Archive for the 'ranting @ ‘the digital’' Category

The Digital Playing Fields

Published on 8th July 2010 in ranting @ 'the digital'. Closed

The Digital Playing Fields:
New Rulz for Films, Art and Performance

Commissioned by Currency House for Platform Papers > Issue 24

Launching in:

Whereas rules can be about setting standards for conformity, I want to argue the case for claiming ownership, because I believe that the digital playing fields offer not only competition, but opportunity—a chance to w00t1 in the most creative way. In the discussion that follows, ‘rulz’ means to win and own; to take over new territory.
My entrée into the ranks of the digital was serendipitous. Twenty years ago, a chance encounter with the latest developments in computer graphics for film convinced me that computer graphics were a valuable storytelling tool. In my view, the enrichment of storytelling through the narrative use of computer graphics is one of the great benefits of computerisation. Not everyone agrees with this: many argue that ‘all this digital stuff ’ is cold and hard. People often assert that digital imagery is obvious and that their use drains warmth from narratives. Furthermore, these views are not confined to computer graphics in films, for many, digital tools are at odds with the humanity that should be at the core of ‘real’ art forms.

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Building bridges, not falling through cracks

Published on 4th August 2009 in ranting @ 'the digital'. Closed

Building bridges, not falling through cracks:
what we have learned during ten years of Australian digital visual effects traineeships

Presented at SIGGRAPH 2009, New Orleans, Louisiana

Date: Tuesday 4th August 2009

Venue: Auditorium B, New Orleans Conference Centre

The experience in building an industry during the ‘digital revolution’ is one of the things that makes DVFx especially valuable as a case study in strategy and planning for innovation in the 21st Century. There are many qualities and practices that have emerged from this experience that provide us with information that can be generalized to guide change management and plan for continued success in digital creative industries — including our own. These qualities reflect the values of emerging digital an online cultures and workplaces that are grounded in collaborative practice.

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Re-sourcing School: Rethinking Education in a Connected World

Published on 2nd April 2009 in ranting @ 'the digital'. Closed

Re-sourcing School: Rethinking Education in a Connected World

Presented to the 2008 Communications Policy & Research Forum

Date: Monday, 29 September 2008

Venue: University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Alan Kay

Is school a waste of time? Is learning a waste of time? While for some the answer will be the same to both questions, most will agree that they are different questions and that difference is the heart of the issue that this paper seeks to confront.

Over the last few years I have noted a number of things that might be called ‘dead canaries’. These are things that have signalled to me the scope of the issues that need to be confronted now and in the years ahead if we are to do our best in resourcing and re-sourcing education in a connected world.

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FutureYou: Documentary in a Youtube world

Published on 19th February 2008 in ranting @ 'the digital'. Closed

FutureYou: Documentary in a Youtube world

Presented at Doco2012 Documentary and the Digital Future Forum

Date: Monday, 18 February 2006 to Tuesday, 19 February 2008

Venue: Maritime Museum, Victoria Quay Fremantle, Western Australia.

In the current debate about the future of documentary in a YouTube world, one of the main aspects key to understanding the digital future and how things will unfold is that it is not so much about finding the answer to the question:
“How do I do this new (and usually undefined) digital thing?”
but is instead:
“How does this new thing help me do what I do, better?”
and,
“How does it let me redefine what I do?”
Innovation in form is entirely possible; indeed, is necessary. However storytelling, teaching, documenting, visually scribing the times, and soapboxing are all ancient practices.

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click here to hear an audio recording of the session

Mapping the ‘Verse

Published on 25th September 2007 in ranting @ 'the digital'. Closed

Mapping the ‘Verse: three cases studies identifying
emerging models of user-generated content

Presented to the 2007 Communications Policy & Research Forum

Date: Monday, 24 September 2007 to Tuesday, 25 September 2007

Venue: University of Technology, Sydney

Much has been said about Gen X and Gen Y but perhaps it is User-Gen that is a better measure of the changes in our times. As with a discussion about the particle versus wave models of light, User-Gen is not easily quantified as a demographic or phenomenon. It is not necessarily a subculture or subgroup or readily definable form. It does not fit in market share and target audience suppositions and, increasingly, it is not entirely a matter of give or receive but the reciprocity inherent in both. For many of those shaped by the forces of previous media metrics and norms this is either an exciting opportunity, a threat, a challenge or simply deeply annoying.

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Children of the e•volution

Published on 25th September 2006 in ranting @ 'the digital'. Closed

Children of the e•volution: the curator’s role in the user-led content revolution

Presented to the 2006 Communications Policy & Research Forum

Date: Monday, 25 September 2006 to Tuesday, 26 September 2006

Venue: University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Guthrie Theatre, Bldg 6, Level 3, 702-730 Harris Street, Ultimo

The Internet, like life, is not a spectator sport; the moment you connect, you are a part of it – you count both metrically and metaphorically. In the months leading up to the Communications Policy and Research Forum 2006, several pieces of user- led innovation featured in both Internet and traditional media. When this paper was being proposed, Bus Uncle was the talk of the town or the buzz of the node, so to speak. For those of you who were otherwise engaged – or perhaps, disengaged – Bus Uncle started out as a simple moment of everyday Hong Kong urban conflict captured on a mobile phone on 29 April 2006. Within four weeks of its having been posted on the Internet there were Mandarin and English sub-title versions, a rap remix, dance remix, a karaoke version, a shadow puppet version, academic and media commentaries, T-shirts, mugs, teddy bears, and shopping bags [EastSouthWestNorth, 2006].

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