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BrainStorm

Creating Media of All Kinds

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Road Notes



Just got back from several very fun days in California and Las Vegas. Feel a need to explain my attraction to Vegas, as this is my second visit in two years. I find myself awe-struck by the Excess, the Scale, the Volume, the Pace. But also by the Spectacle.

Saw my second Cirque de Soleil show, and was just overwhelmed by the creation of a theatre to house it, the pre-show antics, the number of acrobats involved, and by the visual, choreographical and mechanical details of several of the vignettes. This show (Ka) did not draw me in the same way Mystere did, but the scene that stays with me is a battle in which the dancer/actors propel themselves up and down the side of a wall, and each step they take reverberates in light on the wall - just beautiful.


At the new Wynn hotel, there is a series of light shows that incorporate giant puppets and water - can't even describe it, but again, had that feeling of wonder that someone would go through the trouble of making something which had no utilitarian value beyond creating a sensation of surprise and - for me - something akin to joy.

Of course you can see these things the other way, as yet more distraction and "entertainment" for the masses, to help us ignore the true troubles of the world. But they are so superior to the lowest form of that - television. They are live, they are tangible, they do have artistic value.

Note that I do not place the Fremont video montage in this category, though it is amusing in it's own way, giant screens above our heads filled with iconic images of Sin City: nubile young women, gambling chips, food...

Friday, December 09, 2005

Service Oriented

Just went to a symposium my office helped organize on Service Oriented Architecture. It wasn't on my radar until recently, but it's apparently a buzz term to describe a philosophy of creating software pieces that meet the needs of users (who require "services"), and that can work easily with other software pieces. At the beginning of the day, it sounded like it was a movement away from specific software companies and toward a world where we could pick and choose the best software and not have to worry about what platform or other software we were using.

I was interested in the Open Source implications - people building on each other's software and trying to create tools that can be used by others. But by the end of the day, it sounded like it was more a structure for the big boys to use to keep you with them after all. So that was a bit disappointing, though it got me thinking about paradigm shifts from competitive short-term to collaborative long-term models of problem-solving.

Interesting as an artist to be thinking about business models. As a web designer, I have to think about the users of the site, what they're looking for and what the owner of the site wants to convey. But as a writer or filmmaker, I think my responsibility is to upend expectations, to NOT provide what the "user" of art wants. Though as humans we have needs to be exposed to beauty. This is a "service" artists provide, though we can also provide the services of entertainment, inspiration and education, to name a few. Is it important for my art to be "interoperable" with other artists? With mainstream entertainment? If I want to use other people's work, again, this leads me to Open Culture/Open Content models. Definitely don't want a finite number of people to have a monopoly on Art.

And what if citizens demanded Service-Oriented Government? Standards-based government, where citizens set minimum levels of required functions and performance. What if we could pick and choose among a variety of governments instead of being tied to just one? "I like this government's drug policy, but that one's foreign aid policy and that one's health care plan." We could donate to the tip jar for each government, to support their policies... But somehow in there all the governments would have to learn how to talk to each other...

And on an even higher philosophical plane, do we live Service Oriented Lives? Are we flexible and agile, do we inter-connect well with others? Do we serve each other in meaningful ways, think about the needs and requirements of others? Do we expect to meet all the needs of anyone else, or have our needs met by a single person? Or are we open to having multiple people meet our varying requirements?

A few thoughts for Friday night...

Screenwriting on tap for 2006

Terrific news! Found out that I have received a Manitoba Arts Council grant to write a feature-length screenplay. Sweet holiday present. Have I mentioned God Bless Canada's support of the arts? Feel very blessed. And feel a big responsibility to write something worthy of the support of Canadian taxpayers! The story is definitely very Canadian - it's two stories actually - one historical and one modern. So I'll be heading to the archives as well as the keyboard.

So now I know at least one of my projects for 2006. Have another short script I'm finishing that I'd like to shoot on video in the next 6 months, now that Coffee Maker is almost ready for screening. Speaking of which, as promised, here's a before and after shot from the colour correction:


Dramatic, eh?

Monday, December 05, 2005

The magic of colour

Had a great time digging into colour correction with Andrew. We have a little more to do, but it's going to make an incredible difference. I already thought the film was beautiful, but we're adding life to it now. (Tracy and Marjo, I think you're going to be very happy that I'm not leaving you so pale!)

Was hoping to post before and after pics, but it will have to wait until I can get back into the editing studio, as I can't access the files I was working on now. I only have Final Cut Express at home, and I mistakenly thought I could download a 30-day trial of Final Cut Pro but no such thing it turns out! I'm planning to get the full HD Studio Suite, but not until after the new year.

And after seeing this, I want to get the new Macromedia Suite as well. Would love to experiment with interactive web video!
Need to add some flash clips to my e-portfolio, which I've finally gotten up to promote my web design services. Hopefully I'll get some cool projects to work on in the new year.

Episodes two and three of the vlog are now up as well - check them out.