NESTA suggestions:
"Address what the immediate potential applications of your idea might be. This should include who might use it and how it might be used. If your idea has more than one application you should explain which you think might be the most promising in commercial terms and which you intend to pursue first?"
Kids need freedom to explore. Stand-alone educational content does not satisfy this need to the extent that Internet content can. Using the potential of the Internet means encouraging people to contribute.
One of the strongest and most common feelings within the modern cinema going public is that of dissatisfaction, that the film did not live up to their expectations. Hand in hand with this has come the feeling that given half a chance the cinemagoer would/could have made a better film themselves. This is that opportunity.
The project explores a more economically sustainable approach to high-end media production. I believe that film is the most promising application but there are many others. The social mechanisms and technology for re-mixable film is needed by small “ideas companies” to develop story and art content for next- generation game titles that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive. The game industry estimates that two thirds of a Playstation 3 development team will be art creators. New ways of coming up with this content are needed. Re-usable online resources in general help to reduce waste and packaging.
Film/game tie-ins need to work both commercially and creatively (as both passive and interactive entertainment). Few do so. The average cost of game production is spiralling upwards faster than film production to meet the expectations of hardcore gamers.
Real control over digital media, sampling and re-mixing of audio/visual elements, is an essential part of modern culture. People want control over their digital media. They want more creative control than major companies are currently able to sanction. These companies need to see new forms of interactivity succeed ahead of any investment - a catch-22. Independent content producers need tools and methodologies to be flexible and innovate with forms ahead of the mainstream.
The interactive entertainment industry needs fresh ideas that appeal to the mass market and communicate interactive potential. Over-produced toys are rarely as popular as simple ones. The ability to fiddle with a film is not game-play but it is cheaper to develop and support given the existence of game technology.
Kids need creative play. The Star Wars phenomenon was accelerated by 3rd party merchandise. Kids created virtual worlds for their plastic action figures and re-interpreted the story without constraints. The “film as stage” metaphor taps into the same need for unbridled creativity, using broadband connectivity to expand the playground.
Film-makers and game-makers need more ways to share their respective art and work closer together for creative and economic benefit. Computer games, as art forms, need to evolve in order to appeal to more people. The creative conflict between creating a good passive story-telling experience and creating an interactive experience (where a good story is only evident in hindsight) needs to be examined from fresh perspectives outside the industries with too much at stake in the status quo.
There needs to be a re-think of how film/game tie-ins are made, the audience experience of them, and how IP is managed. Both the film industry and the game industry have been slow to react to key lessons learnt namely:
1. A minority of gamers actually complete games.
2. People still need passive experiences, based purely on empathy.
3. “Interactive film” is broader than interactive narrative (the failed approach of writing branching story-lines).
4. Interactive film works with a simple premise (sing along to the Sing-along Sound of Music, dress up and throw rice at the screen during The Rocky Horror Picture Show).
5. Computer game assets are usually designed for re-use.
6. In 2003, the most widely played online game is a MOD; Counter-Strike, based on Half-Life (Valve, 1998). CS has recently been released as a commercial game. MOD culture has come full circle.
7. There is little industry funding to develop the interactive potential of stories hence the relatively few (self-funded) projects.
Storytellers need an online platform for story distribution and community. A radically new approach is needed for new terrain. Live performers (speakers, actors, musicians, DJs, VJs) need online stages. Games rarely consider spectator and non-gamer behaviour, unnecessarily reducing their mass market appeal.
People need content that is "relevent to me". Unlike a Director's cut DVD, a re-mixable film DVD supports the idea of "me mate's cut" or "Mum's mix". It is clearly justifiable as mass market entertainment, and especially in the context of the online industry's quest for "personalised content". Creating such content, however simply, will be a form of expression that some people will gravitate towards and pass onto others through their enthusiastic use. Enabling easier access to film-making, however simplistic, is a step towards something often viewed in industry as a busines requirement needing a technology solution. Maybe the social dimension has been overlooked. Re-mixable film is a step towards more useful media that's worth the cost of production.
Posted by .M. at October 17, 2003 10:30 AMKids need freedom to explore. Educational software does not satisfy this need to the extent that the internet does.
Posted by: ken at October 31, 2003 05:37 PM