I'd like to say I came to Paris geeked out and ready for the seventh annual Web Flash Festival (May 23-25 at the Pompidou Center), but as it turns out, I stumbled on it by chance. When I ambled out of the lobby looking for a toilet, I had no idea I would come face to face with what was, at its inception in 2002, the first French language conference of its kind. The english language portion of the festival website describes it like this (I love poor translations):
This national manifestation, opened to the entire french-speaking Europe, will be organized around the themes of creation and artistic diffusion on the Internet Media. Its particularity will be its special focus on interactive and animate content, which will turn it into a unique and exceptional event in France.
The days of Minitel and its dirty chats are long, long gone. Downstairs at the festival, the Web 2.0 vibe could not have been stronger. On display in the basement lobby were a variety of collaborative flash projects and online multimedia works. These included video-based pieces by artists like Eric Viennot and an interactive game that used Wii or Wii-like controllers (there was a bit of a wait to use it, so I wasn't able to get a good look). There was also a row of tables topped with utterly beautiful iMacs ready for browsing.
Due to the fact I hadn't planned for the event, I didn't have time to stick around too long. Luckily for me, the festival was free and open to the public, and I was able to catch half of a panel on internet games. The four speakers came from different French studios: Ankama, which produces anime-styled MMORPGs, Globz, which turns out quick and quirky single-player games, Yamago, which often works with advertisers, and identi-fiction.com, which aspires to create an immersive, narrative gaming experience. I got to hear from two of them: Alex Houdent of Globz and Yamago's representative, whose name I somehow failed to catch. Houdent gave a presentation on different business models for online game studios. I won't go into details here, as it was rather dry and seemed to me a summary of the options for-profit internet content creators are already familiar with (a subscriber model, pay-per-play, custom design for advertisers, etc.) The Yamago presentation, on the other hand, shed more light on the state of flash games today. The rep said that although the Yamago team has changed over the years and its technical approach to projects may have varied as a result, Yamago has continued to hang onto both its flash "roots" and the particular creative spirit seemingly native to flash itself.
He could have been speaking for everyone at the conference. That aforementioned spirit was pronounced throughout -- playful, creative, interactive. If anything can be said to reflect the nature of Web 2.0 as a whole, it is flash.
[all photos from my Canon]
I missed most of the exciting parts of the festival -- three days' worth of panels, a competition of various kinds of net-art, and a soiree -- but the little experience I had of it filled me with hope. I am often pessimistic with regards to our digital future. I foresee our lives controlled by advertisers (as if they're not already), our real-life human interactions mediated and cheapened by an omnipresent computer screen. The festival reminded me, however, of the inspiration that so many people are drawing from new media and of the outpouring of artistic creations that have been produced as a result. It also prompted me to reflect on how cozy the internet can make global interaction: if I want to relive the festival, I can just access the event website, no return flight to Paris required.
With that understanding, of course, comes the realization that language can be as strong a barrier online as in real life. Given that my french teeters on the line of basic fluency, my experience of the conference was limited as much by my language skills as by my packed travel itinerary. Google translations just don't cut it. I've decided that to become a better citizen of Web 2.0, I'd best be truly multilingual.
Anyway, if you're looking for a little inspiration, check out Montreal en 12 Lieux (Montreal in 12 Places). The winner of the Web Flash Festival 2008 Grand Prix, mtl12 is a guide to Montreal like no other. It is a multimedia project, parts of which aired on TV, that presents flash and film portraits of different spots in Montreal. It crafts an image of the city that is both vivid and varied: the Montreal natives depicted range from the elderly clients of the Ritz Carlton to the steamy male strippers of Club 281. I like mtl12 not only for its slick animation, but also for its short documentaries, which feature quirky Montreal residents. These bits are brief but well done. They inject a human touch often missing from internet media. [For those who don't speak french: click the Ritz-Carlton link and then click "Visionner". There are some segments with english speaking people.]
Here's an mtl12 video promo:
