9, coming out on 9-9-9, is something I've been anticipating. Especially the movie site because I figured it would be something along the lines of the awesome Coraline site. But while it has some interesting marketing gimmicks, the site as a whole is leaving a little to be desired. Well let me step back, the ACTUAL SITE is just a section on the FILM IN FOCUS site (Focus Features?). They've done it a little blog/profile page style with some videos and ad space.

The interesting stuff is the "Before the movie takes place" scenario stuff around the Internet. For example, you can "Join the Rebels" on Twitter and you can "Meet the Scientist" on Facebook. I find it interesting that these tactics really haven't changed, they've just changed location. Years ago I signed up to receive updates from the movie LOST SOULS (starring Winona Ryder and Ben Chaplin). At the time those updates came in the form of an e-mail or several from "Maya Larkin" (Winona Ryder's character) telling those of us on the list that the end was near. The Scientist is saying the same thing on his Facebook page. And I kinda want something more since it's all a rehash of the same ol' smart machines take over the world thing.

The "something more" comes from the 9experiment.com site and the "talisman" site. The intention of the former is to be like an exploration of The Scientist's lab ... it feels a bit like I'm playing Myst or BioShock though it's narrated and introduced by Elijah Wood (as himself).

There are a couple of things that take me out of the experience of the site. The first is the poor color contrast on the bottom menu - I can't read the navigation callouts.



Another is the diagrams and things that I'm supposed to interact with but I can't really see clearly. That is IF I'm supposed to be seeing something important at all.

The Scientist's book is full of backstory and thus an interesting read for prior to the movie viewing but little things like this annoy me:



I'm NOT LISTENING!! I'm READING!! Eek!

But other than the pet peevy stuff, there is some interesting propaganda art on the site.





Then we go to the Talisman site. I think the idea is interesting... being "The world is ending so let's make a time capsule of memories" sort of thing. But implemenation is a little odd. All I really seem to be able to do is upload pictures and then comment on them. Then they do that "fun" thing where I zoom into my picture and it is seemingly made up of more of my pictures like a photo mosaic. Ok...... 10 bucks says this Talisman isn't going to be on the web long enough to really be a time capsule anyway.

Plus my internet is lame so every time I get loaders of doom I get annoyed.



The site ambience is good though. I've had it on in the background for an hour or more and it hasn't bugged me once.

Another interesting promotional gimmick is the 9 bar code posters. Apparently if you see these around, download an app for your smart phone (if you've got one) and then "scan" these with your phone camera - you can unlock some video content. This is cool though unfortunately something that proves we Americans are behind the times technologically. In Japan you can scan your phone on a vending machine for a Coke! Let's catch up with that!

Here's some video about that 9 code:



Overall I grade the 9 site (and I'm counting the 9Experiment.com site as THE site) at about a B. Better than many but not as clean as things like Coraline or as immersive as the District 9 experience.

Labels: movie site review

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Official Site (http://www.benjaminbutton.com/)


I am very confused by the official site for the Curious Case of Bejamin Button. This is magical movie, directed by David Fincher, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, already nominated for awards...etc. etc. etc. I go back to "magical" for a second here - I expect MAGIC from this site. I want to know why he ages differently. I want to know where on Earth he lives. I want to know how he affects history. I want to know more about the friggin' story - at the least - in one place.

But the site is a mish mash of oddness akin to scattered papers on a desk.

The first thing I see on loading of the site is this undefined quote area:



It quickly loads the latest reviews (which makes me think it's powered by some back end Javascript or XML files) which is fine... but the placeholder text could be a little more interesting. On my end it took about 15 seconds before a real quote filled this placeholder and in that time I was scratching my head.



Next I enter the official site (that's why I'm here after all) and it takes EONS to load. Not only is it taking eons but I'm not actually sure where the loader is since it's clearly a time line relating to the story and not a traditional loader. The text on this loading screen is about as interesting as the site gets (in my opinion). Finally I've loaded all the data but nothing changes... only after a few moments of puzzling do I realize that the text "continue" has been added to the bottom of the screen (you'll have to scroll down if the site doesn't fit perfectly above the fold in your browser). (Of course I hadn't noticed that it appeared because I left for coffee while it loaded!)



I'm in the site finally and suddenly it's Where's Waldo starring Brad Pitt. Giant black and white pictures pull in to Benjamin Button at various ages amidst cityscapes or crowds... which might have been interesting as a site intro but this IS the site. The time line seems to be progressing as the pictures zoom in... that doesn't even make sense. Just because we're now zoomed all the way to Pitt does not mean 10 years have passed!?! And having seen the movie - I don't even see how they relate - except in the obvious way (Benjamin Button getting younger as the fashions/architecture get newer).



But maybe there's more? No, not really. The only things on this official site are the giant zooming pictures (the pictures had to be huge in order to zoom in to Pitt without ugly pixelization ... thus the huge download size I guess... but was it worth it?), an audio track and a gallery.



The gallery just sits on top of the giant zooming pictures (which continue to zoom) creating an "interesting" contrast. It might look amazing if it were still but as the picture in the back is still moving... it's distracting.



So what about watching the trailer or reading about the cast/story/etc.? You might expect to find these things on the official site, right? But no! When you click on "View Film Info" we're taken to a NEW site... MSN Movies ?!?! That's where the bulk of the data on the cast and story is. Including the trailers.

But then if I were to click on "Watch Trailer in HD" I'm instead taken to the Apple trailers site... even though the trailers were already on the MSN page.




Find Tickets and Showtimes takes me to 3 different movie ticket buying sites but that's not shocking. Apparently the Benjamin Button site isn't an information provider but rather a hub... a hub that takes too long to load to be a hub. Overall... pretty and atmospheric. But there's no magic.

Labels: movie site review

Science of Sleep (http://wip.warnerbros.com/scienceofsleep/site.html)

The Science of Sleep site employs the film's sense of playfulness and imagination by incorporating dreamlike animations and a tactile appearance (cardboard, tape, handwritten text, etc.) The site also creates interaction opportunities that exist solely for the user to play with. In other words... there's stuff that has no purpose other than to entertain the easily entertained. Nice!

Overall it exactly captures the mood of its story with just its design. No further reading necessary.

Labels: movie site review

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/juno/

The site for the Fox Searchlight release, JUNO, is on the cusp of new interaction design for the current era. It combines traditional Flash movie site design (to present cast and crew bios and story information) with Web 2.0 features like widgets, slide shows, blogs and a social “Junoverse” to connect with the current Internet users.

While the Flash aspect of the site carries the story of the film and its character, the rest of the site keeps users coming back for updated information and connection with other fans. It is a well-designed hybrid and a piece of the larger Fox Searchlight social network.

I really think Fox Searchlight came up with this awesome back end universe for all of its new releases! Joining the FSL network gives you access to all of its movie site releases and allows them to create their own little MySpace-styled "personal home page" for each film. The only downer is that you sacrifice the all-encompassing environment that movie sites usually offer in exchange for the easier update management. The environment is still there though. The hybridization works because the flash environment is above the fold.

Other movies using the Fox Searchlight management/network include:

• The Savages


• Choke


• The Wrestler


• The Secret Life of Bees

If you want to see a "Before and After" of sorts regarding the new style and old style of Fox Searchlight sites - compare the sites for Night Watch and the sequel Day Watch.

Labels: movie site review