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From the program:

THE EVOLUTION OF STORYTELLING
Technology is impacting the art and craft of storytelling. As the industry shifts and audiences move from passive to active collaborators, how does the art of storytelling change? How does one develop stories and characters that can travel across screens and devices? What will emerge as new formats and how will they be funded and distributed?

Lance Weiler was awarded the Arte France Cinrma prize here at this year’s Rotterdam Cinemart. In his remarks when presenting the award, Arte’s Michel Reilhac said that the award acknowledged the visionary nature of Weiler’s project and noted that it speaks towards the type of new thinking about audience and platforms that will be necessary if our world of specialty cinema is to survive in the coming years.

Weiler’s project is described by him in the program book thusly:

HIM is my newest cross-media poject — a collision of film, gaming and interactive technology that continues with my horror 2.0 series, placing the viewer literally in the shoes of the protagonist. This is a new type of social entertainment experience that fuses storytelling and gaming in a way that enables audience members to become collaborators within the story world.

Mr. Weiler Goes to Rotterdam: Transmedia at the International Film Festival

by Michael Andersen

In a few days, Lance Weiler is going to Rotterdam to attend CineMart, the annual co-production market of the International Film Festival. Weiler’s upcoming cross-media project HIM was selected as one of 36 films to participate in this year’s presentation to an expected 850 international producers, sales agents, distributors, and funds. HIM, in addition to being the only work selected from the United States this year, is the first transmedia work to be selected at CineMart in its 26 year history. Previous films selected to participate in CineMart include the Academy Award-winning film Boys Don’t Cry, the grotesquely captivating Ichi the Killer, and The Eye, recently remade for the United States starring Jessica Alba.

When reached for comment, Weiler explained that HIM would be an interactive experience fusing storytelling and gaming, set on a global stage. The thought-provoking horror story will be a film at its core, but will fuse together elements of gaming, live events, serialized shorts, and graphic novel content taking place around the world and in your own living room. While the rules of the universe are established, Weiler has left considerable room in the story for what he describes as “controlled spontaneity”: the rules of the universe are set up, but the ripples from audience participation can have significant effects on the final product. As co-founder and principal of Seize the Media, Weiler developed the Hope is Missing ARG for the DVD release of his immersive film project Head Trauma, and worked with Hammer Films to produce the Beyond the Rave experience on MySpace.

The project is also an attempt to move away from traditional financing models for films relying on private equity and pre-sale financing deals by utilizing branding and licensing agreements. The ideal is to cement transmedia as a new media format. And one of the advantages of transmedia storytelling is the ability to set up considerable story elements on a limited budget, leading to a gradual rollout drawing on an international audience. Indeed, a number of times Weiler hinted that some elements may be floating out there relatively soon.

Presenting HIM to potential investors at CineMart is an opportunity to showcase both the potential and opportunities inherent in transmedia storytelling and alternate reality gaming as a self-sufficient format. And as one of BusinessWeek’s “18 People Who Changed Hollywood”, Weiler just might be the man for the job.

Program description

Media convergence has made the complex intertwining of multi-platform media properties more and more common-place, yet the creation of storyworlds that extend beyond a single text is not a recent development. With a history that includes sequels, spin-offs, and licensed products, what is the future for the media franchise? Is there a material difference between creating media franchises or transmedia properties? What is the role of television programs or films in anchoring wider narrative franchises, especially when they extend beyond media and into the “real world”? What is the significance of the creative individuals who contribute to franchises, including creatives, professionals, and fans?

INCREASING THE REACH
For HOPE IS MISSING the goal was to create a social media driven ARG. We wanted the game to have various levels of interactivity. For instance, someone might just watch the web series and do nothing more – others might choose to dig deeper.

HOPE IS MISSING consisted of four web films that were loaded with hidden clues. The videos were released on stage6, myspace and xbox. By design we wanted to make the ARG (alternate reality game) accessible. In order to do so, we created layers of interactivity that allowed viewers to go as deep into the experience as they wanted.

The Interactive Layers:
1. just watch the videos
2. read the forums
3. dig for clues
4. capture and share clues
5. create their own worlds – blogs, wikis, forums, and chat rooms

THE STORYLINE
Richard Chambers is searching for his fiancee named Hope who has been abducted. Hope returned home after receiving a series of strange late night phone calls from her mother. In the brief conversations her panicked mother is convinced that people are in the house and trying to kill her. After each call Hope phones the police but when they arrive they find nothing and Hope’s mother has no recognition of making any calls or the incident.

After Hope returns home she uncovers her mother’s strange nocturnal behaviors and realizes that her mother is not alone. Hope begins to dig deeper in an attempt to pull her mother out. But then Hope mysteriously disappears – abducted by a hooded figure – her last moments are captured by a surveillance camera.

