hello. my name is mike ambs.

"Time and space are finite in extent, but they don’t have any boundary or edge. They would be like..."

Mon, 28 May 2012 14:58:01 -0700

“Time and space are finite in extent, but they don’t have any boundary or edge. They would be like the surface of the earth, but with two more dimensions.”

- Stephen Hawking, Black Holes and Baby Universes, via the-star-stuff

timelightbox: March 31, 2012. Children play with slingshots in...

Sun, 27 May 2012 11:49:49 -0700

timelightbox:

March 31, 2012. Children play with slingshots in Sirte, the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown. Sirte was one of the last loyalist strongholds in the nearly year-long war that ended the 42-year regime of Muammar Gaddafi, and it sustained more damage than any other Libyan city—in just a little over a month of heavy fighting. Many residents who admit to having been Gaddafi supporters now worry about what will become of them in the new Libya. Abigail Hauslohner drove across Libya with photographer Yuri Kozyrev, and found a new country along the way. See more here.

photo by Mike Ambs - just finished watching #moonrisekingdom...

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:46:17 -0700

photo by Mike Ambs - just finished watching #moonrisekingdom with @erica_hampton @vubui and @lanbui

kickstarter: Kickstarted: my conversation with Kickstarter...

Sat, 26 May 2012 17:56:01 -0700

kickstarter:

Kickstarted: my conversation with Kickstarter co-founder Perry Chen.

We would like [Kickstarter] to be a fundamental tool for the liberation or the acceleration of our own creativity. I think that, when we’re younger — whatever that means — we have ideas all the time. We embrace our ideas. We say, ‘Oh, I’m going to do this. I’m going to throw this event with a friend. I’m going to have this play, this movie, this thing.’ You have not yet been taught the realities of life, that, “You can’t do that because of this and that or the other thing.” Very often, that other thing is money. Over time, because of the constraints, with money being the biggest one (or the most common one) we start to squash down our ideas.

We don’t have to squash down our ideas because of the harsh realities of the real world. From a very emotional level, that’s the dream.

That’s the dream!

photo by Mike Ambs - afternoon nap with @erica_hampton *

Sat, 26 May 2012 15:30:42 -0700

photo by Mike Ambs - afternoon nap with @erica_hampton *

yvynyl: Ghost Loft - Blow Promising Los Angeles producer Danny...

Sat, 26 May 2012 14:56:02 -0700

yvynyl:

Ghost Loft - Blow

Promising Los Angeles producer Danny Choi dropped this new track in my box the other day. You’re not going to have any trouble getting your hips undulating to the rhythm; this beat is set to the frequency of passion.

Brand new project with just one other song up. Hear his other single “Slowdowntime” on Sndcld.

On Creativity and Tumblr

Sat, 26 May 2012 11:53:33 -0700

On Creativity and Tumblr:

topherchris:

One of the most important facts I’ve learned about myself so far is that I need creative projects in my life to stay properly sane. I need to make stuff and I need to share it. That is, I need to make random photoshops, silly videos, weird audio clips, and other assorted works…

nprfreshair: conelradstation: The Mike Wallace Interview with...

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:00:04 -0700

nprfreshair:

conelradstation:

The Mike Wallace Interview with Rod Serling, one of the most insightful pieces of journalism ever broadcast on one of my heroes. “So, in effect, your decision to focus solely on The Twilight Zone means you’ve given up writing anything important for television?”

via FFFFOUND! / EVERYONE

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:54:24 -0700

via FFFFOUND! / EVERYONE

1st spotted via nofilmschool In terms of exploring subjectivity...

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:59:40 -0700

1st spotted via nofilmschool

In terms of exploring subjectivity and how the mind works, Charlie Kaufman is perhaps today’s preeminent screenwriter. Either that, or he’s an expert in solipsism and desperate attempts to avoid it, which inevitably leads to becoming solipsistic and even more desperate attempts to avoid it. Either way, Charlie Kaufman is truly — truly — an original screenwriter, and one of my personal favorites. Kaufman’s perspective on screenwriting is obviously unique, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts / BAFTA has posted a podcast of Kaufman giving a speech on what he thinks screenwriting really is.

photo by Mike Ambs - @erica_hampton stole my glasses :P

Thu, 24 May 2012 23:45:59 -0700

photo by Mike Ambs - @erica_hampton stole my glasses :P

short form blog: “Here’s a window into a tragedy within the American military: For every soldier...

