“Let them use broadband.” Introducing Marie Internette, the spiritual doyenne of “whatever”. A street savvy, techno-fed hustler of the millennial generation, Marie navigates a labyrinth of societal corruptions and aspirations. In a world populated by misfits and gutter angels, she fashions a kind of virtue from the events playing out around her.
Follow Marie’s iconoclastic story as it emerges in blog form, its integrated Twitter feed and YouTube channel. She’s a brand, a property, and is game to take on all comers. Created and written by Producer, P. Rafn Hansen, Illustrated by J. Frank Oliwa of NoDice Studios, Marie is a cultural force to be reckoned with.
Plasmechanica takes on MotoristIQ, an information resource for car buyers. The site is part of a fully integrated social media campaign, with localized Twitter followers driving traffic. The administrators are able to target deals with incentives for site members and Twitter followers as a loyalty program. The objective is to ensure that non-zero sum, win-win transactions are happening, where buyers are confident in seeing full value for their vehicle purchases.
All story begins with character. Plasmechanica is pleased to present Indelible Marquee Vignettes, an on-going collection of 1st person character sketches. These vignettes provide backstories and curious insights into discrete individuals, populating a nameless terrain. They stand alone as well provide the basis for interaction in longer form stories in print, online, or on the screen.
Alberta’s production industry has just received a rich immersion in the technology and business rationale for 3D production and distribution. Working as a de facto prelude to this year’s nextMEDIA/Banff TV Fest gathering, The Banff Centre played host – as that facility is so capable of doing – to a substantial gathering of Alberta’s top flight producers, editors and cinematographers. Under the direction of Calgary Economic Development (film and creative industries commissioner, Luke Azevedo) and a number of industry associates (notably, producer/educator Joe Novak), the cream of Canada’s nascent 3D production capacity and associates from California presented a robust program.
Led by the support of Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, the comprehensive program spanned two full days, covering the business rationale and the technicalities of production, post, and delivery. Well versed in many of the concerns surrounding 3D’s complex innovations, the attendees came in with eyes wide open. Exit interviews revealed that, while many of those concerns remain, the desire and imperative to move forward has been greatly enhanced by the weekend’s activity. Congratulations to the organizers, and well-wishes to the production community that will now be grabbing the 3D bull by the horns.
Plasmechanica Media Design has been commissioned to direct the formation of an appropriate entity to address identified capacity gaps in the screen-based creative industries. Along with these capacity issues, the initiative is seen as an ideal opportunity to restructure how industry advises its academic partners in all levels of industrial training, across all disciplines feeding the various production pipelines. With similar experience over ten years chairing the Digital Media and IT program at NAIT, PMD president, Peter Hansen, brings a strategic insight to the game.
The process involves bringing together stakeholders from industry associations, guilds and unions, post-secondary institutions and training groups, media production co-ops and multiple departments and levels of Government. The parties will be consulted regarding a formative vision, an appropriate board structure and governance model. It is expected that, once established, the not-for-profit entity will take on the role of directing the quality of industrial training in the province, ensuring capacity is maintained, driving innovation through research, and building productive activity.
The entity is planned to launch by the end of the third quarter, 2010.
Plasmechanica extends congratulations to all this year’s winners at the annual AMPIA awards staged last weekend. Under the direction of newly installed Executive Director, Melody Jacobson and her able staff, the proceedings ran smoothly, and a good night was had by all.
A special shout out to Theresa Wynnyk who won for her work on “Playing it Safe”, a National Film Board documentary project. Theresa was also nominated in the Music Video category for “Bear: Looks Within”, co-produced with Plasmechanica’s Peter Hansen. The production is an animation/live action hybrid based on an orchestral work composed by Malcolm Forsyth (OC), performed by commissioning musician, violinist Tara Louise Montour and the Edmonton Youth Orchestra, featuring the mystical work of visual artist, Maxine Noel.
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From Prime Cut, Little Big Man, Unforgiven, and Legends of the Fall, the list of high-profile productions shot in Alberta is long and illustrious. So too is the catalog of domestic productions that originate here. Alberta represents a diversity of arresting locations and a world-class technical and artistic labour force. Add to this a business-positive production environment and you’ll find all you need to produce exemplary content.
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Under the leadership of Cheryl Ashton, the Nunavut Film Development Corporation is ideally positioned as a fresh voice on the digital media landscape. Where in a traditional world the film production community in Canada’s newest territory could easily be dismissed as lacking maturity, the playing field is level when one considers that we all are still early entrants to the digital media world. In fact, lacking a substantial footprint in the old world means the territory is carrying less baggage when it comes to expressing its native voice. The indications are that the Nunavut producers are recognizing this, that the technology is theirs to appropriate in ways that best serve their rich tradition of storytelling.
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Animated anti-establishment figure, Rantdog, is changing gears. After five years of development as an exclusively animated property, his overseers, producer Kate Holowach and writer/director Norm Fassbender are looking to deepen the penetration of their anarchic characters. Having consulted with Plasmechanica Media Design, Rantdog Inc is busy building to the resulting marketing plan. What the specific initiatives are remain under wraps but be assured the rant will open eyes and get chins wagging.