Hugues Sweeney

Bar Code

8 October 2011

You are what you eat, or…. something like tell me what you buy and I’ll tell you what you are. There are 3452345 variations of these 2 affirmations. Both extremely simplistic but very truthful.

The latest project by two of our most beloved public art conglomerates (Canada’s National Film Board & France’s ARTE) comes  to explore the way 100 daily objects influence our life. The way they ensure our survival, how they measure the passage of time, their sentimental value, emotional power…

Because each object has a different cultural value, its own identity, its own hidden codes.

The idea comes from NFB producer Hugues Sweeney and ARTE program director Marianne Levy-Leblond who’ve been working together with their teams over the past couple of years to bring to life an interactive and experimental approach to object explanation. 100 short films (the list is quite reduced so far unfortunately) by 30 film director from Canada & France along with BarCode website, an iPhone app (with which you can scan objects and track their stories) and a gallery installation. And please please please even if you hate all this interactive-object thingy, visit the website just for the great music put up by some music geniouses such as KnowinglooksMarc Houle, Mosa or the insane  Cacheflowe.

The good thing is that you can help growing their object stories list by submitting  and sharing your own stories.

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Blabla

6 June 2011

Google may impress with their HTML5 memory-demanding videoclips made for Chrome(experiments), but there’s nothing like a good animated interactive video. If it’s backed by the Canadian National Film board then we can expect to be amazed and transported. Where? For you to find out!

Vincent Morisset’s BLA BLA is an interactive tale that explores the fundamental principles of human communication. The viewer makes the story possible: without him or her, the characters remain inert, waiting for the next interaction. The spectator clicks, plays and searches through the simple, uncluttered scenes, truly driving the experience (there’s more than one single click believe us, you should try & explore the different angles and actions the screen provides).

Each of the six chapters in the story depicts a different aspect of communication: learning a language, making small talk, expressing emotions, etc. Rich in opportunities for discovery, BLA BLA illustrates these concepts through endearing yet perplexing characters. The figures were designed by Caroline Robert using a variety of techniques, both traditional and hi-tech.

the team: Hugues Sweeney (production), Édouard Lanctôt-Benoit(programming), Vincent Morisset (direction), Caroline Robert (visual), Philippe Lambert (sound)

The project really attempts to get some kind of emotional response from us (viewers, interactive players). “I wanted to create moods and generate emotions through an interactive piece,” Morriset says. “It’s quite hard to do dramatic crescendos on a website… I thought it would be an interesting challenge.”

Now it’s up to you to decide the level and type of feelings when crossing to the puppet side. Enjoy!

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