Media Labs

James Clarke

Description

SHORTLISTED FOR PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZEThis is an essential guide to the evolving and dynamic world of digital media.Explains how the media lab as a place (actual or virtual) encourages, nurtures and provides tangible support for creative talents and their projects.While the focus of the book is on filmmaking and gaming, the author also delves into the 'brave new worlds' of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.Providing an overview of the range of media labs on offer in both academia and festivals, the book is enriched by interviews with contemporary practitioners working in digital media culture around the world.Reviews"... an inspirational and timely new resource, packed with contacts, leading edge initiatives, tips from seasoned media practitioners It can't fail to help you get new creative content made, and seen, around the world."- Nic Millington, CEO Rural Media"With digital technologies and the blurring of creative boundaries changing the way that content is made and seen, this book proves an invaluable guide for those looking to successfully navigate this constantly evolving landscape." - Nikki Baughan, Film Industry JournalistAbout the authorJames Clarkehas written for the magazines3D Artist, 3DWorld, MoviescopeandEmpire. His work has also featured inThe Guardian, on BBC Radio 3 and for the BFI. As an educator he is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has taught at the University of Gloucestershire, Hereford College of Arts and the University of Warwick. James is currently a Visiting Lecturer at the London Film School. James's books include the recently publishedThrough Her Lens: The Stories Behind the Photography of Eva Sereny(ACC Books),The Year of the Geek(Aurum Press) andBodies in Heroic Motion: The Cinema of James Cameron(Columbia University Press). James also writes A Level Film Studies resources for Edusites and has been a consultant to the British Council, writing and producing content on the subject of various literary icons.

Informations

• Publié par: Aurora Metro Books
• Date de parution: 12 mars 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780956632982
• Langue: English

Extrait

James Clarke
James has written about film and filmmaking for the magazines 3D Artist, 3DWorld, Moviescope and Empire. As a writer he has also worked with American and British educational publishers Journeys in Film and Edusites.
James has written and produced a range of short films for the British Council and his recent projects include a documentary for BBC Radio 3.
James is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and as an educator he has taught at the London Film School, the University of Gloucestershire, Hereford College of Arts and at the University of Warwick.
As a screenwriter and producer, James’s short film work has screened on TV and at a range of film festivals internationally.
James’s books include The Year of the Geek (Aurum Press), Bodies in Heroic Motion: The Cinema of James Cameron (Columbia University Press) and The Virgin Film Guide: War Films.
@jasclarkewriter

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First published in the UK in 2019 by SUPERNOVA BOOKS 67 Grove Avenue, Twickenham, TW1 4HX
www.supernovabooks.co.uk an imprint of Aurora Metro Books www.aurorametro.com [e-mail]
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Media Labs; what you need to know copyright © 2019 James Clarke
Cover design copyright © 2019 Aurora Metro Books
Cover image credit: geralt -16967 - immagini
Editor: Cheryl Robson With thanks to: Marina Tuffier, Didem Uzum
All rights are strictly reserved. For rights enquiries contact the publisher: [e-mail]
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This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Printed in the UK by 4 edge printing, Essex
ISBNs: 978-0-993220-76-0 (print version) 978-0-9566329-8-2 (ebook version)


SUPERNOVA BOOKS


MEDIA LABS
what you need to know

by
James Clarke






Acknowledgements
Every book is a team effort and so my great thanks to Cheryl Robson for inviting me to become part of this project and for all of her support and guidance throughout. Thanks, too, to those who took the time to speak with me for this book. Particular thanks must go to Carrie Mok at Outpost Visual Effects Studio in Bournemouth and to Jamie Stonehouse for his ever-present encouragement and good vibes.


This book is for everyone out there who is engaged in the challenge of bringing their creative ambitions and hopes to life.

