From sabine at networkcultures.org  Sun May  2 11:01:46 2010
From: sabine at networkcultures.org (Sabine Niederer)
Date: Sun, 2 May 2010 11:01:46 +0200
Subject: <videovortex> meme factory
Message-ID: <A2CFC8C2-0392-459D-BAB8-CD8D83D2F5A6@networkcultures.org>

http://www.whatweknowsofar.com/memefactory/
Three gentlemen with five computers and three projectors take the audience on a fast-paced and whirlwind tour of every major internet meme, famous piece of internet media and upwards of three hours of youTube footage over the course of one and one half of one hour.

Ciao! S.
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From valentin.spirik at gmail.com  Sun May  2 17:26:02 2010
From: valentin.spirik at gmail.com (Valentin Spirik)
Date: Sun, 2 May 2010 17:26:02 +0200
Subject: <videovortex> To all film/video makers: H.264 = lock-in via cameras,
	only licence 	for "non-commercial purposes" (!)
Message-ID: <s2j152fa7181005020826xa13873falbea929fdd60232cf@mail.gmail.com>

Dear readers of this list,

this is about the future of (free) video/moving images production, post
production and distribution across a variety of devices and services.

And it is about (corporate) control over media content (using licensing fees
for codeces).

Having recently bought a small digital camera that also records 1280x720
H.264 compressed video @ 30fps, I was hoping to establish a good open-source
work flow for post production (that I was going to share with everyone
interested on my blog). It now turns out the problem might be non-solvable
from start (*at least, but not only* if your country allows software
patents):

You might have spent thousand of Euros/Dollars for your camera (e.g. a Canon
5D Mark II), yet you may use *your own* H.264 recorded footage only for
"non-commercial purposes" (!!!) - or you pay some more licensing fees to
MPEG LA.


Why Our Civilization's Video Art and Culture is Threatened by the MPEG-LA

http://www.osnews.com/story/23236/Why_Our_Civilization_s_Video_Art_and_Culture_is_Threatened_by_the_MPEG-LA


In that context, Steve Jobs, 30.04.10, ?All video codecs are covered by
patents. A patent pool is being assembled to go after Theora and other ?open
source? codecs now.?

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, then
you win." (Gandhi)


And a *very* interesting read, from the Theora mailing list:

Mutually assured minefields.

http://lists.xiph.org/pipermail/theora/2010-April/003769.html


I'll be avoiding H.264 in the future and hope Google's (soon open-source)
VP8 codec will be the solution for all of this.


Valentin Spirik

http://indiworks.wordpress.com/
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From minx at bway.net  Tue May 11 18:48:42 2010
From: minx at bway.net (Perry Bard)
Date: Tue, 11 May 2010 12:48:42 -0400
Subject: <videovortex> a moment in time
Message-ID: <2E93DD24-C678-4F9F-81EA-C6DAD0982EB3@bway.net>

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/03/blogs/a-moment-in-time.html

http://www.perrybard.net

http://dziga.perrybard.net

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From seth.keen at rmit.edu.au  Wed May 12 09:28:53 2010
From: seth.keen at rmit.edu.au (Seth Keen)
Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 17:28:53 +1000
Subject: <videovortex> Open Video Conference 2010
References: <CDB68AEB-4FF6-4007-A7BC-A4860C58BEC8@gmail.com>
Message-ID: <17453277-3048-413B-9901-8C3658C02DA6@rmit.edu.au>


