Marvel Comics took its Digital Media Group to SXSWi for the first time to show off new products including the up coming "Ultimate Spider-Man" cartoon and a new suite of digital products coming under the banner of "Marvel ReEvolution."

App wise, two new tie-ins to the incoming "Avengers Vs. X-Men" event – an augmented realityapp called Marvel AR offering new features for "AvX" #1 and onwards, as well as brand-new original digital stories labelled Marvel Infinite Comics starting with a Nova story from Mark Waid and Stuart Immonen. "Decades ago, Stan Lee introduced the letters pages as a way of directly engaging the reader and building a comics-reading community. That was a major innovation at the time, and we’re taking it to the next stage with AR app features that will engage the reader in ways they haven’t been before," Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso said. "Our AR app features provide added-value story content that will enhance the reading experience in ways we’re still cooking up."

"One of the most important things is that this is going to be an application that allows print comics readers to get an incremental experience with the 'AvX storyline. For example, you may have story and cover recaps in hand. You may have extra bonus content. You may suddenly get a new two-minute video from the Editor-in-Chief talking about how one scene is important or what's happening at a given time. We're really trying to bring the story a lot closer to print comic readers." Peter Phillips added

Marvel AR is a free application promoted on the cover of "AvX" so anyone can download it and dive into the content. "The AR app is really targeted towards the print comics reader. It's really keying off the print comic itself. There's no Augmented Reality for a digital comic. The way it works is that there are certain image throughout the story where you can take your phone to key off that image and get the augmented experience. And for now, that's restricted to the print comic. We are still proudly selling our digital comic, and we've also got an enhancement for that for 'AvX' with the Infinite Comics."

"Infinite Comics utilise the tools of thye digital world while preserving all the features that make a comic book reading experience unique," Alonso said. "The tablet provides a new canvas for comic book storytelling. It provides new ways for us to tell stories, and for you to read them. This is comics storytelling like you’ve never seen before – not print comics, but also not animation. Familiar comic conventions – like word balloons, caption and panel borders – still exist, and the reader still controls the pacing of the reading experience, just like he would if he were turning a page. But this new canvas allows for a sense of motion not available to the printed page. 'AvX' will feature out first 'Infinite Comics' outing, a story by Mark Waid and Stuart Immonen that ties direcly into 'AvX' #1 and features Nova, and it is eye-popping, trust me. It will definitely enhance the reading experience of anyone who picks up 'AVX.' Expect more stories like this, and expect stories that will be best told using this new canvas."

As for the full scope of Marvel ReEvolution, more new digital content is to be prepped in the months ahead once Marvel AR is underway with "AvX." 

Panelist info: http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_FP990299?sf3452607=1

Join Director Timo Vuorensola and Producer Tero Kaukomaa as they discuss their film IRON SKY (SXSW 2012) and how they worked to bridge the gap between the film industry and new forms of media. This trend is gaining traction and is becoming one many filmmakers can creatively take part in to create a deeper experience for their projects. Learn how the team behind IRON SKY harnessed the film community to the best ends and on multiple levels, putting themselves in direct contact with their audience from the beginning to not only help fund the film, but interact and cultivate a creative flow between filmmaker and audience.

Fresh ways and fresh approach to film making that they managed to use to put together the feature.

Filmmakers journey started in 1998 on a production called Star Wreck. A feature length sci-fi comedy pitching the universes of Star Trek and Babylon 5

No experience, no money, no equipment, no actors just a will to make a film. Director had never seen an episode of either Star Trek or Babylon 5. Process took 7 years, most of the film was shot in our friends basement space.

From early in the process we engaged with the fans form both shows, opening it up to them for help in terms of writing, equipment, acting... All aspects of the film making process was crowd sourced.

Finished in 2005, released on the Internet for free. Not planned but it was the first free feature length film released for free online. Drew media attention leading to 800000 downloads and has become the most watched Finnish film in history.

Next up was to follow up on the success - ideas not being in short supply but they settled on Nazis from the dark side of the moon, just to keep it in the same vein as the Star Wrek idea.

Doing research they found that there are a large amount of conspiracy type theories based on Nazis and ufo's.

Approached Thero as producer who liked the idea and the fact that the previous film was made for $15000

Right from the beginning collaboration with the Internet community was vital to the success of the project.

www.wreckamovie.com 

Created this website as a way to get the best out of collaboration with the audience. You put up your project and then it enables you to split up the collaboration process to help make sense of all that the users throw at you.

Once the project is set up, you split it into tasks that the users can complete for you. 

www.crowdcontrols.com allows users to directly request screenings for films, allowing the filmmakers to see where there fan base was and target them directly for screenings.

