The “Stanley Kubrick: Taming Light” website was launched last week. The exhibition runs until October 31st in the Lighthouse cinema. I was asked to design and develop the site, in keeping with Kubrick’s taste and style. Interestingly, I discovered that Kubrick’s favourite font was Futura. Although this is not too surprising as he used it for the posters and title sequences of “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Eyes Wide Shut”, as well as for the Kubrick collection DVD boxset. Tony Frewin, Kubrick’s long-standing assistant, stated in an article in the Guardian that Futura was indeed “Stanley’s favourite typeface. It’s sans serif. He liked Helvetica and Univers, too. Clean and elegant.” I also incorporated a number of social media networks and tools into the website’s design in order to help promote the show and keep people that were interested in attending updated. You can join the show’s Facebook group or follow @KubrickTaming on Twitter.

The website had to be turned around quite quickly and as is often the case there were delays with getting some of the artworks ready and content delivered for the site. However, it was launched in time for the opening night and to the curator’s satisfaction. I have still yet to attend the show but I am hoping to see it over the weekend while I check out some of this year’s Darklight events. I’ll also be collecting a specially commissioned limited edition poster 0f the main illustration from the website homepage, designed by Martin Ansin. Ansin’s hand-drawn retrospective of some of Kubrick’s classic characters is overseen by a portrait of the director and is available as a collector’s item as a high-quality print at the Light House Cinema or by e-mailing kubricktaming@gmail.com. The limited edition of 250 is available to buy for a very reasonable price of 50 euros. Read about the poster in Ansin’s own words.

The exhibition was curated by John Maguire, a film critic with the Irish Sunday Business Post newspaper and the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show on 100-102 Today FM. Read about the show in John’s own words on his blog.

The show has received quite a bit of coverage including articles/ features on:

• Film Ireland
• Darklight
• Filmbase
• Cinematical
• Le Cool
• The Lighthouse Cinema
• IFTN (Irish Film and Television Network)
• Candy Collective
• The Irish Times
• The Sunday Tribune
• The Sunday Busines Post
• RTE’s “The View”
• Scamp
• Movies.ie
• Today FM’s “Ian Dempsey – Breakfat Show”
• Newstalk’s “Culture Shock”
• Kiersten Essenpreis ‘You Fail’ Blog
• QBN
• Entertainment.ie

I attended the advance/ member preview of the new Science Gallery exhibit yesterday evening – ‘What If…’.  The exhibition investigates where design meets science to explore the weird, wonderful and sometimes scary possibilities for future technology. The exhibition is curated by leading London based design duo Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby (www.dunneandraby.co.uk).

The project features some very visual and interesting design works, produced by twenty designers from around the world, as well as a range of thought-provoking questions. The exhibition is interesting to me on a number of levels. Firstly, as an interaction designer/ practitioner and interactive media professional, I was familiar with Dunne and Raby’s work – specifically their “Technological Dream Series: Number 1, Robots (2007)” piece. Dunne & Raby both spoke at the opening of the exhibition. The pair use design as a medium to stimulate discussion and debate amongst designers, industry and the public about the social, cultural and ethical implications of existing and emerging technologies. They use interaction design to ask questions rather than to solve problems. Their designs provoke people to consider implications and not necessarily applications – “critical design.”

Anthony Dunne is the head of the Design Interactions department at the Royal College of Art in London and was recently awarded the Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education in 2009. He previously studied Industrial Design and completed a PhD in Computer Related Design. Fiona Raby was a founding member of the CRD Research Studio where she worked as a Senior Research Fellow leading externally funded research projects, and she taught in Architecture for over 10 years before teaching in Design Interactions. Dunne’s and Raby’s professional and academic backgrounds are evident in the exhibition. While certainly provocative (read the “Greyhounds are not medical devices. Don’t let this happen” article on Indymedia) but not quite shocking, Dunne and Raby do succeed in getting people to question possible decisions society might have to make in the future if/ when science and technology meet design in more extreme ways. Gallery director Michael John Gorman said in an article in the Irish Independent that the exhibit examines “possible future scenarios through products you might buy in the future.”

