NEXT 5 MINUTES TELEVISION, AMSTERDAM
A proposal by Raul Marroquin and Zoran Novakovic.
N5M TV from De Balie/Paradiso estimated time - 24 hours
Live coverage of the event i.e. debates and discussions, interviews,
round tables, from both,
De Ballie
and Paradiso, as well as prerecorded video material generated from N5M
video library, computer networks and a material supplied by the
participants. Live and prerecorded presentations, music and performances,
demonstrations.
N5M TV from Studio The Nest estimated time - 18 hours
Continuous debates, interviews. Teleconferencing by means of CU SeeMe,
view phones, news groups, IRS's, BBS. Phone-ins, a digital television.
Television programming from The Nest is aimed to enhance the conference,
and to extend it as to make it a twenty-four-hour event. It will also be
an extension of a Permanent Autonomous Zone, a platform for all those
whose participation was not originally planned, but who may contribute to
the conference in various ways. It will be a place to further discuss
different topics related to the conference and to conduct one- to-one
interviews. Artists, musicians and media activists can put up live
performances, concerts, etc... A video material shot during the
conference, as well as that provided by guests and participants will be
cablecasted as a part of The Nest TV programming. A use of a consumer
telecommunications electronica will allow those groups and individuals
that are not present at the conference to take part in it. An emphasis
will be on the areas that are 'behind the clock' i.e. Americas, the Far
East, Australia, etc. TV viewers will be able to participate as well, and
to give relevant comments by means of phone-ins, fax, BBS, etc... A
digital television, as a part of Studio The Nest, can be regarded as an
electronic magazine produced by use of Amiga computers. It will consist of
agendas, previews, schedules, reviews and general information about N5M,
plus highlights, excerpts and quotations, statements, wise cracks,
anecdotes, points of view. It gives us a possibility to keep an Amsterdam
viewer updated on the events of the conference on minute-to- minute basis.
An information can be scripted throughout a day and cablecasted whenever
needed or necessary. Scanning facilities enable an almost immediate
presentation of any hard copy material supplied by participants. The Nest
equipment list consists of camcorders, vision mixer, TBC, VHS and U-matic
recorders/players, tripods, bnc and audio cable, Amiga and Apple
computers, digitizers, scanner, fax and photocopy facilities.
The Shuttle Television estimated time - 6 hours
Shuttle Television is a tactical way
to generate a program for the studios based in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
The idea is to create a CU SeeMe link between a bus shuttling from
Amsterdam to Rotterdam and back, and the studios in both cities. For such
a link-up, a bus must be provided with a laptop computer, a black and
white camera, a modem and two cellular phone lines - one for the modem,
and the other for a voice transmission. The signals received at the cable
stations in Amsterdam and Rotterdam can be directly cablecasted. A
technology used does not has to be CU SeeMe only. There are other options
such as dispatches, news groups, IRC, etc... A material recorded by a
camcorder crew on board can be cablecasted later during a program.
N5M News
N5M News is intended to be an
electronic magazine published continuously throughout the conference via
Salto's public access (Open Kanaal), and an 'in house' version on monitors
placed in both, De Balie and Paradiso. It will be an integral part of all
television programming, and in particular of The Nest's Digital
Television. N5M News will be cablecasted at the prearranged times as well
as a back up in a case of technical failures, or lack of a live
programming. Combined teams of editors will be working in different
shifts, so that the facility is operational on a round the clock basis.
Immediacy is a key word of this service. Whatever relevant information is
available, it can be scripted and cablecasted right a way. A configuration
of N5M News is not an ideal for a publication of long text files or real
time video sequences. It should consist of summaries, digests, abstracts,
statements, head lines, announcements, high lights and similar. Graphics
and short animated sequences (including a sound) can be scripted and
cablecasted as well. Participants, guests and visitors can submit a
material in any format. They will be able to participate in editing and
production of N5M News, and are encouraged to do so. The participants will
be working with almost obsolete but most efficient DTP facilities -
packages developed by Amsterdam Public Access throughout the last decade,
and these are known to work. A hardware is all a consumer oriented
electronica and desk-top based, so that it can be fitted in any space that
is provided with a cable TV connection. A main program will be run on
Amiga 4000. In addition to it, there will be a battery of Amigas, a
minimum three of them, available to the guests to generate a material and
publish it. Included will be also a colour scanner in order to deal with
all kinds of incoming hard copy (drawings, news-paper clips, text files,
photos, etc). Apple and PC computers will also be used for file
conversion, data handling, internet and other online services. As far as
a digitalization is concerned, we will combine a simple but very efficient
hardware such as DCTV with the more advanced technical facilities such as
a German made Snap Shot. This will enable us (as well as the
participants) to produce fairly sophisticated graphics and animated
sequences complete with a digitized sound. An intention behind the
digitalization of moving images and sounds is not to emulate a live or a
real time television, but rather to produce concise blocks of a digital
information. Guests and participants should be advised about the options
offered by N5M TV facilities, so that they can incorporate it
into their participation.
