hola,
It's been interesting reading the posts so far - there's certainly a lot of scope to create something quite innovative. With everything that has been discussed so far I've tried to create a script which encompasses everything we're trying to achieve:
1. A Detective/murder mystery - The script I've started writing is quite simple in the setup. There's an incident (The art theft) and then we're introduced to three suspects who each had a reason for committing the crime.
2. I've gone for an art theft because, I think it's probably more open to innovation - for example we could genuinely have a work of art in a gallery and then take it down under the illusion that its been stolen. This would be an angle the PR people could work on.
3. There would be audience interaction/interactivity - firstly during the scene where planted actors ask questions of the Detective and then through the later scenes where they correspond with us via twitter. Also there is an opportunity for the audience to question the suspects when they are bought out together.
4. The live action takes place in one location - the interview room at the police station. The scenes are inter-cut with pre filmed action in various locations.
With regards to the script that I've sent you by email, bear in mind this is not really even a first draft - just my first initial ideas as I work through the plot. The script I've sent is more an opportunity for you to see if I've captured the essence of what we want to achieve and for you to decide whether we're happy with the general plot or whether a re-write is required.
Thursday 2 August 2012
Monday 30 July 2012
The lady with the PR plan.
Hi guys,
We have another brain to add to the collective. My sister Jen, a recent PR & Communications graduate from Sheffield Hallam was so impressed with the concept and potential of this project that she has volunteered her skills and enthusiasm to help us get some exposure and buzz surrounding it!
We've been chatting about it and Jen has come up with a brief action plan, listing a few aims that we want to achieve and some ideas on how to do it.
This may be of particular interest to Ben, especially the online stuff. But, as we're a tiny team we're all involved in everything so your comments are much appreciated!
We can flesh it out together and hopefully set some loose dates for when we want to do stuff and get contacting potentially interested parties!
Here's her initial thoughts...
---
Digital Theatre Project
We last spoke on the 27th July, at that
time I proposed that a good way to generate some interest around this would be
to start looking into different platforms that may cover the project and offer;
promotion, enticing people to come along. Or interest, to simply talk about it
and gain some recognition. Or finally, gain some kind of sponsorship. I have
drafted up a plan of how to approach the process of gaining the 3 elements
above.
I understand that the production will be shown in
October, 3 months is the perfect time scale for something of this size,
however, nothing wants to be written, distributed or even hinted at until there
is an idea of the script, actors, venue etc! The plan is in the order of
relevance (roughly, it will be a matter of opinion) and should be a suitable
work load for one person over a time scale of 1-3 month.
Aim
1.
To gain the interest of local print media (the
incentive to report on the project will largely be down to the use of school
pupils, and that we are giving pupils an excellent insight to a desirable
industry.) If pupils do not end up being used, another angle can be taken.
2.
To create a buzz surrounding the event
online.
3.
To gain online coverage through industry
specific sites such as wired.com
4.
Find sponsorships in local Digital media/PR
agencies.
5.
Entice usual theatre goers to try something new.
Objective
1.
In order to complete Aim 1, a press release must be created and distributed to local
print media. To ensure the greatest coverage possible, a press release obtaining
information and invitation should be created (date needs to be confirmed before
doing any of this!) then a news release after the event holding all the
information of success, thanks and information of next year’s LDF, thus
allowing papers to create a final article on the festival.
2.
In order to complete Aim 2, a public blog or website needs to be created that spells out
simply what the digital theatre is/why/who/where/what. This information will be
the back bone of anything else online. (I
understand the characters may have their own twitter feeds? This is a good
idea, but it will be time consuming and if a small scale event, it may not have
the desired impact.) The use of a hashtag on the first online publication
of the event is vital in getting people talking and engaging with each other
prior/throughout the event. Key to social media buzz often lies with bloggers,
getting bloggers interested in LDF and the digital theatre will ensure that the
“right” kind of people are talking about it, but it also offers scope for
others to pick up on it too. The best way to reach tech/digital/media?/film?