>
> Open Video Conference: call for proposals
> ** Submission deadline: June 7th, 2010 **
> ** http://openvideoconference.org/proposals **
>
> We are now accepting proposals for panels, presentations, workshop  
> sessions, demo sessions, and other programming for the next Open  
> Video Conference in New York City. Join us and over 1000  
> participants during our groundbreaking two-day conference and take  
> part in the discussions that are driving the future of the online  
> video medium.
>
> Travel funding is available. Visit http://openvideoconference.org/proposals/ 
>   to make a submission.
>
> About the Conference
>
> Open Video Conference
> October 1-2, 2010
> New York City
>
> The Open Video Alliance is proud to present Open Video Conference  
> 2010.
>
> Open video is the idea that the moving image should belong to  
> everyone. This vision requires not only free and open video  
> technologies, but also that viewers are empowered to go beyond just  
> watching?creating, sharing, and engaging in the multimedia public  
> sphere they now inhabit.
>
> The Open Video Conference (OVC) is a multi-day summit of thought  
> leaders in business, academia, art, and activism to explore the  
> future of online video. The first Open Video Conference was host to  
> over 800 guests, including 150 workshop leaders, panelists and  
> speakers. Over 8,000 viewers tuned in from home to watch the live  
> broadcast. The event earned coverage in WIRED, NewTeeVee, BBC News,  
> Filmmaker Magazine, and The New Yorker.
>
> This year, OVC is expanding. In addition to highlighting the  
> industry?s progress toward open video, OVC2010 will feature  
> inspiring talks, hands-on workshops, technology working groups, film  
> screenings, and much more. It?s as much about the underlying  
> technologies as the people and projects who use them. Whether you  
> are a developer, a storyteller, an entrepreneur, an academic, or  
> just a citizen of the web, OVC will spark your imagination for  
> what?s possible with video on the web.
>
> Check out the 2009 conference program to learn more, or visit http://openvideoconference.org 
> .
>
> What types of proposals are you seeking?
>
> We are requesting proposals and ideas for panels, presentations,  
> workshops, and other sessions that will address how we can shape  
> online video or take part in the public debates around the medium.  
> Proposals may be intended for the main conference track, or for more  
> focused unconference-style sessions. Proposal topics may be legal,  
> technical, or cultural in focus, though we encourage proposals in  
> all relevant areas. The more complete and fleshed out a proposal,  
> the more likely it will be accepted?but we welcome the submission of  
> all good ideas.
>
> We also welcome suggestions on relevant speakers or projects. OVC is  
> a big tent?if you have a person or project to recommend, we want to  
> hear from you!  To make a submission, visit http://openvideoconference.org/proposals.The 
>  deadline to submit a proposal is June 7th, 2010 at 11:59 PM EST  
> (GMT -5).
>
> What do you mean by "open video"?
>
> In the narrowest technical sense, open video is the idea that basic  
> video technologies must be available in free and open source  
> implementations. But more than that, open video is a vision for a  
> participatory medium, in which individuals are empowered to wield  
> video to share their message as powerfully as they can with text.  
> For its potential to be fully realized, online video must be a  
> dynamic medium that invites clipping, archival, remix, collage,  
> repurposing, and other transformations that are currently inhibited  
> by law or by lack of tools.
>
> How does the conference work?
>
> OVC is a bit like a festival. Over two days, we will host a  
> continuous main track in the auditorium. These sessions are designed  
> to have the widest appeal, and will interest anyone with a stake in  
> online video. In addition, workshops and other events will take  
> place on an ongoing basis. The conference schedule is a product of  
> this call for participation, so we want to hear from you!
>
> Do you provide funding?
>
> The OVA selection committee will award travel grants to the most  
> promising sessions, in accordance with need and other factors. Since  
> OVC is a non-profit event, we kindly ask that you seek funding from  
> your company or institution before accepting a travel grant.
>
> When will you notify me about the status of my submission?
>
> We will be in touch no later than June 21th about the status of all  
> submissions.
>
> About the Open Video Alliance
>
> The Open Video Alliance, founded in 2009, is a coalition of leading  
> organizations dedicated to fostering the growth of open  
> infrastructure, tools, and standards for the online video medium.  
> OVA members include Mozilla, Kaltura, Participatory Culture  
> Foundation, and the Yale Law School Information Society Project. To  
> learn about membership or conference sponsorship, please get in  
> touch at conference at openvideoalliance.org.
>
> http://openvideoalliance.org
>
> -Ben
>

---
sethkeen at internode.on.net
 >> sethkeen.net/blog/













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From margreet at networkcultures.org  Mon May 17 11:02:31 2010
From: margreet at networkcultures.org (Margreet Riphagen)
Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 11:02:31 +0200
Subject: <videovortex> the making of youtubte
Message-ID: <3C06EF63-6749-4B4D-98B5-DB4CB262CFEE@networkcultures.org>

http://www.dutchcowgirls.nl/video/3797

maybe it circulated already...




