In an effort to change that, we lined up a group of experienced developers who will shine a spotlight on JavaScript for one day, to bring clarity to the language, its features, when and why to use it, as well as provide real world examples of the code in action.

As you likely know, nearly everyone with a personal computer has some sort of JavaScript interpreter on it, so as a developer, its an important language to have in your toolkit. Also, in the last year or so, there has been some really cutting-edge stuff being done with JavaScript as it’s one of the building blocks of HTML5, which just continues to increase in popularity – don’t get left behind!

We designed the Spotlight series to provide interactive professionals and students the opportunity to build up their skills at a low price point with a minimal time commitment. So, if you’re looking to increase your knowledge of JavaScript and make yourself a bit more employable, this event is for you.

For more information and to register, visit FITC.ca/JavaScript

Hope to see you there!

The work of James George and Jonathan Minard explores the notion of “re-photography”, in which otherwise frozen moments in time may be visualized from new points of view. Despite the sometimes wildly moving camera, the video was in fact shot with a stationary Kinect-like depth sensor coupled to a digital SLR video camera. To compose their shots, the filmmakers developed custom openFrameworks software that aligns and combines color video and depth data into a dynamic sculptural relief.

In a process of “virtual cinematography”, James and Jonathan rephotographed Golan’s 3D likeness — selecting new angles, dollying, and zooming — to compose new perspectives on the data as if playing a video game. Fixed camerawork is thus transformed into a malleable and negotiable post-process, in which shots can be carefully recomposed to highlight and inflect different latent meanings.

This experiment developed out of concepts and collaborations born at Art && Code, a conference on 3D sensing and visualization organized by Golan’s laboratory, the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University. Artist-hackers assembled to explore the artistic, technical, tactical and cultural potentials of low-cost depth sensors, such as the Kinect. As an outcome of the conference, James George, a creative coder interested in cinema, and Jonathan Minard, a documentary filmmaker interested in new-media technology, are now collaborating on the development of open-source tools and techniques for augmenting high-resolution video with depth information.

Don’t  miss Golan Levin at FITC Amsterdam 2012, he’ll be presenting Machine Code and Visual Culture.

We’ve set up a thread on Reddit for you to submit your questions and also vote up or down the questions of others. The deadline to submit is February 6, 2012, after which Addy will be answering the top questions via video that will be posted on our YouTube channel. Submit your questions here.

You’ll also have the chance to see Addy in person, as he’ll also be presenting Leave No Feature Behind: Polyfilling The HTML5 Gaps at FITC Toronto, April 23-25, 2012.

We at FITC are very excited to announce that we will be producing STYLE FRAMES, a new design conference series presented by Stash Media. The first event of its kind, STYLE FRAMES showcases outstanding pitch art and the talent behind it, while demystifying the pitch process, discussing best practices and helping creative professionals win more work.

STYLE FRAMES kicks off in Buenos Aires, May 10-11, bringing together influential design, advertising and media professionals from both the client and the creative sides of the industry for two days of learning, networking and inspiration. If you’re a designer, art director, motion graphic artist, digital artist, broadcaster, animator, director, advertiser, marketer or post production professional, than this event was designed for you.

Come and learn how to win more work while basking in the beautiful sun of Argentina!

Complete event details can be found at styleframes.tv

For event updates, follow @styleframes on Twitter and like STYLE FRAMES on Facebook.

See you in Buenos Aires!

We’ve set up a thread on Reddit for you to submit your questions and also vote up or down the questions of others. The deadline is January 16, 2012, after which Golan will be answering the top questions via video which will be posted on our YouTube channel.

You’ll need an account to participate on Reddit, but it’s free and easy to sign up, and if you’re not on Reddit yet, you’re missing out. You can submit your questions here.

Tell your friends! Here’s a sample tweet to get you started:

Ask @Golan Levin anything #AMA #Reddit #FITC http://fitc.it/8mnuC

You’ll also have the chance to see Golan in person, as he’ll also be presenting Machine Code and Visual Culture at FITC Amsterdam, February 23-25, 2012.

Are you so excited about FITC Amsterdam 2012 or FITC Toronto 2012 that you want to share it with the world?

Put an FITC Amsterdam 2012 or FITC Toronto 2012 banner on your blog or website with a link to our event and let me (lindsay@fitc.ca) know for your exclusive 10% off discount code.

