Ben McCarthy - Digital Distribution CE01172-6

The is a weekly blog about the construction of a user friendly service on a digital platform.

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

Compression

The video blog has been edited and it was time to export and compress the video file. As the video was shot with HVX200, I didn't want to lose 720p/HD quality of the video. I exported the video file from Final Cut Pro using a QuickTime conversion. The additional video material (Apple Movie Trailers) used in the blog entry are all from 720p HD sources.  

The video was exported as a MPEG-4 with a H.264 codec, this is the basic component that will allow the video to keep the HD quality and to work on mobile devices. Mobile devices, now, have HD screens, so I wanted to make sure that the users can watch the video at it's highest quality. 

The video was encoded at 25000 kbps, the file size is around 575 MB, which isn't large compared to others. The video will be uploaded to YouTube, where users can access the video online and choose to watch the video at 720p HD or SD quality (depending on their Internet source).   

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

Inspiration for the footer banner buttons part 2

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

Inspiration for the footer banner buttons.

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

App and Video update

This is just a quick application building update. I've now decided to just create in the Adobe Photoshop because I believe I won't have enough time to transfer the material over to Adobe Flash and Photoshop is much more user friendly than Adobe Flash. I have created the opening news page:

  As you know, I've taken inspiration from The Huffington Post apps, but also Sky News and Odeon Cinema app for their buttons. This is much more user friendly outlook for a news-filled app. The application will open with a Screen 22 logo, which will lead straight onto this page. 

The logo at the left hand screen is a button to the user's profile page for the application that will hold their social network information (links to Facebook and Twitter for sharing articles) and credit card information (for purchasing cinema tickets). That button will be on every page, so the user will have constant access to it.  

The video has been edited, it's a 4 minute discussion with the Screen 22 team taking a irreverent look at the weekly movie news. That was shot on Panasonic AG-HVX200 at 720p/50. The footage was edited on Final Cut Pro 6. The audio needs to be cleaned up but it's almost finished. 

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

This is the style I want to go for with my Screen22 app. This is taken from the Huffington Post app.

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

Task 9 - Meta Data

Design: There will no main page. Instead, there will be a toolbar that the bottom of the screen with different functions such as "News", "Reviews", "Video", "Tickets" and "Settings".  

The "News" section will be taken from the Screen 22 website and Thomson Reuters service (which costs £30 a month - including video content). The news articles will have a very small image next to it to give the user a better idea of the story is about.  

The reviews section will follow the same style as the news. once the review is open, the user has the option to give the film a rating out of 5 and can comment on the film. The rating won't change, but the user will have the option to change their comment or remove it.  

Videos will be made available on YouTube as every device is linked to it, it's instant, universal and free.

Tickets will linked to a database that will hold the card data temporarily because if the card data is held permanently, it's liable to hacked from external sources. The settings will be held as meta data because the user will not want constantly re-set their settings.

The app will be advertised through Android, Apple and Google app stores. In terms of search engines (google and bing), the app will be very similar and linked to various film websites like empireonline.com and totalfilm.com, and cinemas like Cineworld, Vue, Odeon and the Picturehouse because it covers both the comercial and the independent cinemas.  

The app will be advertised through Screen 22 Facebook page and their twitter account with the hash-tag #screen22app 

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

Video Shoot - Thursday 1st March 2012

With the help of my Screen22 colleagues, I shot a 4 minute discussion with the members talking about the weeks new releases and news. The cinema is the smallest in the world, with 22 seats and it was certainly a challenge to shoot the discussion. 

I had 2 Panasonic HVX200 cameras and to 2 key lights on the 3 contributors (because I broke the other light bulb) to shoot the scene, along with 2 Rhode NG-T2 microphones. The cinema floor was incredibly uneven and the screen couldn't be pushed back.

I shot the majority of the discussion in 1 take, with both cameras rolling for the sake of time and rhythm. At the end, I shot the short intro and exit to the piece. Video content will be uploaded later, along with production stills.      

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

Although this is on-set, this is the tongue-in-cheek tone I want to create for my video content. 

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

Video Content Pt. 2

Carrying on with the idea of distributing video content, I had a discussion with various members of public to discuss this topic. They all came to the conclusion of wanting their videos to be on YouTube and not downloading from iTunes.

Their reasons:

All of the videos are ready to be watched. 

They don't need to go through the process of subscribing to a podcast 

It's a lot cheaper and more easily accessible  

These are all very valid reasons for having the video content on YouTube and not on iTunes. From the business side, it's certainly makes sense to load content to YouTube and not iTunes because YouTube is a free service, unlike iTunes where they want a yearly payment for holding the videos (£90). All mobile devices have access to YouTube either through their mobile internet or YouTube app. 

The video content will be posted on YouTube. 

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

Video Content

As I am creating video content for an app, I thought I about the different possibilities of distributing the video content onto the app: Link the video to YouTube: every mobile device has access to YouTube, so the link will spontaneously send the user to the video. Download it separately: if the video file is too big, could the video be downloaded separately and stored in the video section of the mobile device: much like a podcast These ideas will be explored later on.

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

Cost of creating an Application

Creating an application for Apple, Android or Google is more expensive than what people think. It's one thing to design it, when it comes to the actually creation, it's a completely different ball game.

The average cost of creating an application is between £15,000 - £25,000. This cost estimation is based on hours, equipment and proficiency: hiring developers and graphic designers, buying equipment and software licences for each platform. It's important to keep up to date with up-to-date equipment, so you can keep one step ahead of the competition. 

The other factor to understand is the cost of running the app at various online stores such as Microsoft, Apple and Google. Apple and Microsoft charge £99 per year to keep the application on record and Google charge £25 per year. But Apple and Microsoft are more popular in terms of sell margins. Even though Google is the cheap option, would your app get the widest release possible? 

It's also customary for these companies to take 30% of the profits. 

Websites: http://mashable.com/2011/02/24/mobile-app-dev-cost/       http://www.computerweekly.com/news/1280097329/What-is-the-cost-of-developing-apps-for-mobile-marketplaces

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

Cineworld ticket selection layout - possible layout for Screen 22 app.

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

Task 2: Ghostbusters 3

For task 2 I've chosen to design an entire Advertising campaign for Sony Pictures new release Ghostbusters 3 for a July 4th 2013 release. To kick the campaign off, it's very important to release a statement to say principal photography has begun in May 2012. This statement will be released to the biggest entertainment industry magazines like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, film magazines and websites like Empire and Total Film and to many independent film blogs because they will all have their own niche audience. 

To commence the advertising campaign, a Twitter account will be created and called (unimaginatively) Ghostbusters 3 and teaser poster will be released via Twitter to enhance the original fan-base and reach out to a new one. The concept poster could look like this:

    (Source: http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/dan-aykroyd-talks-ghostbusters-3/)

Again, the poster will be sent to entertainment industry magazines, film magazines and independent film blogs. As filming is commencing, spontaneous set photographs will be posted on the Twitter account, so the followers (fans) can keep up to date with the filming progress. Along with a Twitter account, Facebook and YouTube account will be created to distribute video content. Facebook account will also be used to distribute posters but not set photos. 

Less than a year to the film's release date, the cast members and director will make an appearance at San Diego Comic Con over the weekend of 24-27 July 2012. This will give the demographic audience a chance to ask questions to the filmmakers. Once the panel is finished, a short teaser trailer (1 minute or less) will be screened to the fans and the teaser will be published online via Twitter/Facebook/YouTube channel. 

Once Comic Con event is officially over, film magazines will be invited on set commence a feature on the film and the history of Ghostbusters 3. These film magazines will have access to official photo stills from the film. The preliminary (first-look) feature will be published for the October/November 2012 (Halloween), with the full set visit feature being published in the May/June 2013 magazine. 

During the Halloween period, a ghost hunt will commence in 30 cities across the world, in order to get the fans involved. Costume stores will be stocked up with Ghostbuster costumes with proton packs. A viral video will be created to instruct the participants to how to catch a ghost - leaflets will also be provided. The terms are:

They have to wear to a Ghostbuster costume.

Follow the instructions orchestrated from the Official Twitter account to bust the ghost.

Once the ghost is caught, upload the picture (with #ghosthunt3) and the photo will be re-tweeted to the world.  

The winners get free merchandise and will be included onto the list for free opening night cinema tickets for the film.

A official film website will be created (gb3.com or ghostbusters3.com) to store all stills and videos for the film. On the website, there will be live twitter feed - linked to the twitter account. A longer teaser trailer will be released during the Christmas period. more posters will be released, and they will be profile shot of each Ghostbuster:

From January to April, more stills will be released via Twitter. The filmmakers will be constantly update the Twitter account to keep the fans informed with the progress with tantalizing photos. At the end of April/early May 2013, theatrical trailer will be released in major cinemas and online.

A month away from the release, a new video podcast series will be created and published on iTunes. These video podcasts will be used as character profiles. A Ghostbusters 3 game app will be available to download (free), which is consists of catching ghosts and driving Echo 1 - these will be available on both Apple and Android devices.

A disjointed version of Ghostbusters theme tune will be released along with a paranormal monitor which shows paranormal pulses. The audience would have to find out the lyrics and give the right answers on Twitter with a chance to win world premiere tickets.

The original Ray Parker Jnr and Jedward version of Ghostbuster track will be available to download on online music stores.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvkKX035484

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5ri29LU51c

Adverting space will be bought on film websites, apps, entertainment industry magazines to promote heavily promote the film.

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

My app.

As I'm looking into the idea of creating an app for my local cinema, it's important to have a section that's dedicated to entertainment or films news, and for that to constant, updated every minute or second. So, I've decided to have a look at various news agencies to see what they have to offer:

Thomson Reuters: they are the most popular and reliable choice, Yahoo use Reuters to provide all of their news and entertainment coverage. The way to use Reuters service is to take out a subscription with them, that will lead you to their media express:

http://thomsonreuters.com/content/media/pdf/reuters_media_express_factsheet.pdf

However, there might not be a need for Thomson Reuters because Screen 22 cover film news, I'm not discounting Thomson Reuters service at all. The other app to consider is Flixster. Flixster is a film based app linked to Rotten Tomatoes, which is an online film rating site which has links to all of the latest film reviews. 

So, the Screen 22 app could have the Rotten Tomato rating for the each film that's showing its cinema. I have been in contact with my colleagues at Screen 22 to discuss this opportunity, and I shall back from them soon.   

[digitaldistributiontechnolo-blog]

An Introduction to Digital Distribution

Blogs have become more imperative in the digital age as newspapers are moving towards instant information. Having experienced both Wordpress ad Tumblr, I have chosen to use Tumblr because of it's simplistic dashboard and design. Wordpress dashboard is very complex and with so many tiny options available, it's very easy to get confused and for Wordpress to be incomprehensible.

Tumblr has easy links to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo and has a stable iPhone app that makes it very easy to blog on the go. It means I don't have to be near a computer to update this blogging site.

The practical assignment I've decided to do is designing a service that utilities video materials for online and mobile devices. In my spare time, I write for an independent film website called http://www.screen22.co.uk which is linked to a small, independent cinema in Nottingham. The website covers news, features and the latest film reviews and the idea is create a app for the cinema. 

Having done some basic research, film apps ranging from cinemas to film magazines can be quite costly. Apps like Vue, Cineworld, Flixster, Odeon and BBFC Films are free but Total Film and Empire Magazine apps are £3.99 a month. Despite having the idea of creating a free apps, it's still possible to generate revenue. Getting in contact with local and nationwide business to ask if they want to purchase advertising space on the app.

The next post will cover the content ideas of the Screen 22 app.