THE PHONE Ryan Gasparini Ivan Tay Alicia Byrnes
THE PHONE
Ryan GaspariniIvan Tay
Alicia Byrnes
STORY SYNOPSIS
• protagonist finds phone
• discovers the phone contains strange video footage of the owner ostensibly being followed by men in suits
• looks further and discovers texts, more videos, pictures, and telephone numbers
• posts findings on a Wordpress blog to seek help
• the fan culture surrounding concepts of paranormal activity
MIB’s Star Wars UFOs
• the notion of such fan cultures appropriating a piece of fiction to seem more real
MY TRIBE
GENERATING INTEREST
As we sought to maintain authenticity, promoting the artefact was a delicate process
•Posted to online platforms acting as protagonist YouTube 4Chan
• Distributed posters around RMIT City Campus
We chose not to post to Facebook to maintain authenticity.
YouTube Channel
Posters
GENERATING INTEREST - OUTCOMESIncrease in page views of blog after linking
via 4Chan and posters
USER INTERACTION
Alternate reality games require players to use clues from a variety of media to solve puzzles and participate via the Internet in an evolving
story.-Gupta, 2008
USER INTERACTION
CLUES• clues were integral to user engagement as they encouraged audience participation
• clues demonstrated convergence culture as they were integrated through various media platforms
mobile phone number with voicemail
link to password protected website
Google Map
Blog post relaying mobile phone number
USER INTERACTION
USER INTERACTIONPassword protected website
IMPROVEMENTS
• could have improved user interaction, ie. enabled users to alter outcomes or change the narrative
• with a larger time frame we could have produced more content- blog posts were cut from 18 to 12 in order to condense information
CONCLUSIONS
• developed creative ways to maintain authenticity while still considering ethics
• planned successfully - stayed on track with timeline
• learned how to create stories around multiple media platforms
FIN