mbf tod@y

Premio Duellanti 2008 (Triennale Milano, 28 maggio 2008)

Notizia collegata

The Cinematic Map of San Francisco

"Hundreds of movies have been filmed in San Francisco over the decades. The map below shows just a few of the major ones; in the coming weeks we'll be adding more." (Map mashup by Justin Beck, Matt Petty and the Datebook staff, The  San Francisco Chronicle)

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Less cinema and more security

"During his election campaign Gianni Alemanno, a former neo-fascist youth leader who is backed by Silvio Berlusconi, said that he aimed to downsize the festival staff and reduce the allocation for the event in the city's budget. One of his campaign's print ads carried the slogan, "Alemanno, for less cinema and more security" - a reference to his central plank of fighting illegal immigration. [...] Squitieri recently described the Rome festival as "useless", claiming that it provided just "another red carpet" for Hollywood movies. He has also hinted that he would prefer to close it down. "In Italy we have more film awards than films", he told the La Stampa newspaper." (The Guardian)

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Paolo Ruffino writes: "A few stats about Rome... From 2006 to 2007, the number of murders dropped from an average of 9 to 6 per year, sex abuses from 53 to 35, and crimes related to drugs or mafia dropped as well. The source is the police of Rome itself. It seems that this security issue is not an issue at all, just another excuse for the neo fascist politicians to raise paranoia, and get elected. The Left, in Italy, keeps on claiming that it is an issue, sharing the same racist and conservative position of their opponents, instead of pointing the real facts.What a sad situation I've found, Matt, coming back to Rome two days ago... ;)"

Schermi interattivi in full swing

Schermi interattivi's website is getting a lot of juicy content these days, thanks to the contribution of many readers and fans (and the best is yet to come ;-). The "opening sequence" project - in which we discuss the different styles of videogames' openings - is gaining momentum (a few examples: The Darkness, Dark Sector, Gears ol War, Mario Morandi's Another World - and many more are currently in production). Here you can find a list of all game-to-film adaptations - we will update it as new information becomes available. We have also started a new glossary of videogame terms - the main issue here is how to properly translate English terms into Italian and avoid ridiculous mistakes (franchise = franchigia? I don't think so!). Other articles include some thoughts on Blade Runner and videogames, the laws of adaptations (part one, part two), and more. Next to come: brand new essays on the interplay between these media. Stay tuned!

Schermi interattivi

BBC's iPlayer on PS3

Click here

And read this

Azione!

Contemporary Italian cinema is irrelevant but "Italy's historical sites are packed full of some of the world's leading film-makers" according to Screen.

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Amazon Accelerates Its Move to Digital

"The overall market for entertainment and information is inexorably going digital. One day, most music, movies and perhaps even printed words will be sent as bits over the Internet instead of in bulky boxes. More than half of the company’s $15 billion in sales last year came from CDs, DVDs and books, shipped from Amazon’s 30 cavernous distribution centers around the world. Last week, in what could be an omen of this shift, Apple proclaimed that its iTunes store had surpassed Wal-Mart Stores to become the No. 1 source of music sales in the United States. Amazon, which still sells mostly CDs, was the No. 3 seller last year but has since lost market share and is now tied with Target for fourth place. Best Buy is No. 3. “Digital is where the growth in music is, and other industries are likely to follow,” said Bill Rosenblatt, chief executive of GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies, a New York consulting firm. “Amazon needs to position itself to capture that.” (Brad Stone, The New York Times)

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Blindness, first trailer

This is going to be awesome. Read the novel, first.(And check out the unofficial sequel-follow up as well)

Schermi interattivi. Il cinema nei videogiochi

Siamo felici ci annunciare un nuovo progetto editoriale intitolato Schermi interattivi. Il cinema nei videogiochi, interamente dedicato al rapporto tra videogame e cinema. Il nuovo volume, pubblicato da Meltemi Editore, inaugura una nuova serie di ricerche di natura trans-mediale, che prenderanno forma sulla carta e sullo schermo. Schermi interattivi. Il cinema nei videogiochi sara' infatti arricchito da un blog che offrira' risorse bibliografiche, saggi e articoli dedicati al tema del dialogo intermediale.

La scheda del volume: "Che tipo di relazione esiste tra cinema e videogiochi? Come cambia la narrazione nel passaggio dal grande schermo al monitor e alla televisione? Qual è il legame tra Hollywood e la Silicon Valley? Che differenza c'è tra guardare un film e giocarlo, tra il ruolo dello spettatore e quello del giocatore? Quali sono le conseguenze estetiche, commerciali e produttive del crescente interscambio mediale? Questo volume risponde a queste e ad altre domande attraverso i contributi di studiosi di fama internazionale nell'ambito dei game studies e della critica cinematografica: Barry Atkins, Matteo Bittanti, Alexis Blanchet, David Bordwell, Luca Castiglioni, Galen Davis, Mark Grimshaw, Rune Klevjer, Henry Lowood, Bernard Perron, Judd Ethan Ruggill. L'approccio è comparativo e multidisciplinare: gli autori esaminano il fenomeno da molteplici angolazioni."

Il volume sara' in vendita nelle migliori librerie ad aprile, nella collana Melusine.

Qui potete leggere l'indice.Il sito internet dedicato e accessibile qui. Il nostro obiettivo e' di proporre a livello settimanale nuovi contenuti dedicati al rapporto tra videogiochi e cinema ed offrire a studenti, ricercatori ed appassionati delle risorse utili per esplorare questa affascinante interazione, un database in continua espansione. Come per videoludica, saremo felici di esaminare possibili proposte di collaborazione. Per ulteriori informazioni, cliccate qui. Buona lettura e buona visione.
 

Link: Schermi interattivi. il sito ufficiale

Interactive screens coming near you

I am delighted to announce the imminent release of a new book on videogames. Titled Schermi interattivi. Il cinema nei videogiochi, (Interactive Screens. Cinema in games), this anthology of essays published by Meltemi Editore, in Italy focuses on the complex, and often contradictory relationship between videogames and film, between Hollywood and the Silicon Valley, between the act of watching a movie and playing a game. It has been a fun project - a very long one -  that involved a bunch of researchers scattered across the globe: Barry Atkins, Alexis Blanchet, David Bordwell, Luca Castiglioni, Galen Davis, Mark Grimshaw, Rune Klevjer, Henry Lowood, Bernard Perron, and Judd Ethan Ruggill. When we started this long journey, I was engaging tangos in Vegas with my buddies. Now that we reached our destination, I am still engaging tangos, but in different parts of the city - mostly rooftops and warehouses, 24 style. That is to say, the point of arrival is basically a new departure. During the process, Alexis and Rune had kids, others got new jobs. Some moved to a different country and others discovered new virtual realms . Everybody, as far as I know, is still manipulating images on the screen. Schermi interattivi. Il cinema nei videogiochi, will be on sale shortly (read: first week of April) in Meltemi's Melusine series (that features words of wisdom from gamers like Slavoj Zizek, Terry Eagleton, Judith Butler, and Iain Chambers among the others). In conjunction with the release of the book, I am launching a blog that offers additional information, essays, news, the inevitable glossary, and bibliographic resources. The content is entirely in Italian, but I might translate something into English for videoludica. Actually, that's a promise. And, yeah, the book cover art is by my hero Brandon Bird.

Link: Schermi interattivi. the official site