When Curtis Wong of Microsoft Corp. presented graduates of the Canadian Film Centre’s MediaLinx h@bitat with their diplomas July 12, he summed up their work by noting a dichotomy that prevails within new media.

‘The future is here now,’ said the manager of Microsoft’s Next Media Research Group, which is devoted to identifying and developing future technologies, ‘it’s just unevenly distributed.’

Judging by the four prototypes completed by students in the latest MediaLinx New Media Design Programme, that distribution is focused heavily on the grounds of the CFC.

MediaLinx, with an annual budget of $500,000, was created to encourage the research and development of multimedia projects within the entertainment industry. The initiative offers workshops and a monthly lecture series, but at its core is New Media Design, a four-month, full-time program, which focuses on the creative, business and technical sides of new media content development.

Industry professionals and members of the media were invited to view the latest hybrids of technology and storytelling created by residents of the program.

The four prototypes, Conrad The Clown, esc, Revelation and Gentle Subversion: The Canadian Psyche on Film, cover as much ground as might be possible in the wide-open territory of new media entertainment. From still-life animation to digital video; from straight narrative to non-linear interactive documentary, the prototypes demonstrate just what is possible in a medium bound, if not by rules, then perhaps only by insufficient bandwidth.

‘It’s really the starting point,’ says Lisa Santonato, co-creator of Revelation. ‘It’s an exploratory process in storytelling…it’s innovative in the sense that it’s a new way of telling a story.’

Unlike other cfc programs which prepare residents for the modern worlds of film and television, MediaLinx has its eye on something down the road. Viewing the new prototypes, it becomes apparent quickly that none has any present-world applications. Some, such as the esc prototype, are too file-heavy to even put on a cd-rom.

To be fair, students are quick to point out these are prototypes and not yet complete.

Still, the day appears not too far off when the Internet and cable tv come together and the public can view such programming from their living rooms. In fact, the same day as the graduation ceremonies took place at the CFC, Microsoft and Rogers Communications Inc. announced a deal that they say will accelerate the introduction of interactive tv to millions of Canadian homes. (See story, p. 1.)

When that day finally arrives, the members of the graduating class of MediaLinx believe they will be among the leaders in this emerging entertainment field.

The concepts behind the four prototypes are as follows:

* Revelation: an interactive narrative which uses still photos and music to tell the story of a man in search of his identity after a computer crash;

* Gentle Subversion: an interactive multimedia documentary which employs interviews with filmmakers and clips from well-known Canadian movies to explore the elements which define Canadian cinema;

* esc: a ‘user-powered narrative journey’ using video that forces the viewer to select scenes, or ‘perspectives’ and follow the plot to its conclusion;

* Conrad the Clown: an animated story of a 13-year-old clown living in the real world told in a traditional three-act narrative but which allows the viewer to move the action forward.