--
ADDRESS:
Institute of Network Cultures
HvA Interactive Media, room 05A20
Rhijnspoorplein 1
NL-1091 GC Amsterdam

POSTAL ADDRESS
Institute of Network Cultures
HvA Interactive Media, room 05A20
PO BOX 1025
NL-1000 BA Amsterdam

http://www.networkcultures.org
t: +31 20 5951866
f: +31 20 5951840








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From valentin.spirik at gmail.com  Thu May 20 15:23:22 2010
From: valentin.spirik at gmail.com (Valentin Spirik)
Date: Thu, 20 May 2010 15:23:22 +0200
Subject: <videovortex> In context of the H.264 licensing fiasco: "German
	high court declares all software potentially patentable" (19.05.10)
Message-ID: <AANLkTinnmRlaB0-2L9V7pQtgheF2Vf3OQ8A-j7bnFyBw@mail.gmail.com>

To all H.264/MPEG-2 camera owners in the EU: you may not be safe from
software patents, they may be about to arrive via a backdoor:


German high court declares all software potentially patentable

http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2010/05/german-high-court-declares-all-software.html


BGH-Urteil zu Softwarepatenten st??t auf viel Kritik

http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/BGH-Urteil-zu-Softwarepatenten-stoesst-auf-viel-Kritik-1004005.html


This is simply dangerous when looking at the H.264 licensing fiasco. If you
don't believe me please read my blog. If you are someone who can communicate
the potential problems of this to the so called decision maker *please do so
now*.

Just when you think Google's WebM/VP8 will solve the patent (troll) problems
that the video post business is suffering from we get this...

This is really worrying. Specially if you are a (small) business/video
start-up etc. in Europe. Please act if you are in a position to do so.

Thanks,

Valentin Spirik

http://indiworks.wordpress.com/
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From geert at xs4all.nl  Fri May 21 09:21:31 2010
From: geert at xs4all.nl (Geert Lovink)
Date: Fri, 21 May 2010 09:21:31 +0200
Subject: <videovortex> Constant Dullaart: "On Video Replies and YouTube as a
	Sculpture"
Message-ID: <57DCF644-590D-4979-83DE-2FE9FCA866D0@xs4all.nl>

Talk 6 on May 25 (Tue), 7 pm @ BTK Berlin

Constant Dullaart: "On Video Replies and YouTube as a Sculpture"

http://dropshadowtalks.com

The Drop Shadow Talks *prolonged*

---------------------------------

The digital drop shadow is the most popular effect in computer  
graphics today. Easily applied, it made its way to modern graphic  
design and advertising. It raises typography and objects from a  
flattened background into three-dimensionality?and thus significance.
With the current generation of operating systems the drop shadow  
effect entered the graphical user interface to a new extent. In this  
context it raises not only windows from background wallpapers; it also  
stands for a visually enriched interface that strives towards three- 
dimensionality. Loaded with rich imagery, photorealistic icons and  
pseudo three-dimensional configurations the graphical user interface  
yet remains tied to its ?at medium.

Bewildered by this paradox, the graphical user interface leaves the  
office it was made for and becomes a pop culture phenomenon.
The Drop Shadow Talks reply to current developments on the visually  
enriched layer for machine interaction. In the shades of evening  
lectures the Drop Shadow Talks present art and projects influuenced  
and inspired by the baroque graphical user interface.

This Talk
---------------------------------

Constant Dullaart is a rising star that the exhibition circuit and the  
Drop Shadow Talks can no longer do without. Fresh from the  
Rijksakademie, he can always be found showing his work somewhere. He  
is a critic of the medium, highly active on the Internet, and is an  
equally talented critic of himself and of his vocation of contemporary  
visual artist. Constant Dullaart?s artistic strategy is not an unusual  
one: he investigates the newest medium that art offers him. But how  
different is Dullaart?s investigation of his medium from that of his  
predecessors in the history of art? What consequences does it have for  
the medium itself? In his Drop Shadow Talk Constant will show his  
recent works like ?YouTube as a Sculpture? and ?DVD Screensaver  
Performance? and explain why video replies play a significant role in  
his artistic practice. The talk will be in English.

