London gallery shows four "Perspectives of London" videos by N93

Nokia-sponsored videos by four filmmakers using the Nokia N93 camera phone are on display in London at the Architecture Foundation's Yard Gallery, according to an entry by LetsGoDigital.

The "Perspectives of London" features videos by Jefferson Hack, founder of Dazed & Confused, Another Magazine and Another Man; Naomi Cleaver, designer, writer and TV presenter; Tom Dixon, creative director of Habitat, design company Artek and his design company Tom Dixon; and Nigel Coates, the head architectural professor at the Royal College of Art.

The GSM-based N93 incorporates a 3.2 megapixel camera phone with a Carl Zeiss lens that can shoot videos at 30 frames per second.  It also includes a 3x optical zoom. 

The four films

The films are:

"Jefferson Hack - Dérive film:  Jefferson's perspective is about movement -- he sees the city and the people in it as always-moving.

"To reflect this he has chosen to film Dérive -- capturing the way Les Parkours reclaim the city by offering a way for anybody, regardless of status or race to express themselves.

"Part dance, part marshal art, but in its most basic form -- running and jumping through the city in a fluid and controlled way -- freedom of movement and self expression in its most pure sense.

"Naomi Cleaver - London from Horseback film:  Observing the duality of high tech and low tech Naomi seeks to recreate the perspectives of the past in the midst of the present by filming solely from horseback, up until a century ago the main form of transport around the city's streets.

"The resulting film is a constantly moving vista, from a once common elevation, that also captures the unique reactions to a rogue horsewoman in modern London.

"Nigel Coates - Full Circle film:  Nigel Coates has remained most true to the brief.

"In the search for the highest freely accessible spot in London, he settled on the 4th floor terrace at Tate Modern to make his film, Full Circle.

"With its single take, it explores the contrast between the expansive view over the Thames and the London skyline, and the terrace as a confined viewing platform or theatre box.

"As the camera rotates through a progressively upward spiral it passes from long-shot to studied close-up, back and forth from viewer to the viewed.

"Tom Dixon - The Mirrored Cube film:  Drawn towards the current phenomenon of CCTV cameras and the notion of the world as a stage -- regardless of our awareness -- Tom designed a one-way mirrored cube through which he filmed London.

"Placed in a variety of public locations around London, the film highlights the different aspects of human nature, as Tom watches people watching themselves -- preening, showing off and even pulling out their nose hairs."

Exhibition details

The exhibit will run from October 6 to October 21 and also includes a short video -- takne by the N93 -- about making the four films as well as photos from the N93.

Supposedly, the films may be viewed on Nokia's Nseries Web site.  But I can't find them.  I'm not a fan of the Nseries site because I find it tough to navigate and find specific information.  Flashy graphics take the place of fast-loading, detailed navigational bars.

Although I've lambasted the cellular industry -- especially the cellular operators -- for the awful job they've done marketing (or not marketing) the many ways to use camera phones, Nokia certainly has been doing its part around the world to promote its Nseries' camera and video capabilities.

Unfortunately....

Unfortunately, the N93 isn't available from any U.S. cellular operator so you'll have to pay a lot of money to purchase an unlocked model that will work on, for example, Cingular's GSM network.

Also unfortunately, I believe the N93 operates on four cellular frequencies, but only one is used in the U.S.   So coverage could be a big problem unless a U.S. carrier is willing to offer the phone and Nokia enables U.S. frequencies.

So far, U.S. operators haven't been especially eager to sell the Nseries, Nokia's high end, expensive handsets that company executives call "multimedia computers" rather than "mere" phones.

[Sent via TypePad wireless e-mail with RIM BlackBerry 8700g]