The future is here, warns Jonathan McIntosh maker of the Donald Duck viral video in the Film Festival panel on Web 3.0.

“Web 3.0” is a nebulous concept: untold numbers of software developers know what they want it to be, and their collective aspirations are calling it into  being. The  people who work on it don’t use the term but whatever you call it,  it is evolving rapidly with each click of the programmers’ keyboards.

Jon McIntosh tried to define it: “3.0 is about data and meta data rather document,
Take an Apple and an apple… semantic web would know the difference, so Web 3.0 involves AI, taxonomy, machine learning.”

In the audiovisual field he showed how its potential can develop.  Already with HTML 5, he told the engrossed audience, “the visual representations of data with code is revolutionary, allowing interactive video, unlike third party software like Flash.”  Among the advantages, it does not use bandwidth, and uses less processing power, with faster and smoother video quality.

Eugenio del Bosque Gómez went beyond the technical and  considered how the new technologies will affect film making,  leading to story-telling possibilities beyond the most obvious, with alternative story lines, layering,  and dynamic interaction possible.

While the current stage already demonstrates the potential, he points out that there is more to come, better resolution up to HD, and web based 3D video processors. In this nexus between interactive games and narrative, it will soon be possible to remake stories with yourself as the hero and interact with the other characters.

Del Bosque points  out that with the flux in the media there is a window of opportunity for a time.  “ Film festivals are always trying to look for new stories but the studios are just telling the same stories and adding new technology,” he laments, “Across Latin America there are lots of very young people making films very cheap. They are challenging the models of story telling, fine tuning, the content with just a camera. The tools are in our hands  and the media, film, TV, publishing, is all in crisis offering this opportunity for independent film makers to create content enclaves before the hegemony.

For a finale, McIntosh showed his acclaimed video “Right Wing Radio Duck” and explained how he had pulled together all the different elements he had remixed, and, so far at least, had avoided copyright issues by pleading the fair use doctrine.

 

See additional photos of this event in our Photo Gallery under Santo Domingo - Funglode - Web 3.0, Nov. 20, 2010 >