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 BBC Film Network, an interactive showcase for new British filmmakers, has launched a high-resolution film download service.The site, at www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork, will make selected short films available as downloads for free as a trial period of 12 months.
The download application, which will be available to the first 10,000 visitors to sign up, will allow users to watch a selection of the shorts in full screen, at a “quality similar to a DVD”.
Users may also subscribe, for free, to automatically receive three new shorts every fortnight and be alerted when new films are ready to watch.
The application will use similar technology to that used during the iMP trail, which concluded earlier this year.
The Film Network trial uses a legal peer-to-peer network to deliver films as high quality video files. Users are granted a licence through the digital rights management software to view the film for 28-days and, when this expires, the files will automatically remove themselves from their hard drive.
There will be a choice of six shorts available at any one time.
The broadcaster said it aims to test the audience’s appetite for British made short films and also test broadband as a viable platform for showcasing new film content from the most promising new talent.
The service will launch with How To Tell If A Relationship Is Over, a 90-second race through the tell-tale signs of a relationship meltdown, featuring The Mighty Boosh’s Julian Barratt and also, Fishy, the appropriately named aquatic romance starring Shirley Henderson, a joint runner up in the BBC's Talent awards. Also included is the award-winning Chris Shepherd animation, Dad’s Dead.
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They claim it to ensure that DRM (digital rights management) software can work - whereby films are deleted 30 days after first download. While it's hard to believe that this isn't available for the mac already, why do they need DRM on shorts? shorts are promotional tools, that never make money. It's unlikely that they'll be big on the filesharing circuit, but if they were - why would that be a problem?
Hopefully the Beeb tech heads haven't succummed to Microsoft product demonstrations and Hollywood doom-mongering.