Links

---------------------------------

http://dropshadowtalks.com
http://www.constantdullaart.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGvWL7Vb7I8
Location
--------
The talks are located at Berliner Technischen Kunsthochschule
in room J/K.
Admission is free.
Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule (BTK)
Hochschule f?r Gestaltung (FH)
Bernburger Stra?e 24-25, D-10963 Berlin

-- 
johannes p osterhoff, M.A.
Dozent f?r Text und Interaktion
Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule (FH)
University of Applied Sciences
Bernburger Str. 24-25, 10963 Berlin
www.btk-fh.de
Tel. +49 30 25358708
Fax. +49 30 26949605

From geert at xs4all.nl  Fri May 21 09:26:40 2010
From: geert at xs4all.nl (Geert Lovink)
Date: Fri, 21 May 2010 09:26:40 +0200
Subject: <videovortex> BBC: Google launches TV service that unites live
	television with the web
Message-ID: <E200F24B-3943-4642-8A6D-7A60FDF7C57F@xs4all.nl>

Search giant Google has launched a TV service that unites live  
television with the web.
The "smart TV" service allows people to search both live channels as  
well as content from websites such as YouTube. Special TV sets - or  
normal TVs connected to a Google box - will also allow people to  
access the web and download applications. The first TV sets will be  
produced by Sony and should be available in the Autumn.

"Video should be consumed on the biggest, brightest, best screen in  
your house - the television," said Rishi Chandra of the firm. "That's  
not the PC, or mobile." He said that there were currently 4bn TV users  
worldwide and that around $70bn (?50bn) was spent annually on adverts  
in the US alone. "There is no better medium to reach a wider and  
broader audience than TV," he said.

Google generates the lion's share of its revenue from selling web ads  
and many analysts speculate that its move into television is an  
extension of the business.

Dan Cryan, an analyst at Research Firm Screen Digest, said that  
television was a "very natural space" for Google.

"Its stated ambition is to organise the World's information, so why  
not move into it," he told BBC News.

He said that there had been several attempts to connect televisions to  
the internet in the past but none had been "terribly successful".

"Things have changed recently with an increasing number of higher  
quality web TV services available on TV sets."

Google showed off the service at a launch event in San Francisco that  
was plagued by technical glitches.

So many people in the 5,000-strong audience were using the conference  
wi-fi that the demo ran into repeated problems.

Google finally had to ask people to disconnect their phones from the  
wireless network to free-up enough bandwidth.

The service is built around an onscreen search box, similar to  
Google's web offering, that allows people to search for content on  
live channels or the web.

Mr Chandra showed how searching for the television programme House  
brought up results from live channels as well as web services such as  
Hulu and Amazon.

"The TV becomes a natural extension of the web," he said. "You spend  
less time finding your favourite content and more time watching  it."

The service streams shows from the web using Google's Chrome browser.

Mr Cryan said the approach opened up an "interesting question" about  
whether people would use the service to watch pirated content.

"Google is great at organising information, both legal and illegal,"  
he said.

The browser also allows people to search non-video content from the web.

"We can make your TV into a games console, a photo viewer or a music  
player," Mr Chandra said.

The first television sets will be built by Sony, who will also build  
the service into a Blu-Ray DVD player. Set top boxes and peripherals  
will be built by Logitech, although the service can also be controlled  
from a mobile phone running Google's Android operating system.

The TVs and boxes will also use Android and will rely on an Intel  
microprocessor.

"We want to have the same impact on TV that the smartphone had on the  
mobile experience," said Mr Chandra.

The firm has also used the conference to launch various initiatives,  
including an update to its Android operating system and an open source  
video project called WebM.

The WebM project will make the VP8 video codec, which it acquired when  
it bought On2 for $133m (?92m), open source.

Codecs are used to encode and decode web video. Various formats are  
currently competing to become the default standard for web video in  
the future.

