Posts
Monday, July 30, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Why Do Supervillains Fascinate Us? A Psychological Perspective | Underwire
via wired.com
By Travis Langley July 27, 2012 via wired.com
'Our Motivations for Seeking Out Supervillains
Throughout history, humans have been captivated by stories of heroes facing off against superhuman foes. But what specific rewards, needs, wishes and dark dreams do supervillains satisfy?
Freedom: Superpowered characters enjoy freedoms the rest of us don’t. Nobody can arrest Superman unless he lets them (at least not without kryptonite handcuffs). Even while sitting in prison, Will Smith’s superhuman protagonist in the movie Hancock is as free as he chooses to be. As much time as supervillains spend locked up, they seem to escape as often as they please, to run unconstrained by rules and regulations. Cosplayers who dress like Wonder Woman and Captain America can’t do any crazy thing that crosses their minds without seeming to mock and insult our heroes, whereas those dressed as villains get to go wild. Supervillainy feels liberating.
Power: Maybe you envy the power these evil characters wield. While that’s also a reason to adore superheroes, good guys don’t ache to dominate. Stories like Watchmen and Kingdom Come show how heroes become menaces when they try to take over. So when dreaming of superpowers, maybe you relate to characters who dream of power as well, from the Scarecrow (who controls individuals’ fears) to Doctor Doom (who’s perpetually out to dominate the world)....'
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/07/why-do-supervillains-fascinate-us/
Friday, July 27, 2012
Augmented Reality: Beyond Usability with Flow and Narrative Transportation
July 19, 2012 By Dr. Pamela Rutledge (Excerpt)
Augmented reality describes the process of using technology to overlay virtual information onto the real world to ‘augment,’ or add value, to our experience. Augmented reality applications are unique in that because they project virtual information into a user’s physical environment, they effectively blend real and virtual. They are also increasingly mobile and social. These features amplify the level of impact and persuasive power of the user experience — when done right....'
read the full post here:
http://athinklab.com/2012/07/19/augmented-reality-beyond-usability/
Love...3-D Printing Goes Hollywood With Stop-Motion Animated Feature ParaNorman | Wired Design
via wired.com
Animation supervisor Brad Schiff adjusts the puppets for the next shot.
Photo: Chris Mueller
more deets & pics here:
http://www.wired.com/design/2012/07/paranorman-3d-printing/?pid=608&viewall=true
Thursday, July 26, 2012
The State of Marketing 2012: IBM's Global Survey of Marketers
<div style="margin-bottom:5px"> <strong> The state of marketing 2012 ibm's global survey of marketers final </strong> from <strong>Chris Wright</strong> </div>
New model of disease contagion ranks U.S. airports in terms of their spreading influence - MIT Media Relations
New model of disease contagion ranks U.S. airports in terms of their spreading influence
Airports in New York, Los Angeles and Honolulu are judged likeliest to play a significant role in the growth of a pandemic.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Public health crises of the past decade — such as the 2003 SARS outbreak, which spread to 37 countries and caused about 1,000 deaths, and the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic that killed about 300,000 people worldwide — have heightened awareness that new viruses or bacteria could spread quickly across the globe, aided by air travel.
While epidemiologists and scientists who study complex network systems — such as contagion patterns and information spread in social networks — are working to create mathematical models that describe the worldwide spread of disease, to date these models have focused on the final stages of epidemics, examining the locations that ultimately develop the highest infection rates.
Full post from MIT here:
http://web.mit.edu/press/2012/spread-of-disease-in-airports-0723.html
Want. Play. Write 'Choose Your Own Adventure' Books Through This Clever HTML5 App | Co.Design
via fastcodesign.com
Excerpt via fastcodesign.com:
THE BRANCHING NARRATIVES OF INTERACTIVE BOOKS ARE LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARES. THAT IS, UNTIL ONE COMPANY RELEASED THIS FREE WRITING TOOL.
