72 (16)
In that book [Reading Television, 1978], the term ‘bardic function’ was coined to describe the active relationship between TV and viewers, where the book argued, TV programming and mode of address use the shared resources of narrative and language to deal with social change and conflict, bringing together the worlds of decision-makers (news), central meaning systems (entertainment) and audiences (‘vertically through the social scale’) to make sense of the experience of modernity.”

73-76 (17-19)
“Blaming the popular media for immoral, tasteless, sycophantic, sexist, senseless and disreputable behaviour is nothing new.” Taliesin, Chief Bard of Britain, criticised newcomers / new art perhaps as far back as the sixth century.

78 (N/A)
The antecedents of popular entertainment with political import go as far back at least as the medieval bards, heralds, minstrels and troubadours whose job it was to ‘broadcast’ the exploits, ferocity, largesse and (mis)adventures of the high and mighty.”

82 (23)
“It should be noted that the order of bards and popular television alike are specialised institutional agencies for delivering the ‘bardic’ function in a given culture. They take it on and professionalise it within evolving historical, regulatory and economic contexts, and of course in so doing they tend to narrow its potential, to exclude outsiders (the general public) from productive or creative participation, not least to maintain the price of their skills, and to restrict the infinite potential of semiosis to definite forms with which their own institutionalised ‘mechanism of translation’ can comfortably cope. These institutional agencies can optimise storytelling’s scale (a story can be reproduced many times) and its diffusion (a story can be heard by many people); but they also increase both formal and bureaucratic rigidity (‘transaction costs’) in narrative production and thus reduce adaptability to change.” Beginning is applicable to EA, but the rest is about broadcasting. He then says that the ‘bardic function’ needs to be reinterpreted.

84 (24)
“The challenge [of today's "dance"] is to understand how such a diffused system might work to propagate coherent sense across social boundaries, among different demographics and throughout social hierarchies. In other words, how does a fully distributed narrative system retain overall systemic unity? If everyone is speaking for themselves, then who speaks for everybody?” Two things:
1. This is a challenge for EA -> is the solution that there is none? -> that the old audience simply has to die out and a new generation of audience will renegotiate storytelling/narrative with EA?
2. EA answers this partly: an entarch is a professional service provider -> everybody can create with everybody, all good, but somebody will probably be successful as a mass entertainer/artist, as a star -> entarchs stand the chance of becoming the stars!

84f (25)
“As with democracy, so with musical or dramatic storytelling – the challenge is to find a way to think about, to explain and to promote mass participation without encouraging splits, divisions, migrations and anarchy on the one hand, or an incomprehensible cacophonous plurality of competing voices on the other, or an authoritarian/elitist alternative to both. The challenge is also a negative one – how not to associate ‘more’ with ‘worse’; mass participation with loss of quality.”

86 (26)
“Kings and knights were not known until praised.”

86 (N/A)
“Fame followed flattery – not the other way around.” You have to be praised by others to be famous, only then wants the world to sleep with you.

87 (26)
“For humans, storytelling itself is a form of schooling in the capabilities of language. It teaches us how to think (plot), what to think about (narrative), the moral universe of choice (character) and the calculation of risk (action), motivated by desire for immortality (fear of death).”

(33)
“Thence the most interesting question is what digital media might be used for. We should wait and see, not fall for the temptation of hurling abuse at the latest upstart medium that poses some sort of competition to the entrenched professionals of the day, just as the mythical Taliesin did in his own diatribe against strolling minstrels.”

(33f)
3 options for professional storytellers now:

1. The Taliesin function (“I’m a bard and you’re not”).
2. The Gandalf function (“I’m a bard and this is how it’s done”).
3. The eisteddfod function (“We’re all bards: let’s rock!”).

