About the competition from the Gowalla blog:

Just in time for thousands upon thousands of visitors to descent upon Austin for SXSW, the fine folks at Fantastic Fest have put together a trip highlighting some of the cool spots around Austin that have been used as film locations from some of your favorite movies! They’ve pulled 10 of their favorites from movies like Office Space, Death Proof, Slacker, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre and have created Fantastic Fest’s Austin Film Tour.

As if getting to visit the Innitech offices wasn’t reward enough, the cool cats at Fantastic Fest have sweetened the pot to ensure you’ll see this one through to the end credits: Starting Thursday, March 11, through Wednesday, March 17th, everyone who visits all 10 spots on the trip and earns the Fantastic Fest’s Austin Film Tour pin will be automatically entered to win a VIP badge to Fantastic Fest 2010. The badges are valued at $285 each, and have been sold out for quit some time now. Fantastic Fest will draw two winners from all eligible participants, and we’ll announce them here.

So finish those TPS reports and get rolling (starting Thursday!) on this fantastic trip!

Last night I played a video game that comes as close to successful interactive storytelling that’s ever been done. The game is called Heavy Rain, a PlayStation 3 exclusive, which was in development for five years before being released to the masses last week.

The Casting

I first became aware of the game in 2006 when a non-playable tech demo, a three-minute scene called “The Casting,” premiered at E3 of that year. The demo absolutely floored me, and still does, with it’s realistic use of camera work, high quality voice acting and detailed animation that brought a magnetic quality to the performance of a virtual actor. If you haven’t seen it yet I implore you to watch it below:

The Game

Heavy Rain is described by it’s French director and writer David Cage as “a very dark film noir thriller with mature themes” about how far you’re willing to go to save someone you love. In the game you play four different characters whose lives are affected by the serial murders of the Origami Killer. It’s this intersection of four lives, four storylines, that makes the narrative gameplay such a dense and rewarding experience. Each time you play one of the characters something subtly, on a psychological level, happens that makes you think like them and influences the way you play.

The Interactivity

What makes Heavy Rain such a successful interactive narrative is a combination of it’s semi-explorable world and innovative game controls. If the game was a free-roaming experience like Grand Theft Auto then the narrative set forth by the creators becomes unfocused and if the world is too closed in it becomes something akin to a reaction game like Dragon’s Lair. It’s the unique control scheme which is able to balance the two. Besides the typical character movements using the dual joysticks on the PS3 controller you can also bring up a selection of the character’s current thoughts by holding the L2 button which opens up a whole new level of interaction. Sometimes these thoughts will blur, and selecting them at the wrong time will affect the character’s reaction, causing them to say or do something in the wrong way thus affecting where the narrative will go.

The New Genre

The most interesting idea that Heavy Rain raises in regards to interactive storytelling is the idea of character vs. player narrative. When you watch a film you’re experiencing the story through the character’s eyes. You feel sympathy, anger, joy through the onscreen portrayal of these emotions by the character. When you’re playing a game like Heavy Rain it’s you, the player, who is having the experience. Your experience with the story will differ from everyone else, not just because of the story branches that are baked into the game, but because of your unique thought process as you traverse the narrative. If anything it makes the story even more memorable because of this first-hand real-time participation.

The review by Eurogamer France said it best in that the game symbolizes “the culmination of a genre halfway between cinema and video game that has always seemed interesting in its intentions but rarely conclusive.” I can say that the makers of Heavy Rain have made it conclusive and now it will be interesting to see what filmmakers and video game designers will do with this new genre.

StatusNet (formerly Laconica)

What is it? StatusNet is an open source microblogging server written in PHP that implements the OpenMicroBlogging standard for interoperation between installations.

Why is it important? You heard of this little service called Twitter, right? It’s the most popular of the microblogging platforms and I’m sure you’re using it now. The only problem is that you have no control over the ownership and archiving of those tweets. Since StatusNet is installed on your server you get to store your microblog messages however you like. In addition you can create your own branded microblog ecosystem that you and your crew can use to market and discuss the film. So instead of driving people to Twitter.com you can drive people to yourfilmsite.com/microblog giving your site more Google juice. You can also connect your StatusNet domain to Twitter so that you can still interact with that huge userbase while simultaneously keeping a copy of those messages on your server. Go to the StatusNet website for more info.

XML (Extensible Markup Language)

What is it? XML is a set of rules for encoding documents electronically. As of 2009, hundreds of XML-based languages have been developed, including RSS, Atom, SOAP, and XHTML.

Why is it important? If the internet is to be the new distribution system then XML is the language your film’s media file must speak. Online video destinations such as Boxee and Hulu use XML files to dynamically pull in information about your film including thumbnails, synopsis, cast, etc. Essentially anything that you would want to consistently be associated with your film’s online existence should be included in this file. Don’t let the above image scare you, XML is pretty easy to understand once you look at an example. The whole goal of XML is to emphasize simplicity, generality, and usability across the web. Go to the W3C page on XML for more info.

WordPress.org

What is it? WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability.

Why is it important? If you don’t have any skills in creating a website, or even if you do, the WordPress platform is a free and easy way of setting up a robust website with tons of options. What started out as a blogging platform has turned into a powerful CMS (Content Management System) with tens of thousands of developers creating any number of plug-ins and thousands more creating design templates. Don’t confuse WordPress.org with it’s hosted commercial counterpart WordPress.com as the beauty of self-hosting WordPress on your own domain is that you can customize to your heart’s desire. Most website hosts, such as BlueHost, make installing WordPress as easy as pressing a button. For those filmmakers who have built their sites wholly with Flash—STOP!—and re-do your website with WordPress to see the advantages having a site that can be visited using an iPhone or any number of mobile devices. Go to WordPress.org for more info and to try it out.

Google Apps (Standard Edition)

What is it? Google Apps Standard Edition is simple online messaging and collaboration tools for groups. It makes it easy for your crew to communicate and collaborate online – and it’s free.

Why is it important? All the above tools mean nothing if you can’t communicate using your brand. With Google Apps you can set up your email to come from your domain using the most powerful email platform: Gmail. You also get access to a self-branded calendar and online docs which allows for easy collaboration. The set-up is quick and in typical Google fashion the services are secure, robust and accessible from any computer at any time. Plus you’re in direct control of administering accounts so you can create and delete user accounts that reside on your domain. And since you’re plugged directly into the Google ecosystem you can add some useful Google Labs products under your brand such as Short Links and Google Moderator. Go to the Google Apps Standard Edition site for more info and to sign-up.

On January 27 when Steve Jobs announced the iPad, Apple’s worst kept secret and to some worst named, the response from the technorati nation was less awe and more guffaw. Most pundits not only teased about the name, but reduced the piece of hardware to just being a bigger iPhone. While everyone was stuck on the technology specs of the iPad, I was drawn more to the idea of what this 10-inch piece of hardware represented: the future of all media.

From movies to games, books to websites, music to email, the iPad is the first true multimedia device in which the device disappears. It’s not about browser plug-ins, Flash players or any of the other inane bits of annoyances we currently have when interacting with digital content, it’s about having a pure experience with the content. The video below is a demonstration by WIRED staff of the iPad version of their magazine and the ways they integrated multimedia content along with designing a new navigation system. It’s a clear-eyed view of the potential that devices like this have in redefining content consumption.

I’m so inspired by this device that I’ve finally decided to start learning Objective-C and Cocoa, the languages behind application programming for the iPhone and the iPad. Part of the reason is to stay relevant as a designer in this new age of touchscreen UI’s, but also to give me more tools in creating content experiences. Why just watch a movie, when you could be watching a movie that you can interact with? How will this change the way we tell stories and the way that audiences experience these stories?