Who hasn’t, at least for a moment, thought a Choose Your Own Adventure book would be fun to write? It’s like making a game out of words. Branching narratives are a surprisingly natural approach to make books interactive. But they’re a logistical nightmare. Multiple storylines? Converging plots? How could you keep even a simple story straight?
A company called inkle appears to have figured it out. Recently, they released the impressive Frankenstein app and interactive novel, and while we weren’t so sure that rewriting Frankenstein was a win for literature, we were impressed by their flowing, option-fueled text interface....'
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670294/write-choose-your-own-adventure-books-thr...
Transmedia L.A. » Interview with Shari Frilot, Sundance, on Transmedia, Future of Entertainment & New Frontier
<blockquote class='posterous_long_quote'><br />
Shari Frilot, Senior Programmer to Sundance Film Festival and curator of the New Frontier section, opens up about Transmedia and how the future of entertainment boils down to the convergence of storytelling and innovative technology.
April Arrglington's full interview with Shari here:
http://transmediala.net/2012/07/interview-with-shari-frilot/#
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Visual storytelling app Ptch wants to give mobile content a beautiful home | Digital Trends
Molly McHugh, July 19, 2012 (Excerpt)
'From the Dreamwork's powerhouse comes Ptch, a richly visual editor that turns your images and videos into rich storyboards.
Clearly, mobile isn’t only meant for consumption. The iPhone has made us reimagine digital photography — not only how we consume it, but how we create it. Clearly the trend has proven itself; if you don’t believe me, go ask that one company that recently net itself a $1 billion price tag less than two years after it launched.
So who better than some of the brains behind Dreamworks to throw their hats into the ring? A new app called Ptch (which has been in stealth mode for the last nine months) funded by the animation company launches today that lets users create, share them, and even collaborate with other users on short multimedia pieces.
Ptch may be backed by Dreamworks but it’s operating as a standalone app, something vital to its success, in CEO Ed Leonard’s opinion. “We saw the guys really winning at this were fast moving startups that had the ability to pivot, iterate, and go after their target with no constraints,” he tells me. Initially, Leonard was simply part of Dreamworks’ effort to research the space and put the necessary pieces into place. But he got caught up in it all and attached himself to the project....'
Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/ptch-wants-to-unleash-all-the-visual...
2011 Flashback!: Robert Pratten on Transmedia Storytelling & Conducttr| Mobilizedtv
via mobilizedtv.com
By Robert Pratten. Monday, July 11th, 2011
'To fully realize the revenues of mobilized TV we need to create unique “story-experiences” that leverage the reach of TV and the personalization & interactivity of mobile.
Rather than fight or deny the audience’s split attention between TV show and simultaneous use of a second-screen – be it phone, tablet, laptop or whatever is to come next – networks would do best to commission shows that tell stories across both screens.
The key is to tell multi-platform stories: not repurposing B-roll content (that doesn’t create a compelling enough mobile value proposition) or churning out tedious encyclopedic character detail (let the fans create that) but by writing multi-layered stories with additional sub-plots and parallel plots intended specifically for mobile and to be enjoyed socially either at air time or later on demand....'
5 tips for making more believable open world cities. Frank Cifaldi on Gamasutra
via gamasutra.com
by Frank Cifaldi, July 18, 2012 (Excerpt)
'It has often been said that the true star of Rockstar's groundbreaking Grand Theft Auto IV was not lead character Niko Bellic but, rather Liberty City itself, a fictional metropolis modeled after New York City.
Creating a breathing, living city is one of the toughest challenges facing developers of open world games today: get it wrong, and your player feels like she's walking through a lifeless television set with cheap props and false fronts for buildings. Get it right, and she'll be absorbed enough in your world to momentarily forget she's playing a game at all.
Ubisoft Montreal is among the best in the business at creating believable cities thanks to its Assassin's Creed series. We sat down with Alex Hutchinson, creative director of the upcoming Assassin's Creed III, for his tips on making a city feel alive. He tells us it's "one of the hardest things you could possibly do," but managed to offer the following.