(34)
“Based on the lesson of previous step changes in the growth of knowledge, it is clear that evolution is blind, and the opportunities afforded by adaptations cannot be known in advance, whether it is the opposable thumb or the digital network.”
“Certainly, when writing and printing were invented, no one could have predicted their eventual uses from the purposes of the inventors. The printing press in Gutenberg’s day was based on agricultural machinery and used largely for religious clients. Its eventual success was not at all certain. Like many innovative startups, Gutenberg’s own firm went bust. How could anyone in the 1450s have foreseen the importance of printing and publishing for the growth of the great realist textual systems of modernity – science, journalism, and the novel – since none of them existed until printing made possible the development of a modern reading public? Similarly, who today can predict the cultural function of internet affordances; the outcome of the democratization of publishing; and the population-wide extension of semiotic productivity?”

Around 1:19:00
Definition-creativity:
4 (not 5?) different conceptions of creativity are out there:

1. Manhattan Project version: clever people -> you organise & structure them -> together they achieve what nobody alone would be able to achieve -> record industry model -> producers -> the maestro behind it -> they should earn 90%
2. The mad genius: all in his head
3. Genius in the community: the community creates together -> Mississippi blues delta
4. The jam session: “Rather than the individual genius there is the synthesis of things that happens when you get ??? people together in a rather unstructured free form kind of way.
5. The live event: never to be repeated, will never be the same again -> you were there, you were part of the magic

Young people think 5. is what is creative. => There will be a shift. It’s not about perfection, it’s about being live and real.
“A younger generation, they think creativity is something messy, something that happens in the field, that they can talk about because they were there, they were part of it. And it’s actually reconfiguring the notion of creativity.”

Gives very PRACTICAL advice: specific numbers, costs, prices, positions, tasks, etc.
Mentions transmedia 3 times.
Quite radical from a filmmaker’s perspective. I specifically mean indies, who always seemed to see themselves as a smaller Hollywood -> Hollywood’s concepts / business models / etc. should also work for them. Which they never did. But now it’s becoming more clear that they don’t and perhaps never will.
Not radical enough from my perspective. It’s a filmmaker sharing his insights from his struggles within the film industry. It’s not a step back to reassess the big picture.

29-36
Define who your film is for (hopefully not for yourself) and how you will reach it.

37
“The new 50/50 is as follows:
50 percent of your time and resources should be devoted to creating the film. 50 percent of your time and resources should be devoted to getting the film out to its audience, aka distribution and marketing.”

45-52
A good “overview of rights, markets and windows”; how they have been and how he reconceptualises them.

53-59
Know what YOU want to achieve and think about how to get there.

61-72
He describes “the bare minimum” of team members you need, and some more recommendable positions if you have the money.

127-131
His “Introduction to Transmedia” is less than 5 (!) pages short.

128
“media consumers don’t consume in one unified pattern anymore.”

129f
Definition “extradiegetic”:
“This material is called “extra-diegetic” and includes all content that is not part of the final released film, especially material that is created but never intended to be part of the final released film. However, as our understanding of film expands, there will not need to be a separate classification between diegetic and extra-diegetic; it will all be part of a seamless whole.”

133-136
Chapter 13: Redefining the Theatrical Experience
His new Definition-theatrical:
“It is time for filmmakers to reclaim the meaning of a theatrical release so that it is inclusive of a multitude of live-screening event scenarios. The theatrical experience needs to be redefined as people watching “films” with other people. Any place. Any time. Any media.”

143
“Unfortunately, due to contract obligations, IFC is currently only set up to do VOD day-and-date with their Festival Direct Program.”

151
“[...] Chris Hyams (the head of B-Side) did the research and found that all films (studio and independent), on average, lose money from theatrical.”

171
“I believe that incorporating aspects of an event into your screenings is the future of independent live event/theatrical releases.” A bit of a nonsensical sentence, but it goes back to stressing experiences.

172-174
“Ways to create a sense of an event:

1. Personal Appearance by the Filmmaker/Cast
2. Personal Appearance by a Celebrity
3. Parties
4. Partner with an Organization
5. Sell Advance Tickets
6. Live Audience Participation Part 1 (?)”

