Heads Up! Will Wright’s Bar Karma: One Step Closer to Collaborative Entertainment? Viewers control plot

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Excerpt from argn.com

by Brandie Minchew, Oct. 22, 2010

"How often have you thought to yourself I could have written that better after watching an episode of your favorite television show that fell below your expectations? Game designer Will Wright’s new television series may give you the chance to do just that.

Earlier this month, Current TV announced its new tv series, Bar Karma, scheduled to debut in the first quarter of 2011. Created by game designer Will Wright, known for his popular video games including The Sims and SimCity, Bar Karma’s production model promises to provide a high level of audience involvement with the show, giving viewers direct control of the plot as the story evolves in 30-minute episodes.

Wright has designed interactive technology for Current TV’s audience-produced material that will be adapted to the production of Bar Karma. Current TV’s press release for the show lists four steps in the episode development process:

Step 1: Joining – viewers register and log on to the Bar Karma website.

Step 2: Creating – participants submit their own storyboards based on a basic outline provided by the producers, which all participants can then comment on, discuss, merge ideas, and hammer out a final plot.

Step 3: Voting – participants will vote on the finalized story proposals.

Step 4: Producing – Once voting is closed, the studio will produce the winning storyline, and the episode will then air. Episodes will be 30 minutes in length..."

Full article on argn.com

Insightful Post for Digital Creatives by Erin McHugh 'Werner Herzog Directs Us Into Humanity’s Past- and the Post-Digital Future

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Big Spaceship's blogger Erin McHugh identifies 4 takeaways to creating digital that will connect:

1. Study people with extreme viewpoints

2. Make every decision with the design of the overall experience in mind

3. Build on the ideas of others

4. Have a point of view about what you’ve learned

Most resonant for me this am appears under 1.:

"Herzog’s mission in his career and in life is to uncover "the ecstatic truth." He speaks of the sort of unifying, underlying truth UX designers and digital strategists seek out on a daily basis, in order to provide people with experiences that are both useful and enjoyable. This type of truth is elusive because people rarely articulate their actual wants and needs when asked flat out. We need to sit back and observe to uncover them- and it’s best to zoom out when choosing whom to watch."