Wednesday, November 29, 2006

TTA 2006: Offline/Interactive DVD

You would expect that in the age of internet CD-ROM and DVD will be used as data carriers and DVD in particular as storage of linear productions. Yet this category delivers every year still some fine productions. .

This year two music productions were nominated. 2006 being the jubilee year of Mozarts’ birth a CD-ROM production on this topic could be expected from Austria. And yes there was one from Salzburg. It was a very interesting production, which made use of some fine techniques for example magnifying glasses for manuscripts and accompanying the manuscript with the music. No new concepts, but the execution was well done. Sonorama is a great production databasing music from South Benin. The database has everything about the music pieces, ranging from movies, animations of the dance to the geographic area.

The German entry The best of all possible worlds is a philosophical production. Users do not just look and read with this CD-ROM production, but can also edit movies and music.

The question can be posed, whether these productions could not have been put online in stead of being stored on CD-ROM and DVD. I think that the question is dependent on the country where the producers live. Sure Austria, Germany and France have broadband, but it is not yet a common product. Besides, the Mozart CD-ROM works best on CD-ROM for music quality, I think.

Here are the laudations of the Festival brochure.

Mozart Digital (Austria) presents the original notations of Fantasy and Sonata in C Minor, published in 1785, enabling music-lovers to study the genesis of Mozart’s creative process and the real dramatic structure of the music in close detail. This highly instructive DVD allows users to zoom in and study the music note by note – as well as the additions and corrections – while it is being played. Alternative phrases of the piece can be selected as one hears the music. The programme’s clear navigation and expertly written content allows users to study the piece’s cultural context as well as Mozart’s innovations in composition and technique. Since very few of Mozart’s hand-written notations still exist, this programme offers a unique insight into his compositional methods and the rest of his work.
Team: Tobias Werner, Barbara Herzog, Jürgen Grünberger

The best of all possible worlds (Germany) is an interactive DVD which aims to create the fascinating and also threatening experience of living in a consumer society. The menu presents a typical suburban neighbourhood. By selecting from eight houses - each representing different aspects of modern life - users are presented with interactive stories inspired by the post-modern German philosopher Günter Anders. Through exploring each visualisation and the quotation which inspired it, users can interpret and reflect upon quotes which describe consumer society such as “Wherever we reach, we always get something to grab”. Each module expresses an intriguing idea with provocative visuals and contemporary graphic design. Users can, for example, create a movie by editing repetitive clips and music or destroy and rebuild a block of flats using their mouse. By interacting with the visual presentations, users must contemplate the logic of consumer society for themselves.
Team: Peer Runge, Joachim Kerkhoff

At the margins of West Africa lies Benin, a place where a love of music provides the link between migrants from Togo, Ghana and Nigeria. Sonorama (France), South Benin offers a fascinating interactive DVD database and audio CD of unique recordings, documentary footage, interviews and photos acquired through three years of field research. The menu-map provides a wealth of options including thematically organised content and music from around the region. By intuitively following the architecture of the interface and the interactive lexicon, users can make the connection between different languages or sounds and instruments. The musical style, rhythms and melodies can also be studied. Dance moves can even be analysed using the “Rhythm Box” tool. The interconnection between different types of media enables an immersive non-linear introduction to Benin’s traditional music and its vibrant cultural scene.
Team: François-Romain Dumont, Jean-Baptiste Miel

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