174f
“Transmedia Aspects to Screenings

1. Live Musical Remix
2. Live Film Mixing [Peter Greenaway]
3. Add Live Storytelling Elements to Your Screening [Head Trauma]“

175-177
Other options:

• One-Night Events
• The Film Tour

195
“The alternative theatrical grassroots screening model has shown the way to democratize and return a shared film experience to the control of individuals and groups,. With that newfound power, people will continue to find new ways to exhibit and congregate in order to watch films.”

243
“I think transmedia has tremendous potential for how narrative filmmakers can find new audiences and engage with them. Again, this is not just about marketing, it is about finding and engaging the audience for your film and your oeuvre.”

244
“Audiences don’t consume media as they once did. They have their own preferences, whether it is a movie theater, DVR, their iPhone, Xbox console, etc. Audiences have media and art form preferences. You can’t bend them, you must accommodate them.”

245
“Part of the death of DVDs has been due to people realizing that they didn’t need to watch a film more than once. Transmedia creates a life beyond the one viewing of a film.” -> Not sure about that. Isn’t transmedia even more ephemeral than a traditional movie?

275
“merchandise can be points of entry for films or narrative extensions – so they can be important to a transmedia strategy.”

289
“Television’s core business is repeat viewers.
It is difficult for television to command repeat viewers with individual films. When there was a plethora of fledgling channels such as HBO, Starz, Showtime, AMC, etc., they needed to buy movies to fill their schedules. But as those networks have matured, they have turned to series to bring back repeat viewers. Even indie stalwarts IFC and Sundance are buying fewer films in favor of series programming.”

296
“Ways to monetize your digital rights”:

• “Fees Charged Per Download, Rental, or Viewing”
• “Ad Revenue Share”
• “Subscription Fee”
• “Merchandise Sales”
• “General Promotion/Theatrical Launch”
• “Ad Sales/Banner Ad Sales”
• “Branded Entertainment/Product Placement”
• “Sponsorship”
• “Pay What You Want/Online Tip Jar”

299
“There is an argument I have heard on panels lately: Most filmmakers have a greater problem with anonymity than with piracy. I think this is a false argument.” If nobody wants to pay for it, perhaps nobody wants to see it, so perhaps the film is simply shit or doesn’t have an audience. -> Market it properly!

347
“Dentler observes that if you look at the history of consumer media, you always have different models for different types of publications. Some things are free, some things you pay for. He uses print media as an example, pointing out the difference between the Wall Street Journal and the Free Press.“

Says ARG has become a term used for everything and has therefore lost its meaning.

Definition “ARG”:
“In fact, ARGs are not defined by what they are, but what they are not. ARGs are not videogames or computer games. They are not casual games. They are not traditional sports games, or board games, or playground games. But they are essentially everything else that involves some sort of game-like experience or play, and that is why we are seeing such a confusing collection of things being called ARGs.”

“I think that the term ‘ARG’ is an umbrella term de facto used for the class of games that do not fall under traditional game definitions, and the reason why it is gaining such prominence and momentum is because of a blossoming of non-traditional games.”

“In time, better sub-classifications will crystallise out of our experimentation, and genres of ARGs will emerge, just as the genres of videogames are now well-known. For now, though, we should recognise and savour the happy confusion that exists, and embrace the freedom that this wholly alternate class of games gives us.”

A comment by a developer probably:
“An ARG is a game that requires a greater-than-average intellectual and imaginative wattage from its players if they are to get from the experience as much as the creator hopes they will.
Which doesn’t bode well for the chances of them ever going mainstream…”
I think they CAN go mainstream, but they have to become easier accessible.

mssv.net (11.05.2010)

They argue that marketing has to be remodelled entirely:

1. Pull not push: Don’t try to push people into doing something, but encourage/strengthen already existing natural pull mechanisms that spread ideas and behaviour.
2. Understanding the tides: Understand what’s going on and go with the flow, don’t try to work against it.
3. Understanding the landscape: Understand who you’re dealing with, who do you want to address?
4. Lighting lots of fires: You can’t do only one thing and expect it to be the right one, do many things and hope one or more will work out.

