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iTV Producer Roundtable
March 29th 2001 - San Mateo, CA
The Local Enhancement Collaborative recently continued its search for unique perspectives of interactive and enhanced television by hosting a roundtable attended by producers, directors, and writers. The potential impact iTV will have on traditional production processes helped define the morning's discussion.
As with the preceding Educator Roundtables, the moderated discussion was guided away from the technical concerns of dtv delivery to the end user. Samples of interactive and enhanced television established the direction of the meeting. Three varieties of video demonstrations led the group to consider additional efforts that will be needed in Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production, as well as the benefits that may be realistically expected.
The preservation of artistic integrity was established as a primary concern for this collection of stakeholders. The comfort of the viewer unanimously headed their list of priorities. The story comes first. If enhancements can cost-effectively deliver a richer experience, acceptance in the production community will come much more quickly.
Many of the participants, though, could not dismiss a natural reluctance to enhancements. The potential to corrupt the illusion that a linear viewing experience cultivates, or the aesthetic loss a director may suffer from a viewer's liberal license to wander still puzzles many in the production world. Examples of potential confusion were offered, including the promised ability for a viewer to select their choice of camera angles during a program, or the distraction as a viewer travels back and forth between an emotional and historical issue. Others felt that the loss of linearity would not be an issue if all of an asset could be revisited through the use of a media cache. At this stage of Personal Video Recorder development it's common for an individual to recognize the term PVR, but not fully understand the function and value of the device. The members of this roundtable included. After exploring the benefits of locally stored and managed material, the participants shared the increasingly popular perception that the PVR will be an integral component in an interactive experience. Knowing one's artistic product would be available at the convenience of the viewer gave the gathering a bit more courage and freedom as the iTV discussion continued.
The identification of compelling interactivity began with comparison to a current typical DVD experience. The simplicity of the average DVD menu was agreed to be attractive and easy to use. Thumbnail style announcements are comfortable to see, read, and understand, as opposed to text based enhancements. Too many objects or layers would be distracting. The group cited the incredible range of monitors that will display their material. Producing for the lowest common denominator will be important. Using font styles and sizes, suitable resolution, safe colors, and simple objects that will reproduce well through all targeted delivery paths places considerable restriction on one's storytelling. Some felt initial displeasure with the thought of conforming to the speculation of a narrower palette of graphic tools. Obvious issues of text properties, viewing distances, multiple viewers sharing an interactive program, and developing for one or two screens, led to consideration for the changes in structuring a production process. Storyboards would need to expand dimensionally. Conceptualization becomes more demanding. The product will need to be tested for compliance with host terrestrial, cable, or DSS systems. More staff, more money, more time will be required.
Discouragement about the extra costs associated with enhanced production was not easily concealed. The number of additional tasks and skills needed to complete a project could prove too costly. There was fear that current funding sources would be diluted by experimentation with iTV projects.
The members of the roundtable wrapped the session in a clearly enlightened state, yet seemingly left with more questions brewing in their minds. The jury remains out for most of these participants, regarding enhanced television, and its added value as intriguing, but feeling the possible compromise of content from adopting a less-than-established technology will surely limit enhanced production for the near term.
