Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Made for mobile content

David Lynch a well known eccentric artist/director of Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet fame and his point of view on watching feature length films via the mobile...



I think this is a great video and even though it is a mash-up of sorts, (it is not an ad for iPhone as it would have you believe) I wholeheartedly agree with Davids point of view.

The issue here is not whether people will watch a video on the phone, people can and do "watch" feature length movies on their mobiles, this sector is growing in popularity on an almost daily basis with many startups trying to commercialise on the opportunities presented.

One such example is Rokcorp, with their "patented" Rokplayer in the UK (anytime a company throws around the word patented in their marketing you know it's just going to be crap) . Rokcorp allows you to purchase full length movies on a memory card that you can just plug into your phone, their site claims it give you a DVD like experience (yeah right) and even compares their service to the iPhone!

The issue here has more do with the overall experience, no mobile device (today at least) can replicate the film the way the director intended. I think David's line "It's such a sadness that you think you've seen a film on your fucking telephone... get real" just about sums it up.

Sure you "watched" the film, but have you really "seen" it the way the director wanted you to?
Hardly, to watch a 120min action packed blockbuster or tear jerking drama and experience the same emotions and excitement you do in the cinema or on even your telly? It's just not going to happen, the screen is way too small, the sound too tinny and the finer detail, the stuff that really makes a good film, gets lost in translation, anything longer than 5 mins and you've lost me.

Now I'm not saying you can't watch video content on your mobile, infact far from it, I do all the time, but to get the full mobile experience you're much better off watching content that has been re-purposed or specifically produce for the smallest screen. We're talking less complex scenes , more close-ups, toned down soundtracks and shorter lengths, bite sized content is the key to engage with viewers in the mobile world.

As a final note to all you film studios out there who spend millions of dollars promoting your next big hit and want to add a mobile trailer into the mix. I suggest you do your selves a favor and spend a few of those dollars making a mobile specific trailer. There is no point in going to all that effort to get people to the film's mobile site only to reward them with a trailer they have already seen on a bigger screen and now just looks crap in comparison on the phone.

For those that want to know more I suggest you talk to Simon Goodrich, Andrew Apostola or Kate Elton at the Portable Film Festival. These guys have done a fantastic job at sourcing really good "made for mobile" content and have access to a network of really talented directors who understand what it takes to produce engaging short films.

Until next time.

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