupnick, director] was largely influenced by MTV and music videos. He found these brief, potent, immersive experiences were fascinating, and was especially drawn by videos with a narrative, or which broke from the original song to try and develop a little context. As an artist, he is working to create work that makes a big impact, engages an audience, and that combats the distraction most of us feel in the face of a really fast-moving, technologically-enabling life. Combining sound and video have the power to do this, [as well as the ability] to be shared on a large scale.

The idea for Girl Walk // All Day is an expression of these ideas, but the storyline comes from meeting an amazing, mercurial dancer named Anne while making an installation piece for a fashion show a few years ago. Jacob embarked on a long search for a soundtrack that would challenge her, and be widely enjoyed by the public. Upon hearing Girl Talk’s album, All Day, he knew he’d found the perfect soundtrack for this larger project.

read the full post here on thecreatorsproject.com:

http://www.thecreatorsproject.com/blog/girl-talks-iall-dayi-gets-a-71-minute-...

Very Cool Short List for Gaming For Good: Concepts To Support The Climate Reality Group @PSFK

GREENSPY, lg2, Montreal, Quebec

Greenspy takes on climate change by giving people a collective platform from which to address irresponsible and dishonest corporate behavior. Rooted in crowdsourcing and petition, this game aggregates geo-targeted mobile photography and content on a gaming platform in a fashion similar to publishing platform Digg. That is, users can use a voting system to determine the popularity of individual items.

check out the original post for more inspiring projects:

http://www.psfk.com/2011/12/gaming-for-good-concepts-to-support-the-climate-r...

I love this post: “Mucking around with HTML is like baking bread or changing a tire” « o p e n m a t t

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Excerpt from November 21 post on open matt.wordpress.com

"...Meredith’s post about the experience perfectly captures the value of getting our hands dirty through webmaking, and reminded me of Mitchell Baker’s keynote on creation vs. one-way consumption at the Mozilla Festival. Meredith writes:

It’d be easy to say, “That sounds fun, but what’s the point?”

For me, mucking around in the HTML was like making bread from scratch or changing a tire. They’re activities in which I want to engage as an act of understanding and joy, not necessarily of utility or efficiency..."