For the show’s creators, including award-winning Hollywood producer and director Timur Bekmambetov, it’s a chance to see whether the series will be successful relying solely on an internet audience, without being fueled by TV ratings.
Mouse clicks, keystrokes and murders — those were the essentials of the 2014 desktop horror movie “Unfriended”. Shot entirely as a mix of webcam feeds, it featured a group of high school friends dying gruesomely one by one during a live internet video chat. Timur Bekmambetov – the producer of “Unfriended” even coined the term “screen share entertainment” to describe his new approach to filmmaking.
Now, Bekmambetov, also known for his 2008 hit “Wanted”, featuring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy, and for his collaboration with Tim Burton on 2009’s cartoon “9”, is taking his ideas to a whole new level. Teamed up with his Russian partners — Vkontakte social network, and the Rutube video hosting site, he’s launching “On screen” – an interactive reality show.
“After the premiere of “Unfriended” we realized that we opened the door to a whole new cinematic world. And watching someone’s [computer] screen you learn everything about the person,” Bekmambetov told Sputnik. “We realized that we can use the technology not only in the movies, but in other areas as well.”
young men and women — will spend 8 weeks in a locked apartment while their lives are being broadcast to a live audience. The key difference is that you will not see
“On Screen” on TV – only on social media networks. This gives the Internet crowd a chance to chat with participants and even to task them with various assignments – from photoshopping images to shooting videos.
The participants will have to earn virtual money and points without leaving their room. Additional points will be given to them for completing the moderator’s assignments.
Timur Bekmambetov told Sputnik that unlike “Unfriended”, his new project is not about violence, but there will definitely be some room for drama: “Two or three people get together, including online chat, there’s always some drama. There’s always a story”.
The emotional tension is likely to kick in as 7 out of the “8 little kittens” will have to leave the show one by one weekly, with an option of viewers bailing them out by voting and allowing them to stay.
The winner will be rewarded with an apartment in Moscow. With silver screen pros like Timur Bekmambetov gravitating towards Internet audience, it seems that reality shows are moving in the same direction.
But whether in the age of the mobile revolution, when the average human attention span has dropped to less than 10 seconds, a 2-month-long webcam journey into the lives of complete strangers will win the hearts of the online audience –remains to be seen.