Next up was to crowd source funding. Initial budgeting was set at $5m. Started by selling "war bonds" on the site from £1-£100.

In 2010 preproduction was done but not enough to begin production. They were still 2m short. Cast were starting to drop out because of lack of money enabling them to commit. 

They decided to create an investment opportunity for the fans as an equity investment. Ranged from 1000-5000. Added in perks to sweeten deal for investors. Due to European law the investment needed to be limited to 99 individuals. Very quickly all 99 were taken up, this then convinced banks and traditional backers to come on board and within months an additional 2.5m was raised.

Total ending budget 7.5m. Crowd invest 900,000 crowd funding 300,000 secured financing 6.3m

Legally it was a nightmare, and with much investigation it could only have been achieved in Europe, not USA. The securities laws in US are much stricter, investments are limited to accredited individuals with high net worth. 

Question: Germany has a large film subsidy scheme, largely known as "stupid money", did you get any from them

Question: how can you apply your crowd funding model to distribution?

Question: what were the incentives offered to funders

 

Panelist information http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_FP9310
This panel will discuss how presenting film in new and alternative ways, such as site-specific presentations, installations and in tandem with live events can build audiences and create unmatched cinematic experiences for your community. At the confluence of technology, film, art, architecture and public spectacle, these screenings represent the future of how film and public art interact. Presentations will include video documentation of the specific events, and address the way in which film programming of this type can positively affect audience attendance and create a more vibrant urban core in your communities. The diversity of programming represented by the panel will offer practical advice on programming site-specific film events and provide inspiration for innovative ways for engaging new audiences via live events.

Aurora picture show, site specific film festivals. Promoting the appreciation of moving image art. Choose sites specific to the content of the film being shown.

Nomadic organization, pop up cinema. Use parks, shopping centers, floating screens on lakes, houses etc. Planetarium used as multiscreen projector cinema.

Henri Mazza, Alamo drafthouse cinema. Mission, make awesome experiences happen as often as possible. Mainly in Austin but move to site specific countrywide locations. Eg, descent in a cave, jaws in a lake with people in water buoyed by inner-tubes. Escape from Alcatraz shown in Alcatraz. Also stuff in theatres

Mark Rozenberg, rooftop films NYC. Build communities and events based round films. Cinemas setup on rooftops in various parts of NY. Also use abandoned subway tunnels. Every summer 50 screenings in 20 venues. Bout 30000 viewers. Mixture of feature films and shorts.

Important to have an identity and make a film into an event. 

RoboSaurus "eating cars" at the Transformers Premiere

Some things start out with the idea for a venue then find the film to fit, but then others use the film as the driving force to find a location.Commando event, hand out cap guns to audience, glitter cannons explode when the movie had explosions. Also have fire exploding at the front of the theatre during the film.

Rooftop films, started out getting into trouble for putting on events, now got to the stage where venues will contact them and ask to be used as a screening venue. Will take blind submissions of films.

Photo by Sarah Palmer

Promotions to get crowds... With rooftop it's a combination of fun, accessible as well as cause based programming. Also free beer helps draw in the crowds. Spend hours googling relevant bloggers in the genre and use them to get the word out to their readers. Partnerships made with relevant companies non profits etc. in return for them getting the word out to their audience, they get a table for their promotion etc.

Alamo, make relevant brand partners. Now they are large enough and the events draw a following so that many people have signed up to their feed and are actively promoting their events to their communities.

Aurora, hard to gauge what an audience wants. Things we think are gonna be popular are not necessarily so. Have a small core of die hards that always come to screening but the audience depends on the content on the screen.

Question: talking of curating by blind submissions, is that how you prefer to work or is there a way to partner with filmmakers earlier in the filmmaking process.

Question: how do you go about getting corporate sponsors for your events?

Question: how do platforms like TUG help you put on events. 

Question: how do screening fees affect your schedule of programming

Question: do the distributors fund the promotion of the event

Question: failures and successes

Panelist Information

Quality of sound is not very good, just recorded on my iphone to aid in writing up proper notes at a later date. Below are just thoughts & comments, just thrown down here as they come up in the panel. 

While the market for professionally crafted online films grows daily, the budgets to create them don't. In this new media landscape, how do production companies continue to produce great work and still run a profitable operation? Much has been discussed about providing amateur filmmakers online voices, but here we flip the script and discuss how professional filmmakers can make the economics of online filmmaking work for them. From Vice to Vimeo, meet four folks cracking the code on how to deliver online films worth watching.

