Futures of the doc

I’m in SF this weekend for BAVC’s Producers Institute for New Media Technologies conference. I’m speaking on a panel entitled “The Future of Visual Storytelling: Content-Driven Technologies and the New Documentary Movement.” Here’s the description:

There is no question that the way people consume content has fundamentally changed over the last several years. Whether online, on mobile devices, DVD/BluRay, or in physical spaces, the way we tell stories is also changing. What is the future of documentary filmmaking, with the reality of shorter attention spans, laptop culture and evolving technology that enables new ways to interact with narrative content? This panel will explore the emerging developments, new opportunities and technical challenges in the field – is interactivity the end of traditional narrativity?

I believe that some of the answers to the above will come from transmedia experimentation. Transmedia what? Check out the following video for a description.

Henry Jenkins on Transmedia – November 2009 from niko on Vimeo.

We Are Hunted

Twitter real-time search is starting to spawn various sites and services that are finding interesting ways to use the data that Twitter makes available. We Are Hunted has a new extension of their trending charts (they already track p2p, blogs, facebook, forums, myspace) for the top 99 tracks being tweeted about on Twitter. A visual interface, streamlined player and “click to buy” feature make for a simple discovery site. What excites me most is that the emerging real-time web is unlocking all types of new discovery options.

Color Me Katie

Today we wrapped the first season of RADAR! Our final shoot was with Color Me Katie. Katie Sokoler is a street artist who believes that random acts of kindness can be infectious. She’s seen it first hand. After launching her blog last October she’s gained a global following, many of whom have been so inspired by her work that they’ve created their own.

Our final shoot day was spent placing shadows and thought bubbles throughout Brooklyn.

Favs of the day a Mexican Popeye in front of a laundromat and a poodle named “movie star” thinking about cats.

The day also marked a milestone for WBP – what started as an experiment almost 2 and half years ago has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last six months. RADAR marks a step in a new direction. One of which provides direct creative opportunities to the community that WBP servers. Finishing out the season with Katie was a great way to top things off.

Projection in your palm

As chips get smaller and resolution increases we’re not far off from mobile phones that will shoot HD or small hand held projectors that will enable screenings virtually anywhere. The following is a concept design by Miika Mahonen for a Nokia device called the Pulse. Even though it doesn’t exist it’s not hard to imagine that it soon will. But it does tease an interesting range of possibilities.


Jumping into Streamy

I’m always on the hunt for ways to aggregate the data that surrounds my life. A way to combine my online activities while streamlining the discovery of things that I find interesting. Then there’s the desire to share those items with others and in the process see what interests them.

I’ve tried various start pages and feed aggregators. Some have been browser based others desktop apps. I’ve signed up, logged on and tested mores services and solutions then I care to recall. Which brings me to my current obsession.

Streamy is a hybrid – part feed reader, part start page, part social aggregator. This incarnation is relatively new and currently in beta. It’s an impressive service with a nice degree of customization. Where Streamy shines is in the way that it integrates IM (aim, live, gtalk, yahoo), facebook, twitter, digg, flickr, and friendfeed in addition to normal feed reader functionality. The interface is smooth and intuitive making it easy to get up and running. The final ingredient that makes Streamy standout is the ease of sharing stories with others on the platform. There are friend sharing and follow features, ways to create groups along with IM and Chat functionality that is dedicated to the Streamy platform. The following is a screen cast that provides an overview of the service.