Thu, 24 May 2012 18:01:14 -0700

short form blog:

“Here’s a window into a tragedy within the American military: For every soldier killed on the battlefield this year, about 25 veterans are dying by their own hands.”

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof • In an opinion piece on the death of soldiers after they return home. A few other key stats — more former soldiers have committed suicide after returning home than died in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq combined, being a veteran doubles the risk of suicide, and being a veteran between ages 17 and 24 quadruples the risk.

Read up on this disturbing trend.

istillshootfilm: Promotional Kodak video from the 1960s Ahhhh...

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:01:29 -0700

istillshootfilm:

Promotional Kodak video from the 1960s

Ahhhh nostalgia….

The machines used to create film were / are amazing… 3 stories high and as a wide a city block. I love to see footage of a modern film factory now.

via The Creators Project With the amount of time we spend...

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:01:19 -0700

via The Creators Project

With the amount of time we spend online it’s no surprise that traditional narratives are morphing into a more web-friendly format. Documentary filmmakers have made excellent use of the possibilities the web provides to engage audiences in a different and, often less passive, way. Documentaries now often encourage viewers to find out more about a topic using interactive features, while interactive fiction projects focus on deconstructing narrative and storytelling, forging new models that allow for viewers to become part of the story. Bear in mind, this is no easy task—there is no standard formula, each story needs a unique narrative design and has to be able to adapt to the unpredictability of human behavior.   

But before we dive into the ins and outs of interactive filmmaking, let’s take a moment to examine what the term might mean.

What’s The Deal With Interactive Filmmaking?

Kinoautomat in 1967 is the first example of a film where the audience could choose different story lines. Today, point-and-click adventures are still made for the web and for DVD but with a limited number of choice possibilities, the interactivity feels sometimes more like a gimmick than a mechanism that’s designed to contribute to the telling of the story itself. Some recent examples that seem to be trying to challenge that are the projects Self Control Freak and Being Henry.

Another way to immerse an audience is by using transmedia storytelling, which tells a single story across multiple platforms and formats using digital technologies. A single story may start as a web series, continue on to a Facebook experience, or maybe a GPS-enabled mobile component. This method has proven to be most successful for a series or long-running project where there is already an established fanbase who is committed to following the different characters and plot lines. Of course, there are also some interesting stand alone projects. Transmedia storytelling trailblazer Lance Weiler has had a number of successful projects in this realm, among them the award-winning film Pandemic, which combined live events, a short film, and an alternate reality game to construct a rich, multi-layered experience.  

Another exciting model that’s been bolstered by the internet is collaborative storytelling where the process, rather than the result, is interactive. Crowdsourcing is a way for filmmakers to redefine authorship. The director creates a framework for users to fit their contributions and then compiles and vets material submitted by the crowds, cutting them together into a patchwork masterpiece composed of many different voices and artistic styles. In the past couple of years, several crowdsourced projects have gained acclaim—for example, the fan-made Star Wars Uncut film (which won an Emmy and counts George Lucas among its fans) and Cadavre Exquis, a crowdsourced script written on Twitter that was initiated by Tim Burton.

How Do You Make An Interactive Film?

Today, the most innovative projects are still to be found in animation and cross-over projects. Graphic novels are suitable for an interactive version, a beautiful example is The Art of Pho or the interactive series Hotel.

One such project is BLA BLA, winner of an Interactive Award for Best Art Project at SXSW 2012. Quebec filmmaker and interactivity pioneer Vincent Morisset created this online project and expanded it into a live experience, which recently made its debut at the Gaîté Lyrique in Paris, France. Morisset is an expert in designing interactive narratives and was happy to share some of his insights.

It all starts with the story

“After all those years developing interactive stuff, I still have a sense of walking in the fog most of the time,” admits Morisset. But he says the first step is always developing the narrative aspect and a sense of the general experience.  The interactive experience is by nature unique to each user, but it’s not necessarily the goal to create a totally different experience for everybody. Morisset rather wants to create a sense of spontaneity and freedom in his films where the users forget about the computer and can relate to the piece with their emotions.

Choosing the right technology

The technology and the grammar of the medium are always closely connected to the creative process. A lot of editorial decisions are influenced by limitations. To get to know these limitations at an early stage, Morisset prototypes everything to validate his ideas, so he doesn’t spend too much time on something that doesn’t work.