Bloggers is directly! Email, tweet etc to strike conversation and offer more
info.
3.
Aim 3
is best approached by using similar techniques as 1 and 2. It is arguably the
most difficult aim as LDF and the Digital Theatre is a small project. Sending
emails/tweeting the website or editor/journo of website is the best bet of
having a suitable website write about it.
4.
Leeds has an astounding amount of fantastic
digital comms/media/PR agencies that I’m sure would be interested in the
what/where/how of the Digital Theatre and LDF as a whole. Emailing and phoning
digital agencies with the aim of gaining sponsorship (financial, resource
letting, joining the team?) could result benefitting both sides. Often smaller
agencies are looking to join their local community in events like this as it
allows them to create some industry and Leeds worthy news for their own
services such as news letters or blogs.
5.
Aim 5 is
a case of good old fashioned print media, however this is where we could do
with financing from Aim 3! The use
of print leaflets placed in promotional hot spots within local theatres,
suitable bars and the news areas in libraries etc is key to getting the
ordinary person experiencing something they’d never heard of before. This
element could make a nice story for Aim
1, meaning that an alternative press release could be sent to different
print (or the same, if original press release is unsuccessful) as a way of
promoting what will showcased at x venue on x date and how it will be something
theatre goers will not have heard of before but will enjoy.
Audience
Primary
LDF usual? - Industry experts, graduates trying to
break into the industry, local Leeds people, new business start ups as a form
of networking, press, bloggers. Mostly reachable through online PR techniques.
Secondary
Ordinary people, none industry specific, families,
school trips? Generally offline.
Media
Offline
Yorkshire evening post
This is Ikley
Morley Observer
Metro
Online
Wired.com
Specific bloggers – amount TBF.
Guardian.co.uk
Mediums
Offline – leaflets, press coverage, press release
and news release.
Online – email, blog, twitter, website.
Timescale
ASAP – October?
3 months.
Wednesday 25 July 2012
Proposal for Colleges
Hi All,
Below a draft for the colleges. At this stage I imagine approaching Leeds City College and Bradford College. With this I would send an accompanying letter to a college tutor or project coordinator with a request for equipment in exchange for students' gaining work experience. I have left a gap for the set dates of festival and performance. For the purpose of this draft I have titled the production 'Digital Murder Mystery'. Please comment or feedback.
Invitation for Work Experience with Leeds Digital Festival
Introduction
This is an invitation for college students to gain work experience with digital media professionals working in the industry. We are a digital theatre project looking to recruit volunteers for a multi media production which will be performed as part of Leeds Digital Festival.
What is Leeds Digital Festival (LDF)?
LDF has been running for five years and is the result of industries and agencies working together to showcase the best of digital and creative technologies in Leeds and surrounding areas. This includes the making and playing of computer games, cinematography, animation, web design and development, graphic design, art, photography, radio, television, viral marketing, social networking, music.This year LDF is running for two weeks during October and will involve a programme of events at various venues in Leeds.
The Digital Murder Mystery
This production essentially does what it says on the tin. It is a murder mystery with a digital twist. Audiences will be invited to engage in this performance by interacting with online characters and voting for their chosen ending to the plot. Live streaming, projections and social networking will be key elements to this show.
Invitation for Work Experience
The Digital Murder Mystery is a valuable opportunity for aspiring students wanting to gain experience in digital media industries. The DMM production team are looking for volunteers to be cast and crew.
We need;
actors,
web designers
film makers,
sound engineers
and social media bloggers.
This is an opportunity for volunteers to work alongside a festival team including designer, animator, film maker, writer and director and create a unusual theatrical event.
The Schedule
Cast and crew will plan and rehearsal between August 18th and October (insert date here). Production is scheduled for October (insert date here)
First volunteer information event is scheduled for September 1st at Cross Keys pub, Water Lane, Leeds, 7pm.
