Anything is a Storytelling Device?! is a European cooperation project involving the film academies of Helsinki, Potsdam, and Tallinn. 22 students from the three participating academies, split up into mixed teams, have been cooperating since January 2010 in the development and implementation of cross media film projects. The project is supported by the European Union’s MEDIA program within its Initial Training Program.
The Project Partners:
- “Konrad Wolf” Film and Television University Potsdam (HFF), Institute for Artistic Research. Project Management Prof. Dr. Kerstin Stutterheim and Caroline Gillwald. The IKF, in its capacity as consortium leader, is responsible for project management, the connection with Brussels, and all financial issues.
- The Department of Motion Picture, TV and Production Design at the Aalto University School of Art and Design, Finland’s oldest and largest film Academy.
- The Baltic Film and Media School of Tallinn University.
Contents of the Corporation Project:
In the past few years we witnessed three main exciting developments for filmmakers in the area of new media. The participants in this project will pick up on them and experiment with them through their practical work on the project:
- Crossmedia / Transmedia Storytelling: Cross media describes the communication across several channels linked by contents, design and editing (within this project, mainly online, mobile, games, and film), leading the user through the various media, towards a specific target. The application of cross media strategies within cultural or media sector increasingly requires an understanding for the social significance of visual and participative media usage. The purpose is for the participants to learn, through practical application, how a story can be told through various different media, how the audience can be stimulated to switch platforms, and the influence of all of the above on dramaturgy.
- “Audience” Participation: Another important network trend is that towards a culture of participation and convergence. The audience turns into fans and collaborators. Therefore all three projects must contain elements of the audience’s active involvement and participation in the stories.
- Distribution: In respect to the distribution of their creations, the new media offer independent filmmakers a variety of options to directly approach audiences for their films beyond the established film distribution structures, and thus obtain revenues. Therefore these projects also serve as a means to examine the options of testing and using various platforms in the sense of multichannel marketing.
However, the contents remain the projects’ main focus. Concentrating on telling good stories creatively across various platforms, the participants will automatically learn about the recruitment of an audience/fan basis in social networks, independent distribution and marketing, as well as conducting public relations in the new media. This approach, and the didactic method, may be summarized as “learning by doing”.
In this project, workshops congregating all participants in one place, will alternate with so-called online stages. During the online stages, work on the study projects will continue, utilizing various free of charge Internet services for communication and coordination (Skype, Googlegroups, etc.).
Objectives:
3 mixed teams, made up of 7 students each from BFM, HFF and TAIK, will each develop, produce and distribute a cross-media project or in the words of Peter Greenaway “a multimedia cultural adventure”.
The three participating academies have already been entertaining contacts on various levels. The intense cooperation within this extensive project is also meant to contribute long-term cooperation and exchange of students and teachers of all disciplines.
Furthermore, practical implementation of cross media projects, and online cooperation between the film academies, offer the opportunity to test the application of online tools and teaching, and to deal with the influence of ongoing changes in the media scene on film production.
The idea of interactivity.
Interactivity is a participatory experience for example a conversation. As a consequence Interactive media is the media where the audience of one or many may impact how a narrative unfolds itself over space or time. Interactive products may be delivered on CD, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, web, mobile phones, computer-based systems, television, etc.
What is a cross platform?
Refers to the capability of software or hardware device that works on more than one system and run identically on different platforms.
What is new media?
It is interactive digital media, such as the Internet, as opposed to traditional media such as print and television.
It includes digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technologies.
Why is new media important to filmmakers?
Some facts:
- just showing a film at festivals doesn’t cut it anymore;
- producing companies are showing clips online and forming online communities around films;
- filmmakers are blogging about the making of the films;
- a lot of the new media tools are allowing audiences to interact more with a film.
- the “audience” used to be a passive designation. But now audiences want to participate whether that’s by going online and mashing up [re-editing] your video, or responding to a blog post, or getting involved in crowd-funding;
- audiences who get involved are what “complete” a film and make it high-impact.
- Outreach is no longer just about reaching out, it’s about creating ways for the audience to reach into the story and contribute to it and rework it.
How can mew media be integrated with filmmaking?
- Create non linear stories;
- Create interactivity with the audience;
- Create jumps in time, location or environment (ex: using chroma key and interactively change the character’s environment);
- Interactively add content to the film (sound, images, video, etc.);
- Control a character’s actions
Project Workflow
The “Gay Mystery” (working title) project was shot from August 13-20, 2010, in the studio of the Baltic Film and Media School at Tallinn University. The project focusses on a short film shot based on a screenplay written by Ilja Rautsi (AALTO), questioning social role and gender stereotypes. Reality and dream world are dressed in different colors on various levels. In addition to the film, this topic is translated into and continued as a game and in a virtual gallery.
From August 24-28 the team shot the film for “Personality Shop” in Potsdam and Berlin. Here, too, the short film constituted the core of the project. Based on the options of creating a new Avatar personality on the Internet, the author Denise Langenhan (HFF) and Anna Ruohonen (AALTO), together with the Estonian director Pauls Kesteris (BFM) and the team, created a vision, within which it is possible to have one’s personality altered upon request. This film combines with a website and an exhibition, providing a platform for discussion of issues of personality and self-image.
Then, at the beginning of September, shooting of the short film “Hotel”, developed by Kim Zimmermann (HFF) and Arsen Sarkisiants (AALTO), began in Helsinki. In this project, the protagonist acts not only on the film music star Nick Mayers also rocks on the platform, myspace.
In November 2010 there was a two-day workshop held at the HFF, which served to intensify the cooperation between the three schools during the post production and develop the projects to a successful conclusion. The students presented the status of their film format project in form of a trailer. Numerous lectures by professional speakers were also held on the topic of cross-media. The lectures served to convey as helpful information on topics like, Copyright , distribution, Film / Games / Cross-Media producing and finance, for the final production stage which the students needed. These issues as well as the intermediate results of the project formats were discussed intensively.
It was also shared and discussed, with all who have accompanied the projects since its start, e.g. professors and mentors between the three schools, their experience of working with different groups, their projects, working strategies and the inter-European cooperation.
Also during the evening venue, an intensive exchange between participants: students/staff/mentors and a few lectures from Germany, Finland and Estonia was continued.
The projects are now in the final phase. The Tampere Film Festival will mark the premiere in March with a reception to celebrate it. The projects will also be mentioned during the HFF film market whom serves an interesting public.
