2007年VOA标准英语-Animation Film Festival Ready for Small Screen

By Mil Arcega
Washington
06 July 2007
 

Mobile phone technology is not just revolutionizing the way we communicate - it's also changing the way we are entertained.  Take movies for example:  once limited to the big screen, consumers can now watch movies on a laptop computer or a portable video player.  Organizers of a new animated¹ film festival have taken that concept a step further. VOA's Mil Arcega reports.

The future of animated films may be right at your fingertips - perhaps on something as small as a cell phone.  Organizers of the first ever PLATFORM International Animation² Festival call it a "film festival for the 21st century." 

Irene Kotlarz

Irene Kotlarz is PLATFORM'S founding director.  "It's multi-platform so we are showing films in theaters but we are also showing them on cell phones and outdoors in installations, in galleries, on the Internet," she says.

And with the explosion of media-capable devices such as Apple's iPhone, which can surf the Internet and play videos, the future of the big screen may actually be on the small screen. 

Ross Cox

Ross Cox, a senior director at Cartoon Network's New Media, one of the festival's major sponsors says the technology is changing so fast. "With the technology changing as rapidly as it has been we are finding out that screens aren't necessarily on the big screen or the television screen anymore.  They're in the screen in the pocket and the phone is the screen that people have with them pretty much all the time."

Technology experts say with more than a billion cell phones on the planet, the market for mobile television content is huge.   Animated films are particularly attractive because most are under 40 minutes in length and most are easily viewed on a two-inch screen. 

Kotlarz adds, "There's a real revolution happening because of computers and because of the accessibility of making films for people.  And so I was amazed by how many films we had entered for the festival."

Ross Cox says it's no surprise to marketers, who believe the cell phone is poised³ to become the portable media center of the future. "If you don't have your phone on you right now, you pretty much know where your phone is at any point in time.  And we as content creators are aware of all these different screens of ways that animation can actually be delivered to an audience."

The festival attracted more than 2,000 submissions⁴ from independent animators, who competed for more than $50,000 dollars in cash prizes.

1 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

2 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

3 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

4 submissions   

n.提交( submission的名词复数 )；屈从；归顺；向法官或陪审团提出的意见或论据

参考例句：

• The deadline for submissions to the competition will be Easter 1994. 递交参赛申请的截止时间为1994年的复活节。 来自辞典例句
• Section 556(d) allows the agency to substitute written submissions for oral direct testimony in rulemaking. 第五百五十六条第（四）款准允行政机关在规则制定中用书面提交材料替代口头的直接证言。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法