The idea for this project was born while I had the opportunity to participate in a summer internship at the American Museum of the Moving Image, located in Queens, NY. I have always being curious about studying the impact media and technology in our society, and this museum raised for me as many questions as the ones it answered in that regard. As time went by, I felt a very genuine need to make a contribution on this matter, on promoting media literacy in our society. I also envisioned this project as one that would take advantage of all my skills and intellectual interests. That is how I started giving shape to the seminal idea of this project in the fall of 2002.
The perfect opportunity to channel this impulse presented in the form of the required thesis project for graduating from the Interactive Telecommunications Program. That is how I started the journey to produce something that today has the form of a proposal for an interactive exhibition entitled The New Craft of Film Production, which is documented in these pages.
When elaborating this proposal, I have tried to provide a balanced dose of theory, conceptualization and design. In the Exhibition contents section, the reader will be able to extract the nut graph of the exhibition and perceive its intellectual kernel, which I find particularly appealing. It is essential for every citizen of our time to understand the effects that computers and technology have had in human activities, in this case, those involved in the creative craft of producing media, and film.
In terms of conceptualization, without being a curator or educator myself, I have tried to apply a combination of common sense and bits of my own experience. But most importantly, I have tried to imagine a space that when visited, will be a highly enjoyable experience. It will be an experience that will encourage you to learn more, to find in each case study an opportunity to mirror your own creative possibilities, or at least help you gain conscience that in the near future we are all going to be media producers in a small scale.
My effort in design has been focused on the construction of a working prototype of one of the interactive experiences, entitled “Pre-Visualization Tool”. The prototype has been submitted as part of this thesis project, and its purpose is to concept proof the power of the interactive applications I am proposing, as vehicles to raise the level of this exhibition from informational to experiential.
The ideal outcome of this project will be the adoption of this proposal by a cultural institution, and the crystallization of the exhibition. However, if the result differs from this dream, I am sure this research work will provide very solid ground for conceptualizing and developing several other exciting projects.