And we're off...

According to my sources, the initial opening speech was cancelled, and replaced by a talk from the vice-chancellor. An expert on all things Shakespearian, he gave a talk (of which I have a very muted recording from the back row) that shattered the common misconceptions our society holds of Shakespeare. From what I could pick out behind the overpowering coughs and shuffles of the surrounding audience. Shakespeare was not quite the literary originator we're taught about in school.

He was more of a shrewd business man than a prodigy in the field of play-writing. He stole or plagiarised most of his stories from existing old texts and plays. And spent more time building and moving entire theatre's and conjuring up cunning corporate take-overs of rival theatre companies, as opposed to writing actual plays. Not to say his works weren't great, they just apparently weren't his greatest concern.

There's a certain allure to talented con men of the ages, more romantic a vision to me than a tortured, troubled play write scratching endlessly away at a parchment with his quill. I can't help thinking I might have payed more attention to his works in high school had I known this, but I doubt it would have made his plays any easier to comprehend.

So on to the the first speaker I have notes on here...

A Ms Janet Jones apparently gave some very helpful hints on how to protect your work. The myths surrounding copy write become blurred in the realms of the internet. She states; 'everything on the internet is in the public domain, so free to use.' 

This makes sense, although some websites dedicated to selling photo's or artwork don't allow the option to download or save the image, or they impress them with watermarks. These aren't really soundproof, theif-proof methods of security. The latest edition of photoshop comes with intelligent software that can isolate a watermark on a digital image and remove in without much effort at all. And with the option of screen shots on computers these days, the inability to download an image is hardly a deterrent.

If you're going to put digital images or video's on the internet, your ideas are now a free commodity. Although no one can claim the work is theirs, there isn't much to stop them taking it and reproducing it somewhere else... Until the Adobe Cs6 suite comes out shortly, which comes with the ability to digitally stamp all images and video with personal metadata, so should your work be taken anywhere by someone else, the metadata will reveal it isn't n fact their work. A smart and safe tool that can provide an artist with a little more security over their artistic property.

This ties in closely with my plans for my third year project, which I'll discuss in more detail later. But it's going to be produced in a video format released on a weekly or biweekly basis, that will tell a story in a series of episodes. Myself and the people I plan to work with on it all agree it's to be put out there for free, wherever we can host it. 

That current saying, 'the internet is what you make of it' is an honest phrase. There is money to be out there, but to make money you need a presence in the creative market, and the best way to gain presence, in my opinion, is to give your audience what they want for free. To attempt to hoard your idea's and share them with only those who'll pay as you're starting out. Is practically committing creative suicide. 

No ones going to pay for your stuff if they don't know who you are, give someone something they enjoy for free, and they'll soon remember your name...