As the date of Richard and Hope’s wedding approaches he becomes frustrated with the way the police are handling the case. He is determined to marry her on Oct. 20th. But as things are lucking grim Richard receives a strange package in the mail. Inside the package are a number of tapes that show Hope, a strange letter and a return address that only says Deep Throat. Richard reaches out the video sharing sites and social networks in an attempt to spread the word.

THE TAPES ARE RIDDLED WITH HIDDEN CLUES
We created four web episodes with the goal of releasing them leading up to the Warner Bros VOD release of HEAD TRAUMA. Each webisode was riddled with clues. There where audio clues that had backwards masking and subliminal frames that contained ciphers of varying degrees of difficulty. Once solved the clues lead to numerous hidden sites, blogs, social networking profiles and other media. They are what as know as rabbit holes in the ARG community which is a nod to Alice in Wonderland.

The HOPE IS MISSING ARG took a decentralized approach to releasing the game elements. ARGs typically will have many hidden sites and digital assets. For instance the 42 entertainment ARG for the THE DARK KNIGHT, the newest Batman film, has 10 different sites (as of 11.24.07). In order to increase our reach we gathered a number of partners and releasing outlets to help expand our reach.

Media Outlets:
http://myspace.com/hopeismissing
http://stage6.com/hope-is-missing – this site is no longer active
http://eyespot.com/promotion/headtrauma – the site will only be live through Nov.

Characters:
http://hopeismissing.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/jdoeadc
http://www.myspace.com/northdash
http://twitter.com/northdash

Hidden sites
http://htmob.com
denial.htmob.com
anger.htmob.com
bargining.htmob.com
acceptance.htmob.com
http://americandistro.com
http://alert.americandistro.com

SECRET SCREENINGS
As the game unfolded we leaked clues detailing a number of secret HEAD TRAUMA drive-in screenings. In order to find the the locations players remixed a collection of media through http://eyespot.com. As they remixed, certain combinations of footage unlocked hidden clues. These clues provided information about screening locations and point to additional hidden assets.

One of the subtle builds of the game was to blend the storyline of HOPE IS MISSING directly into the VOD promotion of HEAD TRAUMA. As a reward to players we offered a number of free screenings. The screenings were held in Milwaukee, San Francisco, San Raphael, and LA.

I was at the LA screening and over 70 people attended. The audience was a mix of people, some who were playing HOPE IS MISSING, others who discovered the location through friends that were playing, and some had simply stumbled upon the location and saw a movie playing.

The audience was a mixture people. There where those who were playing HOPE IS MISSING, others who discovered the location through friends that were playing, and finally some who had stumbled upon the location and saw a movie playing. During the screening audience members used their mobile phones to interact with the film’s characters. Then after the audience left, the movie followed them home. A couple days after the screening we called and texted everyone with a number of game related messages.

PLAYERS HELP TO SHAPE THE GAME
As players cracked the clues they were lead to hidden media, sites, blogs, and social networking pages. In some cases clues were multi-leveled and required keys in order to crack them. Often these harder clues would lead to a special call-in number that allowed the first 96 players into a special conference call. The calls included players and a number of moles from the game. During the calls players discussed clues and their theories around the game.ARGs are driven through community interaction so it is common to have moles or people within the game who assist with story or in some cases game direction. Players often help to shape game-play and in the case of HOPE IS MISSING we experience an interesting range of interactions as players created their own blogs, wikis, and forums around the game.

THE STATS AROUND THE GAME

Some of the videos break into the top 10 most watched clips on the Web – Vidmeter 10.18.07

*Player interactions based on aggregation of forum posts and video comments across known outlets (myspace, stage 6, eyespot, etc.) – does not include player generated sites, blogs and forums.

We created a storyworld that extended the original series and designed an 11 week gaming experience called Humans vs. Vampires. The BTR social entertainment experience was designed with multiple layers of interactivity. This approach allowed for passive viewing or playing. But for those who wanted to go deeper, each BTR webisode contained hidden clues which lead players to profiles and other locations on myspace. Viewers / players utilized the information on these pages to solve challenges presented through the BTR experience.

What people are saying:

Hammer Horror Goes ‘Beyond’ the Screen

STM’s role was to create a seamless experience between the various aspects of the campaign (TV, web, mobile, street, and print). The program provided a way to bridge the narrative experience and to help build awareness not only for the game launch but to also drive people to the website bewaresamfisher.com

In addition, Lance wrote and directed a series of web films that cast real actors that resembled characters from the game. The web films placed the characters in scenarios that later were modeled and added to the game’s cut scenes.

Head Trauma director Lance Weiler on gaming and worlds beyond independent film.