Several web browser makers, including Mozilla, which makes Firefox,  
and Opera, have agreed to support Google's new format, which will be  
offered for free.

Another codec called H.264 has the support of Apple and Microsoft.

Whilst it will be free for the next five years, it is encumbered by  
patents and its owners MPEG LA plan to charge for its use.




From minx at bway.net  Sat May 22 15:22:34 2010
From: minx at bway.net (minx at bway.net)
Date: Sat, 22 May 2010 09:22:34 -0400
Subject: <videovortex> NYTimes.com: The Death of the Open Web
Message-ID: <mailman.0.1274534572.5228.videovortex_listcultures.org@listcultures.org>

This page was sent to you by: minx at bway.net.

MAGAZINE | May 23, 2010
The Medium: The Death of the Open Web
By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN
The Internet was once an unruly place. Are apps gentrifying it?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/magazine/23FOB-medium-t.html?emc=eta1




----------------------------------------------------------

ABOUT THIS E-MAIL
This e-mail was sent to you by a friend through NYTimes.com's E-mail This Article service.  For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help at nytimes.com.

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Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
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From sethkeen at internode.on.net  Tue May 25 12:18:43 2010
From: sethkeen at internode.on.net (Seth Keen)
Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 20:18:43 +1000
Subject: <videovortex> Huge Gap Remains Between Mainstream Media and the
	Social Web [REPORT]
Message-ID: <611BC215-DE3A-4705-BE45-4F487BA282B1@internode.on.net>

Huge Gap Remains Between Mainstream Media and the Social Web [REPORT]  
- May 25

http://mashable.com/2010/05/24/new-versus-old-media/

YouTube:

Like Twitter, YouTube is more of a platform to share and curate  
important information than a forum for lengthy discussions, although  
viewers are often active in the comments. Because videos take a long  
time to edit and upload, there is less of an emphasis on breaking news  
than on Twitter.
What?s unique about YouTube is that its focus on politics and foreign  
events far surpasses that of any other platform. Of the news videos on  
YouTube, politics attracted 21% of views and international news  
attracted 26%, compared to 15% and 9% in the mainstream media,  
respectively. The study smartly points out that this is because  
?videos transcend language barriers in a way written text cannot.?

PEW study - Pew Research Center?s Project for Excellence in Journalism

New Media, Old Media - May 23, 2010
How Blogs and Social Media Agendas Relate and Differ from Traditional  
Press

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1602/new-media-review-differences-from-traditional-press

YouTube has still other characteristics that set it apart. Here, users  
don't often add comments or additional insights but instead take part  
by selecting from millions of videos and sharing. Partly as a result,  
the most watched videos have a strong sense of serendipity. They pique  
interest and curiosity with a strong visual appeal. The "Hey you've  
got to see this," mentality rings strong. Users also gravitate toward  
a much broader international mix here as videos transcend language  
barriers in a way that written text cannot.

---
sethkeen at internode.on.net
 >> sethkeen.net/blog/













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From cecilia at networkcultures.org  Tue May 25 20:33:06 2010
From: cecilia at networkcultures.org (Cecilia Guida)
Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 18:33:06 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: <videovortex> Videophagy 2010, Open Call
Message-ID: <57265.87.210.197.147.1274812386.squirrel@webmail.sonologic.nl>


> Link:
>    http://wwww.e-fagia.org/news/call.html
> Deadline:
>    June 20, 2010
>
> Open Call for submissions
>
> e-fagia Organization is accepting submissions for videophagy, an
> exhibition to be carried out from September to October of 2010, in the
> city of Toronto.
>
> The medium of video continues to be transformed by changes in
> technology.
> With Video Line we want to explore the web as a channel through
> which we could investigate the different forms in which Internet and
video are related. We are looking for traditional or hybrid contents
that are present on the Internet and that participate of, or expand on
the notion
> of video. We encourage submissions of diverse artistic-cultural contents
> through the video on the web, as we strive to integrate the fields of
> contemporary culture, visual arts, music, film and architecture.
>
> The deadline for submissions will be July 17th, 2010. The selected
> works will be featured in our website and presented as a single channel
> video.
>
> Submission guidelines:
>
> Only online submissions will be accepted
> event at e-fagia.org
> Layout: Single channel video
>
> How To Submit Your Video:
> You can submit your work in one of the following ways
>
> 1: Upload your video on your own website.
>
> 2: Upload your video to the hosting service of your choice (YouTube,
> Vimeo, etc). The video must be embeddable.
>
> 3: Send the video project via Internet through download.
> Submissions will be received from May 17th to July 17th, 2010
>
> for more information: http://wwww.e-fagia.org/news/call.html
>
> Arlan Londono
> www.e-fagia.org
>
>


