For the previous assignment, my partner and I opted to take a musical approach, as we felt it was an effective way of showcasing modularity; the musical parts could be interchanged to create something new. For assignment 2, my group and I decided to continue developing this musical approach, but integrate the visual component in a more meaningful way. Our idea as of now is to film one sequence, and allow viewers to change the music as they wish, which we hope will ultimately affect the tone of the scene, despite having the actual footage remain the same. As for the footage, we want to stick with an activity that is emotionally and tonally mutual, which will allow the music to more effectively dictate the mood of the piece at the audience’s discretion.
For the musical direction, we sourced inspiration from various online clips of people re-interpreting songs in different genres. A good example of what we wanted to achieve musically was in Seth Everman’s Youtube video in which he performed the song ‘Africa’ by the band Toto in about a dozen different genres. The song remained the same but the feel and tone changed throughout the video, giving each part a significantly different feel despite playing the same song. This is exactly what we had in mind for the musical component, so we will be creating several different interpretations of the same song and seeing how it affects the tone of our video.
There were other examples we found of musicians playing through a song once and having it change genre as it progressed, but unless you knew the song they were playing it was hard to appreciate the differences between the sections, because the song progressively changed making it hard to compare the styles. For this reason, I think we will just create the chorus of a song, and re-do it for each genre, which will make it easier for the audience to hear the differences.
Our work represents what can be possible on a larger scale in online media distribution. Our goal was to demonstrate how a content creator can incorporate their audience into the media they are making in real time, and music is a very effective way of visually and audibly showcasing the possibilities of this concept. Having an audience take part in a live streaming event is not a new phenomenon, with events such as ‘Twitch Plays Pokemon’ still being a fantastic example of what can be achieved through online streaming sites, but our concept offers a more intimate approach, and focuses on what each individual viewer can bring to the production, instead of treating the audience as a mass group.
Through doing this test, we learned that platforms would need to undergo a transformation to support our concept. The idea of live interactivity through streaming is not something that is being done on the scale we are aiming for, and would most likely have to be implemented into a social video game to be effective. Our idea is perhaps better suited to a dedicated game than a phone app, purely because the response time between an app and a stream would not be ideal. Platforms are not at the point of supporting live audience integration yet. However, our test does demonstrate how effective streaming platforms hypothetically could be if they were to support this kind of entertainment. If a site like Twitch were to integrate some kind of creation features into their app, streamers could tailer an experience specifically for their content, and give their audience a more meaningful way of connecting to the content they love.
Our project expands upon what I learned in my development posts in that it offers an alternative to linear content. As we learned in week 3, some concepts do not function effectively in a traditional linear format, and in order to be impactful must give the audience some element of choice and control. For a piece to be truly interactive, it cannot have a traditional narrative path driving the viewer, as it eliminates a true sense of choice. In our planning, we considered creating a narrative story and giving the audience the option to pick between multiple branching narrative paths. This however took away too much of a sense of control from the audience, and did not build upon our previous test in a meaningful way. By using music to demonstrate live interactivity, we were not limited by a narrative or restricted by set paths. There are limitless options with music, and it proved to be the most effective way for us to find a balance between giving the creator control and the audience freedom.
We still have many questions in regards to the technical side of things. For our concept to become a mainstream thing would require average internet speeds to significantly increase, and would greatly increase the strain put on streaming services if they were to host and relay all the data back and forth between the streamer and the audience in real time. It’s an ambitious concept that in theory works perfectly, but we don’t have the means to make it a fully functional project yet. For me personally I think this raises questions regarding how online platforms are going to adapt to features like this if they ever become a reality. Right now, online facilities do not exist to support projects like this, at least not every aspect at once. I believe that if audience interaction becomes a more integral part of online media, we will see many major sites such as Youtube, Twitch and Facebook adapting and implementing advancements on their sites to allow for these possibilities.
