V I D E O • A G E SE P T E M B E R/ OC T O B E R 2 0 1 2 56 He continued, “For example, certain aspects of ‘traditional TV’ are stronger than ever. The onslaught of interactive, experiential and consumer-generated fare has given rise to a renewed demand for quality content that is meant to be watched and received rather than co-created and that is curated by reliable broadcast and distributionbrands.Iseeagrowingdemand for passive, high-end entertainment, and with it a growing realization in the business that the sizzle of new technology is there to supplement traditional storytelling skills — not replace them. “Of course, at the same time, new technologies are being used to create new approaches to that entertainment. One area of growth is content that bridges passive and active experiences, where the interactivity is elective and seen as an extension rather than a requirement,” Falzon concluded. Canadian Derrick de Kerckhove, a professor of the Sociology of Digital Culture at the University of Naples, Italy and the University of Toronto, warned, “We still have to absorb and mature content for 3D, HD, Interactive, laptop, mobile, Cloud, Twitter, all media that repurpose content and create new possibilities. Twitter, for instance, is re-educating TV by specifying the public’s preferences more than focus groups can. Cloud Computing is, once again, changing and refining the distribution system. For TV it’s going to be business as usual until ‘lifelogs’ mature. A lifelog is an audiovisual record of every instant of your life, seen from the point-of-view of microcameras set in contact lenses, and heard from cranial conduction, not air, so that you hear your own voice as you do usually instead of a recorded sound. Playback throws you back in exactly the same positions that you occupied at any point in time. When? Three to five years ahead. Several companies are refining the technology and there is even work going on recording in tactile mode. Why? Because that is precisely the novelty in content-creation: It’s one thing to have and enjoy reality shows, it’s quite another to actualize and share the best moments of one’s life with the public as one shares photographs with Facebook friends. The highest forms of cinema will be the skillful montage of key moments and events in intricate and intertwined destinies. Not to mention what that would do for live reporting,” he concluded. De Kerckhove has been both a student of and an assistant to Marshall McLuhan. Whatever the take on the future, it seems clear that an extraordinary period of change in our industry has far from run its course. Reported by Bob Jenkins in London with staff contributions from New York and Milan. (Continued from Page 54) Next Big Thing Michael Shepard of Canada’s Thunderbird Films A+E Networks’ Sean Cohan Derrick de Kerckhove, a professor of Sociology of Digital Culture at the University of Naples, Italy and the University of Toronto
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