-- 
Cecilia Guida
Video Vortex
Institute of Network Cultures

t: +31 (0)20 595 1866
f: +31 (0)20 595 1840

At INC on Wednesdays and Thursdays

cecilia at networkcultures.org
www.networkcultures.org





From geert at xs4all.nl  Sun May 30 12:55:20 2010
From: geert at xs4all.nl (Geert Lovink)
Date: Sun, 30 May 2010 12:55:20 +0200
Subject: <videovortex> the-artistic-limitations-of-youtube-mash-up
Message-ID: <0A7BB840-E4DE-4A7C-8A92-4144D0A6EE6D@xs4all.nl>

http://www.artfagcity.com/2010/05/26/the-artistic-limitations-of-youtube-mash-ups/

For those readers who don?t scour AFC?s comment boards, pbd fleshed  
out the limitations of video mash-ups as art and Rashaad Newsome?s The  
Conductor (fortuna imperatix mundi) & The Conductor (primo vere, omnia  
sol temperat), on Monday?s post. This is valuable stuff, so I?ve  
posted the meat of it below:
pbd: i was watching Conductor thinking ?rapper hand gestures don?t  
match basic conductor patterns (hands always go up on the last beat of  
a bar). is that a minus? all his cuts are right on beat without fail,  
is that a plus? cuts on beat aren?t hard to do, is that a minus? focus  
on mid 90s bad boy records in the first movement suggests artist  
favors east coast over west coast, is that a plus? and where are bone  
thugs??

If all the artistic gestures within the piece reduce to the one line  
statements above, the piece isn?t saying that much. But what about  
the  dialogue between the two pieces? Howard Halle points out later  
the lyrics of the Carmina Burana?s most well-known passage are all  
about fate, ?the monstrous and empty??and fortune??detestable life,  
now difficult and then easy.? pbd responds,

pbd: to me, whatever informational connection one can deduce from a  
mashup based on it?s source material, i?d really doubt it?s something  
due to seeing it as a mashup?as in it?s something you didn?t already  
know about the source material on it?s own. so then, what is the  
potential of a mashup to say anything new?

a crude analogy might be to say that i know 3 + 2 is 5. i wasn?t  
thinking about it at the moment it was pointed out again in a mashup,  
which adds a 3 with a 2, but that doesn?t mean the artwork has any  
information in it.

so all of howards connections make sense, but for me they don?t  
support the work cos in the way i?m interested in looking at artworks,  
those connections are more or less meaningless. they aren?t specific  
to the action of the artist in the work i?m viewing, they are specific  
to source material i?m already familiar with on its own terms. unless  
a mashup has some insane technical apparatus behind it, i don?t think  
it can function as anything other than a guilty pleasure if that. and  
i learned this from making and exhibiting mashups :)

to quote craig mack?s verse on flava in ya ear remix, one of the  
videos featured in Conductor?s first movement (and which of course  
we   don?t hear):

?Word up don?t rap no crap you bore me,
Wanna grab my dick?too lazy?hold it for me.?

if it aint broke dont fix it, right?

i think the reason is that the language of mashup is so limited. you  
have two sources, edits, and that?s it. it?s a bit like working with  
presets in a way, in that the thing you make is actually a comment on  
the the self-imposed limits you?re employing, perhaps the social  
conditions that predicated them, etc. but presets can be many things? 
code, interface, hardware, microsoft word, protocol, whatever ?    
there?s room to move and material selections to make.

with a mashup you don?t even have that?by definition you have  
flattened youtube pop culture element a and you combine it with  
flattened youtube pop culture element b. it?s 2010, so a and b are  
almost equivalent anyway. good luck coming up with anything to say in  
that system!

