Transmedia pioneer Lance Weiler premiered his new project, Pandemic 1.0, at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival last night. Also known as "Pandemic 41.410806, -75.654259" -- which, if you put those coordinates into Google Maps, reveals a Scranton, PA setting -- the 10-minute short premiered yesterday in the New Frontier Performances and Installations section of the festival, as well as on FEARnet HD (Verizon FiOS channel 197).
The short, which is accompanied at the festival by a number of real-world extensions, is part of a larger feature project named HiM, and is being billed by Weiler as a "story research and development" project, along the lines of a software beta launch:
The intention of employing a story R&D approach to the project is to experiment, review and refine. Not too dissimilar to how software is developed or how a script goes through revisions and receives feedback, the concept of story R&D provides insight into ways to design stories that resonant in a connected world. As storytelling moves into the 21st century, it is now possible to tell stories not only across devices but also with connected elements in the real world. Thanks to technologies like RFID, augmented reality and geolocation, the physical world becomes a new storytelling playground for those interested in extending the stories they wish to tell.
Check out his Culture Hacker article at Filmmaker Magazine below to find out how "totems with cameras, GPS trackers, MP3 players and thumb drives embedded inside them" factor into the experience.
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[via Dread Central
