Archive for February, 2008

‘The eagerly awaited premieres of four New Zealand works at the New Zealand International Arts Festival will give Festival audiences the opportunity to see the finest of our actors, directors, designers, musicians and writers in action…’

Read the newest NZLive.com featured article.

‘It is one of the largest free community events in the world. In recent years it has become a highlight on the Auckland events calendar, regularly attracting crowds in excess of 200,000 and hundreds of performers from all over the Auckland region, New Zealand and the Pacific.’

Read the newest NZLive.com featured article.

by Terry Makewell, National Museums Online Learning Project (Victoria & Albert Museum)

One of the main linchpins for the new Web 2.0 world is user generated content. As I mentioned in a previous post this is moving away from the read only web to a read/write web environment where the user really becomes part of the experience. They are no longer just a passive viewer of the content. They are adding to it and even creating if from scratch.

Within the museum sector many different websites have been created with the aim of getting the user to participate. There are numerous degrees to the model of participation. These range from users commenting, tagging or taking part in forums through to the sole creation of content on websites through bespoke methods or blogs.

One thing that is always difficult, if not impossible, to estimate is the size of user uptake. The ‘if we build it they will come’ mentality has been consigned to the pages of web history. When building a site that calls for user participation it is important to understand what are the star features that will get your users in and using it. The trouble is that it is often very hard to know what these are. The audience is constantly changing and evolving and what they want and what they have come to expect is constantly changing and evolving. Each new website raises the bar slightly higher.

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Māori Television has launched a short film competition to encourage all New Zealanders to re-tell their own ANZAC stories on film and have them screened as part of the channel’s all-day broadcast on ANZAC Day - Friday April 25, 2008.

The ANZAC Short Film Competition is a chance to tell an ANZAC story. The competition is open to people of all ages, backgrounds and points of view.

Filmmaker Ainsley Gardiner – host of the short film competition along with Tearepa Kahi – says the first-hand recollections and stories of those who have experienced the events commemorated on ANZAC Day are a taonga that will eventually be lost if they are not recorded in some way.

The competition has been established to ensure that the experiences and memories of those veterans and whānau are preserved for future generations and also aims to foster creativity, collaboration and excellence in visual storytelling through short film.

“Kiwis, young and old, are encouraged to find the unique personal war stories of their family members or communities – from the trenches, in the air, at sea, at home, after the war or beyond – and use today’s technology to bring them to light,” explains Tearepa.

“The emphasis is on giving it a go, grabbing some mates or whānau, picking up a camera and putting your take on ANZAC Day into a short film of five minutes or less.”

Entry forms and full details are available from Māori Television’s website or email anzacday@maoritelevision.com for further information.