Needless to say, this is undoubtedly the most useful breakdown on the  
limitations of video mash-ups as art I?ve read to date.




From geert at xs4all.nl  Mon May 31 16:33:50 2010
From: geert at xs4all.nl (Geert Lovink)
Date: Mon, 31 May 2010 16:33:50 +0200
Subject: <videovortex> =?windows-1252?q?Artcasting_=96_The_Art_Museum_as_P?=
 =?windows-1252?q?roducer_of_the_Moving_Image_=28Amsterdam=2C_June_11=29?=
Message-ID: <EB189D79-A37A-4967-A96B-13157706168B@xs4all.nl>

Seminar 11 June 2010, 12.30 pm till 4.30 pm

Artcasting ? The Art Museum as Producer of the Moving Image

Organized by Mediafonds and Doku.Arts in collaboration with Stedelijk  
Museum Amsterdam

 From art documentaries to smartphone applications, from TV shows to  
feature films: in the 21st century art museums have become  
increasingly involved in the creation of media productions. Moreover,  
in this 2.0 era museums have created their own digital channels  -  
just like the rest of the world - through which these productions can  
be broadcasted. Think of Tate Media and Boijmans van Beuningen?s  
Arttube. This development raises several interesting questions, such as:

- What are the implications for the conventional players in the media  
field, i.e. producers, broadcasters, directors?
- What can we say about the quality of these museological media  
productions?
- Is there room for institutional criticism or is this an advanced  
form of museum marketing?

The seminar will be devoted to answering these questions and  
investigating the future of this current development.

Multi-channel television and the internet are killing public service  
broadcasting as we have known it. Instead, let?s use the subsidy to  
turn Britain?s remarkable creative and artistic talents into public  
service ?narrowcasters?. Peter Bazalgette - media consultant, digital  
investor and former creative director of Endemol Worldwide

Location: TrouwAmsterdam, Witbautstraat 127, 1091 GL Amsterdam, www.trouwamsterdam.nl

Free entry, please register before June 4 via doku.arts at mediafonds.nl

The seminar is conducted in English, moderated by Hans Maarten van den  
Brink, director of the Mediafonds, and presented in the framework of  
Doku.Arts, international festival for films on art, 9 ? 13 June, 2010.  
More information about the festival programme: www.doku-arts.com and www.eyefilm.nl





From cecilia at networkcultures.org  Mon May 31 20:15:25 2010
From: cecilia at networkcultures.org (Cecilia Guida)
Date: Mon, 31 May 2010 18:15:25 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: <videovortex> YouTube TV
Message-ID: <57946.87.210.197.147.1275329725.squirrel@webmail.sonologic.nl>

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/business/30digi.html?hpw



YouTube Wants You to Sit and Stay Awhile
By RANDALL STROSS
Published: May 28, 2010

TWO weeks ago, YouTube celebrated when the number of videos viewed daily
on its site reached two billion, a milestone.

But it also used the occasion to express its envy of television?s
continuing hold on viewers: ?Although the average user spends 15 minutes a
day on YouTube, that?s tiny compared to the five hours a day people spend
watching TV,? the company observed on its blog. ?Clearly, we need to give
you more reason to watch more videos!?

YouTube, however, faces a huge obstacle: very short videos are unlikely to
hold interest when watched in long sequences. It remains to be seen
whether viewers will ever be interested in watching hours and hours of
typically two-and-a-half-minute videos, even if produced professionally
and well matched to individual tastes and moods.

The end of a program ? whether it has lasted two minutes or two hours ?
invites consideration of doing something else. In YouTube?s case, of
course, the end comes often. Jamie Davidson, a YouTube product manager,
says that the 15 minutes of daily viewing by a user typically involves six
videos, with the conclusion of each presenting ?a decision point, and
every decision point is an opportunity to leave.?

