Twitter 3D Fail Whale

Now this is delightful, like the classic “Bomb icon” the Twitter “Over Capacity” image has been seen by users far more, I’m sure, than the developers intended. This lovely sculpture pays homage to that. Thanks to Karl Long for pointing this out to me.

It’s the end of indie distribution as we know it (and I feel fine)

Bob Alexander, president of IndiePix, wrote recently in a guest column in Digital Cinema Report, “An Extraordinary Moment?” that in the wake of decline in independent divisions among the major studios (e.g. New Line Cinema was closed by Warner Bros), “the traditional models of distribution, which barely work for the major studios, do not work — at all — in some scaled down version for independent film” and he goes on to suggest “there will be a new era in independent filmmaking” but traditional distributors have no idea what that era looks like. He suggests its on the net and that IndiePix is committed to making it happen.

Bold pronouncements, talk of the net and social networks, but it’s still a wild, wild world out there. A time of opportunity, we’re at a similar crossroads as when live theater was giving way to the cinema. I welcome the change, even though I’m not totally sure how this brave new world of distribution is going to look like, but I’m sure it rests in internet distribution and social networks, and I feel fine about that. Do indie filmmakers need theatrical distribution? Old wisdom said yes, new wisdom is evolving. The expense of theatrical distribution to a hand-full of art houses? The even more elusive national release? Art houses have for the most part tried to swim up-stream, these days showing very little local fare (with exceptions like The Coolidge Corner) and there are simply too few screens for all the great indie films out there. For now I think Netflix is doing a pretty good job of getting alternative films out there, they are my source for indie films and documentaries. But how do you find out about them? Social networking is certainly part of the answer.

Old Media Fails Readers With ‘Fake Neutrality’

A wired story reports that during her presentation at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York City on Monday morning, Arianna Huffington charged traditional media outlets with failing their readership miserably by hiding behind a fake curtain of neutrality, when the facts often stack up more heavily in favor of one “truth” over another. She also said that trolls often ruin the discussion at The Huffington Post, and she appealed to the audience for help with any tech geniuses who could restore civility to the community without having to hire an armada of moderators. Yea, this is all “old news” but real problems remain, how can we encourage more citizens to read widely, encourage publications to seek “the truth” over constantly presenting two sides as equal when they are not, and how can people participate in civilized dialog while filtering out the trouble makers without excluding important voices of dissent? It’s quite a challenge that journalists like Arianna Huffington face. In the end, the news should have a point of view. Good investigative journalism and documentaries have a point of view. Being informed and thoughtful should be a goal, not neutrality.

OLPC 2.0

At Media Fabrics for Media Makers, MIT Media Lab, June 20, 2008, Nicholas Negroponte discussed the status of the OLPC project and was very frank how some corporations have actively tried to sabotage the project. OLPC moves forward undeterred with plenty of cash in the bank, excellent technology, a clear vision, and strong ideas for the next generation. Here he showed a prototype of OLPC 2.0 which is more like a book. The best realization yet of Alan Kay’s vision of the Dynabook is probably OLPC. There are many good reasons why OLPC is a non-profit. If you’ve not seen the documentary, The Corporation, I recommend it, it offers an excellent explanation why a corporation would try to sabotage a humanitarian project. While there’s a lot of talk about corporate social responsibility today, the economic factors are working against it day in and day out.

Operation Filmmaker offers crisp angle on subject-filmmaker relationship

I recently watched Nina Davnport’s new film, Operation Filmmaker at the ICA in Boston. Not since watching Shadow of the House last year have I enjoyed watching a documentary so much.

This is one of those films that started out as one project and ended up a completely different one, because the filmmaker was able to continue working with their subject as the context around their work changed dramatically, which makes it all the more delicious. The project started when David Schisgall, a friend of Nina Davenport from college, directed a piece for MTV, “True Life: I’m Living in Iraq,” about young people living in Iraq. The piece focused mostly on American soldiers, however, it also featured seven minutes about Muthana Mohmed, a young Iraqi film student who was desperate to go to Hollywood. Actor and director Liev Schreiber saw the piece and was moved. He contacted Schisgall with the idea that he’d like to give Muthana an opportunity to come to work with him as an intern on “Everything is Illuminated,” a film Schreiber was going to direct in the Czech Republic.

