UPDATES FROM THE PERTH LAMP LAB
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Perth Live-in-Lab May 2006
SUNDAY
LAMP's third residential lab ran with seven creative teams from Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, NSW and Victoria emersed in the prototype development process.
The lab opened on Sunday 7th May with a welcome song from the local Bibbulmun Aboriginal community. Then it was straight down to business with introductions from team participants and mentors. The seven teams have been stimulated by presentations on the very latest innovations taking place in global new media. Celia Tait, Executive Producer of Perth's reknown Artemis productions spoke about the potential of interactive media to transform the creative and business processes of broadcast television. She spoke about upcoming projects which were being developed with strong broadband internet components and expresssed regrets that the successful Artemis series "Desperately Seeking Sheila" did not exploit online opportunities.
Gary presented a quick snapshot of the changing industry in 'Big Picture' and the opening day finished off with introductions from the teams and some cool applications shown by the mentors and then a finale with an alternate reality game designed by LAMP mentors Christy Dena, Jackie Turnure and Catherine Gleeson. More detail on this will follow...
MONDAY
The talks on Monday were given by Gary Hayes, David Jensen, Duane Varun and Keren Flavell and the teams were mentored throughout the day as they expanded their project ideas.
Gary Hayes - LAMP Director, Interaction Producer
Gary introduced a range of new video forms and formats that go beyond linear for each of the teams to consider across the three main screens, TV, PC and mobile. Starting from an introduction to the 3rd age of media on-demand he presented ways that video stories could be told in this era and why producers need to be prepared by creating unique services. He also talked about ways to engage audiences in push and pull services using many examples that he produced at BBC and with US broadcasters. His summary was an upsum of ways to attract audiences across the range of media delivered across this sea of devices and delivery channels:
- There are many ways beyond (single screen) linear that the video form can be delivered across mobile, pc and TV
- Appropriate multi screen, multi layer and multi path video will give your project USP in a crowded linear only market
- Cross-media types can be delivered simultaneously to the latest IPTV and broadband (mob/pc/tv) screens
- Viewer content, comment and annotation, an extra dimension
- Make the experience as personalized as possible
- Audiences want to be able to push and pull their content without barriers
- Advertising will lead innovation and dominate even more in cross-media markets
- Professional producers will differentiate themselves from UGC by creating interactive cross-media, or multi-layer rather than mono-media
- Do not forget where the audiences are moving to
David Jensen - Interaction producer
Visiting specialist David Jensen from LA company Zetools gave a presentation on TV 2.0 and Web 2.0 that pointed at many new opportunities to deliver branded entertainment via the internet. He spoke about his experiences developing systems for clients such as AOL and the Microsoft Media Centre and tailoring for the "2 inch, 2 foot and 10 foot" viewing experience.
His talk began with a historical analysis of the transition from the horizontal choices offered in the analogue TV world where all networks had equal footing on the channel dial. The introduction of pay TV and later digital TV has introduced vertical choice into the equation and finally the introduction of the PVR has changed the principles of flow that is the basis of the commercial television business model.
In this new environment shows and brands become important not the TV networks themselves and this is a major challenge for their future. Jensen identified Storytelling, Branded Media, Transactions, Community and Gaming as key areas that would define the future of broadband TV. He also talked about the potential of user generated content as well as content in the healthcare, education and community sectors being in demand.
"Consumers want relevance" above all else and rich media content is overwhelming preferred to the text and graphics of Web 1.0. Advertising supported content is the future of broadband TV rather than subscription or pay for download services Jensen believes. Players such as Brightcove and Zetools offer a new wave of software solutions to publish video to the internet so that producers don't lose control because it enable them to be wrapped with business, DRM and syndication rules.
Duane Varan - Audience research expert
Duane gave an inspirational talk primarily focused on the disruption that personal video recorders and on-demand will have in the marketplace but went on to point out the futility of producers of emergent content looking just at the Australian market. He also eloquently discussed viewer centric interaction and showed through precise research that his usuability and research lab does, how interactivity really increases engagement across the board.
