Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Interactive Treats for halloween

Watching scary movies lately? What about a scary Interactive movie... that will probably scare the shit out of you! Interactivity started with videogames and now has reached the online community

Interactive Movies
An interactive movie is a movie which the viewer decides the movie's path. The viewer is given a number of choices throughout the movie and depending on these decisions the story unfolds in a different way.

There have been a few games like that in the past which I had a chance to play with. Space Ace and Dragon's Lair which first appeared in the Arcades, and later on the Commodore Amiga computer system or the other way around, i don't remember which one came first but either way it were great games for there time... the player had but a few seconds to make decisions about which path to take...left, right, up, down... i remember i used to sweat alot and i'd never make it after a certain point because i'd freak out and made the right decision too late.... Ahhhh the good old days.

View a YouTube Preview of the 1983 Arcade version of Dragon's Lair. (I was only 2 years old back then!!!)

Another game of the sort is Angel Devoid: Faces of the Enemy A windows PC game that came out around 1996. I have to say pretty good for its time too, not for its story or gameplay but the way compositing was being done in that time, putting "photorealistic" and real actors in the same environment. Same concept with the added puzzle games here and there. This action-thrill game was good fun. Owning 4 CDs for only 1 single game made you feel pretty darn special too :)

Game's like these lacked a good story and were obviously made for one thing satisfying the gamers need. Times have changed and as it seems, interactive movies seem are popular again.

Survive The Outbreak

Here's an entertaining one for you Halloween Thrill Seekers. The Outbreak, in the style of Resident Evil, is a online interactive game which sets you right off in the middle of the action. You make the decisions this time as well and the outcome is pretty well done no matter what ending you take. Of course the goal of the game is to make it to the end without getting killed and its not an obvious decision. Check it out.

GPSFILM.COM

For you windows mobile users, if you have enough bandwith per month on your phones, check out gpsfilm.com, a new media interactive GPS driven movie... only works on mobile phones or pdas with GPS capability. You install the application on your phone and depending on where you are in your neighbourhood(park, city, bus stop) you get to watch a piece of a movie in a non-linear way.

With that said I wish you all lots of candies, horror movies, and a Happy Halloween!!!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Writing your Script

You have to Start Somewhere.

Writing a script

is maybe the most boring part to me. To have to think of how the story should unfold from beginning to end sounds like a long task indeed. And it might be, but this long and boring task will be the motivation to your filming process. You will have a complete story which you care about, which you wish to bring to life.

Writing a script

is starting with a First Draft, and writing a Second draft while consolidating the content, and writing a Third Draft while consolidating even more the content. Removing repeating lines and information. You must not be afraid of writing anything down, you must remember, its your First Draft, A.K.A your Bad Draft... you don't make a first draft and it becomes your good script. It takes several passes and reviews in order to filter out the script for it to become the Good Draft.

The following quote also applies to my last post regarding how a Story should unfold:
"A good short film needs a story in which something happens that has a discernible effect on the main character. All successful short films focus on one moment/event. That moment is likely to be:

one of universal significance

a moment that is of significance to the protagonist (whether s/he knows it at the time)

one that produces a situation in which the stakes are high for the protagonist."
Reference url: entertainment.timesonline.co.uk


Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Online Networking Addiction & Copyright

The world we live in in North America is an open world... open source... we believe in freedom and we share that freedom amongst almost everything and everyone... although this looks like a Utopian life, it has its share of consequences.

Social Networking
in the Web 2.0 Era
Facebook, MySpace, Flikr,... if you have internet at home and you live in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, or Middle East, you've probably experienced it one way or another.

These are some of the newest generation free tools available for people to connect with old friends, make new friends, and stalk others. It all goes back to the old virtual communities such as IRC. Chat programs where you can join groups on different Channels and discuss about anything to anyone, and step back into a private session with a specific user.

People used to spend hours in these chat rooms trying to find someone with a similar interest, trying to find the perfect friend, or lover. Being wanted and noticed had a new meaning in people's life... virtual life.

Just like anything else, certain people become addicted to such thing, and we all know what addiction leads to. A piece of advice for those in need: Moderation has better taste.

The Parlor, directed by Geoffrey Haley, is a short movie showing the truth about chatting on the internet.

A great cast, a surprising ending, and although very simple but very good use of the camera.
I especially love it when the camera slowly zooms in on Slappy Sue and Skatter...dramatic and suspensful...you gotta watch till the end.

Watch The Parlor on YouTube Here.

On another note, I had made a small html art project in one of my first classes on the same concept of internet chat addiction. You can check it out on psaad.com

CC - Creative Commons

"Share, Remix, Reuse — Legally

Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change your copyright terms from 'All Rights Reserved' to 'Some Rights Reserved.'

We're a nonprofit organization. Everything we do — including the software we create — is free."
Reference: CreativeCommons.org