I particularly liked the following works:

WHAT IF…Our emotions were read by machines? - Belief Systems, 2009 by Bernhard Hopfengärtner

“Facial micro-expressions last less than a second and are almost impossible to control. They are hard wired to the emotional activity in the brain which can be easily captured using specially developed technological devices. Free will is now in question as science exposes decision-making as an emotional process rather than a rational one.This ability to read emotions technologically could result in a society obsessed with emotional reactions. Emotions, convictions and beliefs, which usually remain hidden, now become a public matter. ‘Belief systems’ is a video scenario about a society that responds to the challenges of modern neuroscience by embracing these technological possibilities to read, evaluate and alter people’s behaviours and emotions.” Twitter hashtag: #beliefSG

WHAT IF… Probability could be 100% guaranteed? – Coin Flipper, 2009 by Dot Samsen
“We often use randomness and fate to help us make decisions. Some decisions are so hard to make that we leave the responsibility completely to fate or randomness-by flipping a coin. This can make us feel less guilty or believe we’ve reached the ‘right’ decision, but what are our true intentions behind these decisions? The Coin Flipper aims to challenge this apparent randomness to reveal our true intentions.” Twitter hashtag: #coinSG

WHAT IF… We could modify clouds to snow ice cream? – The Cloud Project, 2009 by Zoe Papadopoulou & Cathrine Kramer
“Developments in nanotechnology and planetary scale engineering point to new possibilities for us to conform the global environment to our needs. These advances combined with a dream to make clouds snow ice cream inspired a series of experiments that look at ways to alter the composition of clouds to make new and delicious sensory experiences. Using ice cream as a catalyst for dialogue, the project’s focus is to welcome people into a nano ice cream van and allow new audiences to experience and imagine emerging scientific developments and their consequences. The nano ice cream van will visit Science Gallery from 12th November-4th December 2009.” Twitter hashtag:#icecreamSG

WHAT IF… We had to rent trees to offset our carbon footprint? – BuyProduct, 2009 by Dot Samsen
“Carbon credit brings the ‘convenience’ back to the ‘inconvenient truth’. Global warming has been driven by capitalism. Now we are trying to solve global warming through capitalism. Is this possible? From an ecological perspective, CO2 is a by-product of the living, either directly or indirectly. From the economic perspective, CO2 may become the world’s largest commodity market. What do we consider the price of our own by-products? This project aims to criticize the carbon trading system as well as raise awareness of how good we are at destroying the planet.” Twitter hashtag: #treeSG

WHAT IF… We tried to make a toaster from scratch? – The Toaster Project, 2009 by Thomas Thwaites
“Thwaites went on a quest to build an electric toaster from scratch, seeking iron, copper, mica, nickel and crude oil (for the plastic case) from disused mines in Britain, then attempting to process the materials at home. This nine-month process to make a simple toaster is absurd, but so too is the massive industrial activity we pursue to achieve additional comforts at ever lower prices. The laboriousness of producing even the most basic material from the ground up exposes the fallacy of returning to some romantic ideal of a pre-industrialised time. But at this moment in time when the effects of industry are no longer trivial for the environment, the throwaway toasters of today seem unreasonable.” Twitter hashtag: #toasterSG

WHAT IF…Domestic robots could be self-sufficient? – Carnivorous Domestic Entertainment Robots, 2008 by James Auger & Jimmy Loizeau. Engineered by Alex Zivanovic.
“This project approaches the subject of robots from an alternative perspective. Inspired by methods of survival in nature this series of robots references strategies of adaptation and bio-mimetics in their design. Developed for the home, they avoid the stereotypical forms normally associated with robots and adopt a contemporary fashionable design aesthetic. The robots utilise a microbial fuel cell to power themselves, generating energy from biomass in the form of common household pests. This gives them autonomy and to a degree they become living entities existing in a similar way to an exotic pet such as a snake or a lizard, where we provide living prey and become voyeurs in a synthesized, contrived microcosm.” Twitter Hashtag: #robotsSG

