“A handful of thoughts to escape from the restless, confused territory of editing the feature doco ‘Murundak’:I read recently (and apologies to the author/blogger that I wrote this note down without referencing and now can’t recall where I read it) that Henri Cartier-Bresson relayed to Fred Ritchin (author of After Photography) that there were 4 essential books for a photographer to read….”
I have all this stuff I put together for a musician friend of mine who was looking for advice on how to sell music now that everything’s gone all digital and all. It’s going to waste sitting here on my computer. I feel I should share it with any musicians and artists that are looking for ways to make and distribute their music and still pay for food. I’ve done a lot of work with digital music and content, particularly in mobile, so a lot of this stuff is internet or mobile based. If you find it useful let me know, it’ll make me happy.
You can learn all you need to know about how to tell a good story as an artist from Lady Gaga. She’s got it cracked. Caitlin_Burns writes an excellent summary of what the Haus of Gaga is up to here.
Do you take time to reflect on the information that’s being thrown at you all of the time? I get lost in it sometimes and my reaction is to switch it all off and go for a walk on the beach. Sometimes I want to stay on the beach and leave it off. Then my phone beeps and I realise I’m still in the stream. I’m still getting the information thrown at me. People saying things, talking, sharing. All at a rapid pace. Its like an overflowing river of words and videos and bits and bytes just rushing by.
Some people don’t get involved. They might boast that they don’t even own a computer, or that they rarely use email. I get that. I do. I’m a bit like that myself sometimes.
“On his reputation, Banksy has been quoted as saying, “People either love me or they hate me, or they don’t really care.” And, really, isn’t that the sum of any passionate endeavor?”
I am dipping in and out of my twitter account in the last few days as if it’s cold water. Its just not an attractive proposition to tweet again. It was when I was living in the city and running things that i found twitter useful (last year)- I used twitter for organising, event management, reporting on an event, group texting…that sort of thing. I don’t need that at the moment- To be that out there. I’ve enjoyed being private this year. Then I read this article by Damien Mulley today.
Why? Why would I put myself into that expanding, chaotic mess? For what?
I’ll still give it a go. But as with all of these things I think you need a reason to use the Twitter tool. If I have to let a lot of people know what I’ve seen, or what to do (e.g. if I’m organising an event) or if a riot breaks out on Grafton St. and I’m there, I’ll tweet. If I make an album and want to keep my fans happy I’ll tweet. Otherwise…I don’t know. Biz Stone, founder of twitter, thinks people are not quite getting the point of twitter…I think this is probably more true in Ireland, where the city’s so bloody small you can just shout across the street at someone rather than go through the bother of tweeting everybody…
Many people have assumed that Twitter is just another social network, some kind of micro-blogging service, or both. It can be these things but primarily Twitter serves as a real-time information network powered by people around the world discovering what’s happening and sharing the news. The Iranian election was the most discussed issue on Twitter in the final year of a decade defined by advancements in information access.
“Like things I have to look at: red hair and Rothkos, as if the angels just have to show. In fairness to you I must revise this romance to rust, trade in this stash for cash, trade in these goods for ash. In fairness to you I will stare the paint right off this sill, beat down the floor with my feet ’till you and I have time to be still.”
The games industry and the film industry are converging, they say. Games make an estimated 44 billion a year. The film industry as it exists at the moment is declining, i hear. I can’t find the figures for 2009, but the money made in film is significantly less than is made by games- in the region of 6-7 billion as far as i can tell.
so what happens when the gamers start paying for movies?
I’m excited by the prospect. The Nintendo Wii brought the peripheral studies that were going on in Haptics to the world. MIT Media Lab were doing work on this years ago, but always made it sound so complicated- it was no fun. Interactivity and new user interfaces on the Wii have changed the way people do things, its brought them into the game. Its nerdy stuff simplified.
The reason I’m interested in this is because I wonder about the possibilities of new forms of filmmaking and film viewing using the games channel rather than the film channel to produce and develop your work. What i mean is- would the games industry fund a new model of the film production industry?
In the old days when people used to go to the cinema for new experiences and used to pay for the privilege, filmmakers were given money to experiment and make compelling work. Can this model be translated to the gamers? Surely the games industry have a few million to spare to put into the pockets of aspiring filmmakers looking for new avenues of experimentation and development. Dare i say it- to allow them to experiment and produce ART?
Games are going to need better stories, better direction, better production. Is it just a question of a change of paradigm for filmmakers? For me?
Its lovely. This is how it should be done. Its Creative Commons, which means its free to share. I love when people go this way with their work. Of course, you need lots of talent. The director (Nina Paley) describes her approach really well:
