A group of four Brown University seniors won the first-ever Digital Incubator Award, a $25,000 grant given by MTVu and Cisco Systems, for their creation of the virtual rock band Tower 8 and a corresponding Web site. Tower 8 is a group of superheroes who live in a post-apocalyptic world where music and creativity have the power to combat evil.
The prize is awarded to students who use broadband technology in unconventional ways.
Michael Ashton '06, Gavin Brown '06, Sadie Barchini '06 and Daniel Cannizzaro '06 comprise one of 10 groups that will together form the first student-run digital development team for MTVu, MTV's 24-hour college network. The team's final project will combine elements of short-form programming, gaming, blogging, instant and text messaging and podcasting into the network's programming, according to a Cisco press release.
Ross Martin, head of MTVu programming, said he was attracted to the Brown group's submission because "their show is a metaphor for the power of music. They show how music can change the world. We were very drawn to that."
Having first heard about the contest from Assistant Professor of Modern Culture and Media Mark Tribe, Brown, who is the producer and music composer of Tower 8, was immediately intrigued and became interested in creating an interactive experience with broadband. Brown tapped his friend Cannizzaro to be the project's art director and Ashton to be the animator and visual effects developer. After auditioning several people, Cannizzaro brought Barchini into the project as the voice of the characters.
As part of its submission, the team created innovative music videos with the goal of changing the way music and digital media interact. Instead of using music as a background or as a way to tell the story, "the music is the story" in Tower 8's videos, according to Brown. The ultimate effect is the visualization of the music itself, he said.
"The music and the animation go hand in hand," added Cannizzaro, who threaded paintings, 2-D animation and photos through the videos.
"We want to create a mythology of the world that isn't a derivative of any cliché science fiction movies or novels," Brown said.
The group is currently interested in expanding the project into different forms of digital media. Cannizzaro said the Tower 8 Web site will provide interactive experiences with songs, short films, episodes, e-graphic novels and on-line sketchbooks and journals. "We've created a multi-faceted world and want to take it into different realms," Barchini said.
The team plans to use the grant money on computers, music equipment and art supplies in order to further the project this summer.
- Herald Contributing Writer Allissa Wickham contributed reporting for this article.