Planning for the unexpected

“It’s like embracing part of the unknown when you try to tell a story through interactive mechanisms. You take into account human nature and how people deal with situations in general as a starting point, and then create a spectrum of possibilities to adapt to multiple users. Depending on temper, personality or cultural background, the person will interact differently and thus trigger different bits and pieces of material we’ve created and developed. It’s an aspect that I really like when I write an interactive project,” says Morisset.  The unexpectedness is an important difference between a linear story and an interactive one. There are infinite possibilities, so Morisset plans interactions with the viewer in mind to anticipate and respond to this randomness and unexpected behavior.

Different experiences for different platforms

“This installation will open up new possibilities and create relationships among many users. In my opinion, extendingBLA BLA’s physical space will inspire more people to develop a new way of thinking about this new medium and let them experience storytelling and filmmaking in an entirely different way,” says Morisset.

For Morisset, the connection with a piece is different depending on the context and the platform it’s presented on. The online experience is something really intimate—there’s a close relation with the piece that is a crucial part of the nature of the web-based work. But when Morisset and team decided to adapt BLA BLA for a physical space, they knew they had to change some aspects of the project.

Instead of an intimate experience, there would be many people looking at the piece simultaneously. Morisset didn’t change the basics of the work, but he designed a scenography treatment where the user is highlighted with dynamic lights. To include the other spectators as well, there are enveloping visuals and sounds, people feel physical feedback, too, such as wind blowing on their faces. This way, everyone in the room has a feel for the cause and effect being reflected on the screens.

The installation was first presented in January 2012 at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and at the end of February at the Japan Media Arts Festival, where it won the excellence prize.  

BLA BLA was again adapted for the Gaîté Lyrique where it currently occupies the entire fourth floor. The website is mapped in the physical space and the interactivity goes beyond the mouse clicks of the original online version and installation. The audience is invited to walk through the installation, going from chapter to chapter and physically interacting with the work on different surfaces: the walls, the floor or the screens. It’s going to be exciting with motion detection, video analysis, architectural projections and secret passages.

photo by erica_hampton via instagram - I got to visit...

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:01:11 -0700

photo by erica_hampton via instagram - I got to visit @kickstarter today and I only took this one lame photo of their amazing space. It was great to meet @cadler @amotion and @Piztachio :)

scinerds: Why Is That Undulating Blob Of Flesh Inspecting My...

Wed, 23 May 2012 15:01:16 -0700

scinerds:

Why Is That Undulating Blob Of Flesh Inspecting My Oil Drill?

Every so often, the Internet astonishes. Things I wouldn’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t expect, sometimes happen. Take this, for example. On April 25, somewhere in the ocean off Great Britain, a remotely operated video camera mounted near a deep sea oil drill caught a glimpse — at first it was just a glimpse — of an astonishing looking sea creature. It was a green-gray blob of gelatinous muscle, covered with a finely mesh-like textured skin, no eyes, no tentacles, no front, no back. It moved constantly, floating up to the drill, then it backed off and disappeared. The camera operator tried to find it, and then, suddenly, out of the darkness, back it came. What was this thing?

That is truly incredible.

The ocean is full of strange and amazing things.

via North Kingdom » Blog : Behind the scenes – Only, The...

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:01:21 -0700

via North Kingdom » Blog : Behind the scenes – Only, The Liberation

This project came to life through a carefully planned production, a highly devoted and united team and some wonderful clients who dared to give us the freedom to create The Liberation the way it turned out.

The concept development

When Uncle Grey first approached us we instantly felt that their ideas where straight up our alley – the brief featured a great portion of interactive storytelling and refined execution. What could be more exiting we figured. The original idea developed by Jimmy Blom (Executive Creative Director at Uncle Grey) and his team was quite to the point – a film about three girls entering a small quite town causing mayhem, messing with the locals, then getting kicked out of there. Plain and simple storytelling with a great ambition to entertain and inspire and to get the brand message and attitude across.

Since the main component for the experience was going to be live action film, we needed to have a director aboard that could share our ambition for the project but also tell the story in the right way. That is why we went for the reputed and talented director Christoffer Von Reis. Based on what he had done before we knew that he and his team had the right spirit to make a shoot like this happen.

Together we shaped creative alliance to plan the next steps, where the relations between us, Uncle Grey and Camp David became more and more integrated, just like it should be endeavoring a challenge like this.