You can find a whole bunch of banners here – let me know if you need other sizes.

FITC Toronto is back and better than ever! We have brought together over 70 renowned digital creators from around the globe to cover everything from HTML5 to making digital art over three jam-packed days.

With over 1200 attendees and plenty of networking opportunities, at FITC Toronto you could very well meet your next boss, business partner or employee.

Also a part of the epic festival is the annual FITC Awards show which honours digital creators from around the world, and the Get a Job Event which connects talent with employers.

FITC Toronto will leave you inspired to create in new and innovative ways, so register early to make sure you don’t miss out!

We’re offering the first 50 people who register using discount code thegamehaschanged a savings of $100 on all regular festival, works or FLEX tickets. Register NOW!

See you in TO!

If you’ve never heard of Popcorn.js now is the perfect time to. In his presentation, Bobby Richter, the Mozilla Foundation’s Creative Technology Lead for the Popcorn and Paladin groups, explored the creativity behind Popcorn.js, the transition into the Open Web Platform and merging libraries and tools from the Popcorn project.

Popcorn.js is an HTML5 media framework written in JavaScript for filmmakers, web developers and anyone who wants to create time-based interactive media on the web. It allows media makers to manipulate video, audio and other media to control elements of a webpage. Under a development standpoint Popcorn.js utilizing native HTMLMediaElement properties, methods and events and normalizes them into an easy to learn API, allowing developers to create their own plugin systems.

This time-based interactive media can be created with total ease using another tool in the Popcorn Project known as Popcorn Maker. Popcorn Maker was created so that code is automatically written for you so that whatever your project entails it can be created quickly and easily. In order to do this you create Popcorn Maker Templates, which hold media elements and dynamic content. These can also be modified, depending upon your needs.

Popcorn.js is a cool and ambitious new way for all kinds of people to interact and combine various forms of media into an interconnecting space. And that isn’t all – Popcorn.js is open-source, so it’s a great way for us to experiment with its capabilities, and most of all, have fun with it!

Connect with Bobby Richter online:
[Web] Robothaus.org
[Twitter] @secretrobotron

I had the chance to blog about the event, focusing specifically on two sessions of the day: Peter Nitsch’s Back-end Canvas and Bobby Richter’s Popcorn.js: Make your Media Come Alive (more on that tomorrow). Up first, Nitsch’s session on how HTML5 graphic design can be a great way to express yourself on the web.

Back-end Canvas
With HTML5 still a new and expansive development, it’s just as much about web development as it is graphic design. We can make works of art by way of graphic manipulation, a long-existing form of art which is only recently becoming an extremely popular and aesthetically appealing form of design. Peter Nitsch, a retro textmode geek working at Teehan+Lax, a digital consulting agency in Toronto, expressed this important sentiment in Back-end Canvas.

In his session, Nitsch showed a unique example of HTML5 graphic design via typographic portraits, and how it is utilized in one of Nitsch’s latest projects, Bell Social Portrait. Social Portrait visualizes your digital persona by using tag clouds on Facebook and Twitter to replicate your avatar. So how do we create graphic designs like Social Portrait?

The process is not as inaccessible as you might think. Nitsch covered some of the popular Node.js image processing libraries, including Node Canvas – a canvas implementation for Node.js, which is used to create what you see on Social Portrait.

Probably the most interesting aspects of this had to be the artistic process itself. Part tag cloud and part grafitti art, a grid system was used to manipulate keywords to work within your avatar. The process went from simple blocks aligning themselves into an abstract image, and then into an intricate replica of an image constructed with your personal keywords.

Nitsch also used case studies and supporting code samples to depict just how the artistic process comes into effect. Despite the technical nature of this process, it’s also very much a creative process that’s fast and fulfilling.

Connect with Peter Nitsch online:
[web] peternitsch.net
[work] teehanlax.com
[Twitter] @peter_nitsch

You can also view Peter’s slides from his session here.

Riccardo Giraldi will be speaking at FITC Amsterdam 2012 about B-Reel’s approach to experimental technology, storytelling and the tangibleness of interactive experiences. Riccardo took the time to answer a few of our questions so FITC fans and followers could get to know him a little better leading up to the event. Meet Riccardo Giraldi…

What are you passionate about?