1. Two-tiered reactions
It is a given that NPCs in open world cities will react to your actions: fire into a crowd in any Grand Theft Auto, and pedestrians will run screaming, cops will come after you, and some of the rougher types might even fire back.
What Ubisoft Montreal has been focusing on for the Assassin's Creed is in two-tiered reactions: NPCs that understand not only the action the player has committed, but how it relates to them. Hutchinson explains:
"If someone hires you to kill Character A, and you do it, and they react like, 'Good, that's what I asked you to do.' But then you go and kill some other random person and they're going to freak out, like you've lost your mind. Whereas someone who wasn't involved in that conversation would freak out at both of the instances."
It sounds simple when explained that way, but Hutchinson insists that it is "one of those things that no one in games yet has truly solved," including his own team....'
iPhone App Lets You Live Inside 'The Dark Knight Rises'
via mashable.com
via Mashable:
The creators of The Dark Knight Rises released a new iPhone app on Thursday that immerses fans into the world of Gotham City like never before.
Using a combination of audio technologies and Hans Zimmer’s amazing score, this free app lets users feel like they are living inside the world of The Dark Knight Rises
Here’s how the app — dubbed The Dark Knight Rises Z+ [iTunes link] — works. Put on your headphones (it works without them, but to get the full experience you really need headphones) and start up the app....
Friday, July 20, 2012
Banksy. A brand voice rich in storytelling | Truly Deeply/Madly
Great Post from trulymadlydeeply.com
'Your brand voice should never be random. It should communicate powerfully and coherently a brand position that is true to your brand’s DNA. Bansky as most of us have seen, is the master of rich storytelling. Changing the messaging of something we are used to seeing makes Banksy’s brand voice ever so creative and powerful.
Bansky’s brand voice communicates by;
– Utilising the grey and lifeless plain urban landscape,
– All his pieces are observational urban installations that you understand straight away,
– His work is a social commentary, he is not telling the news, he encourages thought and discussion.
His juxtaposition of image and language has the ability to convey whole new meaning and stir real emotion. He has the capacity to make something very special out of what was before very ordinary....'
more deets & pics here:
http://www.trulydeeply.com.au/madly/2010/10/27/banksy-a-brand-voice-rich-in-s...
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
3 Storytelling Tips From "Breaking Bad" Creator Vince Gilligan | Co.Create
via fastcocreate.com
BY: DAVID D. BURSTEIN [Excerpt]
During our recent chat with Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan on subject of the fifth and final season of the show, he illuminated several storytelling principles that have helped make the series such a success. Here are a few of them.
KEEP GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS
While strong characters are essential to any good story, rigidity when it comes to character development can be dangerous. Instead, Gilligan suggests writers allow themselves to get to know their characters over time. “My knowledge of Walter White now is much richer than it was when I was working on the pilot,” he says, “I didn’t realize just how prideful and broken he was the way that I do now. The writers and I are in the process of discovering the characters just as the audience is.” Instead of constructing carefully mapped out arcs, the characters can develop in an organic and nuanced way.....'
read more here:
http://www.fastcocreate.com/1681158/3-storytelling-tips-from-breaking-bad-cre...
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
'White Collar' Cranks Up the Heat With Interactive Social TV Game
via mashable.com
Excerpt via Mashable - July 10, 2012 by Christina Warren
"When White Collar returns to the airwaves later tonight, fans will be invited to go along for the ride in a new interactive social TV game.
The game and experience, dubbed Neal’s Stash, is the final stage of a multi-faceted social TV and transmedia campaign that Ford sponsored for the USA Network show.
White Collar is about the partnership between slick con man Neal Caffrey and FBI agent Peter Burke, as the two work together to solve crimes. Although Neal has seemingly put his life of cons behind him (for now), he has various’s stashes from past cons still out in the wild.