Contact
Interested? Want to know more? You can get more information by contacting either Ben Brady 07515279556 or Ceri Restrick 07411346164
25.7.12 Minutes and Action plan
Hi all,
Today Ben, Will and I met to plan our digital theatre project. We have discussed the following;
Name of the performance
Script
Cast and crew
Equipment
Venue
Marketing
Next meeting
The Name
Responsibility: All
The sooner we have a name the sooner we can promote this show. I think the name needs to be catchy but also give an indication of what its about. Provisionally we have come up with 'Whodunnit'. Since then I have been thinking that we should call it either 'The Whodunnit Interactive' or 'The Digital Murder Mystery'. Traditionally hotels sell 'Murder Mystery packages to participants and we might want to subscribe to that idea in the name...
Script:
Responsibility: Nicholas
As previously discussed we need a script for 5 characters with different possible endings. This needs to be a flexible working draft which can be adapted to the cast/director's needs. As Will suggested, if our actors set up character profiles on twitter or blogspot then their blogging can shape/influence this script as they build stories and relationships with one another.
Cast and Crew:
Responsibility: Ceri
Ben, Will and I have agreed that recruiting students/school pupils for roles in this show will be good exposure for LDF and students of theatre. film and media. I will look into recruiting a cast from several sources including, Horbury School (where I work), Leeds City College. First I will write a proposal which you can all review on this blog. This will be the invitation to educational institutes to work with us. The key to success will be getting schools and /or colleges in West Yorkshire on board with our vision.
Equipment
Responsibility: Ben and Ceri
This performance is going to be a multi-media production with live streaming, projections and online voting etc. This requires equipment, some of which we have eg, laptops and projector and some of which we don't eg, PA and sound equipment. I will approach Leeds City College with a proposal (mentioned earlier.) This will invite their students to do work experience with us in exchange for using their equipment. LCC have MAC books, PA and cameras. They also have film, media and theatre students.
Venue
Responsibility: Ben
Several possible ideas have been suggested including Whitecross pub and Dock Street Market bar. These will be restricted according licence laws towards under 18s in relation to our cast. It occurred to me just now that our best choice of venue could be a theatre. A purpose built space for audio and staging which may be open-minded about equipment and age of actors. Plus, we can tap into their existing audiences and get into their marketing brochures for autumn. I reckon Carriageworks might be a good place to start.
Marketing: Will and Ceri
We have discussed an online campaign which includes the cast. The actors will set up online profiles for their characters and interact with each other and public forums in character. In addition to our planning blog which Will has set up for us, I will set up a promotional blog which will advertise our production without giving away our top secret plans for the production with links to the characters' profiles etc.
Next meeting: All
Ben is arranging a meeting for this Saturday 28th. I will be away from Saturday 28th July to Tuesday 7th August. May I suggest we also meet on Saturday 18th August Cross Keys pub, Water Lane, Leeds at 2pm? Depending on how successful I am at getting the colleges on board, we could pencil in a cast/crew meeting for Saturday 1st September...
Final thing, we need to set a date for our show. This may be dictated by the venue choice...
Any thoughts/ comments on this would be much appreciated. Will and Ben if I left anything out from today's meeting let me know. Looking forward to meeting up again,
Ceri
Today Ben, Will and I met to plan our digital theatre project. We have discussed the following;
Name of the performance
Script
Cast and crew
Equipment
Venue
Marketing
Next meeting
The Name
Responsibility: All
The sooner we have a name the sooner we can promote this show. I think the name needs to be catchy but also give an indication of what its about. Provisionally we have come up with 'Whodunnit'. Since then I have been thinking that we should call it either 'The Whodunnit Interactive' or 'The Digital Murder Mystery'. Traditionally hotels sell 'Murder Mystery packages to participants and we might want to subscribe to that idea in the name...