The Evolution

Over the last six months, I‘ve been experimenting with a collision of gaming, movies, music and technology know as a MIG (media-integrated game play). The MIG is a way in which the audience can experience a story across multiple platforms and devices. Characters from a film interact directly with an audience via live encounters, phone calls, text messages and e-mails. These interactions lead to clues consisting of hidden media, sites, blogs and social networking pages, all of which extend the film‘s storyline and provide life for its characters beyond the screen.

The driving force behind my experimentation is my constant quest to reach audiences in new ways. The advent of DVRs (digital video recorders), portable media players and an increase in connectivity has enabled a new exchange of media that is social and places the power smack in the palm of the viewer. A rapidly expanding on-demand culture offers independent filmmakers new distribution outlets, modes of interaction, promotion and revenue streams.

Beyond The Console

Often the term gaming conjures up the image of first-person shooters like Halo, or old-school console games like Donkey Kong. But the conventions of play are changing thanks in part to an emerging independent gaming movement.

From the ITVS-funded political ARG (alternate-reality game) World Without Oil to the controversial RPG (role-playing game) Super Columbine Massacre, games are tackling important social issues.

In other cases, ARGs and MMOGs (massively multiplayer online games) have become hot new promotional and advertising platforms for Madison Avenue and Hollywood. TV shows like Lost and Heroes have employed ARGs to expand the reach of their series beyond the set, and upcoming releases by J.J. Abrams (Cloverfield) and Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) are using ARGs to promote the films far in advance of the theatrical release.

When it comes to massive multiplayer online games, James Cameron and Steven Spielberg are creating whole worlds around their films complete with virtual currencies.

But the above are all studio-funded ventures. What can independent filmmakers gain from this convergence?

The Value

Hope is Missing is a MIG that my company, Seize The Media, constructed to assist with the promotion of Warner Brothers‘ VOD (video-on-demand) release of my independent film, Head Trauma. At the heart of the MIG is the story of a young journalism student named Hope who returns home to find her mother exhibiting strange nocturnal behaviors. As she digs deeper she uncovers what is causing these behaviors, but before she can notify the authorities, she is abducted.

The narrative and game play are lead by Hope‘s fiancé, who is desperately searching for her. This storyline then begins to blend in elements of Head Trauma until the two become directly intertwined.

The Hope is Missing MIG consists of the following components:

MOBILE DRIVE-IN (mobmov.org screenings): Characters lead audience members to secret screening locations with phone calls and text messages. During screenings audience members can use their phones to interact with the film.

WEB SERIES: A four-part Web series is released weekly. In each episode a number of clues — “rabbit holes” — lead players to hidden media and sites across the Web.

REMIX: Through a collaboration with eyespot.com we built a special promotion that allows players to become contributors. As players remix media they unlock a series of hidden clues.

LIVE GAME BOARD: A map mash-up tracks elements of the game play and also holds a number of hidden clues.

MOBILE COMMUNICATION: Characters call and text audience members.

The Hope is Missing MIG started by crafting the game play and pitch. We built a pitch deck to convey our concept and then targeted outlets that could assist us with reaching a wider audience. To view a version of the Hope is Missing pitch deck visit workbookproject.com/mig.

In the end we assembled an impressive number of outlets and promotional partners: MySpace, Stage 6, Xbox, Eyespot, Twitter and Opera Mobile. This not only increased our reach but also created an effective national promotion for Head Trauma.

VOD releases tend to be fragmented due to the number of varying outlets. A unified promotional push can be difficult and costly. The MIG concept will allow us to reach an audience of more than 30 million people, and our promotional partners provided over $400,000 in placements across their networks and sites.

Once we had the commitment from the promotional partners we were able to leverage additional deals for the film and better placement within VOD catalogs. Over the coming months we will have a better understanding of the exact conversion rates of players to VOD purchases but we are seeing value from our efforts already.

New Streams Of Revenue

The other element of a MIG that is exciting for independent filmmakers is that you can creatively build a game around your film, building and testing new storylines and properties in the process. For instance the Hope is Missing MIG has lead to a number of high-level discussions about turning the concept into a fully funded, ongoing Web series.

After the Head Trauma cinema game experiments my whole focus around story has changed. I am now considering creating a world around each of my works — worlds that can cross devices, platforms and audiences. In fact, I have been writing game bibles (which overviews games and their rules) at the same time that I am scripting.

Samples:

Hope Is Missing (hopeismissing.blogspot.com): Promotion for Head Trauma.

ARGnet (argn.com): A comprehensive site covering all things ARG.

World Without Oil (worldwithoutoil.org): Ken Eklund‘s social conscious ARG about an oil shock.

Super Columbine Massacre (columbinegame.com): Controversial RPG.

Cloverfield (1-18-08.com): Promotion for the upcoming J.J. Abrams film.

Eldrich Errors (eldritcherrors.com): Interesting horror ARG.

Perplex City (perplexcity.com): Immersive ARG dealing with murder, intrigue and conspiracy. The first season concluded and a second season is in the works.