Happy Friday! Welcome to Issue 46 of Rerun, your weekly digest of digital storytelling, interactive media and the future of TV curated by Axonista.
This week's Top Pick is a sneak peek into Snapchat's pitch deck for the advertising industry ahead of last year's Super Bowl.
We take a look at Periscope's journey as it continues to build its 'teleportation experience' within Twitter . We also look at an interactive music app that personalises the listening experience to the user, art that provokes through a QR code and a magical journey inside a Dali painted VR landscape.
With television now 90 years old, we look at attitudes to it from the past as well as recent reports on young people's consumption of video.
We also have X-Files, 360 degree interactive games on YouTube, the explosion of VR at Sundance and so much more!
Let's get straight to it!
Top Pick
How Snapchat pitched advertisers a $1.8 million Snapchat ad during the 2015 Super Bowl
Snapchat already has some major sponsors on board for the 2016 Super Bowl with Marriott, Budweiser, Pepsi and Amazon rumoured to be among the list.
Snapchat's original pitch deck to advertisers ahead of last year's Super Bowl is a fascinating glimpse into how they're communicating their value proposition to the advertising industry.
Last year’s pitch deck — and the big price tag Snapchat was seeking — provides a glimpse into how Snapchat is presenting itself as critical to advertisers during big cultural events.
Features
Teleportation, Inc.: Inside Periscope
"We didn’t start a live video company for the sake of having a live video company. We wanted to build this thing that—perhaps crazily and stupidly—we keep calling a teleportation experience." - Kayvon Beykpour, Periscope Co-Founder
It was a good year for Periscope. Not only was it acquired by Twitter, its users now collectively view over 40 years of broadcast in any one day. This feature from Fast Company, traces the history of Periscope, as told through an interview with co-founder Kayvon Beykpour. It offers an illuminating look at where it all started, what their relationship with Twitter is really like, and their plans for, among other things, more tools and better content discovery in 2016.
Future of TV
Interactive map transports you to every X-Files location
Using Jane Robert’s Mapping the X-Files project as a guide, Katy DeCorah of Mapbox has created an interactive diagram for every single episode location across the world, including approximate pins for fictional places.
Each map location links to an X-Files episode synopsis. The Rerun team thinks this approach could be a great way to approach VOD content discovery for long running shows with a variety of locations, whether they take place across the US, space or time. The viewer can go on a journey along with the characters, perhaps unlocking some behind the scenes or gag reel footage along the way.
Facebook Sports Stadium review: It's no threat to Twitter yet
Jim Dallke used Facebook's new Sports Stadium during a recent NFC Championship game. He shares his experience using its discovery, social and statistics features.
I'm a regular Twitter user, especially while watching sports, so I was skeptical about Facebook's attempt at taking eyeballs away from Twitter during live events. And after using it off and on during the NFC Championship game, I came away with one major conclusion: Facebook Sports Stadium isn't a threat to Twitter. It's a threat to ESPN.
Young people spend more time online than watching traditional TV
In a 'landmark' change, young people in the UK now spend more time online than watching the television set, using mobile phones and, increasingly, tablets to access video. This report (conveniently) comes at the same time as the BBC announces it new online-only BBC3 shows, the first time a broadcaster is switching to online only.
Kavanagh said: “It's the same award winning programmes freed from the constraints of linear TV, and because we're freed from the schedule we can use whatever format and platform is most appropriate. The majority of what we will make is TV, like People Just Do Nothing, but we'll make short form video, blogs and picture led stories as well. We'll be on YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook and our new site The Daily Drop."
What's probably more revealing than this report is the persistent distinction between video and television, a distinction that's probably more meaningful to broadcasters than it is to young people themselves. Young people may not watch things on television, but they certainly watch television, alongside lots of other video.
Interactive Media
Banksy uses technology to make political art
The latest Banksy work- Cosette from Les Miserables crying as tear gas surrounds her- sits outside the French Embassy in London as a protest against the treatment of refugees in Calais. The art work uses a QR code to show viewers video of tear gas being used against refugees. As the article points out, the use of a QR code and smartphone technology is perhaps fitting since smartphones are often one of the few possessions of refugees who use it to communicate with family in Syria.
