The Inside Experience A Summary

What Was The Inside Experience? ‘Inside is a Social Film experience brought to you by Intel and Toshiba, directed by DJ Caruso, starring Emmy Rossum, and possibly you.’ (Theinsideexperince.com, 2011) ‘Using social media you can interact with characters in real time, affect the plot, and possibly earn a featured cameo,’. ‘It’s the first of its kind, but it won’t be the last.’ (Theinsideexpperience.com,2011) ‘If you thought that The Social Network was the closest thing that you would get to a true “Facebook movie,” think again. A new film project it attempting to let the viewers mold the action through Facebook and Twitter.’ (Wired.com, 2011)

Transmedia- Social Networks The Inside Experience aimed to be a ‘transmedia’ experience across multiple platforms, predominantly combining social networks, film and gaming. The social aspect involved participants on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, working together to piece together clues which were fed to them through the main character, Christina Perasso.

Transmedia-Hollywood Film The Inside Experience was created using traditional Hollywood film values. The crew and the main character were professionals and the production had a ‘Hollywood quality’. Although The Inside Experience was originally broadcast as episodes one of the main selling points was that it would amount to a feature film, which would include social participation and a cameo appearance from one of the participants. This film was originally due for release on the 14th of August 2011, however this was delayed until 7th of September when this message was released via The Inside Experience’s Facebook page. Making The Inside Experience

Transmedia-Puzzle Games Most participants interacted in two ways. Firstly, but offering support to the main character and secondly but trying to solves the clues which would lead to Christina’s Location. Clues were created at many levels through things the main character, Christina, finds in the room, phone numbers which lead to a website, cyphers hidden in websites source codes, all of which would eventually lead to Christina’s location. This added an extra dimension to the experience and created a ‘online mystery game’ aspect.

Before the Experience Began Before The Inside Experience went live a number of steps were taken to build audience excitement, engage users and generate publicity of the project. A ‘first look’ trailer was released which explained how The Inside Experience was being created and what participants should expect. Guidelines were placed on The Inside Experience website which directed participants to stay in character at all time, avoid bad language or adult content and try to participate as much as possible. The Inside Experience was discussed online in many media forums and online articles which created a large awareness of the project before it had even begun. There was also a casting call released which offered the opportunity to win a cameo appearance in the final film. Thousands of people submitted videos onto YouTube pages and then linked these to The Inside Experience’s website. The winner was Rachel L, an aspiring actress from California.

The Cameo Appearance- Rachel L http://youtu.be/rvUOvFm78f0?t=1m20s

The Feature Film The film was released on the 7th of September 2011, via Facebook, linked to the Youtube channel. The feature film was met with mixed reviews through The Inside Experience community. After a delayed release some people seemed very disappointed that it was just the episodes together with a handful of Facebook interactions posted between.

After the Experience Once the final episode was released, efforts were made to keep people involved with The Inside Experience. For the final episode people were given a location for Christina’s whereabouts and some people went along to see how the plot would unravel. The people who were at this location were then filmed ‘under interrogation’ in a fake police questioning. These were then posted on The Inside Experience’s Facebook page for people to watch. Christina Perasso’s Facebook page however, was abandoned, leaving many people disappointedly trying to communicate with her.

We Saved Christina Perasso Some of the more dedicated fans who were part of the ‘We’re trying to Save Christina Perasso’ Facebook group created a thank you video to the creators of The Inside Experience titled ‘We Saved Christina Perasso’. This video features vlogs from many members of this community sharing their views and giving thanks for the experience. http://youtu.be/2dUFNMjYmBI

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