WHAT IF…Jimmy Carter had been re-elected, would the world be greener? – The Golden Institute, 2009 by Sascha Pohflepp
“In an alternate United States set in the 1980s, where Ronald Reagan never happened, the Golden Institute for Energy was the world’s premier think tank for alternative energies. From weather modification and lightning harvesting to using the freeway system as a source of power, the Institute’s ambitions were grand and their impact on American life significant. How might its legacy offer a fresh perspective on our present challenges in regard to the environment?” Twitter hashtag: #goldenSG

WHAT IF…We could evaluate the genetic potential of lovers? – Evidence Dolls, 2005 by Dunne & Raby
“Evidence Dolls consists of one hundred plastic dolls used to provoke discussion amongst a group of young single women about the impact of genetic technology on their lifestyle. How will dating change when DNA analysis can reveal the presence of undesirable genes? Evidence Dolls come in three versions based on penis size (small, medium and large). A black indelible marker is provided to note down any characteristics on the dolls body. Hair, toenail clippings, saliva, and sperm can be stored in the penis drawer.” Twitter hashtag: #evidenceSG

WHAT IF…Robots were designed from an emotional point of view? – Technological Dreams Series: No.1, Robots, 2007 by Dunne & Raby
“It’s a dream that refuses to go away. Robots are destined to play a significant part in our daily lives-not as super smart, functional machines, nor as pseudo life forms, but as technological cohabitants. But how will we interact with them? What new interdependencies and relationships might emerge in relation to different levels of robot intelligence and capability: intimate, subservient, dependent, equal?

Robot 1: This one is very independent. It needs to avoid strong electromagnetic fields as these might cause it to malfunction.Robot 2: This robot is very nervous. It analyses everything with its many eyes. If a person approaches too close it becomes extremely agitated and even hysterical.Robot 3: This robot uses retinal scanning technology to decide who accesses our data. It demands that you stare into its eyes for a long time. It needs to be sure it is you.
Robot 4: This one is very needy. Although extremely smart it is trapped in an underdeveloped body and depends on its owner to move about.” Twitter hashtag #emorobotSG

The exhibition was also interesting to me on a purely visual level. As a designer, occasional film-maker and keen photographer, the imagery both in the exhibition and the staging of the works is really interesting. I took quite a few photographs of the exhibit, which are on Flickr. Lastly, as a user of social media, I was interested to see that visitors to the Science Gallery are able to post their opinions about each of the displays on the social networking site Twitter, via hashtags that accompany the description of each piece.

The exhibition is free (although a small donation is requested in order to cover costs for running these exhibitions in the Science Gallery) and open to the public until December 13th 2009. Further details are at the end of this post and on the Science Gallery’s website.

Refresh Dublin – running in conjunction with the ‘What If’ exhibition:

I am delighted to announce that the first Refresh Dublin event will be held in the Science Gallery on Thursday October 29th, running in conjunction with the ‘What If’ exhibition. More information on Refresh Dublin is available on the website: http://www.refreshdublin.org. The speaker line-up for the first event will be announced next week. You can sign-up for updates via the website, follow us on Twitter or join the Facebook group.

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08:10:09-13:12:09

WHAT IF…
FUTURE FORM, FUTURE FUNCTION?
Science Gallery,
Dublin.
Website

“WHAT IF…insects could diagnose illness? WHAT IF…clouds were modified to snow ice cream? WHAT IF… we lived in a society where our every thought was public? These are just some of the questions asked in the upcoming exhibition at Science Gallery which probes the space between reality and the impossible and where designers meet scientists to explore the future.

WHAT IF… has been curated by leading London based design duo Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby and features a range of works by designers who have explored everything from using animals as life support machines, through to what happens in a society where machines can read your every emotion.