The campaign kicked off back in January with Mozzie’s Mission, a game that tasked fans with locating a hidden stash alongside Mozzie, Neal’s best friend and partner in con.
After Mozzie’s Mission, fans moved on to a new code-cracking game that into a vote for the duo to lead the final phase of the game, Neal’s Stash.
In Neal’s Stash, fans are tasked with tracking down a rare gem that was stolen from Mozzie and Neal by rival con men. Acting as proxies for the audience are a pair of Stash Hunters who travel around the United Staes searching for the missing loot...."
Read more here:
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Indiegogo Insight: Campaigns That Take These Six Actions Raise 8 Times More Money Than Campaigns That Don’t | Indiegogo Blog
</ Campaigns that take those six actions raise 8 times more money than campaigns that don’t.</via indiegogo.com
Five key lessons for every young game developer | Technology | guardian.co.uk
via guardian.co.uk
Talented young games studio Angry Mango is releasing its award-winning platformer, Mush, on Windows Phone today. Here are the five key things they've learned about game development...
"Embrace university... and then your parents
Excerpted from an excellent Guardian UK article:
Posted by
Keith Stuart
Wednesday 4 July 2012 09.51
'The Angry Mango team were all studying at the University of Wales, Newport, when they started work on Mush. Not only did this provide an environment of creativity and dedication, it also released them from the financial imperatives of the 'real world'.
"Staying afloat has been tough," says Hoffman. "Using our time at University for the first half of development was really essential, and when that came to an end, the noose tightened. We tried to continue full-time for a while, but in the end we had to get 'normal' jobs to support working on Mush in our spare time. I was generally working nine to five for my day job, then six to twelve in the evenings for Angry Mango.
"My biggest piece of advice for newcomers is to maximise time at university, where you're comparatively free from financial restraints. It's only with reflection that I see how valuable that really was. Alternatively, setting aside time to focus on a project between stints of work will allow for a healthier balance. Getting funding is a great way to do this, and some of my close friends have been really successful in this area"....'
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Indiegogo Raises $15mm to Become Funding Platform for All | Indiegogo Blog
via indiegogo.com
Excerpt from Indiegogo site:
"Since we launched Indiegogo in 2008, we’ve been focused on democratizing fundraising, and creating a platform that allows anybody to raise money for anything, from anywhere.
We’ve come a long way since then.
Indiegogo now distributes millions of dollars to campaigners in nearly 200 countries, has partnered with the White House, and provides everyone the opportunity to fund their creative, entrepreneurial, or cause campaigns – from Funkmaster George Clinton archiving his music collection to the Haley family crowdfunding the world’s first baby.
Today, we’re excited to announce a new round of funding with two of the most respected venture firms in the world – Insight Venture Partners and Khosla Ventures - sharing our vision of changing the way the world gets funded...."
read more here:
http://www.indiegogo.com/blog/2012/06/indiegogo-raises-15mm-to-become-funding...
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Predicting Transmedia and Augmented Reality Futures | PERSONALIZE MEDIA
Gary Hayes, July 5, 2012
Predicting Present Futures - Navigating the Perfect Media Storm
View more presentations from Gary Hayes
Friday, July 6, 2012
Which Indie Films are Winning (and Losing) in 2012? Indiewire's Mid-Year Box Office Report | Filmmakers, Film Industry, Film Festivals, Awards & Movie Reviews | Indiewire
via indiewire.com
JULY 5, 2012 12:03 PM | BY PETER KNEGT
"At this point last year, the top five specialty releases - "Midnight in Paris," "The Conspirator," "Jane Eyre," "Win Win," and "Cedar Rapids" - had taken in $68.1 million. That was up from $45.2 million in 2010, and just $26.5 million in 2009.
This year, the top five -- "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," "Moonrise Kingdom," "Salmon Fishing In The Yemen," "Bernie" and "Friends With Kids" -- have taken in $83.2 million. That's in large part thanks to "Marigold" and "Moonrise," which are turning into two of the biggest indie summer breakouts of the past decade...."
