Skip to main content

Pocket Cinema Program Guides Hollywood

Wired reports that art-house flicks for cell phones and iPods might teach Hollywood a thing or two about mobile entertainment if the movie bigwigs would just pay attention to the tiny screen, experts say.

At the San Francisco International Film Festival, 20 movies made for mobile devices with 2-inch-by-3-inch screens were shown as part of the festival's Pocket Cinema program. The program highlights the art world's contribution to mobile video, which the entertainment industry hopes will be the next big content boom. Fox, for example, is releasing mobisodes of the TV show Prison Break, while Touchstone Television Productions is producing a version of Lost just for mobiles.

The entertainment industry could learn a lot about mobile film from the art world, said Joel Bachar, founder of Microcinema International, which has been distributing independent and experimental films for more than a decade. Bachar said videos that use less movement and fewer edits are easier to download and watch on a mobile. Also, mobile art videos that combine the use of sound and images to convey a nontraditional type of narrative are a lot easier to consume on a cell phone than a TV series.

Popular posts from this blog

Bold Broadband Policy: Yes We Can, America

Try to imagine this scenario, that General Motors and Ford were given exclusive franchises to build America's interstate highway system, and also all the highways that connect local communities. Now imagine that, based upon a financial crisis, these troubled companies decided to convert all "their" local arteries into toll-roads -- they then use incremental toll fees to severely limit all travel to and from small businesses. Why? This handicapping process reduced the need to invest in building better new roads, or repairing the dilapidated ones. But, wouldn't that short-sighted decision have a detrimental impact on the overall national economy? It's a moot point -- pure fantasy -- you say. The U.S. political leadership would never knowingly risk the nation's social and economic future on the financial viability of a restrictive duopoly. Or, would they? The 21st century Global Networked Economy travels across essential broadband infrastructure. The forced intro...