Script:
Responsibility: Nicholas
As previously discussed we need a script for 5 characters with different possible endings. This needs to be a flexible working draft which can be adapted to the cast/director's needs. As Will suggested, if our actors set up character profiles on twitter or blogspot then their blogging can shape/influence this script as they build stories and relationships with one another.
Cast and Crew:
Responsibility: Ceri
Ben, Will and I have agreed that recruiting students/school pupils for roles in this show will be good exposure for LDF and students of theatre. film and media. I will look into recruiting a cast from several sources including, Horbury School (where I work), Leeds City College. First I will write a proposal which you can all review on this blog. This will be the invitation to educational institutes to work with us. The key to success will be getting schools and /or colleges in West Yorkshire on board with our vision.
Equipment
Responsibility: Ben and Ceri
This performance is going to be a multi-media production with live streaming, projections and online voting etc. This requires equipment, some of which we have eg, laptops and projector and some of which we don't eg, PA and sound equipment. I will approach Leeds City College with a proposal (mentioned earlier.) This will invite their students to do work experience with us in exchange for using their equipment. LCC have MAC books, PA and cameras. They also have film, media and theatre students.
Venue
Responsibility: Ben
Several possible ideas have been suggested including Whitecross pub and Dock Street Market bar. These will be restricted according licence laws towards under 18s in relation to our cast. It occurred to me just now that our best choice of venue could be a theatre. A purpose built space for audio and staging which may be open-minded about equipment and age of actors. Plus, we can tap into their existing audiences and get into their marketing brochures for autumn. I reckon Carriageworks might be a good place to start.
Marketing: Will and Ceri
We have discussed an online campaign which includes the cast. The actors will set up online profiles for their characters and interact with each other and public forums in character. In addition to our planning blog which Will has set up for us, I will set up a promotional blog which will advertise our production without giving away our top secret plans for the production with links to the characters' profiles etc.
Next meeting: All
Ben is arranging a meeting for this Saturday 28th. I will be away from Saturday 28th July to Tuesday 7th August. May I suggest we also meet on Saturday 18th August Cross Keys pub, Water Lane, Leeds at 2pm? Depending on how successful I am at getting the colleges on board, we could pencil in a cast/crew meeting for Saturday 1st September...
Final thing, we need to set a date for our show. This may be dictated by the venue choice...
Any thoughts/ comments on this would be much appreciated. Will and Ben if I left anything out from today's meeting let me know. Looking forward to meeting up again,
Ceri
Thursday 19 July 2012
Ideas for digital integration
I've been thinking of ways in which we can blend digital into the live action performance, here's a few ideas (some half-baked, others totally raw).
Twitter
The characters could have their own twitter accounts, which are updated throughout the show (maybe also before, to drop hints about their character traits and maybe be used to create buzz about the show itself).
Viewers/participants will be encouraged to follow the characters during the show itself. The character's live tweets could be used a drop clues about the outcome of the story, throw viewers off their trail, or give their own version of the events that have just happened.
-- We could schedule these tweets, or (probably better) have somebody off stage with a device simply tweeting as them on cue.
Microsite
We could produce a simple microsite for the play. It could be a vehicle for character biographies, or set the scene of the story.
A thought is that the microsite could be styled up as the website for the fictional hotel that the play is set in. Perhaps there could be a mock 'events' page with some social activities (similar to facebook plug in, or eventbright style thing) where it shows who will be attending, possible with some comments by the characters within... with a little link to their profile page?
The set
Seeing as the won't have a budget to get a nice set or props, I was thinking that the scenery could be a series of digital illustrations (by yours truly) projected onto the curtain/background of the stage.
We could possible have them animated (simple - animated fire place. complex - scenery changes as actors 'interact' with it. i.e. door opens on command).
Will need to think about the logistics of this. If the story is linear and we know what is coming, we could essentially have a slideshow of backgrounds that we play through in order to match the scene.
If the story is non-linear (chosen by the audience) we may need to create something a little more flexible. But I assume the audience will have a number of options to choose from, so the background artwork will all be produced before the night, so it may be a case of just 'jumping' to the right one at the right time.