Keren Flavell - Mobile content producer
Keren gave a clear and insightful look at the complexity of mobile content production and some of the key challenges facing traditional producers. She mentioned the ways producers can indeed go off-portal and not be too restricted and locked into telcos walled gardens.
Throughout the day all the teams were individually mentored and as a group were given pitching training and tips from Jackie Turnure who will be making sure the final presentation is as professional as they can be. The groups are undergoing an expansion and big picturisation of their ideas - so there is hopefully a sense of confusion as the teams grow their propositions and, in some cases, completely reevaluate their original ideas.
TUESDAY
Christy Dena - Cross Media Storyteller
Christy Dena opened the day with an engaging presentation on the nuts and bolts of Producing Cross Media Projects. She outlined five ways to produce Cross Media content including Repurposing, Altering, Adapting, Augmenting and Stretching.
She asked the audience to contribute to the reasons that a particular technique might be employed:
Re-purposing - republishing the same content on each platform. egs Forget the Rules, Random Place To give the same audience options To cater to different audiences For time shifting purposes Because you can!
Altering - editing, redesigning or creating new content according to the affordances adnd contraints of each platform. egs 24 TV series and mobisodes For variety and depth of content Affordances offered by various devices or user habits Exclusivity
Adapting -providing version of your property in different formats and platforms. eg Lord of the Rings film and games. to exploit popularity to make money so it works better for cross media experience
Augmenting - providing additional, complementary or contradictory information in differnent platforms. eg. The Matrix anime, comics, websites and games more background to story '3 mins long, 2 hours wide' Marketing
Stretching - distributing the plot or game across platforms eg. Homicide Second Shift, Regenesis exotic content rewards the audience drives audiences across platforms challenging as a creator combat unfinished plot with self sufficient content
Order of Release Stagger the release of components and decide which component of your property audiences wil be expose to first and why. Vary passive and interactive media.
Cross Media Navigation Design compelling Call-to-Actions to move the audience to each componet of your property. Ensure you have the following elements: - primer: prepare and motivate the audience to act - referral: provide them with the instructions and mean on how and when to act - reward: acknowledge and recompense their action
The new need is to inspire producers to get audiences activated so that they get up and do something.
Christy's presentation was drawn from her PHD research on Cross Media Storytelling and offered many rare insights on this vital emerging area of creativity.
David Gurney - Digital Content Producer
David gave a presentation on Business vs Creativity in broadband and mobile content. Broadband and mobile are the new (media) goldrush - is it possible to be interesting and creative and make money at the same time?
David talked about his experience creating content for mobiles and indicated that the business model was successful because of the billing system in place. This means that audiences are used to paying for voice services and are doing so for content as well.
Broadband presents a range of opportunities for the producer including: - companion websites - online communities - Massively Multiplayer Games - B2C (Business-to-Consumer) - no middlemen - more profit margin - IPTV - start your own channel
Broadband and mobile give us the ability for the first time to measure our audiences. This is an opportunity to improve our content and the way we manage audiences.
David showed some examples of broadband sites which are drawing audiences away from TV. "Why would you ever go back to watching The Bill after playing Counterstrike?". He indicated that the current pattern of the big US broadcasters offering free broadband content on their sites was making it difficult for independent producers to compete.
David explained the role of content aggregators in brokering deals between content creators and the telcos. The days of dealing directly with the telcos is coming to an end. He suggested getting an aggregator with the ability to distribute content internationally. Blue Rocket Productions currently has mobile content distributed to 37 countries and you need this kind of scale to get returns. Specialist content formatters are a necessary link in the chain as they make sure your content is compatible with all the phone models.
It is currently difficult to make money from mobile content even in bigger markets than Australia like the UK. Because broadcasters are currently flooding the market with cheap mobile content it is highly competitive for independents in the field. David suggested that the position of content on mobile portals is a key to success - if people can find your content it is much more likely to be successful. Make sure you find the right content aggregator who can get you good placement and has the ability to get your content to overseas territories. A good deal involves partnerships which give your content better placement either with their own WAP page or placed with high quality content in the same genre category.
