Filmaka online studio, competition for full feature film

Major Hollywood studios are going online to draw entries from filmmakers from all over the world. You do not have to be a big name any more, people that have the technique and imagination are given the chance and -equally importantly- the cash to make their projects real full feature films, documentaries, advertisements or series.

OK cool down, it has not been officially tried by Hollywood yet. But a couple of established names believe that there is room for that kind of thing. We are talking about producer Deepak Nayar -as Reuters reports he has produced diamonds like Buena Vista Social Club and Bend it like Beckham- and former chairman of Fox Television Entertainment Group Sandy Grushow.

They have formed Filmaka, a site where everybody can upload a short production in different categories. The films are judged by artists of the calibre of director Wim Wenders. So even if the site has a typical online video feel, the whole point here is to get some serious results. This week Filmaka will announce the film contest winner that will then go on and direct a full feature Filmaka production

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Google’s 2D barcodes struggle to bridge paper ads and web

Airlines are already aware of the virtues of 2D barcodes and we will possibly see airline electronic boarding passes in the near future. Google has been quick to foresee the advantages of 2D barcodes, one of them being that a mobile telephone with a camera can read it, and with the right software automatically convert it to a conventional web address for immediate access.

Although simple as a concept, it is an ingenious way to bridge printed material with the web, where for the moment Google is unmatched. Barcodes could give instant access not only to web pages but also to very specifically targeted ads, depending on date or geography. And all this with maximum comfort, without even typing a single character of a web address.

2D barcodes exist from the 80s and are so far utilised mostly in industry. It was in 1999 that the Japanese Denso-Wave came up with the idea of reading a barcode photo with a mobile telephone. Since then, Japan has become the only market where 2D barcodes are widely used. Of course, the fact that the rest of the world has largely not even heard of or seen any of these codes presents a formidable obstacle.

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