John west “Hello Digital” a seminar at Millennium Point, Birmingham
The digital revolution is merging the boundaries between games, TV and film. The most recent Disney block-buster at Pinewood Studios was “Prince of Persia, Sands of Time” was a spin-off from a computer game.
“Hello Digital was the first digital event organized by Screen WM, Birmingham City Council and Advantage West Midlands. This all-day event was well-attended with speakers from the many branches of digital development and technology along with Sion Simons MP the Minister for Creative Industries.
The launch of programmes on demand offers new opportunities for programme-makers. New entrepreneurs are required to move to new forms of providing entertainment.
Cinema, radio and TV are still with us. Gaming technologies are now being used for training in business and in other activities. Gaming involves you in decision-making and thus enables a person to learn and remember in a more effective way than by attending a lecture. The midlands have a very high density of companies involved in the computer games industry. Games are now moving from the dedicated consol to mobile phones and other devices and there is greater diversity in the cost and complexity of games.
It is anticipated that more on-line content will be free and profits will be made from charges for peripheral services. Concern was expressed at the fact that so much content of such sites as Twitter were unedited, but it was thought that people would show themselves as they truly were, consequently those that were generous, responsive, useful, creative and entertaining were those that would benefit most from the new technology be they individuals or companies. Twitter gives the opportunity for small groups to keep in touch by not allowing general access. Therefore Guild members could keep in touch on “Twitter” and know who in the Guild is hiring or seeking work, it may be done in a “closed” way so that the public did not have access. Some photographers have claimed that they obtain a large amount of work through “Twitter”. (It sounds a bit like the claims made about Citizens Band Radio a few decades ago.)
Birmingham is striving to be a leading “digital city”. The programme consists of:
- Connectivity; the intention is to create an infrastructure for a world class, digitally connected city in order to exploit global technologies for work, learning and leisure.
- Content; Helping to provide improved public services supported by digital devices. Encouraging outstanding interactive and personalized content to encourage e-learning. Making content available where and when individuals want it.
- Capability; influencing the use of technologies to deliver inclusive and local solutions. Encourage and develop the skills that will enable Birmingham business and citizens to exploit the economic, environmental and social benefits of digital innovation.
The new technologies would allow the public to influence the way companies act and enable companies to gain respect by admitting to mistakes and demonstrating that they were putting them right. This makes businesses more flexible and responsive to their customers, which is a great force for positive learning and change.
We can expect marketing to get more personal, with adverts tailored for the perceived needs of the individuals. Privacy is a thing of the past as everything that you do is being monitored. Conversely, who is going to go through all the CCTV images (or their equivalent) to find-out everything about a particular person unless there was a threat to national security, or a big financial incentive?
Re-personalising of technology is to be expected. Were we all to be tied to a screen it would be a failure.
Where does this lead the Guild? There are opportunities in which to expand work opportunities beyond TV and cinema screens. We should ensure that graduates from digital-orientated courses are made aware of the BFDG. Do members invite suitable digital arts to become Members or Associates? Vectorworks, Cinema 4D and Maya are becoming more commonly used in film production. There are others that are emerging. There are numerous films that are being made in a digital format: “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”, “Up”, “Avatar”, “G-Force”, “2012” and Disney’s new “Christmas Carol” are all partly, or wholly, made with digital technology. As was said in the AGM; the film industry is just starting to catch-up.
BECTU the film and media union has found that film laboratories are in steep decline. Digital projection is becoming common-place; even my local cinema that opened only a few years ago has gone entirely digital, with all the 35mm equipment being recently removed.
Birmingham has plans to be at the forefront of digital technology with all buildings planned for greater broadband access in an attempt to future-proof them. The missing part of the project is any plans to produce quality content. It is said that British TV peaked in the years when Morcambe and Wise were on our screens. Since then though the quality and reliability of the equipment may have got better; you no-longer have to fill Regent Street with outside broadcast vans in order to televise an event from the London Palladium but the quality of content has gone down. That nothing is being done to improve content or the budget for it, which must be a concern for those in the creative media. Who will innovate in this area?
There must be great potential for recruitment to the BFDG from the computer games and other digital fields. Is it worth the guild advertising to recruit in those in games design and the like?