The inaugural Byte Me! Festival, a celebration of geek creativity and digital content, commences in just over a week at the Perth Town Hall.
If you're interested in animation, games development, visual FX for film and TV, 3D modelling, social networking and other web 2.0 applications, digital art and media, VJing or pretty much any way digital technology can be used to create, visualise, entertain, simulate... then this is for you.
Friday 30th Nov - Perth Town Hall
9pm A Fairlight Fetish - vintage audiovisual showcase featuring Chrism and Fenris making music on Commodore 64s, MoRph and VJzoo with their collection of Fairlight CVI video synthesisers from the 80's and 90's, and other surprise very special guests. $19/$9.50
Saturday 1st Dec - Secret CBD location
8.30pm Live Cinema - VJing grew up, went to school and this is what it became. Using the same tools and techniques developed in nightclubs, live video performance has now become a recognised artform. Some of the very best in the world will be in Perth to collaborate on this event - a large-scale outdoor video projection performance unlike anything you've seen here before. Solu (Finland/Barcelona), ArtificialEyes.tv (Turkey), Jean Poole (Melbourne) and local practitioners VJzoo will be performing at a secret CBD location to be announced on the website on the day. Bring your own chair, beanbag or cushion, and the performance will start at dusk (about 8.30pm). This is a family friendly event - bring a picnic supper, but NO ALCOHOL. Free.
Sunday 2nd Dec - Perth Town Hall
11am Business Models for a Digital Landscape - the serious side of the digital content revolution - how can digital content creators make a living in this new world? What are the challenges and the opportunities? Presented by the AFTRS Centre for Screen Business. $19/$9.50
Sunday 2nd Dec - Perth Town Hall
3.30pm An Animated Life - Melanie Beisswenger (Germany) will share her experiences as an animator on a wide range of projects, from animating on TV commercials in smaller studios to work on large feature film productions such as Happy Feet. Randall Lynton from Liquid Amber Design (Perth) will discuss his work as the award-winning animator of Ransis and Alee and Suicidal Balloon. $19/$9.50
Sunday 2nd Dec - Perth Town Hall
6pm Official Opening - by Invitation only, for Industry VIPs and Media. The Festival will be officially opened by The Right Honourable The Lord Mayor, Lisa Scaffidi and The Honourable Francis M Logan BA (Hons) MLA Minister for Energy, Resources, Industry and Enterprise. Keynote Speech of the Festival will be delivered by Posie Graeme-Evans, producer of McLeod's Daughters, co-creator of Hi-5, best-selling novellist, lyricist and all round dynamo. There will be a screening of the Get Reel to show you the great digital content being created here in WA.
Monday 3rd Dec - Perth Town Hall
6pm Figwit - Lord of the Rings Fan Doco - Australian Premiere Screening and Director Q+A. How did a non-speaking extra in Lord of the Rings become a cult star in his own right? If you've heard the story of Figwit (Frodo is Great... Who Is That?), now you can see the documentary and hear from the film-maker Stan Alley (NZ) in this tongue-in-cheek exploration of online fandom featuring Bret McKenzie from Flight of the Conchords . LOTR costumery encouraged for this Green Carpet screening! $19/$9.50
Weds 5th Dec - Perth Town Hall
6pm Music Video Art Panel and Show n Tell. With the Perth music scene getting so much attention, it's time for the film and art scene to step into the same limelight. 'Music Video Art' will be a night of screenings and discussion into the collaboration between Perth artists from different fields, and creating large scale projects that break new ground. Hosted by WA film-maker Mat de Koning. $8/$5
Thurs 6th Dec - Perth Town Hall
6pm From Far Far Away First in the Byte Me! big-screen Show 'n Tells by people in the Industry. Some of these talks will be a bit technical, but they'll all be aimed at a non-geek audience. Think of it like the 'Making Of' extras on a DVD, except - you get to ask questions! This session's speakers are Sue Erokan from Dreamworks Animation (USA) who worked on the Shrek movies and Martin Davidson from animatED publishing company FinnCragg (Perth) $19/$9.50
Thurs 6th Dec - Perth Town Hall
9pm Plug n Play is a regular, hands-on audiovisual jam session where VJ's, electronic musicians, AV acts and other audiovisual geeks come along and show off their skills, style and equipment to each other. If you've ever been interested in VJing, this is the night to come along. Newbies are VERY welcome! Mix with local, interstate and international VJs, talk to them, have a play with their equipment. $8/$5
Saturday 8th Dec - Perth Town Hall
6pm From Dubai to Skull Island - Visual FX Revealed. Creating Fantasy Worlds, from Digital to Analogue. Perth-based 3D graphics studio Last Pixel will take you behind the scenes on some recent international projects, then Paul van Ommen (NZ) will discuss his role with Weta Workshop, and with The Miniatures Unit that created and filmed the models for King Kong and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. $19/$9.50
9pm Closing Party (Invitation Only) International and local festival guests will perform for the entertainment of volunteers, sponsors and other Byte Me! buddies. Get involved to get invited! Volunteers are still needed for both day and evening shifts during the Festival.
Sunday 9th Dec - Perth Town Hall
1-4pm BarCampNano - Perth is rapidly becoming known as a hotspot for great web 2.0 startups and the most active blogging community in Australia. BarCamp will feature short talks by some of the most exciting web-based businesses in a casual, fun Show n Tell style. Free, but online Registration required
Sunday 9th Dec - Perth Town Hall
6pm She Got Game (He Got TV) - Robin Hunicke is the Lead Game Designer on MySims at EA's Sims Division. In her copious spare time, she's finishing a PhD in Computer Science at Northwestern University, studying Artificial Intelligence and Video Games. Robin will be joined by Perth animator Stephen Grant who will talk about his work on the animated TV series Dogstar, shortly to commence airing on the Nine Network, and a range of other Australian and international projects $19/$9.50
Daily 2-9 Dec - Perth Town Hall
Various Times Get Reel is a collection of Western Australian digital content that covers a wide spectrum - from animation to ads, from 3D fly-throughs to games development, from engineering to education, from virtual safety training to visual FX for film and television. We're aiming to show you the variety of work being done, the rich diversity of jobs and the international opportunities that skills in digital content development can open up. $8/$5 (includes free Byte Me! Bag with info about digital careers).
Daily 2-9 Dec - Throughout CBD, start at Perth Town Hall
10am - 5pm Registration, play any time. Ghost Town. Giant Dice's new innovative game of urban exploration played with the help of your mobile phone, is being unleashed on the streets of Perth for one week, starting December 2nd, 2007. The game uses a mashup of technology (bluetooth, SMS and VOIP) and the physical world. Free.
and much much more... http://bytemefest.blogspot.com