I finally got to see Fast Film, probably the most ambitious and artistic mash-up movie to-date.
Made by Virgil Widrich Film- und Multimediaproduktion the film is available for purchase as an online download for £1.99 (VAT inc.) from World Cinema Online, another NESTA funded UK venture.
What is missing from the experience, and what MOD Films is set up to do, is extend the experience of watching something like Fast Film beyond the cinema experience.
Here's a case study based on this evening's entertainment
Reads about film
Buys the film online as a regular movie and downloads it
Watches the film
Looks up the film at modfilms.net
Browses the information on the film's asset library
Browses the information on the film's available MODs
Downloads the most popular MOD and individual assets of the film (limited access)
a) Subscribes to re-mixable film in order to download individual film assets and film MODs
b) Buys the re-mixable film edition so that MODs can be loaded directly into the film
c) Creates a film MOD and uploads this to modfilms.net
Jill wants to embrace the future, be hip and up to date in everything and has an innate (albeit NAIVE) love for animation. She remembers seeing 'Horses for Courses' somewhere?!? and became rather interested in the idea of making her BIG BREAK through remixing films quite recently.
Yuko doesn't speak very good English but has been desperately lurking around all the new and burgeoning Social Networks like 'Mixi' and 'Multiply' in the hopes of hooking up with like-minded individuals to help with his current digital film project. When he read about 'remixable films' on Tribe.net he decided this might be another interesting 'angle' to consider.
May is into absolutely E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G to do with New Media and its many infinite implications. She's doing her doctorate on 'Interactive Media for the Home' and wishes to interview Michela on her current project. She's a good person to know for 'spreading the word' because, like any good journalist, she's determined to be in on the FRONT DOOR of these developments.
Alex is a graphic designer, writer, musician and film-maker who loves to be 'in the know' of any NEW develoment in any area and any part of the globe. Admittedly he doesn't know his Java script from his Java Tea, but he regularly attends film festivals, computer shows and art gallery openings on the off-chance he might catch a WHIFF of something exciting and radically new.
Billy is in his early teens and doesn't quite know what he's going to do with his life. All he knows is that he loves Manga and all forms of Computer Animation, and that when he recently saw 'Animatrix' he became totally obsessed with the idea that a film could have multiple-themes and narratives which could be handled by a number of different film-makers in a variety of different styles. He doesn't know about MOD Films yet but when he eventually discovers the site, it might just become a 'turning point' for him.
Max is the ultimate film aficionado and critic, and although something of a PURIST, is extremely keen to keep up to date with any new developments in film technology, partly in the hopes of being able to discover some new cutting-edge film maker who will be the NEXT BIG THING he writes about for one of the many publications he freelances for. Max is a really good person to know because Max knows EVERYBODY!!
Pamela is a Copyright Lawyer for a major European film distributor. Her interest in MOD Films is purely ACADEMIC, having more to do with keeping abreast of film rights and the general handlings (and mishandlings) of film content through the various trafficking of content and images brought about by the 'sharing' thereof. etc. etc. etc.
Lance is a lazy bastard, otherwise he would have got something going a long long time ago. Instead he chooses to surf the net as a spectator, tuning into peoples' forums, checking out their blogs and occasionally stealing an idea as well as an image or two. He came across MOD Films a few months back and makes repeated visits to the site, claiming (mainly to himself) that one day, he too will put his 'creative' skills to some use in this area. Yeah.. dream on Lance!!
Emma is a VJ who wants to legally re-mix high quality material. She hears about modfilms.net from VJ Central and subscribes to modfilms.net in order to download some new material for her sets.
Mack's been hacking into computers since he learned how to say "Help me Obi-Wan you're my only hope!" He vehemently RESISTS any idea of making remixable film software available through open source because it might take the lime-light away from the pirates and hackers who he fancifully believes are the only true HEROES in the information technology game. This however doesn't mean that he hasn't already hacked himself a copy of this software or that he won't continue to keep an inquistive eye on MOD Films.
Davo is a video game developer, designer and user who spends most of his online time conducting forums, discussions and reviewing new PC and Mac games as well as console games by leading retailers like Sony and Nintendo. Basically.. what Davo doesn't know about video games, simply isn't worth knowing. He would love to use the application software licensed by MOD films on some of his own games.
I'm preparing a set of use case studies along the lines of "Name is a..." to help focus any community plans on who the target audience will be.
Jim has been making films the traditional way for many years now. Recently he's been coaxed into working more with the digital medium, and mixing up his media sources a bit by his techie brother. He thinks that MOD films might be the future but he's just not sure yet.
Joni loved SANCTUARY but thought she could improve on the dialogue. Using a stand-alone PC application she downloaded from modfilms.net she creates a SANCTUARY MOD which simply replaces a few choice lines of dialogue with her own. She uploads the MOD and circulates the URL to some friends.
A local web site references her MOD and soon there are several similar MODs by people who reckon that they can out-do her.
A local games developer approaches Joni for the right to use her new dialogue in a project. The developer is creating a commercial title and wants to reference her SANCTUARY MOD as it proved popular for his target audience. The developer purchases rights from both MOD Films and Joni to use a combination of the original SANCTUARY film and user-contributed content.
Scott is a night-club promoter who is looking for a way to attract crowds to his venue. The venue already has VJs who re-mix material but Scott wants to ensure that any custom visuals can be legally used in advertising. Scott joins modfilms.net to see what content is available to re-mix legally and to find new VJ talent for his nights.
Michaela is a film-maker who likes to do live re-mixes of her work. She uses MOD Films technology to produce the DVDs of her films takes them on tour. The notion of a director's cut seems out-of-date to her so she prefers to think of each cut as a mix.