NZ On Screen on wheels
Anna Dean is about to hit the road in a cinema on wheels, a travelling version of NZ On Screen container installations showcasing NZ film and TV on Auckland and Wellington waterfronts during the REAL New Zealand Festival.
Before Anna crams herself into a caravan for the sake of spreading NZ moving image culture, she talked to the brains behind the idea.
In this skype chat, project co-ordinator and publicist Anna Dean talks to Brenda Leeuwenberg - project director of NZ On Screen, Dave Turnbull - creative director of web design agency Chrometoaster and Rob Apperido - creative director of Storybox, a production company specialising in outdoor installation projects.
As Dave says "It's all about bringing the videos out of the browser. So the guts of the project, really which is very interesting to us, is the idea of taking the online video and website experience into the real world."
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We’re currently counting down to the fast approaching REAL New Zealand Festival! The New Zealand On Screen project is a banner project for REAL which makes it all the more exciting, particularly as it involves a giant road trip around the South Island!
I’ll be blogging along the way and you can follow the adventures of the caravan teams on this blog, facebook, and twitter. Make sure you visit the multi-coloured, interactive cinema-cum-shipping container installations if you’re in Auckland and Wellington and if you’re in the South, do come and say hi.
To try and capture the multiple layers of this project The Big Idea editor Cathy Aronson suggested I ask the creative team a few late night questions on skype chat. Slightly scary to attempt a four-way conversation on chat to be honest, but we were respectful of each others typing speeds and here are the results!
Anna: So we’re all online and just to kick things off I’ll start with something big. Dave has described this project as the realisation of a dream. Sounds like a good place to start right?
Dave: I’d looked into using a Storybox installation when we were working with Brenda on the launch of the NZ On Screen website in 2008. I'd seen the outdoor cinema/shipping container project Rob Appierdo created on Petone foreshore (for the Petone Winter Carnival) and thought there’s huge potential for a fantastic collaboration with NZ On Screen.
It wasn’t until last year, when I heard about the REAL New Zealand Festival, and the mission to celebrate Kiwi culture, that I saw an opportunity to make the idea a reality.
I called Rob and said, "Hey, remember NZ On Screen..." And things rolled from there. Together we approached spatial designer James Moir (now based in NYC) and got some ideas from Mike Sly, a Chrometoaster director who studied industrial design. We threw a few concepts around then invited Brenda and Paul (Ward, Editor of NZ On Screen), to dinner at the Matterhorn and said, "So, we've got this idea..."
Anna: Righto, so Brenda, what were your first thoughts?
Brenda: Well, Paul and I had already talked about doing something Rugby World Cup related so he set up the meeting. He already knew Rob so I was a bit primed and already thought it sounded like a great opportunity to do something beyond the website. This is back in August 2010. It seemed like the perfect time to work again with creative people and to try something new.
Anna: So over a year later the project is about to be launched. From what I can gather the journey for the project has been quite a long process hasn’t it?
Brenda: Yes, there was a looong and busy process of working out what the project could be. There were many, many iterations and BBQs at my house. Originally we planned to have containers everywhere but we soon realised how prohibitive the costs are to move them around the country.
Dave: Yes, it was about going waaaay out into the idea-osphere and then coming back to something that would actually work. There are a few ideas that we've put in the next-time drawer
Rob: Its been great for us to have such a long run time into a project that’s allowed us to stretch and challenge the thinking around what is possible with shipping containers. We have taken what’s possible inside of them to whole new levels!
And so now the project has two separate components. The shipping container installations in Auckland and Wellington and the touring caravan cinema which covers the South Island. What was the thinking behind this?
Rob: Originally we were thinking about big containers in the big cities with moving containers heading to the small towns. It was about 7 across the country as I recall. The budget for moving containers can really eat into costs so we decided to anchor them in centres. The caravan idea came out of a session at Brenda’s house. It has a lot of nice kiwi elements and I believe it involved Goodbye Pork Pie and a sentence that started with "what if..." It is also the year of the 30th anniversary of the film so that was a driver.
Brenda: It also fits well with the brief of the REAL New Zealand Festival - taking the long way around New Zealand when people are here for the rugby..
Dave: The classic Kiwi road trip - theme of a few films over the years - was a good platform for the tour. It's such a great 'vehicle' for the project - I mean, park it anywhere, anytime - any festival etc and you have a mobile online cinema.
Anna: So, the idea of taking the clips out on the road and into the containers seemed like a valid way of sharing the content?
Dave: It's all about bringing the videos out of the browser. So the guts of the project, really which is very interesting to us, is the idea of taking the online video and website experience into the real world.
Rob: Yeah it’s a tangible experience of the site.
Anna: Have you heard of websites doing this before elsewhere?
Brenda: NZ On Screen is an unprecedented collation of content for New Zealand and it was an idea to take that to a wider audience. Personally I’ve never heard of a website doing it before. Companies maybe.
Rob: Yes I’ve never seen anything of this scale. What’s so great about NZ On Screen and the content is that it is a publicly owned treasure trove so everyone feels connected to it in some way. The medium is the message and it doesn’t matter what format it takes really - caravan, container, interactive screen, or website. The stories and the content can move. What is great is getting it out to a new audience.