It’s hard to pin down what my passions are because they are many and seem to change all the time!
I like to understand how things work, take them apart to understand the insides and then challenge myself to solve a problem or proof a concept by creating something new using what I learned. The word innovation is very exciting. At the moment I am interested in learning more about optics, electronics and a bit of biology. But soon something else will capture my attention. MIT Opencourseware and the Khan Academy are my new best friends.

What personal projects are you working on?

At the moment I am exploring possible creative applications for brain computer interfaces. The last experiment is called Mind Scalextric, but there are plenty other small experiments that span from AI challenges to other ways to connect the so called real and digital worlds.

What tools are you working with now?

Google Docs is the tool I’ve been using the most recently! Everything else changes depending on the nature of the project, but there are things like my gmail, to-do lists and google docs which are always there.

Where do you get your news?

I used to check Google Reader almost everyday. I prefer not to stick with just one source for a long time but look for some variety.

Facebook is becoming my unexpected source of inspiration. Especially when friends post random stuff that have nothing to do with my job. Sometimes that is exactly the extra bit of inspiration I need.

There is a problem nowadays where we are all exposed to the same information at the same time. There are projects, articles, images that get passed through links by millions of people. These are seen by all the creatives around the world influencing their ideas. At the end of the day the risk is that many will come to similar conclusions when facing problems due to the lack of variety in their sources of inspiration.

Cultivating many passions and finding inspirations in unexpected places is a good way to make sure you can always add something new to the table.

What app could you not live without?

Without Google Maps and a Clock, most of the time I wouldn’t know where I am and what time it is. Quite embarassing.

Connect with Riccardo Giraldi online:
[Twitter] @b__reel [blog] b-reel.com

For more information on FITC Amsterdam 2012 visit www.fitc.ca/amsterdam

The next chapter of FITC begins today with the new words behind our acronym, and our newly designed logo by the talented James White.  We’re stoked that now when people ask us, “What does FITC stand for?” we can confidently respond with words we feel capture what our company and the events we host are about. Thanks to our Twitter contest, we know that the words we chose to make up FITC came to the minds of our fans and supporters when we asked, “What does FITC mean to you?”

Future
“Future Innovators Thrive on Challenges” – @suesthegrl

The future of FITC is bright. We continue to grow the presence of our events both locally and in new and exciting countries all over the world. Moving forward, our programming will have a greater focus on highlighting the future of technology and design, and the technologies that are shaping this. We’re upping the cool factor, to challenge digital creators to push the bar that much higher.

Innovation
“Fuel Innovation through Creativity” – @LindsayHawes

FITC has evolved into a brand which is embraced by digital creators around the world for playing host to innovative speakers, who share the latest in technology and the creative things being done with it. We are coming up with new ways to make sure we get those who are making waves in new and exciting ways on our stage and interacting with attendees.

Technology
“Face it, technology changes.” – @krotondo

Covering an increasingly wide-range of topics encompassing all things digital, from HTML5 to emerging technologies in advertising, the programming of our events has and will continue to evolve and we’re stoked our name captures that. We’ll also be using technology in new and different ways to reach, engage and involve you, our fans and supporters in what we do in the coming months.

Creativity
“F*** it. Think Creatively.” – @wheniwas19

We have some really effin’ creative people in our network. Just look through the portfolios and personal projects of our speakers or search #fitcevolution on Twitter for proof. It’s at the core of what we do and fuels our existence – it would be an oversight to leave this word out.

When tackling the task of coming up with a new logo, we were lucky to have an extensive network of highly creative designers for support. The super talented, Canadian designer James White hit the spot.

“I wanted something clean, fun, inviting, cool and highly usable on different printed items and merchandise. But my biggest priority was making this thing FUN,” said James. You can read more about the design process on Web Designer Wall here.

The Fab Five FITC VIPs 2012

Congratulations to our five VIP pass winners! You have a pass with your name on it for every FITC event in 2012 – we will be in touch via Twitter.

• @HafaRamon, “From Inspiration to Creation”
• @castrolobo, “Forever. Innovating. Through. Communication.”
• @joshuaJRichards, “Futuristic Innovators Teaching Cool”
• For the most creative: @krotondo, “Face it, technology changes”
• For the funniest: @maztik8r, “Flying Invisible Telepathic Cobras” and “Following Intercourse Try Cuddling”

A big thank you to everyone who submitted an entry! It was a pleasure reading the flattering, funny and creative messages over the last week. We look forward to learning and growing with you at future FITC events.