In the world of responsive moving image storytelling, the 2d cinema camera is an expensive anachronism blocking the road — A man went to see a certain Greta Garbo film more than a hundred times. When asked why he went so often, he explained that in one scene, Garbo undresses in front of a window, but right at the crucial moment, a train rushes by, obscuring the desired body from…

The Metaverse will be inhabited by metahumans. Don’t worry. They’re mostly friendly. — When asked about metahumans, Lex Luthor exclaimed: Yes, the Metahuman Thesis! More likely than not, these exceptional beings live among us, the basis of our myths. Gods among men upon our, our little blue planet here! (DC Comics Wiki, 2021) These are not the metahumans this article will be discussing…

Making films with game engines? Yes, it’s true. Just ask the folk at Weta Digital. — When asked about making automobiles Henry Ford famously never said: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” This quote is trotted out (pun intended) frequently in discussions about innovation, particularly disruptive innovation. The argument often becomes one about whether businesses should listen to…

A dystopian fiction as the next evolution of the Internet? Sounds like a billionaire mid-life crisis. — Fictional worlds are great to visit but I wouldn’t want to live in one. Unfortunately, that appears to be exactly what some of the CEOs of some the biggest tech companies in the world, including Facebook, Microsoft, Google and Epic Games want us to do. The Metaverse is coming! The…

Striving for authenticity in film doesn’t equate with good storytelling, but as we have seen, it can kill. — With the recent tragic fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust (Saperstein, 2021) the question of safety on film sets has once again found its way into the public domain. The question being asked in the popular press is whether real guns should ever be used…

From “flatties” to the Holodeck, film is no longer the only choice for moving image stories — In February 2020, the BFI RSU team asked a group of top thinkers and analysts whether they could predict what 2030 might look like for the moving image, audiences and the broader screen sector. Their findings and views were explored in the BFI’s second Insight Exchange forum. While their discussion…

Ada Lovelace’s mother was a key role model, but she needed a good education and a room of her own to achieve it. — This week we have celebrated Ada Lovelace day, a recognition of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). …