The “choose your own adventure”-style specials, confirmed by anonymous sources to Bloomberg, will include an upcoming episode of Black Mirror which is set to release in December. The company also has a TV show in the works based on the video game Minecraft, and apparently Netflix plans to release another show based on a video game.
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I think this is a really interesting idea, but it is really going to depend on how they choose to do it. If a single viewer of netflix can watch the show, and select what ending they want to see, having that personalized experience would be interesting but could easily be derailed for the writer and creators of the show. If it is viewers voting and the majority wins which ending the creators take the show, it is interactive but a lot less personalized. I don't know if this will ever really be a successful version of television shows, but I think it is interesting how the author ties in the thoughts about video games. As someone who know nothing about video games, other than Mario Kart, I do not entirely understand, but it could be very lucrative if there is someway to cross over video games and television shows.
Netflix is always trying to change the way we watch tv and movies. With the rise of people streaming more and other outlets such as amazon and hulu and youtube coming out with new and original content, Netflix needed to one up them. The idea of having an interactive tv show is very interesting. I like how they’re trying to give a more personal touch while watching tv shows. Black Mirror is the perfect show for this idea to try. However, I think that not a lot of people will enjoy this. If you are watching tv how much do you want to be involved. I know when I’m watching tv, I’ll be doing something else and having to constantly be doing things for a tv show can be annoying. Im very interested in seeing how this turns and what other shows will follow this format. I think if this is successful, there will be many new original choose your own adventure tv shows on Netflix and then on the other providers.
This article is given me some strong anti-technology vibes. I'm not sure why this author seems so opposed to this idea, as "choose your own adventure" entertainment has been around for a long time. Personally I think that this is a really cool idea, especially for a show like Black Mirror which is so ingrained in the idea of people interacting with media and technology. I love Black Mirror and I think that if any show were to do this it would be a good place to start. Yes, this does make TV much more similar to a video game, but why does this author think that is necessarily a bad thing? Video games are fun! Personalized media is fun! The only real downside I can see to this is that it might take the viewer out of the world of the TV show if it gets interrupted by a pop-up option box.
When I first read the title of this article, my mind immediately went to Black Mirror (great show, watch it.) and to my surprise, it’s part of the project. But the irony is that Netflix as a company feels like it could exist in the Black Mirror universe (along with plenty of other Big Tech Corporations that harvest our information like rain water). The way that they collect information to tailor produce shows that they know coincide with audience interests feels creepy in a way. I know it’s just data science, but I think we all know that feeling when a product or show is recommended to you that is *exactly* what you want, and they just *know*, it’s like we’re being watched, and in a way, we are. But I won’t get into the whole privacy revolution and Cambridge Analytica and blah blah blah, I’ve got plenty to say about that.
Point is, these interactive episodes could be very cool if done right. I think Black Mirror is a great place for them, but I am weary of them becoming common. Not only because that takes away the luster and intrigue of it being something different, but also because I don’t like the idea that Netflix will take the choices people make while viewing and use them to create fan service shows.
I worry that fan service is becoming a pillar of the entertainment industry and that quality, thoughtful, artistic content is getting harder and harder to find. I am a firm believer that creators should be making what they want to make, not what they think the audience wants. Many can and will argue with me on that, and that’s okay, but because of that belief I have a fundamental beef with fan service and hope that these interactive episodes aren’t just fuel to that fire.
This article describes Netflix’s new initiative to introduce “choose your own adventure” style television. When I initially read the title, I thought it sounded promising but, after reading the article, I realized that this would do nothing but dull the experience of television. Part of the experience of watching and enjoying television is the suspense of wanting to know what happens and it seems like this kind of television is an easy way out for Netflix to ensure that viewers will be satisfied with the content. I do not think, however, that it will succeed; knowing the ending of something makes you not want to bother with the whole middle part where most of the plot happens. I am not surprised that Netflix is trying to appeal to audiences by letting them decide on outcomes for shows because, without viewer approval, the company will suffer, but I think there are better ways of going about it.
This article was a lot more of an opinion piece than I was expecting. When I read the the title of the article, I was interested in learning more about the way that Netflix will try to implement this interactive TV. While the article did start off with how Netflix plans to achieve this, the article then went on to discuss the author's views on how TV is a game these days. I disagree with the authors view on Netflix and how it produces TV. The fact that Netflix uses the data it collects about what viewers like to watch and makes TV shows to fit those likes is simple business, supply and demand. Netflix has grown their business substantially in recent times making not only the quality of their shows better, but also giving them the freedom to create more and thus reach more audiences. I think if Netflix were to introduce more self guided shows, it would be giving the viewers exactly what they want out of the experience which sounds like good business to me.