Mystery Guitar Man makes YouTube’s first 360-degree interactive game
We've seen some pretty impressive 360-degree videos over the past year, especially following YouTube's support of it. The quality has undoubtedly improved since then, with really nice videos from Red Bull and Star Wars: The Force Awakens with its 360-degree experience.
Where many have focused on creating rich visual experiences, Mystery Guitar Man has gone one further by creating a 360-degree interactive game in which you follow a blue ball thrown between a group of roller skaters and basketball players. It might seem really simple, but play it and you'll find out that's it's quite tricky. And a whole lot of fun!
Massive Attack's new music is hidden inside a spooky iPhone app
UK trip hop legends Massive Attack launched Fantom, a 'sensory music player app that actively remixes pieces of music based on the user's heartbeat, location, local time, and movement.'
Being fans of both music and technology, we had a little play around with the iOS app. The onboarding experience requires access to the device's microphone, camera and health app information and feels a little bit invasive. Once you're in, it's definitely weird. We loved the dark 'Gotham' style filter applied to the visuals. The app's 4 tracks cannot be listened to in their yet-to-be-released form, but in personalised live remixes that react to sound, light and movement from the user.
This is a very interesting new way to promote new music and personalise the listening experience.
Virtual Reality
Oculus Rift takes you inside the wild mind of Salvador DalĂ
This feature highlights another bridge between art and technology, this time with a VR experience of Salvador Dali's work Archaeological Reminiscence of Millet's "Angelus," titled Dreams of Dali. A beautiful and ponderous experience, it evokes not so much the painting as the aesthetics of his works.
VR seems particularly adept at providing really engaging and original ways of interacting with art. Dreams of Dali retains the way in which a Dali painting is experienced by offering a slow and contemplative peruse through vast landscapes and ruins, but with the images brought to life through the movement of the characters and the viewer.
Eve: Valkyrie: Hands-on with the Oculus Rift's killer app
There's a lot riding on Eve: Valkyrie, the flagship VR game that will come bundled with the Oculus Rift.
If Valkyrie is disappointing, it's possible a whole generation of players will feel let down by their $599 purchase. If it's successful? It will open a whole new world for gaming.
If this hands-on impression is anything to go by, it sounds like a fantastically immersive and 'primal' experience that will fully show off the abilities of the Oculus Rift.
Sundance's VR films will break your brain
It's been quite an interesting Sundance festival this year. There has been the usual bidding wars for films, with the streaming giants making their mark on indie film distribution. And where the 'newness' of the festival used to relate to the filmmakers- up and coming directors and writers- the newness of this year has been the technology. Although it has had VR for a number of years, this year has really promoted VR filmmaking through its New Frontier programme.
This feature offers a rundown of the films that made the cut, with familiar storytelling forms evident in VR experiences such as 'Defrost' and 'The Wasteland'- both sci-fis- and some not-so-familiar ones, such as the psychedelic wonder of 'fabulous wonder.land.' The breadth of VR offerings is one of the highlights of the programme as it shows a much more diverse range of storytelling forms than usually seen as Sundance and other film festivals.
Briefs
- Twitter is now offering 30-second and longer, skippable pre-roll ads
- Spotify launches video shows on Android (iPhone "coming soon")
- Sky in Showtime output deal
- VR arcade planned for LA
- YouTube Red shows off its first slate at Sundance, offers new hopes and challenges for creators
- Twitter's senior staff exodus
Video: Who invented the television? How people reacted to John Logie Baird's creation 90 years ago
A technology that persisted despite more than because of public support and financial investment, television has had its 90th birthday. Its early years were plagued with problems and set-backs. Too many inventors worked on television independently of each other. It was suspended shortly after launch due to WW2. Even when it was popularised, it was called a 'vast wasteland.'
And yet, television persevered and continues to be the most influential mediums today, whatever platform it is viewed on.
This feature offers a history of Glasgow engineer John Logie Baird and his indefatigable efforts to bring television to the British public, as well as a rather odd timeline of key events in television's history.