Dave: Yes, I guess Mr McLuhan's quote is quite relevant here - given the multi-channel approach - the mediums are the message. NZ On Screen was conceived as an online brand from day one. However, the content within the project was originally on TV and in theatres. They were stories that were broadcast to entertain the nation. They're on a website now, which is a fast way for people to access them, but really - they deserve to get as much airtime as they can. It's more about retelling the stories than the technology.
Brenda: One red flag was that the content on NZ On Screen has all been cleared for the website only - so we knew to do this it was a whole new scenario, and clearing the content for use in such a thing has been a major undertaking in its own right.
Anna: What kind of reaction has NZOS had from content providers about the project?
Brenda: They have almost all been positive about the inclusion of their material. We're really grateful to the content providers/makers and copyright holders of the material which will be on display. We are pleased they see the opportunity as another showcase for their work, and a celebration of NZ’s screen culture.
Anna: That’s great. Obviously the content will resonate incredibly well with Kiwis but internationals wise, what do you think the project offers for all these visitors coming to New Zealand during this period?
Brenda: It’s a window into what makes New Zealanders who we are. It gives people a sense of our culture, our heritage, our geography, our selves - as portrayed on screen
Dave: Yep, give 'em a taste of Kiwi!
Anna: And for people visiting the container installations, what are you hoping they come away with?
Brenda: We want them to come away smiling, to have had an unexpected experience, to have seen something new, been intrigued, been wow'd, been surprised.
Dave: There's a certain serendipity factor that's important too. People can come along and watch the best-of-the-best: they’ll find old favourites and come away knowing something they never knew about New Zealand.
Anna: Another thing I like about this project is that it’s the collaboration between three great Wellington businesses. Why do you think you guys were the right team for the job?
Brenda: We brought together all the requisite skills (Storybox with their container and video installation experience), Chrometoaster with their design and web know-how and can-do ... plus the content. It’s an unprecedented ... mix.
Dave: It was definitely a natural fit for Chrometoaster. We have a responsibility to come up with this type of stuff. We're elbow deep in it all day - and we have the insight to make an opportunity like this work.
Rob: For Storybox, after doing a large 12-container installation in Christchurch and having finished E-OK (a theatre project), this project came along at the right time for us. We have grown with it and it’s truly exciting to be part of and a great team to work with.
Anna: It really has been a lot of out-of-work hours too is that the nature of the beast?
Dave: From my experience, ballsy projects that blur the line between art and design, personal and professional interests absolutely require those that are driving them to use all the time at their disposal to just make the ideas happen. We’ve also been lucky enough to be working with James Moir in New York who’s been able to keep things moving while we’re asleep. That’s the kind of timetable we’ve been working to.
Rob: Yes James has a wide range of experience as a spatial designer that was invaluable to this project. His depth of what was possible in real, and also conceptual terms, shaped the core structure of this project. He’s been in NYC for most of this project and it’s been interesting working mainly via Skype.
Anna: Another factor that’s part of this project are the creative team at Lumen Digital.
Brenda: Yes, we were going in a whole other direction, and Rob brought in Lumen with the Xbox Kinect gestural thing, an idea that worked well.
Dave: We realised we needed to make the website participatory in the physical sense so brought in the element of physical/gesture interface design that extended the online experience to the physical realm
Rob: People who visit the container installations in Auckland and Wellington will be able to experience a large interactive wall which has been developed by Lumen. It should be a lot of fun for people to watch and play on.
Anna: There are also a few other techie surprises in store for visitors aren’t there.
Dave: Yes. Nerd alert; there's a green screen digital postcard iPad App, massive customised QR codes, geo-location, H.264, HTML5, CSS3 and freaking JavaScript. There's Arduino (thanks to Storybox). There's even a QR code that lets you 'Like' the installations with your phone!
Brenda: For those who don’t understand what all of that means, there are some really cool features to play with. Thanks to the Film Commission, filmmakers and actors, visitors will be able to insert themselves into iconic images of NZ film and television (and email them to themselves to share with friends). We also have a top box screen on the container installations screening short films at night between 5 and 10pm. Those with smart phones will be able to “change the channel” via the QR code. Viewers will have the ability to choose which short film they would like to see next.
Anna: So to wrap up this conversation, what advice do you have for me as I head off on this Southern adventure?
Brenda: Wear lots of layers and take a hottie
Anna Dean: And don't drive the caravan off the road right? I’m a little nervous about driving it over Arthurs Pass…plus the tour schedule is pretty intense.
Brenda: Drive carefully
Rob: Rent a trailer and start practicing your reversing skills now.
Dave: You'll have plenty of time to watch all the classics because you’re driving a completely self-contained version of the NZ On Screen website! There are just so many stories in there – so many characters and perspectives to take in. I’d be surprised if you look at NZ the same again after this trip. (Oh, and guys, I think we've totally duped Anna into thinking this is going to be a piece of cake).
Anna: On that note, wish me luck!
New Zealand On Screen promo from NZ On Screen on Vimeo.