The entertainment sector has seen a massive evolution over the past few decades. Books, video games, shows — it all gained interest of the public quickly and took major steps in its development. Such developments could vary from introducing new ways to entertain the public, such as the introduction of smartphone applications, to adding new dimensions to existing media. This direction has been taken with the launch of Choose Your Own Adventure books in 1980. As the name already suggests, the power here lies in the reader’s hands. Every choice leads to a totally different storyline. You can have the same content in the beginning but every time see a different story unfold. Other entertainment forms, such as video games, already followed their example and in 2017 the streaming service Netflix also announced to made to launch interactive movies where viewers can influence the storyline. Will these interactive movies fully be embraced by the public? Will the choose-your-own-adventure concept of online entertainment be the future or a flop?
Netflix started their journey exploring options in interactive storytelling by mainly focussing on producing interactive content for children and uploading titles such as Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Taleand Minecraft: Story Mode. According to their Product Innovation director Carla Fisher, they made this decision based on their research that children already tend to be prone to interacting with the screen. However, these days when we open Netflix’s website we can find several interactive movies aimed at adults as well such as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, You Vs. Wild,Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend.
To make such an interactive film is not particularly effortless. Producers need to produce approximately 5 hours of scenes to be able to finalize a 90-minute movie for consumers. Additionally, Netflix had to develop a software called Branch Manager to ease the production and use of interactive movies. Further, Netflix adapted their progress bar presenting multiple options at certain time stamps to users and only enabled the newer electronic devices this service.
To conclude with certainty whether the interactive movies will be the future or a flop, we will have to give it some more time as Netflix just recently launched this option. Personally, I think the interactive movies share will continue to grow the next couple of years. However, it seems unlikely to me that it will ever replace the ease of a simple movie where you can just relax and watch the story unfold. While waiting for the results, I would recommend giving interactive movies a try yourself to kill some time. Sometimes doing research can be challenging, but it will probably be the fastest way to find out.
I found the idea of interactive movies an interesting development in the movie scene, setting the path for the character to take. Especially one made by Black Mirror since their show left me speechless on multiple occasions. However, after watching Bandersnatch, I found myself disliking one big aspect (aside from having to choose some dark options which I normally wouldn’t even consider). What makes a good movie for me is based around two aspects; good and strong dialogues and the element of surprise. In the case of Bandersnatch, the movies pauses and the options are shown, completely abandoning the surprise aspect as you get to think about what you would like to see or what you preferably would not like to see. For me, this concept ruined one of the major aspects I found interesting in movies. I do believe it’s a great example of innovations in the entertainment sector, but I would like to see the interactive movie as an option. That way, one can either choose to watch the normal movie and keeping the element of surprise, while others can enjoy the decision making process within a storyline.
Hi Marike, thanks a lot for your insightful post! I think that it’s an interesting topic and will definitely gain popularity. Maybe not for the majority, but for certain niche markets. Remember the ‘long tail’ theory we elaborated on during the second lecture? I think interactive movies/content are a perfect example for the long tail and its niche content. So, thanks a lot for the little reminder here! 🙂
Personally, I’ve never tried an interactive movie but do agree with you – their popularity will increase but never reach a point where they’ll replace proper movies. Hence, I do think there is a future for niche content like this… especially for kids! ;). Just think about the lacking interactions kids recently had due to COVID19… Interactive content might, e.g., help them to develop social skills during recently experienced times (Journalbuddies, 2020). And it’s definitely better than the ‘stupid’ interaction current kids’ shows offer (just think of ‘Dora the explorer’ and the questions she’s asking… here interactive content might actually help them to learn something)
My reason for not trying interactive movies was quite nicely summarised by Quint (I feel you there): ‘What makes a good movie for me is based around two aspects; good and strong dialogues and the element of surprise. ‘ However, I am now looking forward to the future of interactive movies!
Reference: https://www.journalbuddies.com/having-fun/benefits-of-interactive-activities/