It's always exciting to hear about the brand new innovations some corporations or businesses are coming up with. We have come to the point where advancement is at our figure tip and we utilize our tools and bring new dimensions. But most “fun” and “new” ideas don’t always get the anticipated response from its audience. Netflix is creating a new addition to the way you can watch shows and that is that you have complete control over the ending. Everyone knows that in order to have a logical and understandable plot, you must have a beginning, middle, and an end. With this new addition, the “choose your own adventure” option, you get to decide for yourself what the ending will be on the contrary of the original storyline. I personally thought this could have been a good idea- until I read the article. The author of this article goes on to say how people already seem to be treating television as a game and by implementing this new concept, it will only entertain that preconceived notion. The whole point about watching a show or a movie, or even having a plot, is so that you can personally relate to the characters/ situation and grow with them. By choosing your own ending, it defeats the purpose of the story and the standing of mystery or stories in general.
Interactive entertainment is being produced in quantities now that I have never seen before in my lifetime. Virtual reality video games, theatre productions like Sleep No More, and now “choose your own adventure” shows on Netflix. The versatility of this style of entertainment is astounding when you think about it in a broad sense. Our understanding of technology is allowing us to create entire worlds where we have the option to act out a completely different lifestyle. In this sense, we simply have the option to create a different ending to a television show, but all the same this principle is so easily expandable. If you think about this from a business standpoint, this is a great financial idea for Netflix to advance through production. If they develop a strong enough fanbase, they could essentially get people addicted to their show. People would watch it until they had discovered all the endings. It’s a very cool concept and I can’t wait to see where they take it.
I have to say I was disappointed by this article. I thought, based on the title, that the article would be about the choose your own adventure TV Netflix is working on and what that means for the company and the viewers. But mostly the article was about how Netflix has worked in the past and how TV is working now. I would really be interested in learning more about what Choose Your Own Adventure TV entails and how that would work, so I will definitely be on the lookout for the new Black Mirror episode in December. I did find it interesting that the article mentions how people are using petitions to try to change the fate or plot of TV shows. Because especially recently I think people have really been voicing their opinions on what they think is acceptable to show on television. I am hopeful that some of these petitions might work and the people’s voice might make a difference in what is shown on television and the implications of what is shown on the viewers will change. Hopefully, this choose your own adventure will help with that.
So I think this article as a very specific and interesting tone and opinion. The writer concludes by stating, "Interactive TV sounds fun when applied in the right circumstances, but knowing Netflix, it could easily become just another tool in their arsenal to make shows tailor-designed to viewers to only make them feel good and nothing more. And what’s the fun in that?" I do understand the importance of art as a tool for change, discussion, and motivation, but also at times, people do want to turn on netflix and watch to "make them feel good and nothing more." Netflix is a great distraction, and I rarely use it outside of the context of wanting to shut off my brain and binge some series to unwind and disengage from the day. I know we should all be wary of big data, but the data mining netflix uses is hardly the worst offender. The author states, "The service goes beyond the eerie recommendations you find when looking for new shows to watch, since it also unapologetically produces and licenses television shows based on the data it mines from users." For me, this makes sense. I like having suggestions of what to watch next on my preferences. Is it always so bad to be catered to?
Honestly, I’m surprised it took Netflix this long to make choose your own adventure shows. There was a bit of a choose your own adventure fad on Youtube about 2009 or so if I remember correctly. It didn’t really stick on Youtube in the long term, but there are still people who make content like that here and there. I think it will work better for Netflix since they will be able to design the interface, whereas with Youtube it was a bit clunky since individual creators were hacking together and way to do it within the existing platform.
I do find it a bit odd how nefarious the author of this article seems to think recommendations are or the fact that Netflix tries to make shows based on what they think people will watch. Do you not want people to produce content that people will want to see? Sure, we don’t want everything to just be entertainment with no substance, but I don’t think the creation of House of Cards was a bad thing, and I don’t see anything wrong with Netflix wanting to use the data about what content people watch.
I think that my favorite shows are the ones that don’t cater to what the audience wants. I enjoy when they care about a well thought-out storyline and carrying it out the way they see fit, unmoved by the wants of the fans. For example, there are plenty of characters in movies or series that I don’t want to die, because they’re my favorites or they’re really interesting, but I also can understand that the story would not hold the same effect or get to the end in the right way had they had stayed alive. I think catering to the wills of the fans makes a show significantly weaker, because then it comes off that they care more about the popularity and profit, rather than trying to make a statement or impact. I think the idea of a show being interactive to the audience is very interesting, sort of like those story video games, but I don’t know how well that would translate into actual movies or shows.
