4D Fiction

Lost Zombies is a project conceived and executed by Skot Leach, which began with the goal of producing a community-generated film, a crowd-sourced zombie documentary, but ended up being quite a different beast. In the following case study, Skot highlights many key milestones in the project, lessons learned along the way, and how much it actually changed from the initial concept.

From “rabbithole” to “bobblehead”, here’s a sample construction of an experience through a full blown transmedia production, composed of multiple products and campaigns, numerous entry points and levels of engagement, and many platforms of delivery. Of course, in no way is this a complete or definitive experience, but only an example among endless possibilities. Presented without labels or buzzwords, this is one possible engagement, from beginning to …end?

Back in “the day” (mere years ago), there were these things called “ARGs”. I remember them: amazing experiences that involved their audience, told stories, had puzzles and games that were fun and made sense in their contexts. Now what was once just a single story told across multiple platforms has evolved into “transmedia”

Building the world in which an alternate reality game or transmedia experience can play out successfully is like planning and directing a single-shot film. What we can learn from the single shot film “Russian Ark” and apply to ARGs and transmedia experiences.