386
“Very little progressive optimism was applied to television in a systematic way in formal academic, intellectual, and critical writing. This was in large part a symptom of twentieth-century intellectual politics, with television as merely the latest in a long line of miscreant media stretching back through movies, radio, and music to the gutter press, yellow press, and penny dreadfuls of previous centuries. Cultural elites were habituated to “assailing” media that in their view failed to “uplift” the masses.”

413
“Television became old when the desires and fears it used to evoke as the latest, most popular, all-singing, all-dancing attraction were transferred to newer media such as the Internet.”

Societies and business models get more and more complex until (because of the law of diminishing returns) any added complexity causes pure costs (and no benefits). Such complex models can’t become less complex even if they wanted to. They have to collapse.
Examples: Romans, Mayans, ATT, and now TV executives.

Today there is a separation of form and content. The content is the story, the form depends on how it is accessed.

There is a cultural tension between what we express and what we desire:

www.youtube.com (24.03.2010)

117
“Games that expand the magic circle of play spatially or temporally also have the tendency to expand it socially. When the spatial and temporal boundaries of games are broken, outsiders get involved in the play, whether or not they are aware of it. [...] There are two basic questions to ask: “How is my game going to affect outsiders?” and “How are outsiders going to affect my game?”.”

123
Definiton pronoia: “a “sneaking feeling one has that others are conspiring behind your back to help you.”"
See also BB or quotes, not sure where.

128
“Socially expanded games engage in a dialogue with people and society outside the magic circle.”
“Prototyping and evaluating games with social expansion are challenging.”

129
“As laboratory experiments and even beta testing can be impossible, the game designer must be constantly aware of the political climate and cultural context of the work. The designer should stay on top of her work at all times, which often requires a lot of work and runtime game mastering.”

129 note 4
“The majority of the Swedish population completely rejected the experience of Sanningen om Marika. In an online survey carried out by Aftonbladet newspaper, a vast majority voted that they did not understand the production, and the undertone of the comments was also that they did not care to understand it.”

Scroll down to “THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT OF THIS ARTICLE!!!”

“”salience determines whether an audience will gather around and share media, not production values. In the time before hyperdistribution, audiences had a severely limited pool of choices, all of them professionally produced; now the gates have come down, and audiences are free to make their own choices.” (Pesce, “Hypercasting”, n.pag.)”

“”media people often criticize the content on the Internet for being unedited, because everywhere one looks, there is low quality”: he points out that “what they fail to understand is that the Internet is strongly edited, but the editorial judgment is applied at the edges, not the center, and it is applied after the fact, not in advance“”

“By industry standards, the production values for much of the content shared through such systems may be low, but the entertainment value – or more generally, the salience – of such content for its viewers is evidently high enough to attract large numbers of users; in the process, we can observe the emergence of new content genres from machinima to mash-up, as well as the revitalisation of older forms (such as the short film) in new contexts. This is a process of format innovation, of creative prototyping, which is likely to have impacts on audiovisual formats well beyond present online video hotspots.”

“the technologies and processes of television – once constituting an effective and powerful network for widespread content distribution – have now been outclassed by the Internet, to the point that in the absence of significant innovation on part of television operators, many users themselves have begun to do the industry’s work of shifting content from one network to the other”

“”Buy a chunk of radio spectrum, or a satellite transponder, or a cable provider: none of it gives you any inherent advantage in reaching the audience. Ten years ago, they were a lock; today, they’re only an opportunity.” (Pesce, “Nothing Special”, n.pag.)”