On show in the gallery will be a diverse range of work including The Race by Michael Burton which looks at how people and their non-human cells can coexists and scrutinizes our inadvertent creation of superbugs like mRSA through the misuse of antibiotics and James King’s Dressing the Meat of Tomorrow looks at recent advances in tissue engineering which enable us to grow meat without the expense, cruelty and traditions of rearing the whole animal.
We want your comments and thoughts on the pieces on show. Each individual exhibit has its own Twitter hashtag – if you comment on this exhibition please use this hashtag.”

FITC (Flash in the Can) is one of the largest and longest running events for the design and technology community. The 2009 Toronto event celebrated what it means to “live, think and play outside the lines” this year, with three days packed full of inspiring sessions focused on the art and craft of interactive design and technology.

Interestingly, the “Flash in the Can” name is a reference to Adobe’s Flash software and CAN – taken from Canada. The inaugural festival previously focused strictly on Flash. However, the scope of events has broadened to include motion design, creative inspiration, mobile and gaming technologies as well as other forms of interactive and digital media technologies such as Flex, Air and others.

Traveling to the event in Toronto (a great city, my first time there) was a great opportunity to check out Toronto and the interactive design and technology industry there, to network and to give me some food for thought for when I move to Canada at the start of 2010.

Pre-Conference Day: Workshops and the Get a Job event

I attended R Blank’s workshop “Practical ActionScript 3“, which covered the fundamental changes in ActionScript 3. The workshop aimed to teach attendees the core changes in AS3 and how to execute all basic functionality (such as loading external music, keep using your FlashVars, and parse through huge XML files) while getting a handle on some of the new terms and concepts available in AS3. Blank also presented a session titled “Get Off Your Ass and Start Using AS3 Already!“, which although I did not attend I am happy to say that I’ve been using AS3 ever since.  If you haven’t gotten off you ass and started using AS3 yet, do it!

During the workshop’s lunch break I took some time to explore the Get a Job event in which a number of leading agencies presented and set up booth to talk to potential talent about future opportunities. During this time, I got to talk to some of the people at great places such as First Born Multimedia, Henderson Bas, Grow Interactive, Relish and Fuel Industries.

The conference itself split sessions into four main streams: Creative, Technical, Business and Panel. There was also some showcase sessions. While I personally chose to attend mainly creative and some technical streams as that content was more relevant and interesting to me, there were some great business and panel sessions that I attended also. If anything, it was sometimes hard to decide what sessions to attend as there could be four all happening simultaneously. The way in which the conference center in the Toronto Hilton hotel was set up allowed attendees to switch between sessions if you so desired, meaning that you could sit in on half of one session at the back of the room and slip out of that to catch half of another session.

 
The Conference:

Listed below are the sessions that I enjoyed most during the 3-day conference. In no particular order:

Zachary Lieberman (thesystemis.com) & Golan Levin (flong.com, Twitter): “Art, Gesture, Computation, Framework.”

“A glimpse, maybe, of possible near futures (and near misses!) in interactive art and design.” 

Lieberman and Levin discussed implementing advanced technology to try and help every day people in their everyday lives. One of the more eye-opening aspects of their presentation focused on an eye-tracking program that they tested with an ex-graffiti artist who is paralyzed due to the debilitating effects of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The software enables him to draw and communicate through eye movements. The duo also presented a range of collaborative and solo projects, and described their “open mouth”

 strategy – As a viewers interest or awe increases, their mouth opens further. They suggested that as the mouth opens, access to the heart opens also. This strategy was demonstrated with sequential photos of a child viewing one of their installations. Another concept that they touched on was DIWO (do it with others) – meaning that it is better for all involved and for the outcome of a project if there is collaboration and sharing of skills. Also eye-opening (but in a completely different way than their earlier demonstration, pardon the pun! – You’ll know what I mean when you view the installation) was the Double-Taker (Snout) interactive installation.

Joshua Davis (joshuadavis.com | Once Upon A Forrest | Twitter): “Space.” 

When I first got involved in digital media in 2000, Davis was the first person in the design and technology industry that I remember thinking was more like a rock star than a designer. That aside, I would consider myself to be one of the many admirer’s of his work. During this engaging and animated presentation, Davis explained how flash technology has enabled him to do “rapid prototyping” sketches. Something that may have taken months with traditional sketching, now takes him a matter of days, thanks to technology.

