#184 - Noodle around
Hello
Oddly, I'm finding it harder than ever to choose things to link to in this email. There's loads more to sift through and I think all that's making me be pickier. Anyway, this week there's a fun little toy, a classics quiz, and a vision.
JazzKeys is a lovely thing from Plan8 who do sound design projects for big brands but also noodle around on their own fun stuff too. If you like this (and who wouldn't?) then check out their other stuff too.
It also reminded me to go back and listen to this early episode of 99% Invisible: The Sound of the Artificial World.
Remote creative development
5 tips to facilitate creative development remotely AKA how we wrote an opera in lockdown. Eva Liparova is "producing an immersive opera experience in hyper-reality at Audience Labs at the Royal Opera House". This is much better than yer average 'how we do remote work' post.
« L’absence de partage enlève une étincelle » : les écoles de danse, théâtre ou musique à l’heure des cours à distance. Doesn't it just. "These training courses, where collective and physical work are central, do not work well with online education. Schools and conservatoires are worried about a complex return to school if distance remains the rule".
Directing Jodie Comer in Talking Heads: 'We didn't meet in person until shoot day'. Josie Rourke on what it was like rehearsing just using FaceTime.
Virtual Reality, etc
VR Theatre Doesn’t Seem So Distant Anymore "Working with Facebook and an Oculus Quest headset, NYU students explore the possibility of staging theatre via virtual reality".
Facebook’s Latest Research On Photorealistic Avatars & Full Body Tracking. Could be a heck of a creative tool, this. Especially in a world of live performance delivered via screens.
LOST HORIZON "the team behind Glastonbury’s Shangri-La has reinvented itself once more by teaming up with VRJAM and Sansar to create the world’s largest independent music festival in virtual reality, Lost Horizon".
Where Can Virtual Concerts Go After Travis Scott’s Fortnite Extravaganza? "More and more, visual effects specialists who regularly work on music projects tell me, artists and promoters are asking how they can present online performances that go beyond livestreams from musicians’ kitchens".
Open-sourced video players
Our open-source media player for displaying fleets of video From ACMI: "we made an exhibition-scale internet-of-things media player, and we’ve open-sourced it so you can use it too".
Europeana Media: rolling out the new audiovisual player "[various organisations] worked together to provide a novel, open source universal audiovisual player on Europeana collections"
Miscellaneous
The Internet of Heritage: A Future. Tom Steinberg, the previous head of Digital at the NLHF, sets out a vision and makes the case for greater (government led) collaboration between heritage organisations in order to take advantage of the next wave of digital change.
Formats Unpacked is a new email thing from Storything's Hugh Garry where people break down their favourite creative formats. Here's me talking about why Hot Ones is an excellent example of great form as well as content
StoryFutures: The Academy will develop creative training and research programmes in immersive storytelling to ensure the UK creative workforce is the most skilled in the world in the use of VR, AR and MR.
Classics Escape Room: Lysistrata. Actors of Dionysus have made a Greek mythology-themed escape room/quiz/theatrical experience using a Google Form. Cleverly done.
Recital Stream is "a new platform for audiences and performers of classical music in response to the Coronavirus crisis". See also Play-PerView. One interesting thing right now is how artists are going direct to audiences, leaving venues (in particular) out of the loop.
Post-COVID, What Museums Do Outside Their Walls Will Become as Important as What They Put on Them. "Generationally speaking, virtual programming for a younger, technically savvy demographic, as well as an aging culturally inclined population that might be self-isolating in waves, presents extraordinary opportunities to bring together communities and populations that might otherwise never be together in a physical environment".
Browse livestreams, recordings, and resources from cultural organisations
streams.culturaldigital.com
Thanks again for reading and take care.
Chris Unitt
PS: if you're interested in early access to a new digital training thing aimed at cultural organisations, check out Coach. Let me know if you spot anything that's broken or confusing.