Joachim Vlieghe

" I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot. " JDS

This is an article I wrote for Apache News Lab based concerning the Oscar nomination and winnings of ‘The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore’.

(Published by: Apache.be - Date: 6 maart 2012 - Author: Joachim Vlieghe)

Tijdens de Oscar uitreikingen waren alle ogen in België ongetwijfeld gericht op ‘Rundskop’. Het gebeurt dan ook niet vaak dat een film van eigen bodem op de lijst van genomineerden prijkt. Maar er waren ook andere opmerkelijke genomineerden, zoals het interactieve e-book ‘The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore’. U leest het goed, een e-book werd genomineerd voor een Oscar. Sterker nog: William Joyce en Brandon Oldenburg slaagden er zelfs in het gegeerde gouden beeldje in de wacht te slepen.

READ MORE…

fastcompany:

And The Oscar For Best Short Film Goes To … An iPad App

Here’s the backstory on Morris Lessmore’s creators, Moonbot Studios:

At Moonbot’s Louisiana Studio, Hollywood Vets Dream Up Magical, Interactive Stories

With Moonbot Studios, a children’s animation star remakes the cinematic experience. And that’s just his first trick.

By John Pavlus:

Last night an unexpected masterpiece won the Oscar for best short film (also see: oscar.go.com/nominees). The real milestone: It was an iPad app. Also remarkable: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore was the brainchild of Moonbot Studios, a startup out of Shreveport, Louisiana. (…)

E-books are already a fraught subject for many readers, writers, publishers, and designers, but children’s e-books are even more so. Is it rotting their minds? Is it as good as good ol’ paper? Is it too interactive for their own good? Obviously there are no practical answers to such questions, but at least one children’s e-book/app/thingie (what do we call these things, again?) is doing it very, very right. It’s called The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, and it’s like a well-written bedtime story and an immersive animated movie at once—without being “too much” of either.

This is most definitely an interesting development. Apparently ebooks are also becoming competitors in the film-industry. I guess this is an excellent example of media convergence and its effects on ‘older’ media and related institutions (like the Oscars).