Experience

After Sept. 11, 2001, a decade found its way

On September 13, 2001, I stood in a small park in downtown Toronto, shocked but confident, and spoke to Canadian television: From now on, movies would not be the same, Hollywood and indie films would change completely. Everything would be different. It had to be, didn’t it?

Well, no, as it turned out.

I was wrong.

[Editor’s note: SF360.org is devoting this and the following week to coverage of the year and decade in film.]

topics: activism, argentine cinema, audiences, authors, bay area, critics, critics year end polls, curators, digital distribution, digital filmmaking, directors, distributors, diy, documentary, drama, dramatic films, dvd, exhibitio, tv, web, women, women filmmakers, world cinema, youth

The 6th Screen

Free and open: video's Cambrian explosion

"Where is it written that everyone who participates in the creative arts should be able to quit their day job?….My daughter has already figured out how she’s going to spend the money from the tour in the band that she hasn’t yet created because none of the band members have learned how to play instruments….The fantasy that your creativity is a career is a fantasy we all indulge in right up until we hit the real world."
Chris Anderson, at a recent presentation on his latest book, Free.

In the next few months Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that allows anyone to edit entries, will start allowing visitors to add videos to articles. Users will be able to click on that edit button and add some demonstrative video to illustrate the point at hand, and then any other user will likewise be able to delete it. But then there’s a Wikipedia twist: anyone will also be able to edit that video, or create it from scratch using in-browser video editing, and any other user will then be able to say, that sucks, and re-edit it however they like. Don’t like that title card? Bam! Gone!

topics: bay area, digital distribution, digital filmmaking, directors, distributors, diy, documentary, dramatic films, internet, web

The 6th Screen

SWAG: Free feature films on the web

Acronyms and abbreviations occupy an ever increasing part of our modern lives. Some of us spend at least a small amount of time pretending we understand them (IMHO) and feeling proud we can actually use them in crossword puzzles (IMHO, the New York Times, Sunday September 14). But this one—SWAG—goes way back. In fact, according to Wikipedia, it’s actually a backronym. Which means it existed as a real word first and then collectively we made up a series of words for the letters. Originally, it was defined as a small bundle of stuff, and really it still is: Stuff We All Get (of course, this is how the "S" is represented in polite circles).

topics: bay area, digital filmmaking, directors, distributors, documentary, dvd, web

The 6th Screen

SWAG: Free feature films on the web

Acronyms and abbreviations occupy an ever increasing part of our modern lives. Some of us spend at least a small amount of time pretending we understand them (IMHO) and feeling proud we can actually use them in crossword puzzles (IMHO, the New York Times, Sunday September 14). But this one—SWAG—goes way back. In fact, according to Wikipedia, it’s actually a backronym. Which means it existed as a real word first and then collectively we made up a series of words for the letters. Originally, it was defined as a small bundle of stuff, and really it still is: Stuff We All Get (of course, this is how the "S" is represented in polite circles).

Every glitzy film festival is full of SWAG. One day I will need that expensive rejuvenation crème, thank you Cannes. And the web is packed full of it, too. In the online video world, several burgeoning business models live side by side, vying for our attention on boring panel conversations. Several of these involve paying for content (iTunes Movie store), but others don’t. And on those sites that don’t, the SWAG is just getting better and better.

Here are some browser-based legal zones for free online feature film viewing pleasure. No installation required.

topics: bay area, digital filmmaking, directors, distributors, documentary, dvd, web