Fascinating motion magazine demo highlights iPad's potential
Tablet devices, and more specifically Apple's iPad, are bound to forever alter the landscape for print and digital publishers, as evidenced by captivating concepts such as motion magazines like one being worked on by Alexx Henry Photography for Viv magazine (videos included).
Together with co-directors Cory Strassburger and Ming Hsiung, the firm recently produced a so-called "motion magazine cover" and feature spread for the all digital magazine, enabling it create content that will come to life on the iPad and other tablet devices where digital magazines are expected to thrive.
In a behind the scenes video covering the making of the motion cover that was sent to planet5D, Alexx Henry and partner Andrew Gant describe how they were able to "put motion into print" in ways never seen before.
The living art interactive motion spread was shot with Red Digital's latest RED ONE camera and new Mysterium-X sensor, allowing them to capture the energy of a still-life action shoot with the motion of a blockbuster film. In addition to action spreads, this enables them to "present a story" to readers before the final frame of their motion covers.
The production team shot all of their living models on a green screen at a high frame rate and slowed them down, so when the action stops, the textual article can appear. After constructing their own 3D environment, they composited the photography and did all the camera moves.
The end result is a motion spread that sends readers on a journey, introducing them to each article while giving them time to read or the freedom to move on at their own pace.
"As photographers, we can build off the foundations that work really well in print, because in the end, we aren't making moving pictures," Henry says. "That's what movies do. We're creating pictures that move."
Together with co-directors Cory Strassburger and Ming Hsiung, the firm recently produced a so-called "motion magazine cover" and feature spread for the all digital magazine, enabling it create content that will come to life on the iPad and other tablet devices where digital magazines are expected to thrive.
In a behind the scenes video covering the making of the motion cover that was sent to planet5D, Alexx Henry and partner Andrew Gant describe how they were able to "put motion into print" in ways never seen before.
The living art interactive motion spread was shot with Red Digital's latest RED ONE camera and new Mysterium-X sensor, allowing them to capture the energy of a still-life action shoot with the motion of a blockbuster film. In addition to action spreads, this enables them to "present a story" to readers before the final frame of their motion covers.
The production team shot all of their living models on a green screen at a high frame rate and slowed them down, so when the action stops, the textual article can appear. After constructing their own 3D environment, they composited the photography and did all the camera moves.
The end result is a motion spread that sends readers on a journey, introducing them to each article while giving them time to read or the freedom to move on at their own pace.
"As photographers, we can build off the foundations that work really well in print, because in the end, we aren't making moving pictures," Henry says. "That's what movies do. We're creating pictures that move."
Comments
This is new medium somewhat, a bit of a hybrid. It will take a bit to figure out what the best way to communicate with it is. Kudos to the creators for making the rest of us think though. From a practical side that's a lot of time/money in production to spend on 10 or so pages in a magazine.
Back to topic.
This is new medium somewhat, a bit of a hybrid. It will take a bit to figure out what the best way to communicate with it is. Kudos to the creators for making the rest of us think though. From a practical side that's a lot of time/money in production to spend on 10 or so pages in a magazine.
I agree and another factor is because all will be different somehow it requires a learning curve for every one, which eventually wears a persons desire down and they avoid the product as being complicated and not user friendly.
A paper magazine concept is simple, turn the page to go forward, turn it back to go to the previous page.
Direct link
http://www.alexxhenry.com/ipad/ipad.html
CPU warning: there are Flash videos inter-spaced between the Quicktime animation.
It looks great but it would be a booger to read. It strikes me more like what I expected DVD menu screens to be than how I would want to read a magazine. For short reads it might be fine but I hope I don't have to go through all of that to pick up where I left off on page 68.
This is new medium somewhat, a bit of a hybrid. It will take a bit to figure out what the best way to communicate with it is. Kudos to the creators for making the rest of us think though. From a practical side that's a lot of time/money in production to spend on 10 or so pages in a magazine.
The demos are definitely over-the-top without the subtlety that one would eventually expect from this new medium.
I'd like to see motion be a user-accesible feature, not something always running. For example, comic books require the user to touch a motion pane before it starts.
And from a marketing/distribution standpoint... it's a game changer for magazine subscriptions.
it may actually SAVE the publishing industry.
I mean it's one thing to see a photo of say a Ferrari being tested in Car and Driver... but imagine video or narration or both as you read.
Perhaps you can already do this via the webite but... as a closed environment, application-based vehicle... there's a world of things to do here!
The possibilities are staggering. The medium is engaging. Not just for adults, for children, this is amazing. Text books, interactive training... it's going to be fantastic.
