FIELD's Energy Flow is an overwhelming beast of digital design

Date
11 December 2012

Digital design studio FIELD have long held a reputation for pushing the boundaries of computer-generated design. With a commitment to the aesthetic qualities of their output that’s uncharacteristic of creatives with such a technical background, they can count themselves almost peerless. Having just released Energy Flow, a monolithic application that offers almost infinite video storytelling subject to the manipulations of its user, they’ve set sail into uncharted waters exploring, for the first time, the potential of generative software and complex programming on narrative storytelling

With the support of The Creator’s Project, Energy Flow has been in the making for the best part of a year and has seen FIELD shut down the commercial wing of their operation to focus on it completely. Working with a variety of freelance digital specialists, including a man who makes his living designing crowds for computer games, they’ve put together a set of 10 films that can be viewed in limitless sequences and iterations (not to mention any number of angles) thanks to the creation of a custom piece of software, The Infinite Film Composer.

The Infinite Film Composer was designed in-house and brings together a variety of complex elements form FIELD’s previous commercial and personal experiments with generative software. In this instance it sequences audiovisual elements from ten individual films and a bank of soundscapes created by David Kamp, remixing them into a unique narrative every time the app is used.

Above

FIELD: Energy Flow

Above

FIELD: Energy Flow

Above

FIELD: Energy Flow

Thematically FIELD’s vision is no less impressive. They’ve drawn on everything from the great traditions of classical storytelling and primitive life and death narratives to the current shifts in scientific understanding and socio-political change brought about by the Arab Spring. It’s a weighty set of ideas underpinned by the key notion that everything in the world is interconnected and governed by chance (an idea exemplified by the throwing of a dice at the start of your app experience) “the fragile equilibrium, the dependencies between economic, political, geographical and cultural factors.”

Next year will see the arrival of a video installation that includes interactive elements as well as narratives that can be experienced as a group. We can only imagine what commercial projects they’ll be approached for in the next 12 months.

Above

FIELD: Energy Flow

Above

FIELD: Energy Flow

Above

FIELD: Energy Flow

Above

FIELD: Energy Flow

Above

FIELD: Energy Flow

Share Article

About the Author

James Cartwright

James started out as an intern in 2011 and came back in summer of 2012 to work online and latterly as Print Editor, before leaving in May 2015.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.