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NEW MEDIA STUDENTS APPLYING HOT TALENT TO COMBINE ART AND TECHNOLOGY WITH STUNNING RESULTS
Canadian Film Centre's Habitat Students Are Changing the Face of Canada's Thriving $1.9 Billion New Media Industry
Toronto (PRWEB) July 4, 2003 -- Students at the Canadian Film Centre's Habitat, a new media programme, are mixing art, creative thinking and technology to push TV, film and new media to unprecedented heights in Canada's thriving $1.9 billion new media industry.
New media is indeed a hot industry and this year's crop of creative minds is showing just how hot with trend-setting new prototypes that break new ground. Habitat will showcase the content created by its 2003 residents at an open house on July 9 to 10 at Habitat's studio at 2489 Bayview Avenue (south of York Mills).
The prototype showcase includes a production that leverages a new application from an already seasoned technology. Toronto's streets conceal a wealth of stories and [murmur] is designed to keep these stories alive. At specific Toronto locations, mobile phone users with an access code can dial up a number and listen to a story that incorporates the immediate surroundings. [murmur] was created by students James Roussel, Shawn Micallef and Gabe Sawhney.
Another student production, titled Dinner Four Eight, is an interactive DVD short film that offers multiple interpretations of the same story. The narrative, a traditional 'first-date' story, is set in a unique DVD format allowing the viewer to select alternative sequences, so as to shape the actual story. The audience can explore the different personality types of each character and in doing so change the outcome of the story. Dinner Four Eight, revealing how our living rooms will change as DVD experiences become the norm, is the creation of Annette Paiement, Stuart Thompson, Rosalind Mills, and Martin Stevens.
These are just two examples of how students are raising the bar in new media by combining art and technology in innovative ways that are commercially viable while allowing them to compete in the global market.
More than 90 per cent of Habitat's new media graduates have found jobs or started businesses in this important, new Canadian industry. Habitat is the Centre's new media training, research and development facility committed to transforming the Canadian film, television and new media communities into global participants in the entertainment industry of the future.
Launched in 1997, Habitat is a breeding ground of new ideas where a diverse community of creative thinkers, technologists and entrepreneurial minds can collaborate, share knowledge and push the evolution of this unique form of artistic communication.
"We are really proud of this year's group and I think they have really set a new standard for creative thinking and the use of quickly changing technology," said Ana Serrano, Director, Habitat, who was recently recognized with three Canadian New Media Awards produced by CANEMA Inc. "These remarkable students are changing the face of new media."
Other works being showcased during the July 9-10 open house include:
| | - Mobile Mysteries, a new technology twist on an old entertainment concept. Created as a murder-mystery role-playing game, players assume different characters in a fictional party scenario and receive secret time-based clues, accusations and instructions via their cell phones. Players then interact with each other to try and elicit the truth about the crime, solve the murder and expose the killer. Created by: Martin Blake and Elizabeth Littlejohn
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| | - The Subtle Social Experiment (SSE) investigates new ways to mobilizing citizens to shape their society. A narrative driven viral marketing campaign, SSE does not seek to sell you anything, but may convince you that, in fact, you are being sold out. Discover how user-based internet technology combined with narrative can redefine how we market to consumers. Created by: Adam Leon, David Mills and Patricio Penteado
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| | - ShoeVox is a physical installation exploring how we archive experiences and use objects to invoke memories. A series of interactive shoeboxes open to reveal personal stories told using sound, animation, video and found objects. Over a small speaker and LCD screen embedded in each box, the storyteller shares their personal memories of these shoes. Created by: Yone Dudas and Margit Hideg
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About the Canadian Film Centre and Habitat
Founded in 1988 by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Norman Jewison, the Canadian Film Centre provides world-class training for emerging Canadian filmmakers, television creators and new media professionals. The Canadian Film Centre's Habitat offers team-based new media training programmes under the mentorship of key international faculty and guests. Residents are exposed to the intellectual rigour of post-graduate studies with an emphasis on creativity and collaborative innovation. For more information about The Canadian Film Centre, please see www.cdnfilmcentre.com.
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To arrange an interview, attend the open house or for more information, please contact:
Alison Philips or Derek Baker
BenchMark Porter Novelli
416.423.6605
aphilips@bmporternovelli.com
Tina Marano, Publicist
Canadian Film Centre
416.445.1446 ext. 304
tmarano@cdnfilmcentre.com
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