Relations with Film Professionals - Text 3
Prototypes were then subjected to a testing phase on film sets. These close relations with the professional world also enabled the company to develop original communication strategies in which the participation of users played a decisive role.
Input around the Devices: The Case of Cantar
When Cantar was introduced to the market in 2003, Aaton set up an online message system, the Cantar users’ list, to enable the emergence of a collective voice around uses of the device. Sound recordists who used Cantar and Aaton employees (with Jean-Pierre Beauviala moderating the listserv), but also other personnel in the film production chain, including film editors, were invited to take part in the discussions.
The goal of this strategy was twofold. First, it sought to centralize comments by users, rationalize their dissemination and enable film professionals to circulate their views. This circulation made it possible for Aaton engineers to take into account the suggestions approved by a group of users and to propose solutions to the problems they encountered around both the operation of the device, whose digital capabilities were in the experimental stage, and more concrete problems. The bag for carrying devices over the shoulder, for example, was a topic of discussion among users, who had input into the choice of features decided on by the manufacturer in response to their requests. The listserv also enabled Aaton to identify problems and respond to them by modifying their models according to users’ comments. Recommendations on this listserv were at the root of the company’s development of the CantaRem, a control panel which used rectilinear sliders to change levels.