About
Jeff Watson is an artist, designer, and Assistant Professor of Interactive Media and Games at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
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Category Archives: Blog
Strange Toys
Imagine you’re in some medieval Kingdom and the king is a mendacious psycho and the reality is that his policies are going to a) harm pretty much everyone but the rich and powerful; and b) erase the good works of … Continue reading
Posted in Blog
Tagged donald trump, e3, ethics, play, toys, usa, videogames, wizards
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Jamie XX – Gosh (2016)
Another breathtaking video from Romain Gavras. Shot at and around the “Eiffel Tower” in the semi-abandoned Chinese city of Tianducheng. h/t Monika Bielskyte.
Posted in Blog
Tagged china, drones, jamie xx, music, romain gavras, tianducheng
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Biology of Story Interview: “Living is a Story Thing”
Thanks to Amnon Buchbinder and the Biology of Story team for conducting and smartly editing this interview with me. Check out Amnon’s description of the project and start exploring other thinkers on the topic of story here.
Posted in Blog, Interviews
Tagged amnon buchbinder, biology of story, games, hockey, narrative, play, sports, story
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E3: Putting Play in its Place Since 1995
There’s so much wrong with the videogames industry, and there will always be important work to be done within it. But sometimes, in our attention to urgent matters, we can lose the forest for the trees. The entire enterprise deserves … Continue reading
Posted in Blog
Tagged buzzkill, democracy, e3, play, playmaking, power, uses of play, videogames
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A summer filmmaking assignment for my students at the USC School of Cinematic Arts
The film is exactly 97 minutes long, including credits. All the dialogue adds up to a total of 109 words. The story is told in eighteen scenes. Each scene is a single uncut shot. The main character is a superhero. … Continue reading
Posted in Blog
Tagged assignments, constraints, filmmaking, mallard green, minimalism, mustard, students, superheroes
12 Comments
Jaakko Eino Kalevi – Deeper Shadows (2015)
“No one cares about you and your things.” http://weirdworldrecordco.com/jek/
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Tagged jaakko eino kalevi, music
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Network Earth
Is it possible to predict when a complex system will collapse? Might network analysis enable us to identify the “tipping points” of economies and ecologies at a variety of scales? Could such analyses increase our odds of averting catastrophe? This … Continue reading
Posted in Blog
Tagged data visualization, ecology, environment, jianxi gao, mauro martino, network, resilience
5 Comments
Wikipedia Method #1
Think of a known idea, person, place, or thing you care about and/or want to learn more about. Ideally, this whatever-it-is should have its own Wikipedia article. For example, “Love,” or “Austre Moland.” Now go to Wikipedia and click on … Continue reading
Haptoclone
High-fives at a distance: The [Haptoclone] system concentrates ultrasound energy at the intersections of the real and clone objects, which creates pressure to the real objects. If the “real object” is your finger, you feel contact force from the 3D … Continue reading
Reality is an Emergency
The following is an edited version of my remarks delivered to close the Fall 2015 run of “Reality Starts Here” (CNTV-101), a foundational class attended by all first-year students at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Designed as both a … Continue reading
Posted in Blog
Tagged art, cntv-101, death, empathy, reality ends here, reality starts here, teaching, time
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