The fifth session of the digital visual media forum “Shoof 2017” was successfully held in Jeddah on Sunday, December 10, with over 2000 young attendees. As one of the initiatives by the Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz “Misk” Foundation, the forum was organized to discuss the content industry in the virtual world and to interact with local and global social media figures and influencers.
The opening session was hosted by Will Scougal, Snapchat’s Head of Creative Strategy, to tackle the visual media revolution and how Snapchat develops a better ways of communication through Snapchat’s camera.
Many content developers, including Ibrahim Sarhan, Haifa Beseisso, Nayef Hamdan, Alia Alshamsi, and Selwan Elham, participated in a panel discussion titled “The Art of Creating Digital Stories” to share their experiences and the obstacles they faced in their journey towards success. The famous Youtubers “Saudi Reporters,” the twins Abdullah and Abdulaziz Bakr, presented a video specially produced for “Shoof” forum.
In a short talk about “Visual for a Cause,” Dale Hudson, Associate Teaching Professor of Film and New Media at NYU in Abu Dhabi, discussed the visual reality technology and its opportunities. He explained that the emerging visual content trends revolve around story types attracted by the audience. Mr. Hattan Nasif, Vice President of Business Development at Midwam, participated in a short talk about the technology of VR and the impact of immersive experiences. He commented that this technology had become a fundamental platform to communicate with others.
The distinguished calligraphy artist, Karim Jabbari, presented a creative live show “Light from the heart” using light in virtual reality to draw calligraphic work. In a session about “Entertainment or awareness: How to balance your content,” well-known content developers such as Ibrahim Basha, Haitham, Areej Alkhurafi, and Omar Farooq discussed the significance of content and context in creating stories and how stories can balance between noble social values and fun to send a meaningful message to the society.
