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Explanation of the Lowlifes transmedia project from concept through to execution
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Transmedia Storytelling
About this presentation
• Part I Intro & Overview
• Part II Transmedia Development
• Part III Business Model
• Part IV Shooting the Web Series
• Part V Game & Technology
• Part VI Next Steps
Part I
Intro & Overview
Lowlifes' synopsis
• Larry Hayes is San Francisco homicide detective with a drug addiction.
• He has a dead informant, an ex-wife fighting for custody of their daughter and a private eye hired to spy on him.
High Concept
One story, three perspectives.Told over three platforms: novella, web series, blog.
detectiveLARRY HAYES EX-Wife
(JEN HAYES)PRIVATE EYE(LAUREN ORTEGA)
Core team
Robert Pratten is an award-winning feature filmmaker and transmedia consultant. He first met Simon in 2004 at the World Horror Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. His movies include London Voodoo and Mindflesh.Robert spends far too much time playing computer games can often be discovered wondering the post-apocalyptic wilderness of New Vegas around the year 2218.He is founder of TransmediaStoryteller.com an online service for audience engagement.
PRODUCERSimon Wood is an ex-racecar driver, a licensed pilot and an occasional private investigator. His crime fiction has garnered him an Anthony Award and a Crime Writers Association Dagger nomination. He's had over 150 stories and articles published. His short fiction has appeared in a variety of magazines anthologies, such as Seattle Noir and Thriller 2. He's a frequent contributor to Writer's Digest. He's the author of Working Stiffs, Accidents Waiting to Happen, Paying the Piper, We All Fall Down and Terminated. As Simon Janus, he's the author of The Scrubs and Road Rash. Curious people can learn more at www.simonwood.net.
WRITER
Project objectives
• Possible to consume each media independently of any other
• Enhanced satisfaction with each additional media consumption
• Micro-budget
• Freemium distribution model
• Creative Commons licensing to allow audience collaboration
• Simple, commercial, transmedia story
What’s unique about lowlifes?
• Franchise transmedia with concurrent narrative timelines
• Engagement rewarded with advance-release or exclusive content
• Revenue model dependent on advocacy and free digital distribution (i.e. “piracy”)
• Subscription and on-demand content distribution
• First project to use the Conducttr pervasive entertainment platform
Part II
Transmedia Development
Aim: Whole is greater than sum of parts
Movie Game Book Transmedia
Whole is more satisfying than the sum of the parts: euphoria of collecting and connecting the pieces
Movie Game Book Media Franchise
Whole is less than the sum of the parts: dissatisfying conclusion to consuming all media
Each character is hero of their own media
Double impact!
TRANSMEDIA Project development
Lowlifes summary
• Story: crime mystery
• Audience: author’s existing readers; predominantly older women; crime readers; transmedia fans
• Platforms: novella, web series, blog and casual game
• Business model: paid book & video options (Amazon DVD, on-demand, Kindle & other eBooks, e-Junkie downloads); free online
• Execution: Released for free over 15 days in Jan 2011. Paid content available for 1 week before free content. Casual game run ahead of release for 3 weeks. Online viewing biased towards mobile devices.
Thinking through the Experience
Story (strength, depth & authorial control)
Gaming (goals, puzzles, challenges, trophies)
Participation (contribute, change, co-create)
Real-world
Participation = ability of audience to change or contribute to the story-experienceGaming = audience has goal, use of puzzles, game mechanics (trophies, levels, leader boards etc.)
Story = importance of narrative, depth of world & degree of authorial controlReal-world = extent to which story-experience pervades real locations & times, real people & events
(pervasive, built around fact)
The Lowlifes transmedia experience
• Lowlifes.tv initially conceived as a book, video series and blog
• Interactive game added later when technology permitted (runs on Conducttr platform)
• Authorial control is the dominant feature
• Experience has strong link to San Francisco with exploratory content coming from real-world sources such as Wikipedia, SF crime map etc.
• There’s a forum to influence future stories and the development of the character but this experience is “on rails”
• QR codes & mobile used to provide additional narrative content (sub-plot in video, audio, images) that enriches ownership of paid content (book & ebook) and exploratory content (Wikipedia, coalition on homelessness in SF)
Story
GamingParticipation
Real-world
Designed for mobile viewing
Website, not an app:• Device-independent• Cheaper to implement• More flexible on timescales and content development
Simple navigation
Part III
Business Model
Content released over 15 day period
Qr codes unlock additional story
Two primary PAID options
BOOK DVD
Plus paid digital equivalents
eBOOK H.264
Part IV
Shooting the Web Series
Webisode Shooting process
• Narrative outline for all webisodes
• Gather shots from real places and real events around San Francisco: nothing is staged or “acted” except the voice-over
• Some footage taken earlier in the year in anticipation
• Revise voice-over to suit collected footage
• Add motion graphics to assist storytelling and increase production value
Set in SAN FRANCISCO’s UNDERBELLY: the TENDERLOIN DISTRICT
Cinéma vérité –type approach
Graphics sometimes added to real scene
Part V
Game and Technology
Game accessed via blogs – uses real and custom websites to set challenges
http://a-cops-wife-life.blogspot.com/
http://ortegapi.posterous.com/
Technology assistance
Scheduled events:• Blog posts• Tweets• Video publishing• Notification to subscribers
Interactive events• Casual game• Subscriptions
Interaction without programming
possible email responses
“trigger” = expected event
email reply in response to trigger
fictional character responding to trigger
Content structured and tracked
external links documented and click-thrus tracked using bit.ly
“fetch from YouTube” avoids re-work
Part VI
Next Steps
Lowlifes evolutioN...
• New novel with Larry Hayes to be written in 2011
• New video and game implementations dependent on demand and budget
• Audience encouraged to contribute to storyworld
Contact details
Robert Pratten
twitter.com/zenfilms
www.transmediastoryteller.com
lowlifes.tv