Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

ff06: day four and wrap-up

Today was the final day of the Flash Forward conference.

My favorite sessions of the day were Hillman Curtis’s talk about his recent digital filmmaking projects and JibJab’s presentation about its history and creative process. It was interesting to attend Curtis’s session because, after seeing him speak at an early Flash Forward conference and reading his first book about Flash, it’s been a few years since I’ve heard anything about him or his work. Nowadays, he doesn’t do much Flash design work at all, and has instead turned his attention to video projects. He played a few of them for the audience, and I was impressed enough to consider purchasing his new book, even though I don’t know how interested I actually would be in creating my own video projects.

After the amazing success of their “This Land” parody during the 2004 elections, it was interesting to hear Evan Spiridellis talk through JibJab’s creative process, from audio track to rough animatic to fine-tuned animation to final movie. I also found out about a few other folks producing animated shorts for the Web who I hadn’t heard about, most notably the blackly comic “Low Morale” series by Laith Bahrani.

I also really enjoyed Darren David and Nathan Moody’s presentation about the customization features on rbkcustom.com and timberland.com. They kept things fairly high-level, but hearing about the process that went into designing the applications (and the sometimes mind-numbing repetition that went into creating and chopping up all the images for every. single. view. of those shoes) gave me new appreciation for these kinds of projects. This was definitely a case where having a fleshed-out plan going into things was essential to the success of the project and the sanity of those producing it.

Other random notes and observations:

• I loved the convention center setting, and the A/V crew seemed to do a great job. Much nicer than the New Yorker Hotel from FF05NY, and the rooms are better suited for large groups and presentations.
• WiFi connections were available in the common areas, but not in the actual conference session rooms. Some people got a little snippy about it. I understand how it can be difficult for speakers to connect with their audiences when most folks are staring down at their computer screens … but I get twitchy when separated from my e-mail for more than 5 minutes at a time. Good thing I can check e-mail with my phone, too.
• I wonder if there’s a better way to handle the end-of-conference raffle drawing. As it’s been done at every Flash Forward I’ve been to, all conference attendees’ names are put in the pot, but since folks have to be present to win, there’s an uncomfortable lull as the emcee pulls five ineligible names to finally get to someone who’s actually in the room. Meanwhile, maybe one day I’ll actually win that Wacom tablet…