Light, As A Feather by Paul Kamuf

Paul Kamuf has created this conceptual piece that, like Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin's website/video for Arcade Fire's We Used To Wait, extends the whole experience of watching a video via a web browser.

Essentially it's the visual manifestation of a text message as a bird, which lives only on its own website (www.conventionalthought.com) and where new windows pop open as the 'text-bird' makes its way to its destination. In short, the imagery is strong and simple - with music by John Pugh of the band Free Blood - but it's the creation and manipulation of screens of all shapes and sizes that make this compelling. And Paul Kamuf, who previously directed a fine video for Crookers, didn't use bleeding-edge HTML5 to make it either. The results are so impressive the American media have been paying attention.

"My goal with this piece was to make something that goes beyond traditional film aspect ratios, challenging 'consumer filmmaking'," Paul explains. "Your camera or software might demand you shoot or create at that rectangular size, but those are just made up sizes!
"The original idea was to make a music video, but it actually ended up being a reverse music video, where the music was crafted as the video was already taking shape," he continues, "John Pugh, from the amazing and innovative band Free Blood, wrote a new track that embodied and then amplified the tone, feel and movement of the whole piece.

"One of the unique features of the piece is that the browser is a part of the story, changing size according to each scene. Two skilled programmers helped make this idea a reality by creating a system where I could control the browser's size and movement at all times, down to the millisecond. While the technology isn't brand new, as far as I know this is the first time it has been used in a storytelling capacity."

Watch 'Light, As A Feather by Paul Kamuf' here