For those of you who don’t know, Jason Brubaker is a film enthusiast out of the fine city of New York. He makes movies, and writes about producing and promoting movies — mostly in the indie genre, from what I can gather. Jason Brubaker’s Filmmaking Stuff app by Nov8rix (free in the App Store) — for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch 3.0 or later — is a blog about stuff that he does and articles that’s he’s written or finds interesting. Don’t worry, you’re not alone, that didn’t sound very interesting to me, either.
I checked out a couple of his films, and all I have to say is that I’d rather take some pointers from James Cameron. I won’t go into his films because this isn’t the venue, however it is not coincidental that his last name starts with “B.”
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The app is very basic, and the construction is weak overall. There is a large film reel in the background that the entire interface of the app hangs on. There is a blurb about who Jason is, some articles and a bit more content, but not much. The app seems as though it’s just a way to get you to sign up for his newsletter. The pictures section has a whole three pictures of Jason, and the audio clip section has the same amount of recordings. I don’t understand the appeal. The content is so thin, and the app is so niche, that it almost doesn’t make sense.
The one redeeming quality of the app is the navigation tool. There’s a little tab in the bottom left-hand corner that you tap, and a wheel will rotate into view, covering the bottom right-hand quadrant of the screen. The sections of the app are represented by small icons that float on the wheel. You can flick to rotate the wheel, hence scrolling through the icons. It’s a great interface, and very nice to use. I would like to see this form of interaction in other apps. Hats off to the guys at Nov8rix, nice work.
My recommendation? Don’t download. I would go to his blog somewhere on the web and hook his feed into your news feeder. Don’t waste space on your iPhone for an app that is barely worth its salt.