Modders Want Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter To Bring His Vengeance to Skyrim
via kotaku.com
THE ELDER SCROLLS
JUN 30, 2012 3:00 PM 4,325 14
Modders Want Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter To Bring His Vengeance to Skyrim
Dave Oshry
Unless you've been living under a mammoth you're no doubt aware that there's a new expansion out for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It's called Dawnguard and it centers around our inexplicable love of vampires. It's already a hit on the Xbox 360 but before it makes it's way to PC , our 16th President wants in on the action.
If you're into supernatural takes on American history you may be a fan of the novel turned recently released major motion picture known as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
Well, PC gamers have been all too quick to capitalize upon the resurgence in honest Abe's popularity and have made this idea one of the most requested mods in the Nexus forums, Steam community and r/skyrim. Luckily, modders got right to work in bringing forth the bearded one to kick some vampire ass.
Behold!..."
MUST Watch. Riveting. Gorgeous... SHIA LABEOUF IN THE BUFF FOR SIGUR RÓS’S EXPERIMENTAL NEW VIDEO
Excerpt from FastCodesign.com
'...Sigur Ros’ Valtari Mystery Film Experiment involves giving a dozen filmmakers a modest budget of $10,000 and the laissez faire guidelines to do whatever they want to do on film with songs from the band’s new album, Valtari. (The 'mystery’ part is because the band has no idea what they’re going to get until they get it.) The latest entry in the experiment, "Fjögur Píanó," arrived yesterday. Directed by Alma Har’el , whose Bombay Beach won the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival documentary award, it is a hauntingly beautiful short film that seemed to catch the Internet off guard.
To make the entry even more of a ringer, "Fjögur" stars bearded, shaggy-haired Transformer jockey Shia LaBeouf and the dancer Denna Thomsen as a couple engaged in what is clearly a passionate love affair, replete with drug abuse, morning dancing, and occasional cross-dressing...'
Ping Pong: watch the table tennis documentary on demand via #Distrify
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/interactive/2012/jul/06/watch-ping-pong
Ping Pong – the inspiring documentary about eight veteran table-tennis champions – will be available to watch here from 6–26 July 2012.
The HD stream of the movie is available to watch on a pay-per-view basis for £4.99 or download to own for £8.99. The film will be available to watch immediately. The streaming version can be viewed five times within 30 days of purchase. Distrify, an online film distributor, are managing the payment of this product.Moving Storyboards And Drumming: Wes Anderson Maps Out The Peculiar Genius Of "Moonrise Kingdom" | Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce
via fastcocreate.com
Excerpt from FastCoCreate.com:
'MAKING THE SCRIPT "SOMETHING TO READ"
"When you write a script it’s about making this other thing -- you know, you’re trying to make a movie," Anderson says, seemingly stating the obvious. "But for me, when I make a script, I’m also kind of obsessively working on a script that’s a thing for somebody to read. There are certain aspects of the movie that are only in the script -- mainly, the writing of the descriptions, which I’ve spent all this time on." He even inserts photographs into his scripts, ideas for visual reference. "But mostly it’s who is saying what and how do we make this something to read," he explains. "[In writing the script], I want to make more than something you visualize, I want to make something you can sit there and read; you can experience the story."...'
read more & more pics here:
http://www.fastcocreate.com/1681005/moving-storyboards-and-drumming-wes-ander...
Thursday, July 5, 2012
MUST Watch. Riveting. Gorgeous... SHIA LABEOUF IN THE BUFF FOR SIGUR RÓS’S EXPERIMENTAL NEW VIDEO
Excerpt from FastCodesign.com
'...Sigur Ros’ Valtari Mystery Film Experiment involves giving a dozen filmmakers a modest budget of $10,000 and the laissez faire guidelines to do whatever they want to do on film with songs from the band’s new album, Valtari. (The 'mystery’ part is because the band has no idea what they’re going to get until they get it.) The latest entry in the experiment, "Fjögur Píanó," arrived yesterday. Directed by Alma Har’el , whose Bombay Beach won the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival documentary award, it is a hauntingly beautiful short film that seemed to catch the Internet off guard.