David showed an example of recent work including Bang the Cat which is a low budget short-form comedy series suited to mobile and broadband platforms.
Jackie Turnure - interactive writer
Jackie has worked as a writer on both non-linear and linear projects and her presentation gave the audience many insights into the the art of narrative engagment. The workshop led in to an exercise exploring how to engage, involve and reward audiences.
1. Engage
Involves a call to action and a dramatic question designed to generate emotion. Hook the audience in so that they care and go further - once you hook them you have to find ways to keep them engaged
2. Involve
Involving the audience means that they are immersed in your world and this should evolve into an emotional commitment. Absorbing worlds and complelling characters that change and develop over time are key ways to involve an audience
3. Extend
A technique to motivate or prompt the user to explore or engage with the whole narrative experience. Think of how the user is tracked and the user journey and how it changes depending on point of entry.
4. Surprise
Raise the stakes, turn, expand, deepen and ensure the user experience is never static. Create mini goals leading up to the main goal and ensure you create something that is replayable and changes over time.
5. Reward
A reward is an answer to the dramatic question and how the experience is ultimately satisfying. How does the project end and what makes the user experience entertaining and worthwhile?
Relevant URL's
Gamasutra article on adaptation
[ http://www.interactivestory.net/ Interactivestory.net]
WEDNESDAY
Peter Giles - Emerging Media business models
Peter Giles gave a presentation on emerging media business models with a focus on the impact of user generated content. He played a recent interview with Wired Editor Chris Anderson which expanded on his ideas of the impact of the 'long tail' on media production. Key to this focus was the observation that as the barriers to distribution come down, user generated content will exist side by side with professionally produced content. This democratisation of distribution means that producers need to begin to become aggregators of user generated content in order to 'spread the load' and harness the power of active niche audiences in the production process. Peter also examined practical methods that producers can use to increase their online visibility as search is becoming a valuable commodity in an online world that is saturated with content.
The final part of Peter's talk referred to the two main models of revenue generation for new media - advertising and subscription.
The following lists some of the basic revenue streams that are currently being exploited though many producers are currently innovating and experimenting with combinations of these approaches.
SUBSCRIPTION
1. Internet pay for download
i. iTunes
The most established system for charging micro-payments for downloads over the internet is Apple iTunes with a robust billing system developed from music downloading
ii. Web site
Equipped with an e-commerce system to process credit card payments you can sell downloads on your own web site â or mail order DVDâs, Eg. JibJab currently offer pay for downloads on their own site.
2. Mobile content subscription
i. On Portal
Mobile portals such as 3, iMode etc offer paid for downloads, one of viewing of video streams or monthly subscription to content channels. Content producers can deal directly with the service providers or go through a content aggregator â eg. in Australia m-Net. Donât forget ring tones and wallpapers.
ii. Off Portal/Direct to consumer
Selling content directly to consumers, bypassing mobile portals eg. Gift cards, WAP sites, SMS, wifi or blue tooth distribution at point of sale eg. ITunes gift cards, eBay or Paypal, Sony PSP wifi points or over the internet
3. Physical media DVD, content embedded in hardware eg. PVRâs, phones, PDAâs or SIMS.
ADVERTISING The traditional business model of broadcast television is built on the 30 sec ad spot. This model is moving to the internet as broadband video services become more robust. Branded players and banner advertising are other methods of carrying advertising message on the internet.
1. Streaming video with ads Providing free video content on the internet including advertising at the head of each clip or at regular intervals eg. In2TV, Atom Films, branded players and banner ads surrounding the video window
2. Podcasting Providing free video or audio content for download via the internet which includes advertising eg. Rocketboom, DLTV. Also possible to provide a taster of a pay for download service you may be offering
3. Direct to consumer Providing free content as a value ad to another experience â eg. internet café, shopping, Alternate Reality Game or other events â can take the form of physical media or free download to wifi or blue tooth devices