Camille Utterback (camilleutterback.com): “Responding to Bodies: My Work is Watching You.”

Internationally acclaimed artist, Camille demonstrated the process behind some of of her interactive installations and reactive sculptures. Interestingly, she still uses Director for some of her projects. 

Joshua Hirsch (Big Spaceship | BSS Labs | Twitter): “Big Spaceship: Digital Creative Agency.”

Joshua’s session illustrated the importance of looking into internal projects and experiments, and discussed other important aspects of the Big Spaceship’s approach and process – a focus on collaboration between disciplines, the importance of culture and work environment, and making time to explore alternative techniques and new technologies. Teams at Big Spaceship are organized by projects instead of by job titles.  

Big Spaceship’s work philosophy includes:

• There is no one creative person or overall Creative Director. Everyone can contribute to project ideas and is considered creative.
• They experiment constantly, including experimenting with internal projects – not only client work. 
• Fun begets quality.

I really liked their Hope vs. Despair project that acts as a physical representation of a Twitter mood detector (see image below). Finally, one slide from the presentation in particular stood out: “Don’t hire assholes. No matter how talented.”

Marcos Chin (marcoschin.com): “Pretty Pictures.”

In Marcos’ own words “I believe that content and concept are very important in the creation of a successful illustration; I absolutely love beautiful pictures, but I think that a beautiful image with a strong idea can be even more engaging.”

Marcos, who is best known for his illustrations for the ubiquitous advertising campaign Lavalife showed samples of some of the work that he has done for clients including Time, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. He gave the audience an insight into his image-making process using Illustrator and talked about his experiences of balancing his personal projects with his commercial illustration work.

Carole Guevin (Netdiver): “Online, The Brand is YOU!“

Read more about Carole’s presentation in her article on Netdiver. You can also download her presentation slides as a PDF from the Netdiver site.

“Reality Cheque: Running a Freelance Business.”

This discussion was aimed at freelancers and contained information about how to set your rates, contracts, taxes and incorporation. Panelists were: Dana DiTomaso (LakeStreet Communications | Twitter), Kendra Gadzala (www.gadzala.com), Nadine Lessio (nadinelessio.com  | Twitter) and Stacey Mulcahy (bitchwhocodes.com | Twitter). Moderated by Ann-Marie Cheung (FlashGoddess.com | Twitter).

Joseph Corr & Mathew Ray (Crispin Porter + Bogusky): “Digital Experiences Beyond the Monitor.”

Joseph and Mathew shared the “100 foot experience” of large, interactive installations in destinations including Europe’s largest billboard (Liverpool), domes in Dubai and video projections on the Grand Tower in Jakarta. “Having access to some of the biggest toys in the world is one of the best parts of working with large clients. But, knowing which platforms to incorporate into a campaign, and how to architect a solution to not just support, but take advantage of them can be a complicated task. Lo-fi and homebuilt executions are also possibilities, and often are potential endeavours for students or teams interested in speculative projects.”

The duo spoke about Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” advertising campaign project that allowed users to upload video of themselves explaining how they use their PC. Some of these clips were posted to billboards in Times Square, New York. Users who submitted a video could also text their username to a short code (when they were in Times Square, for example, or else when they were looking at a live web cam of the billboards). The technology would then would pull up their video clip on demand. The duo ended by recommending designers explore getting into interactive displays now, if they haven’t already as they both expect to see more and more of them as consumer demand increases. Entry costs into this area are not as high as you might think – Look at the video of the $2 multi-touch as an example:

MK12 (mk12.com): “Dame Judy Dench Could Kick My Mothers Ass™.”

Shaun Hamontree discussed MK12’s journey designing and executing the main titles and smart table sequences for the latest in the James Bond saga “Quantum of Solace.” Watch the finished intro sequence below:

Thierry Loa (hellohello.bz): “Life, Work and Philosophy.”

Colin Moock (Moock.org | Blog): “Your Phone is Your Controller (and Other Multi-user Adventures.”

