Be the Star of Your Own Movie

Interactive storytelling has come a long way from those choose-your-own-adventure story books.

Interactive movies, where the viewer becomes a character in the drama unfolding on screen (usually online) are being used in a variety of unexpected ways as gaming and filmmaking continue to merge.

This week, The Observer's Very Short List featured an interactive short film called The Hero in which "the person designated to save the world from all its problems happens to be you."

The film was produced by the Swedish ad agency Draftfcb as part of a viral campaign to get younger urban Swedes to start paying a broadcast fee for the Swedish public service system. The Observer reports that the campaign has resulted in 2,500 new broadcasting fee subscribers, well above the goal of just 500. But even for those of us who don't live in Sweden or understand Swedish, the film is a fun exercise in interactive movie-watching.

Go ahead, give it a whirl. Once you click on the Hero website, you'll be prompted to upload a photo of yourself, either from your computer or a webcam. It then takes a few minutes for the image to be integrated into the film (during which time you'll see a very slow countdown). Once the processing is done, you can sit back and watch the drama unfold, with your image seamlessly integrated into the action.

Just remember that what the movie lacks in character development and plot, it more than makes up for in innovation. Just imagine what can be done with this kind of interactivity going forward, especially as mobile technology advances with the release of the iPad. You can bet we'll be seeing a lot more of this.

Another example of interactivity comes in the form of a web documentary produced by Honkytonk films, a multiplatform production company based in Paris, which specializes in non-linear narratives and interactive story telling. The film, Journey to the End of Coal, works like a choose-your-own-adventure story where the user/viewer is offered different options for their next move.

The documentary aspect of the film is designed to raise awareness of the devastating toll coal mining is having on Chinese miners and is based on fact ("only the names have been changed," we're told). At the top of the film, the viewer is informed that "as a freelance journalist, you have decided to investigate the living conditions of those who are making the 'Chinese miracle' possible. You will start your investigation with a focus on the most dangerous coal mines in the world."

Along the way, you can click for sidebar stories with facts and information about coal mining in particular towns within Shanxi province. The documentary also functions as a lesson in how to get a story: do you go to the officials or do you speak to the miners themselves? If you make the wrong choice, you encounter dead ends. The film has already aired in documentary film festivals around the world, picking up awards along the way, and it's been making the rounds in the journalism department at NYU (where I teach) as a tool in teaching the students how to get a story. My only gripe is that you can't pause or rewind the action.

Check it out when you've got some time to spare: Journey to the End of Coal. What do you think? Can you imagine a choose-your-own-adventure version of Alice in Wonderland?

Photo by mobilechina2007 via Flickr.