The first steps focused a lot around the tonality, and mood for the film. We saw references like this, this and this and they triggered the creative process immediately in the right direction. Even if the original idea had a lot of American road-movie attributes we where afraid that would become to cliché if we just went in that direction. The client also communicated that it should feel less Americana and have a more universal feel to it. Overall we worked with a lot with references and moods to get the right visual tonality.

Early in the process we also spent considerable time to establish the right amount of user interaction. We wanted the users to feel absorbed by the story and not being forced to click at certain points to break the illusion too much. And at the same time not loose them. So to get the right balance it took a lot of testing and playing to make it function they way we wanted from a user experience perspective.

The script

Together with Jimmy and Christoffer we wrote and refined the script. We tweaked it so that it could be played out from a local girls point of view. To follow her perspective; from the way she reacted to when the rebellious girls from out of town entered her reality – suggesting moral dilemmas – to when she decides to join them in the end, is an illustration of liberation and not getting too stuck with conformism in your life. Something we believed that the target audience hopefully would find somewhat relatable and inspiring.

The art direction

We kept the design minimal to get as much focus on the movie as possible – and that’s a challenge in itself. The design went through a few different stages during the project. Before we had shot the movie it started out quite complex and detailed, and when we had shot the movie we stripped away most of it to lift the movie which is and should be the hero. It’s easy to over-do things in the beginning when not all the elements are in place, it’s important to constantly review the work to see how it has changed during the course of time and see what doesn’t work anymore. In this case the client was very flexible and understood what was best for the project even though a design had already been signed off earlier on.

Putting it all together

The movie can be paused in every frame. When in pause mode, a high-res image fades in and we place hotspots on pre-defined tracking-points over the clothes. We used some automated scripts in After Effects to simplify the process. First we needed to know the exact frame where the user pauses, which can be tricky when dealing with playing encoded flash movies since you can’t rely on the player heads position to get the exact frame number. So we found this method instead: http://bit.ly/HT0OOt. A binary code is added in an extended strip at the bottom of each video. Then we can read that number and mask and hide the strip. To store all hotspot positions we used another script. So now we could just animate the points, one layer per piece of clothes with a layer-name set to a corresponding id. This could be done either by hand or with motion-tracking. Run the script and all data is exported to XML. Simple, yet effective.

The sound production in The Liberation turned out to be pretty complex just to make it work the way we wanted it to. We wanted a seamless experience throughout so even if you paused the movie it shouldn’t feel like it all just came to a stop. Here’s a write up from Dinahmoe, our sound partner, about the adaptive sound and how we did it.

Partners

Agency: Uncle Grey, Director: Christoffer Von Reis, Camp David, Post production: Stopp, Artist/original music development: Lune, Adaptive music and sound design: Dinahmoe, Back-end development: Agigen

Supernova 1604, also known as Kepler’s Supernova,...

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:58:54 -0700

Supernova 1604, also known as Kepler’s Supernova, Kepler’s Nova or Kepler’s Star, was a supernova that occurred in the Milky Way, in the constellation Ophiuchus. As of Feb 2012, it is the last supernova to have been unquestionably observed in our own galaxy, occurring no farther than 6 kiloparsecs or about 20,000 light-years from Earth. Visible to the naked eye, it was brighter at its peak than any other star in the night sky, and all the planets (other than Venus), with apparent magnitude −2.5. It was visible during the day for over three weeks.

AFP: Reagan era envoy found Pakistan 'lied' on nukes

Tue, 22 May 2012 15:01:43 -0700

AFP: Reagan era envoy found Pakistan 'lied' on nukes:

US officials concluded in the 1980s that Pakistan was lying about its nuclear program but muted criticism due to Islamabad’s support against the Soviets in Afghanistan, declassified documents showed.

The memos to be released Thursday reveal some of the behind-the-scenes drama between the United States and Pakistan during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, foreshadowing current-day debates in the uneasy war partnership.

The documents included an account of a secret mission in June 1982 by a US envoy who confronted Pakistani military ruler Mohammed Zia ul-Haq with a letter from Reagan and said the United States had “incontrovertible” proof that Pakistan was seeking nuclear weapons.

I fly a starship, across the Universe divide… Highway...

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:00:34 -0700

I fly a starship, across the Universe divide…

Highway Man by The Highwaymen, shared via exfm