Dan Pink on Motivation

This lively RSA Animate, adapted from Dan Pink's talk at the RSA, illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace.

Gatekeeper - slides

Here is a bunch of slides and pictures from/about the production of Gatekeeper, the Sci-Fi fan film that is based at Subtopia.

The project is constantly growing and I am soo looking forward to the release of the first trailer...

Release: Star Trek & Star Wreck

Star Wreck, the funny finish fan-made Star Trek tribute was released on DVD yesterday along with their new uk website.



...this is of course in sync with the release of the new official Star Trek film that is due Thursday.



I watch the slow development of the gigantic Holywood filmindustry. They seem to slowly develop their marketing strategies to a world where the border between fans, users and producers are being blured.

A swarm of angels

Started reading Charlie Leadbeaters "We-think" where the network-based, opensource, pro-am filmmaking team "A Swarm of angels" is mentioned. They are currently working on two films "Glitch" and "The Unfold". The unfold is a contemporary sci-fi thriller:

The Unfold
A disaffected Musician receives a phone call from his Mother, who everyone believed died a decade ago, triggering a search to rescue her inside ‘The Fold’. He sets off on a journey where he must confront family secrets, a shadowy organisation, Cell Division, and a strange dimensional force that threatens to destroy the world.

The first film trailer called "World’s Will Shatter" sets the scene...


Worlds Will Shatter - The Unfold trailer from Nine Orders on Vimeo.

A swarm of angels are also working on the film "Glitch":

Glitch
A videogame artist recreates his childhood love as an idoru. A voyeuristic cable installer meddles in his customers lives. A neglected housewife finds evidence of an affair on a lost phone. In a world of the wireless, the powerless, and the loveless, it is time they all made a connection.

Crowd sourcing... and more

Just read an article by Lance Weiler in Filmmaker magazine. The article is about crowd sourcing in the filmindustry and is called "WHEN THE AUDIENCE TAKES CONTROL" The article focuses on building an audience and lists 6 good tools for doing just that.

Interesting, yes but I believe there is something much bigger than free web-based communication tools to think about here.

...fan-based productions in the sci-fi genre is generally frowned upon and the people involved are treated badly...

- by the filmindustry (Lucasfilm seem more worried about the copyright infringement than about supporting their fans.)
- by the filmfestivals (as they can't charge an entry fee they won't show fan-productions)
- by the filmschools (who don't even mention them)
- by the critics and media (who rarely mention them)

...well, some of the fan-productions are really crap but, proffessional soccerplayers don't treat amateurs like crap and neither should the pro's in film. Based on the same idea I think the government should start investigating how to support amateur filmmakers. What I am talking about here is of course pro-ams.

Download and read the full report on Pro-ams from Demos: The pro-am revolution - How enthusiasts are changing our economy and society by Charles Leadbeater and Paul Miller.

DIY-Vampires

Ok, I admit. I am totally hooked on these films and filmmakers that keep finding alternative ways to finance, produce and distribute their work. Here is the teaser for the swedish film "Vampyrer" by Peter Pontikis that was made without support from the Swedish Film Institute.

Pro-ams & Gatekeeper development

The coverage of Star Wars Revelations on MSNBC Live gives a good idea of what a fan-based project can be today and how it works.

There are many terms used for the growing group of people that in an economic sense are amateurs but pursue something to a professional standard, be it programming, filmmaking or city planing. In the book "The pro-am revolution" published by DEMOS, Charles Leadbeater and Paul Miller describes the term "pro-am":

Pro-Ams - people pursuing amateur activities to professional standards - are an increasingly important part of our society and economy. For Pro-Ams, leisure is not passive consumerism but active and participatory, it involves the deployment of publicly accredited knowledge and skills, often built up over a long career, which has involved sacrifices and frustrations. The 20th century witnessed the rise of professionals in medicine, science, education, and politics. In one field after another, amateurs and their ramshackle organizations were driven out by people who knew what they were doing and had certificates to prove it. The Pro-Am Revolution argues this historic shift is reversing. We're witnessing the flowering of Pro-Am, bottom-up self-organisation and the crude, all or nothing, categories of professional or amateur will need to be rethought. Based on in-depth interviews with a diverse range of Pro-Ams and containing new data about the extent of Pro-Am activity in the UK, this report proposes new policies to support and encourage valuable Pro-Am activity.

The latest partner joining forces in the Scandinavian Sci-Fi mega-project "Gatekeeper" is the crew behind the pro-am production "Star Wars: Threads of Destiny". Thomas Dahl from the 4Fathers has made their new poster.

In "The Making of Star wars: Threads of Destiny" you get a feeling of how the global collaboration works. The clip features many of the 3D-artists who have now agreed to join the Scandinavian Sci-Fi mega-project Gatekeeper - The Nexus.

Star Trek: Phase II (aka "New Voyages"), the biggest Fanbased Star Trek production with a large number of professional actors in supporting roles has agreed to supply the gatekeeperproject with actors.