As a genre of creation, film making is one that is quick to adapt to changes in technology. Auteurs constantly look for the next big thing that will allow them to develop their vision of a concept more completely and new, innovative technologies allow them to do so. For example, James Cameron wrote a treatment for Avatar in the early nineties. When it was apparent that the project was very involved and would require an immense amount of funding, he was forced to delay production until technology allowed him to do so. Ultimately, digital tools made tasks that were difficult to do in the real world feasible in the virtual world. In the same way that technology, or lack thereof, has been a standing impasse in our way of fufilling our conceptual desires, new digital tools are increasing our abilities. Shooting, editing, and releasing videos are simpler now then they have ever been and this is only going to continue in the future.
Within film and video making, I believe there are two distinct realms, equally changed by the advent of new technology. On one side is commercial film and video makers, creators that create very straight forward material that is less open to interpretation and is narrative based. In this category are Hollywood films, enjoyed by a wide range of people. These films may evoke thought and reflection, but their substance lies in entertainment.
On the otherside is non commercial film, or art film. While it is made for an audience, it is not necessarily driven by the same factors as commercial films (money) and there is not a need for a particular appeal but is a vehicle of expression. This tendency to move toward expression lessens the narrative drive, a strong component of commercial films. Through the use of various film/video mediums, aesthetic values play a large factor in meaning where this is not as impactful toward the overall meaning of a work in commercial films. "In the 1980's, when I went to film school, there was still that distinction, but it started to mean less. People were still making choices about shooting on analogue video based on economics, not based on content or aesthetics" ("Roundtable", 2011). While the medium is impactful toward meaning, so is other components of viewership. For instance, these films may be part of a larger artist experience and aspects of their presentation should be evaluated against the greater meaning. For example, Nam June Paik's presentation of Electronic Superhighway: Continental US was an installation that incorporated "closed circuit video made up of 47 channels and 313 monitors [outlined in neon to create a map of the continental states]...each section represent[ing] a single state in the United States...[which] implied different cultural backgrounds in each state" (Wu, 2012). Within this work, one can see the themes arising and the medium, the structure, the video content and the environment all give rise to the message Paik is working to express. Commercial films, by constrast, retain their meaning whether they are seen in a theatre, at home, or on a cell phone on the way to work.
In researching interactive films, something that is enabled by digital tools, I found a company named Silk Tricky. This company is something of a digital advertising company and through my exploration of their site, I would say that they are the "rock stars" of interactive media marketing. They create something they call "Enteractivity: that sweet spot where interactive and entertainment meet" and they have created two interactive action movies. The first is Bank Run, a narrative that takes place both on the website and mobile platform, and is driven by user choices. The second short movie is Outbreak, a narrative that has an endpoint within the website. While the possiblities of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" abound, I believe that these interactive movies fall short being that they offer one end. As expressive art allows you to come to your own meaning at times, these two movies push you in a specific direction, being that the wrong decisions result in dying in the movie.
Conclusively, I think that while digital media is transformative for both commerical and non commercial film makers, digital tools are more impactful in the realm of non commercial content creators. As evidenced in my experience with Bank Run and Outbreak, these films were more of the same and played as a hybrid between action movies and a video game. With expressive driven content, the enabling of new activities are a great departure from traditional film making techniques and experimenting with different tools allow new possibilities for meaning making, especially in a digitally dominated world.
Roundtable On Digital Experimental Filmmaking. (n.d.). October, 51-68.
Shaw, J. (2012). New-media art and the renewal of the cinematic imaginary. Technoetic Arts, 173-177.
SilkTricky. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://silktricky.com/
Wu, G., Gough, P., & Wall, C. (2012). Multiple-channel video installation as a precursor to transmedia-based art. Technoetic Arts, 329-339.
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