There’s so many avenues of exploration and experimentation yet to be done that I believe we’re on the verge of a new era. It may sound like pomp and circumstance, but I was there on the ground level of this “internet” thing and the iPad is giving me that same sense of a revolution. The only question is, where will you be when this revolution happens?

There’s already been tons of digital ink spilled on Google’s defensive move in the real-time social media landscape with their new tool/app/feature/thingamajig: Buzz. The biggest news being it’s integration with Gmail that has an installed user base of about 40+ million. For those that don’t know what Buzz is, the homepage pitch explains simply: “Go beyond status messages. Share updates, photos, videos, and more. Start conversations about the things you find interesting.” Essentially it’s a hybrid of Twitter, a RSS Reader, Facebook Status Updates and the niche-loved, but mainstream-ignored FriendFeed.

At this point it’s way too premature to call it a success or failure. I definitely wouldn’t go as far as Jason Calacanis to state it’s “brilliant, Facebook just lost half its value,” or go the other way like ZDNet who called it a “buzzfail.” The product is too new and those 40+ million possible users have yet to really kick the tires let alone get behind the steering wheel and put it to real use. I’ve had a chance to kick the tires over the last few days by setting up The Auteurs Daily, the constantly updated sister of cineaste blog The Auteurs Notebook, on Buzz which is a perfect fit for the Daily’s real-time stream of content. So here’s some random thoughts so far after jumping on the Buzz bandwagon:

Being Tied to a Gmail Account
Both a bless and a curse is Buzz’s tight integration with Gmail. The blessing being it’s one less account I need to log-in to, but also a curse since it’s tied to a specific Gmail account. I currently use Google Apps for my domain, retinch.com, and Buzz has yet to be made available for it so I have to separately log into my personal Gmail for access. Google says it’s in the works for it to be available on Goigle Apps, but that also poses a problem. Think if you’re working for an organization that uses Google Apps which you are logged into on a daily basis. The easiest and most convenient way to have it part of your workflow is to use it on this work Gmail account. But what happens if/when you leave the company? How can you take this Buzz foundation of contacts and content with you? Is this Buzz content now ownership of the company?

Being Part of the Echo Chamber
This kind of touches on the previous point of integration with Gmail. Within the ecosystem of Google services Buzz seems like a worthy addition, but what happens when the API is worked into Tweetdeck, Brizzly or any other third party apps that currently suck in Twitter and Facebook updates? The distinctive Gmail integration sort of falls away and Buzz content becomes another corner of the echo chamber that’s already reverberating with RSS feed tweets and and tweets that update Facebook Statuses.

Being Too Many Things at Once
The Google Buzz homepage says it all: “share updates, photos, videos, and more.” What does Buzz want to be exactly and how useful will it be when it’s crammed with disparate pieces of content? When I want to see quick bursts of info I go to Twitter, for longer form news content I go to my RSS reader, for personal content I go to my Facebook News Feed. There’s an expectation when I go to each of these services and I like having that context when trying fulfill my needs. Going into Buzz, however, is like crossing your fingers with your eyes closed. What will the stream present for me now and how much information pollution will I have to dig through to get to what I want?

It may seem like I’m Bearish on Buzz, but I’m really just taking the lay of the land before making any sort of judgement. The next few months will be the most interesting to see if the Buzz grows or settles into a low hum.

Design and concept for a Facebook competition that asked users to tag themselves on one film still and one hotel photo to create their own Hotel Cinematheque pairing.

The Hotel Cinematheque Contest Photo Album:

An example of how a user’s profile reflected their activity with the competition:

I have a confession to make: I’m a Karl Pilkington addict.

For those that don’t know who he is, Karl is essentially the “star” of The Ricky Gervais Podcast. The podcast being the brainchild of Ricky Gervais, obviously, and Stephen Merchant, England’s comedy power duo who hit homeruns with the BBC series The Office and the HBO series Extras. Their affiliation with Karl Pilkington dates back to their days as UK radio DJs on XFM where Karl was the behind-the-scenes producer of the program and who was slowly brought out of his shell by the not-so-gentle prodding of Gervais and Merchant. What was their, and now my, infatuation with this bald-headed Manchester bloke? It’s his dimwitted, yet innocent view of the world.

“I came up with a good idea….see through skin.” “I find that if you just talk, your mouth comes up with stuff.” These are just a couple of the mind-boggling statements, or Pilkisms, I heard when first checking out The Ricky Gervais Podcast in 2006. Fast-forward four years later and I don’t think a day has gone by where I haven’t listened to an episode; whether it’s playing in the background while I work, while I’m driving or even when it’s playing through my pillow on my iPhone as I go to sleep. Karl Pilkington is always by my side. What makes Karl so addictive is that he’s not trying to be funny with his views. It’s truly how his brain works and sometimes, frighteningly so, I find myself agreeing with many of his insane and inane points. But enough of me babbling about this babbling brook of non sequitur masterpieces, I’ll just let the man speak for himself.

I’ve created a top five of Karl Pilkington moments from The Ricky Gervais Show. There’s many more hours worth of Pilkington from the Gervais/Merchant XFM years if you can find them (pssst: they’re on the exhaustively dense archives of Pilkipedia).

For now take a listen below and see if you can determine if Karl is a real visionary thinker or just a bald Manchester twat with a head like a f*cking orange:

1. Son of Gladys (Season 1, Episode 1)

2. Space Monkey (Season 1, Episode 1)

3. The Onion Lobe (Season 2, Episode 6)

4. Doppleganger (Season 2, Episode 1)

5. A Stitch in Time (Series 1, Episode 7)

There’s always been a lingering question in my head about why I’m always drawn to doing movie-related work. From working at the CineVegas Film Festival for five years to my current work at The Auteurs I find an immense pleasure in creating, designing and implementing platforms for people to discover films. Of course the biggest reason is my insatiable passion for cinema, whether it be watching, talking or making them. I always felt there was a more rooted reason for not just enjoying the pleasure of watching movies, but wanting to be part of their discovery. Then the answer came in a rather innocuous tweet from Ted Hope, legendary indie film producer:

Filmmakers: lets embrace discovery, engagement, presentation, promotion, & appreciation processes as much developmt & productn.

The key term here was “appreciation processes.” It makes sense once you think of the hundreds of ways we currently indulge in appreciation processes, whether it be “liking” a status update on Facebook, retweeting on Twitter or adding a video on YouTube as a favorite; it’s all about the ability to publicly share your affinity for something. And since I love film the idea of the appreciation process crystalized the answer of why I love doing what I do. I was actually lucky enough to meet with Ted Hope during the Sundance Film Festival and thanked him for connecting the dots for me. You could say I took part in an appreciation process of his wisdom.

I just got back from a two week long excursion to the snowy (and slippery) streets of Park City, UT for the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. I was hired as the live streaming director for five Sundance events over the course of 12 days. This was the first year that the festival had ever attempted to live stream and, needles to say, there was a bit of pressure to make it a success. I’m glad to say not only was it a success, but a complete blow out of expectations. The amazing Dot Org Team was composed of the best and the brightest and were great partners in this new endeavor. I’d like to thank Joe Beyer, Michael Bodie, Alf Seccombe, Vanessa Rojas, Will Roegge, Dave Drusky, Carl Moczydlowsky and Bridgette Bates.

Below are the recorded live streams of four of the five events. The Composers Night Concert we did was not allowed to be archived online due to rights issues, but you’ll get a great idea of the work we did with the rest. From a standard press conference to a crazed short films party in a bowling alley to a low-key cafe conversation with filmmakers we covered a wide spectrum of events. Enjoy!

Opening Day Press Conference

Official Short Film Awards Party

Breakfast with the Filmmakers of NEXT

Official Closing Night Awards Ceremony