To further develop off of our previous idea, Jackson and I decided to create a theoretical interactive musical piece that exemplifies what could be achieved through modern streaming and web 2.0. Our last creation allowed audiences to influence the decisions of streamers through comments, whereas for this piece we wanted to give viewers more direct control over what they were experiencing on screen.
The idea was to have a musician streaming themselves creating music and have viewers participate in the creative process. We came up with a theoretical app that can sync with the streamers performance and allow viewers to add to the music in real time; while the streamer carried out their performance, viewers would hypothetically log into the app and add musical textures to the streamers performance, creating a direct connection between the viewer and entertainer. Compared to our last assignment, this one gives the audience more choice in how they interact, and the impact they can have upon the final creation is much more apparent and unique.
To allow the streamer to maintain control of their performance, they would be given the ability to control certain elements of the app. By controlling parameters such as tempo, key, pitch, and tones, the streaming musician would still be able to dictate the overall feel and sound of their performance. We chose to add this restriction so that the audience interaction would not become overly chaotic. We also found that the experiment worked best with three to six viewers, as any more would cause the music to become overwhelming, and the elements that each viewer added would not be heard or appreciated. Giving the streamer the ability to limit how many notes each viewer could add is also a feature that we would add to the service, as it would allow for a less cluttered sound and also for more participants to take part at once.
To carry out our idea, we created a beat using a sample pad with a set tempo of 150 bpm. The pad gave visual feedback through lights and patterns, which made it easier for viewers to understand what was happening rhythmically, as well as making it more visually appealing and suitable for a streaming platform. To simulate our hypothetical app, we used an app called ‘Rolling Tones’, which is a simple step sequencer that can be used to create multiple melodies to a set same tempo. It is very intuitive and easy to use, and is almost exactly what our version of the app would ideally be like, only without any form of connectivity to allow for collaboration. However, the app did allow us to restrict the tempo and key of the notes, which meant that playing multiple recordings over one another would not result in a messy sound, and rather would create a weird but nice harmony when played all at once; the different melodies were in the same musical scale so that it sounded appealing when they were all blended together.
To simulate the effect of multiple people using the app together, we captured footage and audio of several instances of the app playing the music, and then synced all of them up to the drum beat we had created earlier. We then edited the footage and audio with the beat to make a video demonstrating how the idea could work. We displayed the ‘streamer’ in the centre of the screen and placed the instances of the app around it to show how they were all functioning together in ‘real time’.
Music is a fantastic way of seeing progress; every action you make has an audible response, and can be very satisfying for the player as it gives an immediate effect in response to their actions. Exploring how music can be used in an online interactive environment is a promising path to achieving what we want to achieve, which is live collaboration between the streamer and the audience. With the evolution of live streaming, we are now seeing concerts streamed live in virtual reality, allowing fans of artists to enjoy their performances from the comfort of their own computer. I think taking this a step further, and allowing audiences to actually participate in the performance would be an interesting next step.
Building upon what I discussed in my last blog post, I think having a simple musical app that can be synced with the performance of an artist would be an interesting idea. It would allow for independent creativity between the streamer and the viewer, yet could be calibrated in a way that allows for the two performances to work in unison. A very simple version of this could be let viewers add textures to a drum beat, building off what the streamer has started and expanding upon an original idea to create something new and unexpected.
If we pursue music for our experiment, it will make it a lot easier for us to give the audience choice in what they contribute to the piece. A weakness with our previous ideas was that there were too many options, and it led to an unfocused production. To achieve our aim of audience interactivity, we need to use a format that everybody can understand, eliminate the possibility of incorrect responses, which music does very effectively. By using musical notes and rhythms, we simultaneously give participants less choice but more possibilities, and it will enable viewers to contribute meaningfully in a way that is unique to them.
To expand upon our previous assignment, I continued to look into other ways people have implemented live audiences into online experiences. Our last test involved incorporating a live audience into a game of cards against humanity, giving them the chance to influence our decisions as we played. Something that achieves this is a much more effective way however is the “Jackbox Party Pack”, a collection of party games that emphasise audience participation, and does so in a meaningful way.
