Open Source generically refers to a software in which the source code is made available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design, free of charge. The term Open Source was coined in 1998 by technology publisher Tim O’Reilly.
This principle has since been applied to culture: there are now open source novels, open source paintings, open source encyclopedia and open source films.
Open source cinema occurs when a film along with its sources ( raw files) is made publicly available to everyone to edit, redistribute and remix , almost free of charge via an online download or by other means . The philosophy behind open Source cinema is that collaborative efforts can improve the quality of a film as it can facilitate a direct contact between the film-makers and audience unlike conventional cinema where only the final-cut is shown to the audience.
The shift towards web 2.0, between 2002 and 2005, turned the Internet into a mass global collaborative tool. Web 2.0 was pushed participation even further, opening all cultural content domains (music, encyclopedia, design, news, video etc…) to mass collaboration. The advent of Web 2.0 and New Media technologies greatly helped in advancement of Open Source Cinema.
The earliest open source film ever made is ‘Dancing to Architecture’ by Leroy Black and Kristefan Minski. Shot in 2002, Dancing to Architecture is an experimental and expressive documentary film about the Australian ‘This Is Not Art festivals’ (TINA) – held in Newcastle, every year in October. During the festival people used any possible video format (Mini DV, Digital 8, Video 8, Hi8, DVC Pro, and Webcams) and covered most the events of the festival. The 140 hours of interviews, presentations and workshops, events, exhibitions, performances and time- lapse recordings where then edited to make the final film. The raw footage was also uploaded into an internet archive where anybody could use the footage freely for their own productions – or create a re-edit of the film.
The graffiti on the building in the picture led to the name ‘This Is Not Art festivals (TINA)’
Dancing to Architecture was the first open source documentary of its kind and is to date the only existing motion picture account of the phenomenal This Is Not Art festivals (TINA) – held in Newcastle, Australia every year in October. Filmed in 2002, Dancing to Architecture is essential for anyone
who wants to gain an impression of what the TINA festival is like. It is rapid, chaotic, anarchic and urgent. It is dramatic, electric, technical, and socially relevant. It is Australia’s biggest event for communications, new media arts, music and activism.
You can watch Dancing to Architecture at the link below:
https://archive.org/details/DancingToArchitecture-AMotionPictureAboutTina
Dancing to Architecture is a challenge to documentary makers, a challenge to thoroughly break with tradition, confront the notion of documentary and become more creative and innovative.
Dancing to Architecture is inspired by the early work of Dziga Vertov (Man With a Movie Camera).
In 2006 another open source project came into existence which is known as Stray Cinema . It is was an experiment that combined filmmaking with online information sharing. Founded by New Zealander Michelle Hughes, it allows people to download and edit footage from short films and feature films made by the Stray Cinema team. Anyone is free to make a new version of her film and give it alternative scenes and endings.
Hughes says the project is an attempt to attract first-time filmmakers put off by the cost of making a movie. “We want to hand over the reins to a wider community,” she says. “Our project embraces the idea that 10 heads may be better than one. We accept that other people might make a more interesting cut of our movie.”
Stills from Stray Cinema’s Open Source film ‘Beginning, Middle and End’
Stray Cinema invites people to submit their versions of the film on their website which are then voted on by the stray cinema community and the top five highest rated films are then screened at a huge multimedia event organized annually by Stray Cinema.
Other examples of open source films include ‘Sita Sings the Blues‘. “Sita Sings the Blues” is based on the Hindu epic “The Ramayana”. Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama. Nina Paley is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by email. Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the Ramayana. Set to the 1920’s jazz vocals of torch singer Annette Hanshaw, Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as “the Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told.” It is written, directed, produced and animated by American artist Nina Paley.
Nina Paley’s ‘Sita Sings the Blues’
“Sita Sings the Blues” was released in 2008 only after long negotiations with the copyright holders of the 80-year-old songs recorded by Annette Hanshaw. Following the experience of almost having her film blocked from distribution, Nina Paley released it freely under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, and now devotes a significant portion of her time to free culture activism.
Recently, Anand Gandhi the director and writer of the highly acclaimed Indian film “Ship Of Theseus” released his film online as an open source film along with six hours of raw footage of the film for amateur film-makers around the world, hence embracing the open source culture. Anand Gandhi has invited people to make their own versions of ‘Ship of Theseus’ and submit them on the official website of the film. Gandhi will host a film festival in Mumbai showcasing the entries. Gandhi terms this “an experiment within the open-source culture” and is curious to see the alternate versions of the film that catapulted him to fame.
Anand Gandhi’s ‘Ship of Theseus’ 2013
Watch Ship of Theseus At http://cineoo.com/sot
Open Source model of film-making functions differently as compared to the traditional methods of film production. The traditional films generally have a singular standardize vision whereas with the open source model anyone, anywhere in the world can download the source files of a film and give it different ending and can change the sequence of the original film, thus multiple versions of the same film are possible which may eventually help to improve the original film. Open source model allow for a more participative approach to film-making than the traditional method where the production company is in total control of the film and releases only the final cut of the film.The Open source method can help in reaching the audience in an unconventional manner which maybe particularly advantageous for small independent film-makers trying to build an audience. The open source model can’t assure economic returns thus mainstream film organizations may not experiment with it in the future.
Conclusion:
Open Source film-making treats audience as active members in a film making process. It acknowledges that ’10 heads are better than one’ and no one person can have all the solutions. Open Source evokes a sense of community among people and encourages them to be a part of the production process. The Open Source method encourages democratization of information among the people of a community. It is based on the principles of peer-to-peer file sharing and creative commons and encourages collaboration among the audience and the film makers.
It offers an unconventional opportunity to aspiring film makers who lack the funds to market their film to build an audience and reach people around the world and connect with them.
The open-source model is not economically feasible as returns are not guaranteed thus its highly unlikely that established production houses will give it a try but it can act as a strong method of engaging audience for independent film makers.
Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lDXrh_K0qI
http://opensource.com/life/11/1/open-source-film-making-todd-harris
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