Flash finds a loving home at the fifth annual FITC festival

Playing with data, playing with video, flex for everyone and geek art: this year’s FITC (Flash in the Can) Design and Technology Festival offered myriad business, technical, and creative presentations catering to a crowd of enthusiasts of Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash software. The fifth annual conference, founded by Shawn Pucknell of FlashinTO fame, welcomed industry experts, developers, designers and content producers to the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto from April 21 to 23. Flash’s potential for creating interactive environments was at the forefront of everyone’s mind, but interactive media itself – its possibilities and its limitations – were on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Ana Serrano, director of the H@bitat New Media Lab at the Canadian Film Centre, believes that "for many, the notion of being able to tell stories in an interactive fashion has been the holy grail for a very long time." In her presentation, "Interactive Narrative: Are we flogging a dead horse?" she pointed to the oft-overlooked cornerstones for presenting a truly interactive experience. "The biggest difference between telling stories in print or on the radio is that there is one piece of the puzzle that doesn’t exist in any of those mediums," Serrano says. "It’s the user itself. When you’re building an interactive story, you need to tend to these four things at one time." She claims that the narrative, business, technology and user experience aspects need to merge into a cohesive, and complementary, tetrahedron for optimal interactivity. Every designer knows that story, content, or "narrative" should be the determining factor in selecting an interactive medium. For instance, a game geared towards preschoolers wouldn’t fly on mobile phones, so why would a mobile version of Diablo? Just as the business component plays a crucial component – for instance, will revenue be derived from subscriptions, sales, advertisements, or donations? – the chosen medium or technical components should add value to the user experience. Is there a value to the game being played on a mobile phone versus an Xbox or PC? Does the website’s content complement or add to the magazine reader’s, program viewer’s or music listener’s experience? Murmur offers its own take on user interactivity, albeit without Flash. Active in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, the collective connects tourists and locals with each city’s hidden history. The audio project collects stories from denizens of various cities about specific locations throughout the metropolis. In an act of serendipity (or careful planning through prior visits to their website), visitors will come across a sign with a phone number and location-specific code to punch in. An audio track, read by locals, will detail stories or suggested paths to explore that relate to the location. Murmur has earned accolades and awards for its work – including a finalist position in the 2006 Canadian New Media Awards – in part because of its success in merging the essential components of Serrano’s tetrahedron. Murmur’s linear, personal storytelling is best suited for a phone conversation: the chance finding of a "coded site" requires user mobility, and adds to the random nature of the user experience. Its appeal to visitors seeking novel tourist attractions has helped it secure project-based funding from various arts-related groups including the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Toronto’s Live with Culture initiative and the Canadian Heritage Initiative. Blue Sponge’s Made in Montreal takes a different, Flash-based, approach to user interactivity and tourism. The site combines different mediums – audio, text, video streaming – to create a unique experience for users. Through avant-garde navigation features, visitors can find an intimate martini bar, learn how to become a Yogi, or watch a short film about Montreal’s staircases. Blue Sponge’s ability to marry entertainment and information in a rich media and interactive environment has earned them a finalist spot for the 2006 Webby Awards. Made in Montreal’s seamless convergence of content over multiple mediums is, however, somewhat atypical. When it comes to convergence, the technology employed by a medium is as critical in achieving an ideal interactive experience as the content itself. As Flash moves from its conception as a Web-based medium and enters new realms such as mobile phones and console gaming, emphasis on the appropriate vehicle for conveying information, entertainment and marketing content is reinforced. Robert Reinhart, VP, multimedia platforms group for Schematic, views the potential for multi-channel delivery as an opportunity to be approached cautiously. "As a marketer, it’s allowing us to think about potential – what we do in terms of these multiple touch points, what we do in terms of these multiple channels." Reinhart, the author of Flash Bible and Macromedia MX: Building Rich Internet Applications, points to the importance of understanding a medium and its users. "You really have to keep in mind where your content is being displayed," he says. "Companies like Kodak just put on the Web what they have on television and it doesn’t work. You don’t navigate that space the same way you navigate other mediums." Jennifer Chan, interactive manager for nowtoronto.com, the online portal for the weekly Now Magazine, approaches the difficulties inherent in converging data in the planning process. While XML is Now’s primary method of storing and syndicating content, the publication is beginning to extend its reach into the wireless spaces. In the process, Chan is mindful of design challenges. "We’re not trying to do some big backsplash thing that can’t translate well into other formats," she says. Now tailors its content to the medium – full restaurant reviews in print, mini-reviews online, and micro-reviews for mobile phones. Users are ultimately provided with their desired content, on their desired technology, in a unique fashion. Michael Lebowitz, Big Spaceship’s co-founder and CEO, thinks many media empires have been slow to grasp this important tenet. Lebowitz would know – Big Spaceship has worked with some of the biggest media companies in the world. The firm boasts an impressive portfolio in both gaming and website design, thanks in part to their use of Flash software: ABC Inc.’s Lost, Sony Picture’s Underworld: Evolution and now Sony’s The DaVinci Code are just a few of the movie and TV tie-ins the firm has worked on. Their Underworld: Evolution game earned them an FITC award in both the 3D and Game categories. "Some clients come to us and they say, ‘It would be really great if you could put this game not only on the website, but also syndicate it out to other sites, and if they could play it on their mobile phone, that’d be great,’" Lebowitz explains. "We’re always trying to steer them to something where the mobile phone aspect of it is not so much a duplication of the game, but an enhancement of the game." For example, a stand-alone boxing game played on Xbox shouldn’t be simply replicated as a mobile phone game. Instead, the two should interconnect, perhaps by allowing the mobile user to strengthen their character through a series of exercises, returning to the Xbox matches as a stronger fighter. The same holds true for film and television-related websites, but many smaller broadcasters and studios are still viewing their Web content as extras on DVD releases at best. Summaries and rehashes of last week’s American Idol might suit some tastes, but many viewers surfing the ‘Net are looking for something more. The website for Fox TV’s Family Guy, www.familyguy.com, embodies the notion of "added value" and makes abundant use of Flash. Web episodes, classic clips, podcasts and games pitting characters from fellow Fox property American Dad against the Family Guy cast all help to serve a rabid and technology-savvy fan base. Other sites such as US Mob offer enhanced user interaction in a harmony of narrative, Web design and games. US Mob is a television/Web series, where users choose the stories’ outcome, in a fashion akin to the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books of yesteryear. Geared towards youths in Australia’s aboriginal community, the site draws from everyday experiences of young aboriginals and exposes users to the traditions and issues facing Australia’s indigenous people. The site embraces Serrano’s tetrahedron: users enjoy a truly interactive experience through their contributions to the narrative; the online medium suits the technological demands of an often rural, but youthful, target market; and the sponsorship of organizations such as the Australian Film Commission and the Australian Broadcasting Corp. frees the producers from many profit-related constraints. Sites like these are the ideal – and an iconic example of successful media convergence. Throughout the festival, there was a general consensus that Flash is the optimal delivery platform, but also that its adaptability must be embraced and used suitably by old-media producers. Failure to modify and enhance content for different mediums and users will ultimately result in a consumer backlash. The final message: users want their content, their way, and they’ll find a way to get it.

Flash finds a loving home at the fifth annual FITC festival

Broadcast | April 28, 2006

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