Computer Graphics World

March / April 2016

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m a r c h . a p r i l 2 0 1 6 c g w 4 3 uct is a game, "we partner with a game company," Bernardo says. "Likewise if we have a film or TV production." Bernardo recalls his first project, whereby each small webisode always ended with the lead character telling the audience, "I have a dilemma, and tomorrow I could go le or I could go right to solve it," and the next episode would reflect the option that got the most votes. "So the story on a daily basis moved according to the audience's votes," he says. "This is one way that we ask the audience to participate." For another project, the audi- ence was given a block of tem- plates describing the main story and the main characters, and they were asked to write more side stories and give their views on specific events and specific characters. "One of the charac- ters was a barmaid, and each week we shot in a real bar and the bar was open to the public. So if you were following the sto- ry, you could go to the bar on a specific day and there would be a party being filmed that would be used in the series. You could meet the cast and crew, and take photos," says Bernardo. "We used that to make a more meaningful connection with the audience because they could experience the story for real, like a live-theater piece." V A R Y I N G D E G R E E S O F I N P U T Bernardo notes there are many levels of interaction depending on the story, the target audience, and the goals. About two years ago, beActive worked with a sci- fi story that had an associated novel, iPhone game, TV series, social media, and digital comics, and finished with a theatrical movie release (Collider). "We asked the audience before the movie came out for their ideas, and it was like a crowd-sourcing movement. We were not asking the audience to give us money, we were asking them to do a list of tasks, and these tasks were related to the promotion of the movie, so sharing our trailer would give you X amount of points; if you shared our poster on your Facebook page, you got more points," explains Bernardo. "The top 200 fans with the most points in [specified] territories had their names placed in the movie credits." For another project, beActive filmed a documentary in the Mid- dle East about the Arab Spring uprisings, where participation was different and probably more intense. The crew encountered many logistics problems while traveling around the region and would ask followers online if they knew of someone in the area who could help them, in essence making them part of the film- making process. "There is a plethora of ways for interaction. And when you are engaged, whenever you do one of these things – a vote affecting the next episode, having your name in the credits, or helping the filmmakers enter Libya or Syria – then that piece of content, that story, becomes yours," says Bernardo. "The deepest connection we can have with our audience is when the audience feels that the story is theirs, and then they will do everything – follow, watch, recommend – and they will be the biggest advocates for your work. Transmedia can bring the audience closer to the story, closer to the characters." BeActive's projects are com- plex, and the work usually starts in-house. "We write scripts, we write stories, we write blogs, back stories, character profiles… lots of material," Bernardo says. They start with a proven community, which will be the audience for the eventual mon- ey product, be that a movie, TV series, books, comics, or so forth. Social media is also im- portant, as it builds community that will provide feedback, a fan base, and media PR. "So, for instance, in three years' time, we will have a feature film in cinemas," says Bernardo. "We start very small, maybe with a Web series or a blog, to test the waters, to see if there is an audience. The idea is that each step is something bigger." If there is no feedback, beActive pulls the project. At any one time, the company typically has five or six projects at various stages in the works. Sometimes beActive chal- lenges the audience to make contributions. For Beat Girl (a 2003 Emmy-nominated com- ing-of-age film), the company invited six fans to write side sto- ries to run alongside the main story – which provided insight into where the audience wanted the story to go. A S T O R Y T E L L I N G E V O L U T I O N ? Transmedia is a direct descen- dant of those first cave dwellers, painting on the walls to illustrate their descriptions of the hunt, while the others shouted and clapped and banged things and made animal noises to go along with the images. The whole community joined in. It is much the same in transmedia productions. The creators and the community they have gathered around the project all participate in the overall event. But now it is glob- al, and it accesses the entire 21 st century cornucopia of media delivery systems. Audiences are counted in millions, but still everyone joins in. Plus ça change.... ■ AUDIENCES PROVIDED STORY DIRECTION FOR THE FILM BEAT GIRL. Rory Fellowes (roryfellowes@gmail.com) is a consultant to the VFX and animation industry following a career in film and TV animation using stop motion and CGI.

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