 1,000 Moons
The Frog Prince
Craig Johnson, who made "1,000
Moons," said Web movies are for "imagining the display monitor as the
technological hearth, like storytelling around a campfire designed for the constraints of
the Net." He calls his film a "digital haiku." His descriptions of
what he's after are complex, but, simply put, the object is to use the digital format to
manipulate images and their effect so that the woman's story becomes an experience that
one takes part in rather than simply watches.
In "1,000 Moons" the camera is fixed and the speaker, Thea Chaloner,
"choreographs" her body movements as she wishes. The idea is to entice viewers
to decide what they see in the piece rather than simply to present images to them.
"You're an active audience because your imagination is evolving the imagery,"
Mr. Johnson said. If after watching the film you aren't responding accordingly,
remember that at this moment on the Web, the beauty may be more in the eyes of the makers
than the beholders. "I'm just trying to create a sympathetic magic," Mr. Johnson
said.New
York Times, January 17, 1999. |
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Made-for-the-Internet
Movies It had to happen soon. The Net is an ideal medium for
pioneers to start creating an new form of "film". In what appears to be a
unique experiment (let me know if you know
of more!) in movies created just for the Internet, Arts Tribe, Inc. have released 4
Internet Movies. In "1,000 Moons," a beautiful young woman reveals
her transcendent experience of intimate, erotic ecstasy. While her corporeal unison
with her lover, Tommy, carries her soul to spiritual bliss, she also feels the despair and
pain of his mistreatment of her. In this compelling performance by Thea Chaloner,
she confronts the tragic conflict when our lovers adore us then abuse us. So reads
the blurb on their site at www.artstribe.com.
You can see 1,000 Moons at
The BitScreen. It is quite a moving
piece, all be it short (the Real Video clip lasts about 3 minutes) - a must for all arts
and film students to see, as well as anyone else! Also, see NY
Times article. Several other movies are available from the BitScreen site: Present Perfect, The Frog Prince and Positively Negative.
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| Started last year by Nora Barry, a Philadelphia-area
specialist in interactive media, The Bit Screen shows several films at a time, changing
them every other month. Most are made by experienced creators of material for disk
and the Web. Editing by computer, they continually manipulate their work. Movies
can be remade after they are finished, and sometimes even while they are being shown.
Occasionally viewers are invited to participate, as with other kinds of interactive
programming on the Net.
With the current low bandwidth of the Net, these "Net Movies" are somewhat
reminiscent of Lumiére (the inventor of the Cinématographe in 1895) films. In
years to come this will probably the major (if not the only) method of movie
production.
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Some clips from "1,000 Moons"
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 Present Perfect
Positively Negative
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