The games included in the pack have found popularity amongst many Youtubers, as it gives them an efficient way to allow their audiences to participate in their content. Most of the games involve improvisational humour in response to a prompt, which is then voted upon by the audience. All of this is done anonymously, which means that when the audience votes, they do not know who is responsible for what answer. This to me is a great example of how an audience can be incorporated into online content, as they have a measurable effect of the outcome of the match by voting on the winners of each round. Whilst I don’t necessarily want out next project to be “competitive” I do want to achieve a similar kind of measurability of the audiences participation, and give viewers more control over what they want to see.
Another thing I found appealing about the Jackbox collection was the incorporation of an app. The game is actually played on an app, which connects to the game console or PC. This means that players and audience members can all work in tandem with each other, instead of using a turn based system. This was something that limited us during our last experiment, and I feel it would have been more effective if there were two dedicated screens for both the audience and the streamer.
I think this method of interactivity is something we will investigate in Assignment 2, and I believe it would be interesting to give an audience more control and choice over how they wish to contribute to the entertainment.
I researched more examples of how audiences have determined the outcome of a live production and came across a charity event entitles “Awesome Games Done Quick” or AGDQ. This event is a charity event put on to support organisations such as the ‘Prevent Cancer Foundation’ and ‘Doctors Without Borders’ to name a couple. The event itself is made up of gamers doing ‘speed-runs’ of games. Many of these gamers are streaming personalities who typically provide this kind of content on sites such as twitch.com. I found these events to be relevant to my research as they showcased fantastic examples of how a live audience can influence what happens during a stream.
The event is spans a few days with the aim of raising as much money for the chosen charity as possible. To achieve this, they include what’s known as ‘stretch goals’ into the program. This means that if a certain amount of money is donated within a certain time period, certain things will have to be achieved in whatever game is being played. This incites audience participation, encouraging viewers to donate money to the event with the promise of a certain feat being pulled off live on stream. There is a strong community built around the Games Done Quick events, and much of this is due to the inclusion and value of the audience.
I found this to be relevant to my research as it shows the best way to ensure audience interactivity is to offer something in return. It is not interesting to the average person in today’s online climate to simply take part in a live chat during a stream. Most online phenomena provide audiences with something they can actively take part in, and usually gives a sense of inclusion to the participants. Games Done Quick pulls this off by allowing the chat to influence what happens on the stream, and for our next project, I would like to find a way to incentivise and audience into taking part in an online production by giving them a more meaningful connection to the entertainers they are watching.
To explore how online media can be utilised to explore new ways of social interaction, Jackson and I decided to create a scenario in which viewers could tune into a livestream and have a direct influence on the content itself. To us, this would provide a clear example of how online platforms can be used to create something that is unpredictable and organic, and demonstrate how new progressions in media have made things possible that previously were not.
Our concept was to simply allow viewers of our livestream to influence our decisions in a game. The game we opted for was an online version of the popular card game “Cards Against Humanity”, in which players pick a card containing a word or phrase that they think best answers the question brought forward each round. For our practical exercise, we allowed participants in the chat to comment which card they wanted us to use, and whatever card was the most popular was chosen.
The concept of having an audience play a part in the progression of a game isn’t a new idea, and was done on a much larger scale back in 2014 with the phenomenon “Twitch Plays Pokemon”. Over 1.16 million players took part in this experiment, which involved using a computer script to translate the comments on the livestream into commands for the game, thus allowing viewers to control the player in the game with their comments. It currently hold the Guiness World Record for the most participants in a single-player online video game.
The reason that Pokemon was chosen for this experiment was because of the limited controls and simple turn gameplay, which is also something we had to keep in mind for our own project. Due to the latency between us and our viewers, we had to ensure that whatever game we chose was generous with time constraints and preferably turn based. This was to ensure that the chat could respond to what they saw in time for us to implement their instructions into the game. This kind of audience interaction is definitely the future of online content, and has been steadily becoming more and more prevalent in modern media. Allowing the chat to actively take part in the entertainment rather than purely viewing it is an extremely effective way of guaranteeing engagement, as it gives viewers a sense of value as they interact with their streamers of choice.