“We are at a time where it’s the most abundant, dynamic, and complicated communications system in human history and the artists are showing up again to help us make sense of the ways that it’s disrupting our sense of reality.”
– Kamal Sinclair, Director, Sundance Film Festival, New Frontier Labs Program, Sundance Institute

Contents
Introduction Setting up a Media Lab Disrupting the Norm Digital Diversity Getting Started New Models of Collaboration Digital Content Creation: Games Funding for Games Funding for Films How to apply to a Media Lab Media Labs in the UK Film Festivals & Media Labs in N. America Film Festivals and Media Labs in Europe Media Labs around the world How to enter a festival Film Festivals in the UK Platforms Checklist for Creative Entrepreneurs Get Connected
References
Index
Images
Introduction
Back in 1978, Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab correctly predicted the coming together of three separate industries, namely: (1) the broadcast and motion picture industry, (2) the print and publishing industry and (3) the computer industry. In 1987, Stewart Brand published a book titled The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at MIT which tells the story of the MIT Media Lab and how it was set up to collect, process and lead our understandings of the ways in which communication technologies could and would be redefined.
The book pulses with a sense of excitement and fascination at the prospect of how digital technology might be developed over the next thirty years and applied across the media, computing and communications industries. Reading the book now, it is remarkable how many of Brand’s insights and investigations have led the way to the digital world we inhabit today.
In 2018, YouTube announced that it had launched a free, streaming ad-supported feature film service for audiences. This marked yet another moment of disruption to the traditional media landscape of distribution and exhibition. The term ‘disruption’ has been a feature of the new technology giants which have emerged over the last thirty years. It’s a word that speaks to breaking rules, challenging norms (of inclusion, representation and access) and shifting the status quo. In an article published in Filmmaker magazine (2013), David Rosen made the observation that:
“As digital disruption continues to remake the media landscape, a new viewing experience will take shape. It will be determined by interactive, mobile devices that – like the movie theater and TV set before it – will further redefine the definition and experience of viewing a movie.”
For content makers, it’s not simply a question of making a movie – and paying back one’s investors – but ensuring that as many people see your content as possible via the numerous channels on offer. Keeping up with the advances in digital technology is a challenge in itself as movie distribution is undergoing a major technological shift. The DVD is dying, movie theatre ticket sales in the USA and Europe have stalled and cable cord-cutting is increasing. Streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime have market dominance, and with Alfonso Cuarón’s movie Roma (distributed by Netflix) winning major awards, they are proving themselves a match for the older models in terms of quality, too. The possibilities and challenges for established broadcasters that now reside in the brave new world of streaming content is acute and in February 2019, the BBC and ITV announced a new joint platform named BRITBOX which will comprise box-set series and, critically, new programme content in an effort to attract new viewers to their platform.
New forms of movie-making are emerging too, made with handheld mobile devices – a medium that invites interactive multitasking, social engagement, but also greater emphasis on a new aesthetic with faster cuts and tighter close-ups.” [1]
The worlds of both filmmaking and gaming now offer exciting opportunities for creatives to enter the field with little need for investment in expensive equipment or a massive outlay in training.
Of the culture of disruption in relation to gaming, Steven Poole in The Spectator magazine made the observation in his review of a newly launched exhibition entitled ‘Video Games: Design / Play / Disrupt’, at the V & A Museum in London that:
“The exhibition as a whole becomes a lot more interesting, indeed, once it focuses on such arthouse and experimental games. A whole room on videogames as political interventions, in particular, highlights the developers making games that critique the mainstream industry’s overwhelming and long-standing sexism and obsession with violence.” [2]
It’s not a new observation to make but it’s increasingly valid and it’s this – the line between narrative fiction film and gaming is becoming increasingly fluid.
In the UK, BAFTA is facilitating a whole range of gaming-focused support and networks. In doing so, the organisation embodies the connection between the screen media of film and tv and computer gaming and, indeed, VR.
In 2019, the BBC and Arts Council England, launched a new scheme entitled New Creatives. An England-wide initiative, it attests to the mainstream media’s recognition of how creative potential needs further support especially to attract people from a much broader range of backgrounds:
“New Creatives will give artists aged 16-30 the chance to develop their technical and creative skills and have work commissioned for BBC platforms. The program will particularly focus on giving opportunities to young artists from backgrounds that are currently underrepresented in the arts and broadcasting. Commissioned artists will be encouraged to push creative boundaries, reach new audiences and reflect their experiences of living in Britain today.”
David Banner, who has worked in game design for 25 years, and who established the Wales Development Game Show, commented in The Daily Telegraph newspaper in 2017 of the current creative zeitgeist that it means you don’t have to be based only in London or Los Angeles in order to develop and generate gaming content.
This book hopes to go some way in suggesting how and where you might find the opportunities to develop your own creative lives and how to do this within the worlds of the media lab and its variations.
Against this backdrop of vivid change and evolution, the world of the media lab, as a talent and project development support process, for both filmmakers and game developers, arguably takes on newfound sign