Nokia, along with Nokia Canada recently hosted an interesting mobile entertainment / film event in Vancouver, B.C. at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Billed as the Nokia N8 Direct and Project the event was designed to introduce people to the N8 and more important, to the fantastic video camera, its capabilities, and the idea that terrific, fun, interesting films can be created entirely using the Nokia N8 smartphone.
The event, the first of it’s kind in Vancouver, was essentially a small film festival, bringing together about 30 invited videographers to show, discuss, and share their works. One video was selected by a panel of 3 expert judges as the overall winner, taking home the hardware which was jokingly named “Teemo”.
The Project…
Organized by the fine UK-based Word of Mouth crew from 1000Heads on behalf of Nokia, the event brought together 30 film makers, most of them amateurs, although all of them passionate about video and film making. The group was diverse, made up of men and women from all over Canada (although most were from Vancouver and Toronto to my knowledge) , some being very tech savvy, others were very skilled at “traditional” video production, writing about film, or just basically passionate about mobile media and mobile technology.
The Assignment...
The videographers were all provided with loaner Nokia N8 smartphones in mid-December with basic instructions and rules. The challenge - create a 60 second video short film on any topic (although some rules to keep it “clean” were stipulated). Participants were asked to cut loose and have fun, capture video using only the N8, then edit and piece together the work into 60 seconds of fun using any video processing/editing software that they were comfortable with (obviously this provided some of the experienced editors with a slight advantage). They were required to adhere to music/audio licensing regulations and could not use protected Music for obvious reasons.
The Producers...
I had a chance to meet and chat with a number of the producers to pick their brains about their experience with the Nokia N8. It seemed to me that many were new Nokia users and so it was interesting to hear their thoughts on the device. Several commented to me how impressed they were with the still camera (a 12 MP Carl Zeiss… who wouldn’t be impressed with that bad boy!). I heard no complaints from anyone about the actual device, the UI, or the Operating System even though many were new to this form factor. Overall it seemed everyone I chatted with was also impressed with the video quality and the impressive HD quality output, however, not being able to focus while using the camera in video mode posed a problem for a number of users and was an inconvenience. It also seemed that several producers had accidentally not captured their video in HD, this because by default the camera is activated in “normal” mode - a lady I met was really bummed that all her effort had been captured in lower resolution than she hoped, although in my mind the “effect” actually worked well given the topic of her video! Producers seemed to really like having a small device, enabling them to position the camera in places and situations that they could do with a traditional camera. It became evident to me that audio plays a very huge part in the success of any video and this also was a challenge for some producers. The N8, for obvious reasons, needs to be used in close proximity to the subject, particularly if the actor is providing dialog… positioning the camera too far away from the subject can result in lost sound and even more problematic, the camera picking up surrounding noise. Another challenge for the producers to overcome was lighting, although this always poses a challenge in video and photography regardless of the device. Shooting video with the N8 in low light situations though seemed to provide some producers with disappointing video quality according to feedback I received.
A personal observation of mine (I was not a producer although I/ was asked to submit a work) regarding the device is the challenge in fitting the device to a tripod. Due to its small size, the N8 has no traditional tripod mount so one has to be creative to attach their device to any kind of traditional tripod, I’m guessing that duct tape, coat hangers, and other McGyver-esque tools and equipment would have been used. Given that the N8 is perfect for mobile video capture I’d like to see some kind of peripheral come in the box to address this issue - I want to attach my N8 to my Gorilla tripod!
The Films...
For many observers at the event - there were about 100 attendees there to watch the films and provide applause and support - the first thought was what kind of story can you tell in just 60 seconds? Indeed part of the challenge put forward to create a winning entry was to create a quality product, tell a story, and make it memorable. The producers were a diverse crowd, from different geographic regions, varying education and , age, work experience, and a mix of cultures. The result was a very diverse group of films, some producers sharing documentaries, there were narratives, animation, science fiction, travel stories, and techno films designed to test the capabilities of the camera. It seemed the crowd loved every one of the films and at times it was down-right amazing to see how they were put together and how much information could be shared in less than 60 seconds… I can see the idea of the mobile short video really taking off, particularly in this day of mobile media obsession, social media, and sharing.
The Winner...
The winning video, was selected by the panel of 3 judges - Brian Adler a film producer & TV director, RT! A popular, accomplished Canadian film director, and Mindy Miller of Nokia Marketing and mastermind behind the project. The trio decided that Producer Josephine Anderson's film titled "Normal Design" was the winning effort. Her short was an entertaining piece that explored how typical, mundane experiences can be anything but mundane when they take on an unusual rhythm. She did a fantastic job telling a memorable story, did some create post film editing and mixing and delivered an entertaining product - congrats to Josephine!
Runner up winners will be selected over the coming weeks based on input and voting from viewers of the shorts via the Project face book page. You can check them all out on facebook soon - See also feedback from attendees via Twitter hash tag #N8DirectAndProject. Videos will also be available soon for viewing on youtube.com/nokiacanda
A side note, the long hash tag proved to be a slight challenge and annoyance to the Tweeting crowd likely resulting in several shortened incarnations of the tag… perhaps something to consider the next time!
So, how am I liking the N8 so far? Overall, like most would-be Nokia flagship devices (this one is likely destined for that designation) the device is stylish, solid, looks and feels great in the hand. I’m digging the touch UI and like many Nokia devices, the 12 MP camera is awesome! The camera software hasn’t really changed much or evolved as far as I can tell, however, the ability to manipulate loads of camera settings (exposure, color, contrast, sharpness, tone, light sensitivity etc…) enables the user to capture some spectacular still photos. I would like to see a sliding lens cover, although not a huge deal. I find the capture button a little sticky and at times I seem to fumble to get a good position on it, however, the touch capture button on the device works very well. I seem to accidentally hit the zoom buttons when using and that was a little bothersome, again something I could be trained not to do. HD video capture is excellent although low-light video isn’t anything to scream about - I’m also not a huge fan of using the camera flash either unless the shot and conditions absolutely require it to get the shot. I do really like the widgets on the home screen that get me to top apps very quickly, the included photo editing app, internet radio, music player, and Ovi maps are handy and terrific apps… there’s even video editing software for those who fancy that. Ovi store continues to be a bit of a nightmare but I won’t go there… in a nutshell though, the device is sweet and a must consider for anyone considering a touch device and accustomed to the Nokia UI. The N8 looks great, however, the main concern I have as far as design is the finish… it looks good (brushed metal/dk grey look) but dang, this thing is slippery in the hand! At times it’s like squeezing a wet bar of soap so hang on tight and maybe try to locate a grippy case or cover if you decide to buy one.
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