I assume there will be some kind of 'break' in between scenes anyway, as the actors leave the stage etc. so this time could be used to prepare the next background.
If we need to show 2 scenes at once we could even have a split screen effect going on - each half of the screen shows a different room and actors on either side are supposed to be in those rooms.
Interlude
Depending on the length of the play, an interlude may be included, this could be a time to encourage the audience to get their phones/gadgets out and interact.
A hashtag or URL (or an amazing QR code!!!) could appear on the projected screen to prompt users...
Map
Similar to Cluedo, we could have a map of the area that the play is set (hotel?). This could be displayed at the start of the play to establish the setting, be displayed in between scenes and zoom into/highlight parts of the map to show where we are taking the audience.
We could make is a bit game-y, have icons displayed on the may to represent items/people in different rooms etc.
A few initial thoughts. Looking forward to hearing yours!
The characters could have their own twitter accounts, which are updated throughout the show (maybe also before, to drop hints about their character traits and maybe be used to create buzz about the show itself).
Viewers/participants will be encouraged to follow the characters during the show itself. The character's live tweets could be used a drop clues about the outcome of the story, throw viewers off their trail, or give their own version of the events that have just happened.
-- We could schedule these tweets, or (probably better) have somebody off stage with a device simply tweeting as them on cue.
Microsite
We could produce a simple microsite for the play. It could be a vehicle for character biographies, or set the scene of the story.
A thought is that the microsite could be styled up as the website for the fictional hotel that the play is set in. Perhaps there could be a mock 'events' page with some social activities (similar to facebook plug in, or eventbright style thing) where it shows who will be attending, possible with some comments by the characters within... with a little link to their profile page?
The set
Seeing as the won't have a budget to get a nice set or props, I was thinking that the scenery could be a series of digital illustrations (by yours truly) projected onto the curtain/background of the stage.
We could possible have them animated (simple - animated fire place. complex - scenery changes as actors 'interact' with it. i.e. door opens on command).
Will need to think about the logistics of this. If the story is linear and we know what is coming, we could essentially have a slideshow of backgrounds that we play through in order to match the scene.
If the story is non-linear (chosen by the audience) we may need to create something a little more flexible. But I assume the audience will have a number of options to choose from, so the background artwork will all be produced before the night, so it may be a case of just 'jumping' to the right one at the right time.
I assume there will be some kind of 'break' in between scenes anyway, as the actors leave the stage etc. so this time could be used to prepare the next background.
If we need to show 2 scenes at once we could even have a split screen effect going on - each half of the screen shows a different room and actors on either side are supposed to be in those rooms.
Interlude
Depending on the length of the play, an interlude may be included, this could be a time to encourage the audience to get their phones/gadgets out and interact.
A hashtag or URL (or an amazing QR code!!!) could appear on the projected screen to prompt users...
Map
Similar to Cluedo, we could have a map of the area that the play is set (hotel?). This could be displayed at the start of the play to establish the setting, be displayed in between scenes and zoom into/highlight parts of the map to show where we are taking the audience.
We could make is a bit game-y, have icons displayed on the may to represent items/people in different rooms etc.
A few initial thoughts. Looking forward to hearing yours!
Is this thing on?
Hello there!
This is the blog (dumping ground) for the Digital Theatre Project being produced for the 2012 Leeds Digital Festival.
This is the blog (dumping ground) for the Digital Theatre Project being produced for the 2012 Leeds Digital Festival.
It aims to be a central point for the discussions held by its creators and act as a melting pot of ideas.
Current members of the project (to edit/complete):
Ben Brady
Ben is a camera guy who aims to provide x service etc.
Will Saunders
Will is an illustrator/animator/graphics guy who aims to provide artwork for the show itself, along with any related marketing/online materials that may accompany it.
Dom
Dom's profile
Nick
Nick's profile
Ceri
Ceri's profile
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