So I’ve arrived in Sydney on my way to NZ and finally getting a piece together after my subtlemob experience last Thursday in London (Duncan Speakman’s Subtlemob “As If It Were The Last Time”) I see Rupert has mentioned this in an earlier blog and linked to Hannah Nicklin’s great description of the event.
At 6pm we all turned on the soundtrack, sometimes we were given instructions and sometimes we watching other people carry out instructions. Duncan describes Subtlemob as “a piece of invisible cinema” sometimes you are walking through a film and sometimes you are performing in that film.
When I spoke to Duncan after the event about how the idea came about he said it was about a different way of working, he’d been interested in flashmobs but wanted to make it more about the experience as opposed to a video that would end up on YouTube.
So instead of video of the event itself, here are a couple of clips of Duncan talking about it, that I shot on my new N97:
Interestingly Duncan said that the performed piece didn’t all happen how he expected, there were things that he thought might happen and loads of things that he never expected. There was one point when we were told to move quickly and change direction when people noticed us, Duncan had expected this to be a really intense dark moment but in fact it became a game. For me this was one of the best bits, suddenly we were laughing hysterically with complete strangers in the middle of Covent Garden
Part of the idea behind the piece was to make us aware of our surroundings – as an example, the realisation that if you smile at people in the street they don’t smile back at you. I certainly found this when I utterly failed to get one person to smile back at me.
The soundtrack worked really well on that dark wet night and I especially liked the fact that after it was over other players (strangers!) stopped to have a chat about it in the street… it definitely had the effect of connecting you to your surroundings and others around you. I think the “invisible cinema” is a fantastic concept and highly recommend the experience. I’m looking forward seeing what Duncan does next.
From the mainstream… A couple of examples of big media companies promoting major properties with transmedia games:
221B is a two-player Facebook-based game to promote Guy Ritchie’s new Sherlock Holmes film – apparently devised for Warner Brothers by AKQA. The game immerses you and your playing partner (one as Holmes and one as Watson) into the world of Sherlock Holmes and takes you through the events leading up to the first scene of the new film. I’ll be starting tomorrow, as soon as my Dr Watson is ready… CC
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To publicise the release of Stephen King’s new doorstop novel, Under The Dome, Hodder & Stoughton have organised a treasure hunt, asking for people to volunteer as Hiders, Seekers and Writers – with prizes for each. Hodder have broken the book’s 336,114 words (!) into 5196 pieces. Hiders are required to hide the pieces, online and offline; Seekers are then given clues to find them. Writers are asked to “take inspiration from the theme of Under The Dome and enter our creative writing competition.”
Nice idea? Exciting? Engaging? Well, the competition closed on November 7th (two days ago) and the first prize was a night in a 4 star hotel (ooh) on November 8th (yesterday) in London (where most of the players already live).
But so far there’s no sign of who’s won on either their Twitter (last update Nov 6th) or their website, which hasn’t changed and still invites participation in the competition. Sloppy.
Just after the Power To The Pixel forum a couple of weeks ago, I searched for and followed all the people who had tweeted about it using the hashtag #pttp09.
It’s incomplete, of course – it was just gathered via hashtag, and there were many more people at the Forum than the 80+ on this list. However, it’s a good starting point if you want to find UK Twitterers who are interested in interactive filmmaking, transmedia stories and ARGs.
Please let me know if you are not on the list and would like to be, or if there’s anybody else you think I should add.
We thought we’d make Thursdays our regular slot for sharing links and information about funding, grants, sponsorship, revenue models etc.
I’ve been looking into UK development grants for large interactive projects based around narrative film. We were interested in seeing if there was any funding available for writing and detailed planning, which didn’t require presenting a ’script’ already completely written and planned. In other words, support that would take us from a treatment/synopsis of the story with an outline of interactivity and technology, to a fully written & planned story world (scripts, bible, maps, timelines, production schedule etc). Optimistic, I know – but worth a ring around.
The UK Media Team seemed the most promising – every six months they have “calls for proposals” for interactive projects. (NB: the next deadline for interactive projects is on 27th November). However, their applicant criteria is that your company must have produced at least one previous project which has been recently commercially distributed with demonstrated revenues. Nothing for startups like us.
Although not for interactive projects, the UK Film Council have a First Feature Film fund, to write and develop a feature film… They require a half A4 page summary of what happens in the film, a detailed outline (3-5 pages) of the dramatic action in your idea from the beginning to the end, the first 15 to 20 pages of your script based on your film (not required if you are including the full screenplay).
I’m hoping that this is just the start and not the whole picture. We’ll continue our investigations and I’ll update you soon on what else I’ve found. Any pointers on missing links most welcome
Ted Hope delivering his keynote speech at the Power To The Pixel forum at BFI in London last month: “Take Back What Has Always Been Yours” (full text)
In it he encouraged film makers to “take back” what he called the six pillars of cinema – since they have traditionally only concerned themselves with the first two:
1. Content
2. Production
3. Discovery
4. Promotion
5. Participation
6. Presentation
Readers of his blog, Truly Free Film, will be familiar with his analysis of the industry and call-to-arms:
“We must also recognise that there is no workable present day business model to support the current mode of cinema, other than one built on the exclusionary practice of isolated control of the funding, marketing, distribution, and exhibition systems. We know the model for financing and distribution – and by extension, also creation – is now running on fumes.
How long can the controlling studio model survive when the wall of control has already come down and the people — now embracing that they are both audiences and creators – have recognised the power they truly have and will unlikely ever surrender that power again?
How long can a business based on library assets survive when everything that has been digitised has also been copied and can now be spread with a touch of a button – and every time it is stopped, it is only to reappear somewhere else.”