To make the entry even more of a ringer, "Fjögur" stars bearded, shaggy-haired Transformer jockey Shia LaBeouf and the dancer Denna Thomsen as a couple engaged in what is clearly a passionate love affair, replete with drug abuse, morning dancing, and occasional cross-dressing...'
Disney plans £3m internet safety campaign around Club Penguin | Technology | guardian.co.uk
via guardian.co.uk
Excerpt from the GuardianUK:
"Disney is launching internet safety campaigns targeting 100m children and parents in Europe, the Middle East and Africa based on its Club Penguin virtual world, capitalising on the recent paedophile scandal surrounding rival Habbo Hotel.
Disney says it will put up £3m of media to support the campaigns: essentially advertising space on its TV channels, websites and magazines across the EMEA region, as well as on Club Penguin and its other virtual worlds.
Club Penguin co-founder Lane Merrifield – now executive vice president of Disney Online Studios following Disney's $350m acquisition of the virtual world in August 2007 – announced the initiative in a keynote speech at the Children's Media Conference in Sheffield.
"From the very start, our vision for Club Penguin was to create a safe place for my kids and their friends to play online. The scale may now be bigger than I could ever have imagined but that philosophy has not changed," said Merrifield in the keynote...."
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
ARG 101: The Mission Business presents ZED.TO - Transmedia 101 (formerly Transmedia Toronto) (Toronto, ON) - Meetup
via meetup.com
Super excited about our upcoming Transmedia 101 ARG event!
"As part of our continuing 101 series on Transmedia and Alternate Reality Gaming, The Mission Business will present ARG 101: Zed.to on Tuesday, July 17th at InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre.
The Mission Business is an adventure laboratory based in Toronto that designs connected live-action and online experiences to thrill you, challenge you, and make you think. After setting forth from their shared educational foundation to a broad range of expertise, the founding members of The Mission Business have reassembled in order to explore new platforms for creative development. The team includes experts in theatre, digital content creation, and game design. The first project of The Mission Business is ZED.TO, an 8-month interactive narrative experience. The centrepiece of ZED.TO is a series of interactive theatrical events, including the upcoming Fringe Festival show [ZED.TO] ByoLogyc: Where You Become New, running July 4 - 15.
Additional information on Alternate Reality Gaming will be presented by ARG blogger Geoff May of 4D Fiction. As Geoff explains, "With technology becoming ever more ubiquitous for the layperson, storytelling is hot on its heels. Being confined to a single medium is no longer a limitation for many eager storytellers. And while 'Transmedia Storytelling' describes this creative space ripe for exploration, Alternate Reality Games are the essence - where an interactive narrative plays out using the real world as its platform. Here, the story is the key -- the element that seamlessly connects every medium together, and ultimately weaves willing players into the story itself as it takes place around them in real time -- and it's also why they're destined to a niche, albeit significant, existence."
read more here & hope to see you July 17 2012
Renewable Resources: An interactive doc on Barton Springs seeks community involvement - Screens - The Austin Chronicle
Excerpt:
BY MARC SAVLOV, FRI., JUNE 29, 2012
Living Springs
If you've lived in Austin any length of time at all, chances are good that you've either been to the city's fabled Barton Springs, or, at the very least, have heard all about it. The bracing, cool waters have been a part of – and in many ways the heart of – Austin since, well, before Austin even existed. As befits such a sacred watering hole, the Springs (and the politics that surround and occasionally threaten them) have been well documented in films such as Laura Dunn's The Unforeseen. But movies, and especially documentary films, have a shelf life. They're made, they screen from time to time, and then, if they're lucky, they find a spot at your local video store, passively awaiting one more audience ... of one or two people at a time.