A_Conversation_with_Joss_Whedon.m4a

(download)

Click here to download:

A_Conversation_with_Joss_Whedon.m4a (28.8 MB)

Quality of sound is not very good, just recorded on my iphone to aid in writing up proper notes at a later date.

If ever Geekdom was in need of a ringleader, Joss Whedon would be a frontrunner for the position. Best known as the creator behind now iconic and cult series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly - his arsenal of other credits are what make him one of the top multi-dimensional talents today.

Other major highlights on his resume include co-writing and producing the long-awaited The Cabin in the Woods (SXSW 2012 Opening Night Film), comics such as Astonishing X-Men and The Runaways as well as the mega-popular Web Series Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

This year will see him writing and directing the much anticipated film The Avengers, and his passion project, a Jossified version of Much Ado About Nothing. Writer, director and producer are just small pieces of the puzzle that make up the creative mind of Joss Whedon.

Panelist Information

Quality of sound is not very good, just recorded on my iphone to aid in writing up proper notes at a later date. Below are just thoughts & comments, just thrown down here as they come up in the panel. 

Mobile social networking apps continue to grow in popularity, a trend that gives emerging technology companies a unique chance to partner with entertainment channels to provide audiences with an enhanced, personalized experience. Key partnerships between entertainment outlets and social apps like GetGlue and GroupMe are important for marketers to increase visibility, reach and engagement with specific audiences. The development of social networking apps give direct access to audiences who opt-in to receive exclusive content, news and special promotions. Panelists will address how audiences and brands are increasing visibility through apps and allowing audiences to transition from being simple “viewers” to actual “users” as they communicate directly with media through evolving social media platforms.

What does viewer becomes user mean to you. How do you make "lean back, lean forward" 75% of modern homes watch tv with a smartphone or computer. How can we use the engagement to make the viewer experience better
Enabling the viewer to not only interact with each other but with the show as well.

The watercolor effect has become more immediate. Why wait till tomorrow to discuss what you can do whilst the show is on air.

MTV - you know people are talking about what you are doing, you can choose to engage and use it or ignore it. Long history with viewer engagement using twitter as partner with shows as early as 2007
Showtime actively use GroupMe, group texting service to enable fans to communicate with each other during the shows, as early as from the season trailers.

GroupMe, people have more fun when the conversation is shared with people that they know. More open, honest conversation ensues.

Using Dexter series as an example of how they worked with Showtime. Hardest point to get over with the networks is that they were worried that if people are doing something else while watching the show, they're not watching the show. GetGlue working closely with Showtime to reward viewers with more than the usual checkin rewards. For example, check in to every episode and get entered into a draw, merchandise discounts etc

GroupMe has been integrated into many of the Showtime series specific apps.

1/3 of the groups created around a season or series stay active until the next series begins. Allowing the creators to drip feed content to these groups keeping the interest alive.

GetGlue has over 2m active users, all conversing about their favorite shows. Similarities / differences between the two social apps on the panel. Interesting point that validates the view that people want to watch with people hey know is that for any sows they see not a few groups with thousands of users but thousands of groups with 20 or less users.

MTV, difference in user interaction between reality shows and scripted drama. Still early in the social tv space to make sense of the differences.

Where is the room, if any, for brands to enter this space? GetGlue working with brands in a way that they hope makes sense and also in a way they the viewers do not feel they are being sold to. 

MTV trying not to engage too much with content during the shows. All effort concentrated on pre and post show engagement. Let the audience talk amongst themselves during the show.

Showtime has proprietary app that runs during each show with polls, live updates of cast, and guest stars info and then post show, opens to group discussion about shows, often with cast members in the chats etc.

MTV, Showtime, GetGlue & GroupMe, what do you look for in potential partnerships.

Question: how do you measure the success of the new platform you are working with

Question: what are the costs for these kind of initiatives

Question: how does the amount of users of the two platforms compare to the amount of people watching the show according to the ratings

Question: What do you do to increase social engagement for the people who do not watch live TV but recorded or time shifted

Question: what differences do you find in engaged audiences on different continents. Do you make site specific content to account for cultural differences or not

Question: is there a future in second screen or social TV or is it a fad?

When it comes to shaping video content for target audiences, how real-time can we get? Dynamic iMedia allows digital agencies to track who's watching what content, where they're watching it, and for how long. But how can brands put this real-time feedback to use when months of approvals have already locked in a final cut? If they shoot documentary-style content, they have the flexibility to make measurement mean something. An archive of doc footage from the production phase can offer drastically different cuts.

Speaker bios and information

Quality of sound is not very good, just recorded on my iphone to aid in writing up proper notes at a later date. Below are just thoughts & comments, just thrown down here as they come up in the panel.

