July, 2009
A Greater Depth of Field
I’m a big True Blood fan. Vampires and humans being forced to coexist in the deep south? I’m sold. Say no more.
The basic story is simple. Vampires are real and are out in the open. Society as a whole is forced to adjust to their presence. What happens after that is nothing short of gothic, melodramatic awesomeness.
Check out a dope promotional video for the show that I found over on BloodCopy.com.
What I love about this style of promotional video is that they delve into the True Blood universe/diegesis and give the story greater depth. Fans of the show know that humans are highly addicted to the healing/euphoric effects of drinking Vampire’s blood and a fictional public service announcement cements this concept in the mind.
The ability to tell a story outside of the confines of the television programming block is one of the most promising aspects of the Internet for both consumers/fans as well as storytellers/producers.
As a fan, I never want the episode to end but as a producer, I recognize the obvious benefit of having a break between episodes. This gap between episodes serves as a dependable way of ensuring fan’s have a strong desire for new content.
Since I can’t only be a fan nor can I only be a producer, I’m conflicted. (Not vampire with a soul conflicted but close.)
Is it is possible to over-saturate fans with content? What about a story that is so large and epic that a traditional film or television programming block can’t contain it?
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I hope we are content with the content we produce.
“All I knew was that I was writing something out of my very guts, and that I was content.”
- Winston Graham
Winston Graham was speaking about how writing something that came from a personal place made him feel at peace, you know? Content.
But I’m a digital content producer and as I ponder my position, as one of billions of digital content producers, who create and distribute concepts, stories, thoughts and experiences on the Internet and I’m left with the thought that I am literally walking content.
We have always existed in a world in which everyone, to some degree, has been a storyteller. There was a time when all human knowledge was disseminated through spoken word and now we’re headed hopefully for a point in time when all human knowledge will be accessible through digital means.
The saying goes, “each one, teach one” but what happens when the 487 Billion Gigabyes of content experts estimate we’ve amassed as a planet becomes accessible to every man, woman and child? What happens when culture becomes ubiquitous? I’d like to say that we’ll reach some apex in human civilization but with the way much of mainstream content is created today I’m worried that we’re going to be sharing and re-sharing junk. Re-told stories devoid of personality. Millions of amateur filmmakers emulating the stories of filmmakers that came before them.
If we are to reach out and share our stories with the rest of world Universe it is important that we focus on creating emotional content. Content that come from a personal and sincere place. Content that moves us. Content that teaches us. Content that reminds us that we are human and that we feel.
But if you don’t believe me, listen to Bruce Lee.
“We need emotional content.” – Bruce Lee
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Holga 120N
My new toy.
I know that film is dying and digital is the future but there’s still something very appealing about just opening the shutter and experimenting. For those that don’t know what the Holga is, its a toy camera originally manufactured in Hong Kong way back in 1982. The cameras are known for their soft, dream-like appearance and soft-feathered vignette.
Some examples of the end result.
With digital photography and digital video production one spends a great deal of time indoors working on images in post-production.
Post-production is fun. Tweaking colors and cropping. Super-imposing and altering.
I love post-production but now that the summer is in full swing shooting on film gives me a good excuse to spend more time outdoors having fun with photography, making mistakes and experimenting.
And if you’re work is not fun, what ARE you doing?