HOW might the digital world interact with more traditional forms of broadcasting in future? According to North East developer Enigma Interactive, the collaboration might cause storytelling to evolve in new and extremely exciting ways.
The Newcastle and London-based company recently finished work on an interactive game to tie in with BBC4’s Great Thinkers: In Their Own Words.
The game challenges players to explore and discover the links between great social, economic, political and scientific thinkers.
The project – which was created in partnership with the Open University’s Open Learn team – is the third BBC4 link-up for Enigma, which has also worked for broadcasters such as ITV.
Managing director Steve Grainger (pictrued) believes the increasing relationship between TV and interactive digital offerings bodes well for an interesting future.
He said: “This is all still really the tip of the iceberg. Industries such as TV storytelling and book publishing have been quite isolated from digital in the past, or are just talking about using it to add one or two bits to the story that are already there.
“What happens in digital interactive is that it’s all about how people behind the screens are engaging with the information. It’s not about the screens just telling them something, but about viewers dictating how they get their information.
“What’s beginning to happen is that the worlds are starting to come together and there are one or two really nice pieces of work that are a hybrid between immersive and interactive digital work and the storytelling you get on TV and in books.
“It’s only recently that technology has made a lot of this stuff available. We’re now at a point where we can embark in a whole new direction.” In recent times, we’ve seen broadcasters such as TV companies and publishers in new and interesting ways.
Former Pixar animator William Joyce sparked interest by bringing a more animated storytelling experience to the iPad with The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore. Beyond that, author JK Rowling has been working with Sony and nearby partners such as TH_NK and Atomhawk Design to create an online Pottermore universe from the Harry Potter books.
Meanwhile, BBC Worldwide executive vice president Robert Nashak used an appearance at Gateshead’s GameHorizon conference to announce that popular programmes such as Top Gear and Doctor Who “now should be thought of as multi-platform”.
He said: “We have this growing but fragmented marketplace so we’re going to see the BBC on all these platforms.
“It’s a question of whether social elements and micro-transaction can give rise to new ways of collaborating around storytelling. I think they can.”
Enigma’s own work has involved the interactive What’s Your Verdict? game that supported the BBC’s Justice Season. The game allowed participants to view a court scene and decide whether someone was guilty or innocent, while it also developed the Signed Stories website for hard-of-hearing children for ITV, a project which has now gone from the web to the TV itself.
Grainger said: “Broadcasters are realising they have to reach out across different media if they want to pick up audience. The Great Thinkers: Connections game is an interesting example because it’s quite highbrow, but making it into a game converts it into a more populist format.”
