Bio: Born in Pennsylvania and raised in New Hampshire, Funpov started working as soon as he could to save up for college. Eventually he’d land a partial scholarship at Emory University to play baseball. After two years of playing ball he refocused effects on his business and online poker studies to continue paying for school. After getting his degree he would then go on to travel in South America, Europe and finally onto the mountains of Thailand for 3 years where he would study eastern philosophy, motorcycles and meditation. This is what sent him way off course to begin studying technology creativity culture and language. Funpov is a point-of-view documentary filmmaker representing the millennial generation.
Phase 1 Proposal: Your idea *
Dear Eyebeam,
I present today a project that is inspired in part by Marcel Proust who in 1923 wrote “The only true voyage of discovery, would be not to visit strange lands but to possess other eyes, to behold the universe through the eyes of another, of a hundred others…”
Titles: “100 EYES” (A) “Eyes Across America” (B) “Through the Eyes of America” © Inside/ Behind the Eyes of America (D)
Details: 50 people, 50 states, POV camera glasses and so they can film the world from their eyes.
Selection: nominations, submissions, and voting (reddit, twitter, facebook, instagram, twitch).
Budget: $5,000 (50 people x $100/ pair)
Publication: Edit 2–3 minute episodes, making a 100–150 minute film across America. This’ll be the 1st feature-length documentary of its kind, shot entirely on a pair of glasses. Also there can be full episodes for supporters.
Process: We send camera glasses out and then drop footage online for dailies and notes. I enjoy editing these shorts myself but can also have the option to hire an editor and play the producer role for bigger picture processing. At least in the beginning.
Philosophy: It’s a powerful social tool that is currently under the radar but will have real world impact in the future because it frees up your mind and your eyes and your hands to engage with others around you.
Technology: Apple, Facebook, Snapchat, Google and Microsoft are all working on wearable AR/VR technology right now which includes a POV camera. The glasses we currently use are singular in that they look normal with the camera sitting softly between the eyes.
Phase 2 Proposal: Project development *
Henry David Thoreau is also another inspiration who once said, “Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?”
I think phase 2 is finalizing the POV documentary and continuing a daily or weekly channel for supporters. Voting will be vital for sustaining any creative project that chases the right stories ideas and characters. The long term goal will be to discover unique POVs around the world and create a judgement free, hands free future where we aren’t separated from our subjects by our screens. This next phase will be about communicating and empowering viewers to decide together as a voice. Maybe this will blend with phase 3 though I’m not sure about the timeline and budget just yet. I do know that I’m flexible and collaborative and ready to listen and learn and play gently with this eye tech to open up to what others will do with it to project their neighborhoods. I want personally to help share from their eyes the origins in the untold personal spaces of the mind. To make sure that they can share sensitively these movie memories, highlights and lowlights, successes and mistakes, plus all the relations and data points in between. All of it a unique recycling of the 100 billion beings and myths who had come before. Maybe we’ll get POV glasses on a astronaut one day or maybe on an about-to-be momma giving birth or an activist in the streets everyday starting the next renaissance. Infinite magical human POVs to glance through for an instant.
Tags: 1000 Eyes (A) Eyes Around The World (B) Through the Eyes of the World © Etc (D); Calendar: Daily: Dailies, Vlog, Pod; Weekly: Shorts, Newsletter; Monthly: Podcast, Vote; Quarterly: Livestream, Subscription campaign renewal, etc. Private behind the scenes, exclusive, premium, full episodes online (either custom website or Patreon) through subscription model (removing advertisers/ data collections). Camera of the future. Data ownership.
Please tell us what you are hoping for in a virtual opportunity like this one *
Democratic community building, Open-sourced, Voting rights, Collaboration, Cross-pollination, Shared dreams, Renaissance.
Please tell us why is Eyebeam the right place to develop this project right now? *
Eyebeam is a match here because “surveillance capitalism” is a great concept that relates closely to “subscription capitalism” as a optimistic solution. Advertisers realistically are on the outs as all companies on earth consider their transitions to the subscription and membership models over the next 10 years. This means that our data could become more private in theory with all products therefore becoming services. This is how I want to help fellow artists/ non-profits in the now future by tightening these relations with their biggest fans. To eliminate the unquenchable thirst for views and hits and followers. Subscriptions are private communities where crowd-creation is supreme. Weekly voting is fundamental to this and POV stories will be a nice social application.
Please tell us how your work relates to building a better digital future *
I think a lot about lately how POV could better a neighborhood between civilians, but also with the police since they protect and serve us. Body cams on some are good but that may not be enough. Solutions for societies is in the new tech now and surveillance (and ads) will be met and resisted by subscriptions and “surveyance” of our our communities (the “Guardian Artists”). Our stories are in our data and our local PDs are a part of it. Maybe they could Protect and Survey instead?
In conclusion, this application has been truly been project opening for me so I sincerely thank you Eyebeam for your time and consideration. I look forward hearing your thoughts.
Creatively yours,
FUN☆POV
FUN☆POV
My ethnic and/or racial group is:
the human race
[submitted 5/30/2020, 11:11pm]
