Tag Archive for ‘Film’ at Pravda on Media, Technology, and Rebel Filmmaking

Tag Archive for 'Film'

Immersive Online Storytelling - The Next Frontier of Emotional Attachment?

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on April 8, 2009

Did you ever read someone’s Facebook status messages and learned about his personal stories through it? Did you ever read personal blogs and vlogs and felt that you are witnessing a real life story?

Last semester I lectured in a course in IDC about online storytelling, together with Noa Morag and Roni Abolafia. I wrote about it here, here and here. However I was asked several times to provide a wider overview on the topic. So here it is - an overview of immersive storytelling:

What is immersive storytelling?

Immersive storytelling is the use of social web and online video to tell a linear fictional story, through the social activities of the characters.

In cinematic storytelling, viewers experience stories by looking through a non existent wall (usually referred to as the 4th wall). The camera is accepted as given, a kind of an agreement between viewer and the actors that says: yep, we both know there is a camera here, but we accept it and actually ignore it. The emotional attachment to the characters on screen is achieved by suspension of disbelief - viewers leave their sense of reality at the entrance to the movie theater, and accept that robots, time machines[8.3/10 rating][8.3/10 rating] and radioactive naked people actually exist. In some cases, directors choose to break this rule - and change the viewers’ perspective on on-screen activities.

Ian Richardson as F. Urqhuhart in House of Cards broke the 4th wall in several episodes

But what about the stories that happen to people around us? People in real life? Did you ever read someone’s Facebook status messages and learned about his personal stories through it? Did you ever read personal blogs and vlogs and felt that you are witnessing a real life story?

CinemaTech In Jerusalem and a new Facebook Group about Cinema and Technology

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Kfir Pravda

on July 8, 2007

in Events

On Tuesday, 10th of July, I will attend the first cinema and technology conference in Jerusalem. The event, part of Jerusalem Film Festival, will cover issues such as the effect of the web on filmmakers, how the Internet is changing viewers habits, and new technologies in this field.

I am participating in a panel discussing opportunities for filmmakers in the cyberspace, with Nir Ofir from BlogTV and several other prominent Israeli figures (starting at 1030). At 1200 my friend Jeff Pulver will talk about monetization models for filmmakers.

The entrance is free- just email elad@jff.org.il and ask to add your name to the list.

On the same note - I’ve noticed that there are no major Facebook groups for cinema and technology. As the Internet TV group has already 140 members in just two weeks, I took the liberty of opening one on this exciting topic. You can find it here.

See you in Jerusalem.

Technorati Tags: cinematech, cinema, technolgy, Jerusalem Film Festival, Facebook, Internet TV

A Surprise in Paris

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Kfir Pravda

on May 29, 2007

in Media and Rebel Filmmaking

Last weekend I walked down the streets of Paris, near Place de la Concorde, and bumped into a Nazi soldier

At first I was shocked - either I drank too much, or it was possible to travel through time and space, or Europe has gone crazy again…

Much to my relief (I am Jewish after all…) I found myself standing in the middle of a historical movie set, taking place in occupied France. All around me were WWII cars, news stands, and people dressed in long coats and hats. It was surreal to see old army tracks and buses full of extras dressed up in 40’s fashion, only to get distracted by a modern day cars passing by.

I was also amazed to see the amount of equipment and staff that were on set, besides the actors. The scene was simple - two women meet at the entrance to a Metro station, and two sinister SS detectives follow them (nothing like long leather rain coats to get you typecasted)…

I counted 5 tracks of equipment, at least 30 people around the set, 2 cameras, projectors and loads of audio equipment. It made me think about how crazy all of us are, trying to create content on the cheap, as we are up against these huge productions.

For me it was an amazing experience - step into a different period in time, and see how much effort is invested in each film we see.

One of the extras told me it is the set of a film “The Lady in The Dark”. I didn’t find any info on it online - but it might be that there is only information in French, or that it is a working title. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Technorati Tags: Film, filmmaking, French Film, Lady in the dark, movie set

Video Games/Story MashUp

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Kfir Pravda

on April 28, 2007

in DIY and Tutorials and Rebel

Recently I wrote a post about the importance of a good story, mentioning the amazing book by Robert Mckee with the same title.

Not long after that, Lance Weiler, an independent film producer, director and distributor, who directed movies such as Head Trauma and The Last Broadcast, published a great post about the relation between video games and movie scripts, discussing the same McKee book.

The post, written by M.Strange, and published at the Workbook Project blog, was a real eye opener, and simplified a lot of the concepts in the original book.

Here is a small example, comparing the idea of gradual increase in tension, with difficulty levels of Bosses in most video games:

I wanted to write about Lance for some time, as he is a multidisciplinary person with strong understanding of the power of social networks and online promotion. The Workbook project, one of zillion websites, is a great source for DYI filmmaking and thought leadership.

Lance, if you are reading this post - drop me a line, I’d love to e-mail interview you for my humble blog!

Here’s the song from M.Strange first movie, “We Are The Strange“:

What Old Media Can Learn from New Media Creators

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Kfir Pravda

on April 24, 2007

in DIY and Tutorials, Internet TV and Rebel

The guys behind Something To Be Desired (STBD), Galacticast, and other great shows have one thing in common - they know how to create high quality content on the cheap. Most of them are not making a dime of their work. This is not their fault - it is a market that needs to mature. But still, they create great content in micro budgets.

How can STBD make a show for fraction of the cost of a regular TV show?

First of all they have one camera. Unbelievable, right? With smart editing they manage to make it look as if there are at least two cameras on set. Second, all their actors are volunteers. So, right, it is harder to do it for a long period with professional actors, but it is a creative way to do things. Third, they don’t have separate guys for editing, directing, sound, lighting, and overall production responsibility. It is all the same guy with the T-shirt. And fourth, their actors are involved in the script writing. Now compare that with the set of Studio 60….

As we all know, the world of television is changing. It is harder to get high rating for shows that are not event based. This viewership fragmentation reduces the economic value of single productions, and in time force old media producers to cut their budgets. So if there is one thing the old media guys can learn from these new energetic creators is how, with some creativity, to do things much cheaper than in the regular let’s-have-a-battalion-of-people-on-the-set-cause-everyone-does-one-thing approach.

This is not new. Robert Rodriguez made El Mariachi for 7000$, using the same concepts. Did it change the movie industry? No. but I am certain that when gross revenues will drop, the Hollywood guys will wake up. TV industry can do it now.

Somehow, I don’t believe it will happen…