Scoff if you'd like at the iPad, I really think this is a big step forward.
Just watched it on my iPhone. It is QT.
Looks very good.
The demos are definitely over-the-top without the subtlety that one would eventually expect from this new medium.
I'd like to see motion be a user-accesible feature, not something always running. For example, comic books require the user to touch a motion pane before it starts.
Interesting it was running in landscape mode. I thought most of media was setup to run in portrait mode on the iPad. Was that only for ebooks?
Also many have said the iPad can't do full screen movies and the last demo I saw clearly shows all you have to do is double tap the movie and it goes full screen.
'd like to see motion be a user-accesible feature, not something always running. For example, comic books require the user to touch a motion pane before it starts.
This is where designing and implementing a user feedback system would be all but a no-brainer. It's clear that different people are going to gravitate to differing styles and the beauty is none of these choices have to be an 'all or nothing' implementation.
What the SMART designers will do is try and implement what would be deemed the most likely desired behaviors and create settings options for them from the get go... in addition to those, there would be a feedback system where people could suggest new or slightly modified behaviors that could then be taken into consideration for future issues.
For example... here's an idea that might not jump out at first blush... Using the light sensor (the iPad has one doesn't it?) the iPad content could make some creative choices available to the reader.
If light is dim and time is after 10pm (or always) then (turn off, lower to X) the magazine sound effects that are playing thru the devices built in speakers, so not to disturb someone who might be in bed sleeping next to you (headphones would/could remain unaffected).
Just a quick example off the top of my head but it shows what really powerful things could be done with respect to user preferences when multimedia content is played back. It's up to debate on if this type of information is better established once in an iPad global settings (making things easier for the content authors) or if the settings should be per publication which would give the reader full control over how each publication behaves. Since I could certainly see one might want different publications to behave in different ways perhaps Apple should simply leave it up to the publishers on what settings that'd want to make available.
I am a professional photographer (somewhat nationally known) and the typical rate for most magazine shoots ranges from $250 to $1,000 plus some expenses. A few photogs at the highest levels get big dollars (for mags like Vogue or Vanity Fair), but Time pays $1,500 for a cover.
This shoot undoubtedly cost around $100K. Rates like this are typically ad campaign rates and not editorial. Should be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
Interesting it was running in landscape mode. I thought most of media was setup to run in portrait mode on the iPad. Was that only for ebooks?
Also many have said the iPad can't do full screen movies and the last demo I saw clearly shows all you have to do is double tap the movie and it goes full screen.
The Quicktime video was super-imposed upon a still image of the iPad.
No real iPad was used as it's not available yet.
Click and drag on the iPad bezel, you'll see it's just a image.
content is still more important than flashy pics and sound. give me the WSJ and NYT and i will be happy.
I am with you.
Another issue for me, with this type of thing: Unless video/motion photography somehow evolves to enable the equivalent of 'browse' or 'eyeball' for quick snapshot of content, I don't think it can ever match the time-convenience of text.
The content in question would have done just fine without the video. Now if it's an article about movies or a product that moves (like the car example) and you need to show a clip that's relevant to the text. If you're going to go to this level of effort with a film crew just to jazz up text, why not just forgo the text and interview people about the subject as a full-blown video medium and maybe provide a transcript as an extra?
It will, in part. This is going to be a hybrid medium where both video and text are equally important. Interviews, press conferences, etc are usually only part of the information, you will need the reporter or writer of an article to fill in the rest of the information.
I would like to see a Harry Potter type newspaper with simple looping pictures that feel "alive." Maybe even click on them to expand into video of the event.
I can't wait to see what people do with this technology.
Funny, I'm curious how that presentation was built.... Fluid video and graphics with scrolling text boxes, tilted at 45 degree angles... looks like Flash to me....Hope it's not just a giant QuickTime movie either...
Yep looks like Flash. I can think of only a few ways to do effects like that.
1. Flash
3. Flash complied as an App from CS5 Pro
3. App with embedded video (After Effects, Motion, Shake, Maya etc.)
From the looks of it they are sparing no expense so it will be interesting to see how much the subscription costs.
Flash is bad enough, but when Flash serves up anything from Vimeo it becomes total CPU grinding crap.
I'll have to get out my MBP laptop to view this.
but you honestly couldn't think of a worst topic to demo their concept. For things like that people just want the information and they want it discretely.
Terrible and the last thing publishing needs - your article costs just went through the roof. One minute you need a writer and some college person to layout - now you need a full 3D movie, visual effects, ui artists, programmers on and on.
Rubbish!