‘You can dance your prototype if you like’: independent filmmakers adapting the hackathon

ABSTRACT

Hackathon-style events are increasingly used to facilitate cross-disciplinary learning and innovation in the media industries. Based on an observational study of a hackathon organized as part of the film festival Nordic Panorama (NP) we analyse the challenges in using the hackathon format to facilitate cross-disciplinary learning and innovation for filmmakers, developers and designers. We find that many participants experienced frustrations resulting from a lack of programming skills and their expectation that the hackathon should result in ‘something digital’. Additionally, ideals for authorship embedded in the working cultures of film and TV professionals impeded the team’s ability to involve all participants on an equal footing. As implications for future hackathons we suggest organizers should consider using tools for end-user development and generative toolkits to facilitate digital making and collaborative learning. We also suggest similar events should avoid including project owners if the group work is based on existing projects.

KEYWORDS:

• Design
• film
• hackathon
• hacker culture
• media work

Note on contributors

Joakim Karlsen is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Computer Sciences, Østfold University College. He is researching emerging media production practices for online- and mobile media platforms.

Anders Sundnes Løvlie Assistant professor, IT University of Copenhagen. Coordinator for the Horizon2020 project GIFT: ‘Meaningful Personalization of Hybrid Virtual Museum Experiences Through Gifting and Appropriation’ (gift.itu.dk). Main research areas: Communication design, experience design, locative media, online debate.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Anders Sundnes Løvlie http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0484-4668