Moock explored the world of multi-user experiences, demo-ing an interactive game where the audience could turn their phones into a multi-player game controller.

Matt Lambert (1st Avenue Machine | dieLamb | Twitter): “Technology Paving the Way for Story Telling.” 

Matt discussed the thin line between telling stories while still attempting to create work that is visually and technically impressive. Matt brought the audience back to video editing in the early naughties (2000’s) and observed that at a certain point, the art of storytelling was eclipsed by experimentation with the new technologies at hand. Similarly, Flash designers and developers lost sight of end users and focused more on exploiting the technology. The challenge we face as communicators – whether a Flash designer, developer or film-maker, Matt suggested, was to avoid becoming pigeon-holed in technique or technicalities and for content and concept to precede execution. I couldn’t agree more, concept and content can be lost in digital media projects in favor of “making it look cool.”

View a sample of Matt’s work - Discovery Channel’s EMEA “Footprint”:

View the making of the Footprint video on nofatclips.com

Jared Ficklin (Frog Design | Twitter): “Seeing Sound.”

View a video of Jared demonstrating the Ruben’s tube effect:

Mikey Richardson (AmeobaCorp | Mikeyrichardson.ca | Twitter): “The Things I’ve Learned About Being Creative.”

Mikey discussed some of the lessons that he has learned in terms of creative thinking and demonstrated the value of research, strategy, constantly collecting ideas and visuals, and experimentation. He also discussed specific techniques for coming up with new ideas. Richardson went on to explain the creative philosophy that is used at his design firm AmoebaCorp, which from the sound of things is an really inspiring and creative place to work at. I liked how Mikey emphasized the value of small things that can be overlooked by creatives sometimes, such as “being unfashionable” (see slide below), as vital components in the creative process. His slides were very engaging and well designed also.

View a list of all of the presentations at FITC Toronto 2009.
  

In conclusion:

A really enjoyable and inspiring event. The quality of the presentations and the speakers that were chosen to present at the event were second to none; industry people that know what they’re doing and what they’re talking about. I also liked the opportunities for networking. The people that I spoke to were approachable, accessible and enthusiastic. The networking aspect of the event was invaluable, especially for someone who is not from Toronto and who will be moving to Canada in the near future.

Remember to pace yourself if you are going to any FITC or conference events – we’re talking a full 3 days of conference sessions and then onto the parties each night – 3 days from from 9 a.m. until 1a.m. every day (depending on how late you stay out until at the infamous FITC parties, which I found were a good way to talk to other people that you didn’t meet or see during the day and to unwind after a day-long of sessions).
  

Final words:

Engaging, inspiring, motivating, challenging and lastly, refreshing to see how friendly the Flash / Design / Technology community is worldwide.

- Niamh. @nredmond

MORE INFORMATION: UPCOMING FITC EVENTS, RELATED LINKS AND PHOTOS.

Future FITC events:

If like me, you would like to attend a FITC event again, or possibly for the first time, be sure to check out their website, which details all upcoming events. On the upcoming schedule list right now is FITC Mobile in September 2009 (the early-bird tickets are available until July 17th 2009), the FITC Un-conference event that is part of Adobe Max and FITC Edmonton, both in October 2009.

Related links:

The official FITC Toronto 2009 blog

Big Spaceship’s Labs | FITC Toronto 2009 Link Dump

Photos:

- The official FITC Flickr stream.

- My photos from the event are available to view in my Flickr stream.

Art by Joshua Davis:

I attended the Irish premiere of Public Enemies yesterday evening. The new film, directed by Michael Mann, is based on the life of 1930’s American gangster John Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp. The film hadn’t even made the final cut (as the end credits had yet to be added) but I was one of the lucky few who got to see it in advance of its worldwide release (thanks to movies.ie for the tickets).

