Simo Holopainen, text and pictures
Anna Shepherd, translation
Films are not only for cinemas and art exhibition installations, say Juha Kaario (left) and Jonas Mekas.
The latest multimedia mobile phones are beginning to be fairly decent devices for watching films. According to Juha Kaario, a research manager for Nokia, new mobiles are designed to function as entertainment centres, and they are now competing with books for peoples' time.
Both are small and are handy to carry around anywhere. However, mobile phones will not even try to compete against the large screens at cinemas or the social function of watching a film.
The role of films in the age of mobile internet was under speculation on Saturday in the Visions on Digital Distribution of Film Seminar. The discussion was organised in connection with the Film Festival, and amongst the participants was Jonas Mekas, a filmmaker.
Mekas thinks that films are not dependant on the size of the screen display. The content is much more important than the device. What makes a film impressive is born out of a good story and a passion for filmmaking.
– As a child at school I saw some paintings of Rembrandt in a very poor art book. The quality of the paper and the print was very bad. But that didn't make the paintings themselves any less beautiful and enchanting.
Lively discussion took place in the crowded auditorium in Werstas.
Meklas sees the latest revolution in the distribution of films as just one link in a long chain of change. Turning points have been the transition from 35-mm film to video and from there towards digital filming. Makes sees the change as nothing but a good one.
– Viewers will be able to experience films completely differently, as they can watch moving pictures in different environments. Everything becomes a big installation.
Research at Nokia has found that users can concentrate on programme content from their mobile for at least half an hour at a time. Subtitling foreign films, which is very common in Finland, has not really been taken into consideration when developing the screens on mobile phones. Perhaps they are best suited for enjoying films in their original language.
– Adding subtitles is technically possible, but it takes up a lot of screen space, says Kaario.
Updated 11 March 2007 13:55