?We?re looking at how to push users into passive-consumption mode, a
lean-back experience,? Mr. Davidson says.

Margaret Stewart, chief of YouTube?s user experience team, says the site
is not only striving to ?sequence short-form content seamlessly,? but is
also building up ?long-form content,? television shows, professionally
produced Webisodes and movies, as well as live sporting and music events.
She says YouTube has 7,000 hours of movies and shows to offer.

But an embarrassingly visible portion seems to be of a type that fails to
be even entertainingly bad. In January, the critic Joe Queenan inventoried
in The Guardian the contents he found: ?Tons of schlock, cult films,
trash, direct-to-video overstock and tongue-in-cheek vanity projects.?

?The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism? and ?Cheerleader Ninjas? were among
the YouTube titles of which Mr. Queenan said: ?All sound great. But they
are not great. Not, not, not.?

This fall, YouTube says it will introduce a radically different,
uncluttered look, with YouTube Leanback. It will have a separate Web
address and will start playing a video the moment a user clicks on the
site. When one video ends, another will start automatically, eliminating
those dreaded ?decision points? that invite abandonment. Viewers will be
able to select channels, but the flow of programs, whether short or long,
will be continuous.

?There?s no browsing, no searching, no clicking. It behaves like you would
expect television to,? said Hunter Walk, a YouTube program manager who
provided a brief peek this month at Google?s developer conference.

Google, YouTube?s corporate parent, now sees the living room as
strategically important terrain for the entire company, and isn?t waiting
for YouTube to win the beachhead. The big announcement of the recent
conference was the introduction of Google TV; it seeks to enlist hardware
manufacturers and cable service providers in adopting Google-supplied
technology that will make it easy to simultaneously navigate television
programs, online video and TV-friendly Web sites on the living room set.

Google says YouTube Leanback will be introduced in coordination with the
release of Google TV devices in the fall. But Google TV, the larger
initiative, is designed with the assumption that viewers will do quite a
bit of searching with a keyboard on their lap, a sit-up-straight,
think-about-what-you?re-doing form of engagement. Significantly, it?s
called Google TV, not YouTube TV.

To lean back and enjoy an endless stream of YouTube videos now, before
YouTube Leanback arrives, a viewer can visit the Web site of NowMov, a
start-up in San Francisco that offers an instant-on YouTube experience.
Using Twitter feeds to determine which YouTube videos are appearing with
the greatest frequency in Tweets, NowMov starts playing a YouTube video as
soon as a visitor arrives at its site. In the background, it is
downloading other oft-Tweeted videos. If a user isn?t interested in what?s
playing, a click of a ?Next? button starts another one instantly.

?If too much of your brain is occupied with the process of choosing, it
takes you out of the experience of watching,? explains James Black, a
NowMov co-founder.

It?s fun to sample the NowMov experience ? briefly. It?s hard to imagine,
however, leaning back for hours, watching a stream of short videos that
have nothing in common other than shared popularity in the moment.

NowMov opened its service only this month, and Mr. Black says he cannot
yet talk about how long the average user session lasts. But if NowMov
succeeds, it will fulfill Mr. Black?s ambition to free users from what he
calls ?the tyranny of choice.?

IN the 1940s, early television also offered what we would now call a
comfortable lean-back experience in the living room. It, too, started in
?autoplay mode,? serving up a continuous sequence of programs by default.

With Zenith?s introduction in 1950 of the first television remote control
? the ?Lazy Bones? ? the lean-back position could be preserved for long
periods. (Staying put was prudent; the cord that tethered the control to
the set was easy to trip over.)

Today, watching NowMov requires nothing of the user, not even a click of
the Next button. That?s leaning way, way back.

Was the television viewer in 1950, who at least selected channels, really
a lazy bones?


Randall Stross is an author based in Silicon Valley and a professor of
business at San Jose State University. E-mail: stross at nytimes.com.



-- 
Cecilia Guida
Video Vortex
Institute of Network Cultures

t: +31 (0)20 595 1866
f: +31 (0)20 595 1840

At INC on Wednesdays and Thursdays

cecilia at networkcultures.org
www.networkcultures.org