How quickly can the content be changed due to consumer feedback.
Hashtag #shitpanelistssay

Flow nonfiction @flownonfiction

Bryan Mochizuki @clintonglobal explains the event they are using as a case study. Using the tweets from the event, the audience became the "assistant editors" curating the content that mattered. Guiding the direction of the film.

Mark Hillman @markhillman, as far as brands are concerned, it's a hard sell to let consumers control the end result of the video. Although this concept requires more shooting to cover many eventualities, it can take video and keep it "alive" once it hits the audience.

Sally Daub vixssystems technology. Moving forward not only allows you to track viewing stats by audience but by watching gestures, eye movement and even temperature. Much more analytics are available to gauge audience participation and engagement.

Making documentary footage lends itself to this because so much footage is being shot that feedback can drive the end result and content may already exist in the hours of footage shot for the piece.

From a brand standpoint they will want to have some control over the conversation had with the audience. Don't be too prescriptive in your questions, too open ended leads to too much varied info but too marrow turns people off as they think you are leading

The large leap is more from the creatives, directors point of view, allowing themselves to be led by the audience. Keeping their vision but not too precious to be led.

Greatest challenge is as an artist to allow others to direct the flow of your output

The interesting thing is that there is no barrier to entry. Very few of us would tweet a reaction or opinion to a commercial as here is no access to changing outcomes. If we could have an effect on a particular advertising campaign for instance, would it make us more engaged.

As a production company, this enables you to use more of your footage rather than most of it ending up on the cutting room floor. Anything that you have shot now has just as large a possibility to end up in the "final piece"

No matter how creative your idea is there are always people who have thought of something you haven't. This could provide the nuggets you are looking for.

Delivery of video can be either cheap, fast or good. Most of the time you can only choose two of these to deliver to the client. The more topical the piece the less "good it has to be"

The digital space has redefined "good" Where do you draw the crowd sourcing line. How do you have a framework where you can have "curated crowd sourcing" From a technology standpoint, why would we allow this invasive technology into our homes.

Question: once a video is on YouTube for instance it can't be changed. How would you be able to manipulate the video based on the reaction and still keep the hit count, URL etc the same. Question: how does this affect privacy issues, just grabbing what people say and using it essentially without their permission

Question: as a creative, how do you react to the fact that the viewers feedback may not agree with the vision for your film

Video at flownonfiction.com/shitpanelistssay

Been offline for most of the day, head down trying to clear the backlog before I disappear to the other side of the world for 10 days of SXSW madness. Happened to glance at the tweetdeck while I was waiting for the kettle to boil and caught this tweet by the lovely @katiemoffat.

there's enough time for Apple to build the pop-up store in Austin again then...

— katie moffat (@katiemoffat) February 28, 2012

A minutes research (and a good guess) led me to the launch details for the new iPad3. As we all thought, just in time for the conference which meant many of us techie geeks would be stateside and ready to snatch one up.

@katiemoffat ... and to have idiots like me queue for 5hours to hand over ridiculous amounts of cash to get one first! ;-)

— Nat Higginbottom (@exsanguinator) February 28, 2012

It's moments like this that I am reminded of how close this "The Oatmeal" cartoon comes to describing our wholehearted immersion into the Cult of Apple. With my iPad 2 less than a year old I find it hard to justify a new purchase in todays climate but then, if I don't get one, what will I be missing? Will I sink as low as gargling balls for money?  Will I be the same person without the iPad3 ? I am sure if there is another Apple pop-up store I'll wait in line, even if it's just to join in the atmosphere of anticipation and free water & danish, handed out by the Apple staff. This guy sat outside for 2 whole days i believe, cap in hand until he had enough donations to buy himself one. 

Pic courtesy @blam

My lengthly queueing was not entirely selfish as I was waiting to get one for @gabysslave as it was her birthday while we were away and having it to use while at the conference seemed like a good idea. I did however sneak back the following day to get one for myself.

 

One of my favourite events from last year's SXSW trip was not a SXSW event at all. #BASHH or Big Ass Social Happy Hour is the Austin equivalent of our Brummie Social Media Cafe, just a little louder and flowing margaritas in place of flat whites. Was great to meet up with some locals and have some fun before the start of conference madness. Much fun to be had, if you are going to be in town on thursday 8th March, this one is not to be missed. RSVP on the Eventbrite is essential and you do need to have your printed ticket with you....

Visit the #BASHH website: http://www.thebashh.com/

RSVP for the event: http://marchbashh-eorg.eventbrite.com/