Schisgall thought that Muthana’s experience might make for an interesting documentary, so he hired Davenport to make a film about Muthana working on the set of the film. This might have been an ordinary behind-the-scenes movie worthy of a DVD extra, however, when Davenport arrived on the set of “Everything is Illumniated” she quickly realized that this was not going to be a straightforward piece about an intern working on a Hollywood movie. Director Liev Schreiber and producer Peter Saraf had all sorts of expectations of what Muthana would accomplish on the set of “Everything is Illumniated,” which in the end were unrealistic; at the same time Muthana was not much different than the average middle-class kid unsure of what they want while being caught in a very unfamiliar situation. I don’t want to give too much away about the story itself, because I had a chance to see the film only knowing this setup, and I really enjoyed the journey not having any idea how the story was going to end. It’s really delightful to be able to see the movie that way, the film unfolds like life itself.

Nina Davenport, who was Ross McElwee’s student at Harvard, follows her teacher in the tradition of personal documentary filmmaking, and it really works in this film. What starts out as a straightforward behind-the-scenes piece, ends up becoming a personal film for Davenport. Her camera is at once gentle and probing, talking us along the ups and downs of the relationship between subject and filmmaker. In an era in which so many people are making films about themselves without an observer providing perspective, Operation: Filmmaker demonstrates once again why we benefit from seeing a dialog between subject and filmmaker. What makes the film so interesting is seeing a life honestly portrayed from the perspective of a third party who at the same time is closely involved in the life of the subject, and yet a different person who in the end can only observe, capturing both the things that make the subject attractive to us, as well as the things that we may not like about the subject. In the end, Muthana comes across as very human, and whatever we may not like about his character, we must recognize as characteristics about ourselves. As Anais Nin once wrote, “we don’t see people as they are, we see people as we are.” This film provides an eloquent visual manifestation of Nin’s oft quoted phrase.

This richly observed and well edited film goes beyond the events unfolding in front of the camera to tell a larger story about ourselves and relationships with others. Part of what makes this such an interesting film to watch is that Davenport reveals her struggle to make the film, during the Q&A session after the screening she said, “I felt I was in an abusive relationship, but it was not the man, it was the movie.” And while some will see this film as an allegory for our involvement in Iraq, in the end it’s a more universal story about expectations of others and what happens when those expectations don’t meet up with reality.

A list of upcoming screenings is available on the films website.

Media Fabrics for Media Makers Symposium at MIT Friday, June 20, 2008

A celebration of Glorianna Davenport’s three decade effort at MIT focused on documentary storytelling and technology, “Media Fabrics for Media Makers: Realizing an Expressive Landscape for Digital Dialogues” is a day-long symposium to be held on Friday, June 20, 2008 at the MIT Media Laboratory.

The morning sessions will show what has changed in terms of technology, methods and forms as we have rapidly moved to what Glorianna Davenport calls the Media Fabric. After lunch, three panels of Glorianna’s students will address the following topics: “Learning by Design” focused on issues related to the multidisciplinary nature of learning in the digital age; “Making Media” a discussion among founders of design firms that span physical space and media, and “Video games, the big screen and the Media Fabric” which speaks to the interaction of business interests and the entertainment field.

Agenda and Announcement:
www.media.mit.edu/eventsreg/08gid-invite-fri.html

People interested in storytelling, entertainment, as well as new technologies will benefit in particular from this special event at MIT.

Space is limited, if you plan to attend please RSVP via email to: jk[at]media[dot]mit[dot]edu.

Facing Realities: Backyard and Operation Filmmaker

On Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. at the ICA in Boston the Facing Realities: Dialogues in Boston Documentary Film series continues with Ross McElwee’s “Backyard” (1984, 16mm, 40 min) and Nina Davenport’s “Operation Filmmaker” (2007, HDCAM, 95 min) in its Boston premier. Screenings will be followed by a dialogue with Davenport and McElwee as they discuss their works, the legacy of Boston documentary filmmaking, and the moral and artistic difficulties of filming “the other.”

Media Tech Tonic: monthly demo/seminar series in Boston

Media Tech Tonic is a series of monthly demos/seminars held in Boston on media technology topics for media makers and artists. Meetings are hosted by MassArt Professional and Continuing Education, presented in collaboration with Boston Media Makers and organized by yours truly. Check out the Media Tech Tonic web site for information on upcoming sessions.

The origin of the name (which I believe came from a suggestion by Steve Garfield during a brainstorming conversation we had on the name for this) comes from: Media: 1. plural of medium, 2. the means of communication that reach or influence people widely, 3. pertaining to or concerned with such means, origin: from the latin medius, central; Tech: 1. technical, 2. a technician, 3. technology, origin: shortening of technology, from the greek technologia, systematic treatment; Tonic: 1. a medicine that invigorates or strengthens, 2. anything invigorating physically, mentally, or morally, 3. the first degree of the scale, the keynote (music), 4. quinine water, 5. soda pop (new england), origin: from the greek tonikos, pertaining to stretching or tones; and thus, Media Tech Tonic.

If you would like to present at one of these meetings, contact me about it.