Without the advancements in online media production and the increasing popularity of live streamed content, this kind of interactivity would not have been possible, and is a far cry from what was feasible before web 2.0.
In the first week of this studio, we were asked to brainstorm ways that modern online media has pushed the boundaries of what can be achieved. I personally learned that a lot of these achievements are thanks to the introduction of web 2.0, which was introduced in 1999 to enable accessibility and ease-of-use for all with access to the internet. Since this advent, the rise of user-created content has skyrocketed, and there are numerous sites that are dedicated to hosting and sharing this content, as well as provide a means of financially supporting creators. What was once a field limited to those in professional production careers in now a vibrant platform in which anyone can contribute to, and make a living from it as well.
Utilitising online platforms as a way to raise revenue is now a commonplace practice amongst online content Creators. It allows for production and distribution to be achieved to professional standards that previously would not have otherwise been possible for independent creators. The ever-changing landscape of online distribution has made this possible for all, and sites such as Kickstarter, Patreon and Indiegogo are leading the way for crowdfunding many online productions. All these sites allow fans of particular content creators to have a financial influence on content they want to see made. Its a system that both rewards creators for garnering faithful fans, and fans who in turn get to have a say in what content they receive.
Rooster teeth entertainment is an online production company that has been developing content for over a decade, on both their website and YouTube channel. Their first feature film Lazer team broke crowdfunding records upon its release raising almost 2.5 million dollars in 2014 from Rooster Teeth fans. This surpassed Indiegogo’s previous record of $650,000. This new method of financially supporting a product is only a possibility thanks to the evolution of online media and the increased involvement of fans and audience members. The ability for fans to have a direct financial impact upon the creation and success of a production has paved a new way for online content Creators, and has broadened the spectrum of what is possible for independent creators to achieve.
The rising popularity of sites like ‘Twitch’ have also had a huge impact on Creators ability to quality entertainment. It also creates a bigger incentive for creators to make content that pleases their audience, as the financial reward they receive is directly related to the quality of their content and the satisfaction of their audience. Donation focused platforms are a great indication of what fans want from their entertainer of choice, and these content Creators can use the responses from their audience to dictate how they approach their content in the future. These new options for raising revenue rewards dedicated creators and entertainers who have worked hard to establish a fan-base, and makes creating large scale productions such as “Lazer Team” a possibility; Something that would not have been comprehendible a decade ago.
This kind of online interaction is what I wish to pursue when developing ideas for assignment 1. With funding being one possibility of internet-based entertainment, another opportunity it allows for is interaction. The aforementioned streaming site ‘Twitch’ not only allows for subscribers to engage in donations to support their streamers of choice, but also gives them a direct link to their favourite creators. Twitch chats are often full of communities of fans engaging with both each other and in some cases, the streamer themselves. This is a concept I find very appealing, and I would personally like to try and explore this idea for assignment 1.
Twitch has been host to some major live audience gaming events, such as “Twitch Plays Pokemon” and Twitch Plays Dark Souls”. These both involved using computer software to translate chat dialogue into commands for the game being played, allowing the audience to control the games with their comments. This kind of concept would be interesting to explore, and there are a variety of ways I think this can be achieved. The most effective would probably be to find a simple puzzle game with basic controls and respond to the chats commands, hopefully resulting in progress being made within the game. Latency and connectivity are potential issues that would have to be dealt with, so a game with loose time constraints would be ideal.
The reason the “Twitch Plays” are successful is because they are simple, and I believe capturing a similar experience on a smaller scale for this project will be an extremely effective way of showcasing what the power of online interactivity can do, and how it can influence and change the way we engage with other people’s content, and even our own.
