Re: The whole online submission thing, sort of, again

From: gregg biermann (email suppressed)
Date: Thu Jul 23 2009 - 12:10:49 PDT


Brook, Scott, Bart - et al,
I like the idea of an entirely non-material based process and getting
rid of all of this paper and plastic material that is involved with
sending physical objects around via courier. Uploading full resolution,
uncompressed, progressive frame, video files to a server would be the
best way to avoid getting into problems with the quality of streaming
playback. Organizations could access the files once uploaded by artists
via FTP from their own server. Of course it would have to be technology
that could playback high bandwidth files. Ideally it could also be the
screening technology used by media arts organizations and I'd like to
see a media player software developed expressly for this purpose --
perhaps one that could run on its own very minimal OS. It might also be
a great way of preserving/cataloging digital cinema works. How many
media arts organizations would be willing or able to make that kind of
investment? How many artists would worry about the loss of control of
their works as they could go viral very easily and are as close to an
"original" as we can get in the digital world?
G

scott nyerges wrote:
> A very good question, Brook. As a filmmaker who works with analog and
> digital media, I'm conflicted about this.
>
> On the one hand, I put all of my work online for the very reason of
> making it easy for curators, programmers and viewers to access. That's
> what makes the web great. On the other hand, the nature of my work --
> a lot of very detailed handpainted filmstrips, sometime overlaid with
> live video -- means it inherently will suffer compression issues no
> matter what codec I use (h.264 seems to work best, but even so). And a
> 320 x 240 image just cannot convey the power that my imagery has on
> the big screen (or, for that matter, on a decently sized TV or
> monitor). Ideally, I'll steer people to my website for a first
> impression and typically follow up with a DVD for pre-screening purposes.
>
> And, if you're curious, you can see for yourself: www.nyerges.com
> (ongoing projects) and www.nyerges.com/video (works previously
> screened at Rotterdam, Tribeca, etc.)
>
> Best,
>
> Scott Nyerges
>
>
>
>
>
> --- On *Wed, 7/22/09, Brook Hinton /<email suppressed>/* wrote:
>
>
> From: Brook Hinton <email suppressed>
> Subject: The whole online submission thing, sort of, again
> To: email suppressed
> Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 10:48 PM
>
> Howdy Frameworkers.
>
> I'm thinking about this whole question of online viewing vs. dvds for
> submissions, not so much for festivals who will obviously determine
> what works for their process, but curators, venues, etc.
>
> Here's my particular bias, and I wonder where others stand on this
> now:
>
> First, I hate dvds. Hate them. Sometimes, though not usually, more
> than VHS. Even for previewing work that is video to begin with. So
> much that I prefer seeing other people's work in some other way
> whenever possible, and that I am loathe to send them out myself. But
> until recently I was reconciled to this plastic disposable glitchy
> unreliable motion destroying landfill fodder as a necessary evil.
>
> In the last few months, I have come to feel that - with the exception
> of work that is dependent on an interlaced display for whatever reason
> - a well encoded h.264 standard def file at a DSL data rate is so
> close to (and at higher rates better than) "dvd quality" that it seems
> just silly to automatically send out screeners on DVDs, the majority
> of which will be thrown away. h.264 is now viewable on 90% of
> computers since it is supported by both flash and quicktime. And
> frankly, unless I'm watching a piece of interlace-dependent video art
> or have access to a very high quality large calibrated broadcast
> monitor, I find most laptop screens - while technically lacking - more
> conducive to a cinematic viewing experience.
>
> I have a couple of curatorial projects coming up and I know I'm going
> to strongly encourage that people who can set up previews of their
> work for me to see online rather than sending screeners. My "cinema
> brain" is now activated pretty strongly when clicking on a file on a
> computer - far more than it ever was inserting a tape or a dvd (though
> still not nearly as much as it is in a dark room full of strangers
> with good projection).
>
> How are others feeling about this nowadays? And again, I'm talking
> about non-festival submissions - I understand the difficulty in
> insisting on online submissions in any open call situation or where
> there is no access to broadband.
>
>
> _______________________________________________________
> Brook Hinton
> film/video/audio art
> www.brookhinton.com
> studio vlog/blog: www.brookhinton.com/temporalab
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________ For
> info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
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__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.