Karen Kocher aims to change that situation forever. The University of Texas lecturer and interactive media producer/filmmaker is currently at work on Living Springs, an "interactive documentary" that will include not only a wealth of up-to-date information about the history, ecosystem, and literal life and times of Barton Springs, but also footage and photographs culled from the community-at-large. Remember those reels of Super 8 footage your parents took of their Barton Springs splash time back in 1965? Find 'em. Dust 'em off. And send them to the Living Springs project....'
more deets here:
http://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2012-06-29/renewable-resources/
blackgivesback: W.K. Kellogg Foundation Promotes Racial Healing with New Online Documentary
Description from the site:
"Cornelius Maneaux with his two sons, Cornelius Jr., 17 and Jason, 14 are profiled in the new online documentary, “Healing Histories.”
“Healing Histories” part of foundation’s Racial Healing Initiative
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has announced the launch of its newest project, “Healing Histories,” an online interactive documentary that calls on Americans to engage in a dialogue around racial equity and racial healing.
The documentary zeroes in on the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans, where citizens young and old, and black and white, reflect on the legacies of racism and segregation and the impact today on gaining access to adequate health care, education and jobs. Equally important, though, residents share inspirational stories about how neighbors are coming together to improve life for the next generation..."
website here:
http://www.blackgivesback.com/2012/06/wk-kellogg-foundation-promotes-racial.h...
Alt-Minds: Making "Transmedia” a Reality - IGN
via ca.ign.com
Excerpt:
by Steve Boxer July 2, 2012
"Even in this fast-moving world, in which more or less anything with a silicon chip in it is a gaming platform, you don’t often come across a game with its own neologism. So that instantly makes Alt-Minds, a collaboration between French developer Lexis Numerique and Orange, stand out. For it describes itself as a transmedia game. Admittedly, transmedia is a word that has already established itself in the lexicon – it means “To tell a single story across multiple platforms”. Which, judging by a recent demo, describes Alt-Minds perfectly.
Lexis Numerique may not be the best known developer around, but it does have a track record of making innovative adventure games – its highest-profile such effort being 2003’s In Memoriam, published by Ubisoft, and the recent PSN game Red Johnson’s Chronicles. Both games are essentially jazzed-up point-and-click adventures, and that, deep down, is what Alt-Minds is, too. It’s a popular genre among French developers, as Heavy Rain reiterated, and seems to suit the French love for the off-beat and cerebral...
...The basic plot of Alt-Minds centres on a group of five young scientists working at a foundation in Belgrade, who disappear in Ukraine – and your job, as a member of one of a pair of investigative teams, is to find them. Much of your raw investigative material will come in the form of video (shot, according to Kemal, in Russia, Ukraine, Germany and the UK). You’ll be fed info and assigned tasks by the (fictional) members of your team, although Kemal asserted that although it is designed to be a solo game, you can collaborate with real-life friends who are also playing it..."
more deets here:
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2012/07/02/alt-minds-making-transmedia-a-reality
Monday, July 2, 2012
Great Post by Brian Clark on 'Centering on the Audience' • Phenomenal Work
This is an excellent call to think about design as both the object and/or experience being created and the context in which we encounter that object and/or experience. I fully agree.
'Despite my love of dead German philosophers and obscure art theories, I’m a pretty practical guy (for a mad scientist.) I don’t see a phenomenal work mindset as an abstraction; I see it as a framework that actually makes real work better. I look at the way these ideas revolutionized art and science and philosophy, I read the words our predecessors have written about how it changed the way they thought about life and art, and I wonder: isn’t it time for the Networked Age to absorb in those same concepts? All it takes is another translation of phenomenology in a way that makes sense to the now, so let me start with a provocation and then humbly offer up a translation of minds greater than mine that left these gifts for us we’ve failed to unwrap...'
full post here -
http://phenomenalwork.com/post/26339026916/centering-on-the-audience
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