“users [...] have “come to understand that the sharing of media is an act of production in itself”

“users who are increasingly embracing the produsage and sharing of their own media content, and of hybrid content mash-ups incorporating a wide variety of sources: such users can no longer be wooed effectively and consistently even with the higher production values which the industrial model of audiovisual content production may be able to provide, if the same model also entails their return to a relatively passive position as viewers and audiences; instead, they must be embraced through new models which allow for their participation, their creative contribution, even their leadership in content production and distribution.”

“how, then, may the television industry reconfigure itself to participate in this information and entertainment space, while remaining financially sustainable?”

“Three related strategies are now becoming visible”

• IP Networks as the New Backbone
• Harnessing Video- and Filesharing
• Harnessing Users as Produsers

“the field of television (or more broadly, audiovisual content distribution) beyond broadcasting is today in considerable flux, with new technological, corporate, operational, and content models emerging with great frequency.” Creative destruction!

IP Networks as the New Backbone
“a gradual replacement of other networking infrastructures with IP-based networks”

Harnessing Video- and Filesharing
“”The age of hyperdistribution demands the development of new economic models which can harness piracy, for profit” (“Piracy”, n.pag.)”
“outsourcing of part of the distribution effort to audiences – a process of what has been called “crowdsourcing”"
“”today the broadcaster aggregates audiences, aggregates advertisers, puts commercials into the program breaks, and makes a lot of money doing this. But … wouldn’t it be economically more efficient for the advertiser to work directly with the program’s producer to distribute television programming directly to the audience, using hyperdistribution?”"
“The answer to this question would require a cost-benefit analysis of conventional and new models which takes into account factors such as

• continued advertising income from commercials inserted into downloadable content, and from general Website advertising,
• direct pay-for-access fees, including potential premium fees for commercial-free versions of the content,
• additional income from content which could not have been broadcast on conventional networks due to scheduling limitations or limited mass appeal (a long tail market),
• cross-promotion effects for content shown on conventional television channels,
• savings resulting from the ability to potentially bypass broadcast or cable distribution altogether,
• additional revenues from sales to a potentially global audience, but also
• reduced revenue from global syndication deals,
• a potential decline in advertising on traditional television channels,
• losses from the unauthorised redistribution of downloaded content,
• the uncertainty of content success or failure in an unknown environment,
• and the likelihood of increased competition with other commercial and enthusiast content creators.”

“”Why has YouTube become the redistributor of these clips? Because none of the copyright holders made an effort to distribute these clips themselves.“”
“”the fundamental paradox of hyperdistribution” is that “the more something is shared, the more valuable it becomes.“”
“the gradual erosion of existing boundaries between professional and amateur content [...] may allow for the emergence of new content genres to wider recognition, as well as for the discovery of new on- and off-camera talent, and could therefore also be seen as a pathway into the industry proper, similar to (but offering a significantly wider intake than) short film competitions and other events.”
“If direct download and filesharing models can be shown to be financially sustainable, then, this may ultimately even lead to a bifurcation of the television industry into live broadcasting (which may well find increasing commonalities with industries staging sports, musical, and theatrical events) and drama production (which is necessarily closely aligned with the movie industry), with these two components gradually drifting apart as the medium which once held them together, broadcast and cable television, declines in importance. Simultaneously, we may see the emergence of new direct-to-download drama production houses, and direct-to-streaming live channels, which can no longer meaningfully be said to belong to the same overall industry.” THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT OF THIS ARTICLE!!!

Harnessing Users as Produsers
“the core problem emerging from this discussion is that many new genres for audiovisual content in an Internet-based, produsage-driven environment have yet to be invented and identified”
“we may well see a similar shift from compilation and collective hosting to syndication and aggregation. In this model, video content would be widely dispersed across the network, and its availability would be highlighted through frequently updated RSS-style content feeds” -> www.koldcast.tv
“The television industry in Australia and elsewhere (and in particular in those nations where fast and cheap broadband access is readily available) is now approaching a tipping point [...]. Beyond that point lies a substantial structural transformation of the industry, and an opportunity for new business models and content formats to emerge.”
“significant potential for fundamental changes to conventional broadcasting models“