Set during the Great Depression, the film is an adaptation of Bryan Burrough’s non-fiction book Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI. The story focuses on the true story of criminal John Dillinger and FBI agent Melvin Purvis’s efforts to stop him (Purvin is played effectively by Christian Bale). Concentrating on the gangster’s last years (1933 – 1934), Dillinger is portrayed as a Robin Hood type character, whom was somewhat idolized at the time by a public that was bored, broke and struggling during a depression. His manipulation of the press and his tendency to rob banks while letting the customers keep their own money added to his appeal at the time.

Depp plays the character with effortless charisma, delivering true to form slickly-scripted lines such as “I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars and you. What else do you need to know?” in response to a young lady’s request of wanting to know more about him. The lady in question becomes his girlfriend, Billie and is played by Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard with a great combination of hope and fear. There are some big moments in the film such as Dillinger’s escape from “escape proof” Crown Point jail where he drives off in the female sheriff’s car. Beyond the gun-packed chases, dangerous jailbreaks and daring bank robberies, however, much of the film unfolds in a surreal limbo somewhere between docu-style reality and beautiful urban legend storytelling. This surreal mood is embodied in scenes such as the one where Dillinger walks into an almost empty police station and chats to a few police men there about the score of a baseball game or when he sits under a giant image of his face on a cinema screen while a public service announcement asks the audience to stay vigilant as “he could be the man sat next to you.” Unfortunately, the plot is the films downfall as the story never fully develops and characters aren’t really explored. Many of the era’s personalities are paraded before the cameras (J. Edgar Hoover, Baby Face Nelson and so on) but they don’t have a meaningful place in the storyline other than the fact that they were involved in Dillinger’s life, and ultimately his death. An investigation into character is seriously lacking. For this reason Public Enemies is not quite a great movie. It’s a really good movie but there’s something missing – a more complex narrative or a deeper sense of who John Dillinger really was. It’s lacking a human element and perhaps some Depp-th, pardon the play on words.

What does make Public Enemies a really good movie however, is the technique. The film is technically impressive. Mann’s somewhat controversial decision to shoot with the Thomson VIPER camera, one of the most high-end HD cameras available today, marked one of the first occasions that a big budget, Hollywood period piece had been shot using the format. The debate over film versus digital has increased over recent years with directors like Steven Soderbergh and David Lynch declaring their love for digital cinematography and subsequently committing to this by shooting their films Bubble and Inland Empire using HD equipment. Digital cinematography has also become pervasive in independent film-making as it is extremely cost effective to shoot with. Mann, however, isn’t trying to save money. Instead, he uses High Definition to open up a new dimension in artistic film-making and in a way that complements the story. The depth of field in his films extends further than films shot on 35mm and things simply look different. The VIPER camera can pick up extensive detail and thus adds a more realistic visual tone to a scene, giving it a documentary-like realism. As a result, Public Enemies feels more believable. And this is what makes the movie important on a visual level. It hints at how the HD format can be used to unveil different dimensions in a scene or present an audience with a different, more authentic version of an era that they have never seen before. Mann stated that he wanted audiences to fully interact with the movie: “I shot in HD for a reason. My objective wasn’t to have people look at a period film, I wanted the audience to be involved in the film. I wanted it to feel like it had all the complexity of what it was like in that period of time.” (Source: Michael Mann’s HD defence.)

The sound design was excellent – guns in a Michael Mann movie really do sound like guns. The composer Elliot Goldenthal scored the film, the soundtrack features Billie Holiday and jazz musician Diana Krall makes a cameo appearance. Interestingly, Mann commissioned graphic designer Neville Brody to create a new font for the film. Brody, which Brody named New Deal. Brody and his team at Research Studios took inspiration from Soviet Constructivist styles, the New Deal program and the publicity material of the WPA as a basis for the font. The final design was apparently selected from more than 300 options. (Source: Wikipedia.)

On one final but interesting note, there is a romantic perspective that it may not have been John Dillinger who was shot that evening at the Biograph cinema. This was not explored in the film but the fact that people are still talking about the gangster is a testimony to both his notoriety and his continuing popularity as a folk hero. It’s this human element that is missing from the film and that could have been more explored in order to turn a really good film into a great film.