Where are we now? Show + Tell Films hosted a panel last week to discuss Content(ment). Film, television and advertisement are all changing, but we can't be sure yet how profound that change is or where it is taking us.
On the panel, Nik Powell (director of the National Film and Television School) played devil's advocate and claimed "the customer has always wanted what they want, how they want it, where they want it, and preferably for free - that's nothing new", later saying "we are making films for other human beings and what human beings want hasn't changed".
Justin Pearse (editor of digital industry mag New Media Age) was hosting the panel and challenged this idea saying the difference is now "people can change the story".
"I like to call it interactive, not digital" added Paul Banham from the established advertising agency JWT.
Ben Freeman from ITV cautioned that "you don't always want people to write drama because they're not good at it", though he did point out that there are many other ways in which audiences can engage with shows and not influence the writer's work directly, like a competition to design bowls that appear as part of the set.
Matt Smith (The Viral Factory) said "watching YouTube us a very different experience" and Michael Gubbins (former editor of Screen International) agreed that "how we're going to get these stories out there has fundamentally changed".So assuming the landscape has changed, what should content creators keep in mind?
On the panel, Nik Powell (director of the National Film and Television School) played devil's advocate and claimed "the customer has always wanted what they want, how they want it, where they want it, and preferably for free - that's nothing new", later saying "we are making films for other human beings and what human beings want hasn't changed".
Justin Pearse (editor of digital industry mag New Media Age) was hosting the panel and challenged this idea saying the difference is now "people can change the story".
"I like to call it interactive, not digital" added Paul Banham from the established advertising agency JWT.
Ben Freeman from ITV cautioned that "you don't always want people to write drama because they're not good at it", though he did point out that there are many other ways in which audiences can engage with shows and not influence the writer's work directly, like a competition to design bowls that appear as part of the set.
Matt Smith (The Viral Factory) said "watching YouTube us a very different experience" and Michael Gubbins (former editor of Screen International) agreed that "how we're going to get these stories out there has fundamentally changed".So assuming the landscape has changed, what should content creators keep in mind?
- Viral video success remains unpredictable, but make sure to target universal language and appeal, make something that stands up to repeat viewing, and according to Matt Smith: "cute's just a big kinda deal"
- We are moving towards "a changed environment of complete total choice" according to Nik Powell.
- The 24 hour day is fixed, the challenge now is to win the audience's time.
The good news - this is a visual age, so filmmakers have a natural advantage and should adapt our 100 years of visual language!
No comments:
Post a Comment