New app remixes video in a modern way
At the Mozilla Festival this month, the company launched the first version of “Popcorn Maker,” a free web app that “makes video pop with interactivity, context and the magic of the web.” The app offers a simple drag and drop interface that allows anyone to remix, enhance, and share web video right from their browser. Users can add live content to any video such as photos, social media feeds, links, maps, and more.
Matt Thompson, the Communications Director and Chief Storyteller for the Mozilla Foundation said in a statement, “The result is a new way to tell stories on the web, with videos that are rich with context, full of links, and unique each time you watch them.”
The evolution of web video
Web video has become a mainstream staple in any marketer’s toolbox, and has become understood more fully than when YouTube launched with their first video seven years ago. But many feel the medium still lacks flexibility, which is why Mozilla set out to make a change.
“Until now, video on the web has been stuck inside a little black box,” says Mozilla’s Director of Popcorn, Brett Gaylor. “Popcorn Maker changes that, making video work like the rest of the web: hackable, linkable, remixable, and connected to the world around it.”
Last year Mozilla launched Popcorn.js, a Javascript library for developers that resulted in ground-breaking productions like the NFB’s One Millionth Tower, PBS and NPR’s 2012 election coverage, and more.
“But until now, the power of Popcorn has been available mostly just to developers,” Gaylor said. “Popcorn Maker puts that power in everyone’s hands, through an intuitive interface anyone can use. We’re really excited to see what the world will make with it.”
Popcorn Maker is built entirely using open web elements, written in HTML, CSS and Javascript. “It’s essentially a web page that makes other web pages. We think it’s a great example of Mozilla’s larger vision for what web apps can be,” said Gaylor.
