Internet + Video

When I was a kid, there were about a dozen channels on television, and you had to stand up and walk to the t.v. to change the channel. To watch a film, you went to the movie theater, or looked to T.V. Guide to find out which one film would be on this coming Sunday night. Today, of course, cable t.v. and DVD players have radically changed all that. There are hundreds of channels to surf, and you can watch most any film you want to, in it’s entirety, whenever you want.

That was a huge change. But the change that is coming now is even bigger.

It used to be that in order to broadcast a television show, you needed a television studio, or at least a satellite truck full of equipment, and you had to have access to the airwaves. To distribute a film, you had to get it into the system which shipped 35mm prints to movie screens. People who made their own films could gather friends and family around a film projector, or later a video projector, to watch home movies. Film festivals offer filmmakers a chance to get their films shown to couple hundred people at a time. But mostly there was a huge gap between small screenings in person, and mass mainstream distribution of film and television.

But now, there is a whole other way to get your work seen by millions of people — by broadcasting across the internet, via websites, podcasts, mobile devices, and internet-enabled set-top-boxes.

These days, truly-independent creators can imagine, produce, shoot, edit, and distribute their own shows — and compete for audience with what’s on television. The way many people watch television is changing in response. (What hasn’t changed is the need for talent — to make something good, you need good writing, acting, camera and editing skills. And that takes time and commitment. And a clever plan to make good work within the resources you have.)

The landscape of internet video is crazy right now. We all know everything is changing, but changing to what exactly remains to be seen. Much of How Things Have Been Done has been thrown into question — from business models to marketing, copyright to crew size. There are thousands of people trying out ideas, and it feels like the next big thing hasn’t quite hit right yet. Everything is an experiment.

Which makes this an exciting time, in my opinion. Anyone could come along an make a huge impact by creating just the right show, and blowing everyone away. Innovation could come from anyone, not simply the few with “the green light.”

So somewhere in all this, I’ve been poking at it all. Trying things out on small scales. Watching. Teaching — students, artists, web design clients. This is a bit of what I’ve been up to.

Show in a Box

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Show in a Box is a group of videoblogging web developers who’ve banned together to make and share tools and tips on how to use WordPress to create a website for a show. Everything is free — free software and free advice.