I found Hazel Cills article, Netflix and the implications of ‘choose your own adventure’ TV, to be underwhelming. She only gave little information on the potential projects themselves and spent most of the article pointing out netflix’s past flaws. I understand her point in the right company being behind this project, but I was looking for more information on the project itself. I can see this format really working, Specially when she mentioned that netflix “plans to release another show based on a video game”, thinking about telltale games, and decisions matter gameplay in games, and how they make them, I can see how they can make this possible in film, specially in having an episode in Black Mirror be like that. Interactive storytelling is extremely interesting, I wish the article told us more about the company's plans on how to achieve that. She believed that netflix is too into designing their content so viewers feel good and nothing more, I have to disagree I can think of many shows that comment and threaten (in a productive way) people’s ideas, especially in the show Black Mirror, so I don’t think they will sugar coat the experience.
This article really is not very informative. While the concept sounds interesting, we really have no idea what it actually entails. We have no idea how interactive they will actually be. Will the viewer’s choices have actual impact or will it turn out the same, just with a few mini-games in the middle? Also this writer goes on this weird tangent on how viewers petitioning to bring back characters is similar to video games, which I do not really understand the relation. A vocal and active consumer base is nothing but good for the consumer. I do not agree with the writer’s assertion that people are approaching television like a game. I believe that television (especially cable) is becoming more of a dying industry exactly because they are not doing this. Television is becoming a more passive industry, hence why our generation is becoming less and less interested in new television shows.
What is the difference between "choose your adventure" and interactive theatre? I suppose people would argue that "choose your adventure" is more audience guided… but is it? In both instances, there are going to be frameworks that are predetermined. The viewer is merely filling in the blanks which allow them to connect intimately to the piece. I am here to argue that I don’t think this initiative is going to have the expected viewer impact. Bridging the gap between a video game interactive world and the TV and film world is even more difficult considering most people see TV and film as being mindless entertainment. Interactive theatre, on the other hand, engages an entire audience and is largely successful because of the group interaction. A commercialized equivalent to this type of user experience is beginning to steam more out of themed entertainment rather than it is from the TV and film.
The idea of interactive "choose your own adventure" shows on Netflix is incredibly intriguing. I, unlike many others apparently, think it would be very entertaining to have shows like this. When I was younger I loved reading choose your own adventure story books because it made me feel like I had control over the characters I became emotionally invested in. It also made them way more exciting, because I could reread the same book five to ten different times and it would be totally different every time. I think bringing this idea into television could be really interesting, and I think that Netflix would be the perfect place to do this. While this article doesn’t explain any exact plans, I am really excited about the idea of this, and I hope it actually becomes a thing. It would make tv more exciting—I’m a person that doesn’t like to rewatch anything twice because I easily get bored of the repetition. This would allow me to be able to enjoy the same characters multiple times in different ways every time!
I agree with sentiments made above, and also have questions about this new idea Netflix has to bring its streaming to the next level. Isn't this just an interactive, choose-your-own adventure? In which case, isn't this already a standing theatrical practice? I think that in an age where many people in my generation, and the ones younger than mine, grew up with more complex and realistic video games, the constant need for "more" is a very real thing. With the actual pace of media picking up (the duration of clips is physically shorter than in the past), our concentration and focus have also become shorter. We "need" things that change quicker and engage us more successfully at a rapid pace. It makes sense that their next big idea would be to push the bounds of engaging their audiences, especially for shows like Black Mirror, where the engagement would be so meta that our generation especially would eat it up. However, I do find the tone of this article very interesting. Correct, Netflix uses data mining to monitor and gauge its audiences, but any good arts business would do the same. This is how you create an audience base, and how you keep track of what it wants. If anything, data mining used by Pandora or Facebook freaks me out more, as it seems they are pulling from deeper corners of my involvement with their product to get at my interests and preferences. If Netflix has done their research and found that this might be something their audiences would really enjoy, I see no reason why they shouldn't try it. I personally, might not try it, however, but that is simply because it reminds me too much of Pendragon: The Reality Bug. But that's just me.
I'm not sure how I feel about this development in the production of television. Like that author, I worry that giving too much power to an audience will isolate them further inside their own comfort zone, where they will never have to see anything they don't like or are not comfortable with. If every dead fan favourite can be resurrected by petition, then not even the writer's most difficult and permanent decisions have staying power and they will never have to deal with the cathartic experience of learning about the grieving process through the loss of a beloved fictional character. On the flip side, we cannot pretend that this is a new development in the creation of fictional work. As far back as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creators have been fighting with their audience of ownership of their work and who really has final say over the fate of their characters. Now with multiple streaming services and more tv shows than you could ever possibly watch, television is becoming more and more individualized by the day, and this does seem like the natural next step in that development. But I can't stop being concerned that we will lose the power of television to make us confront difficult truths and learn hard life lessons if this becomes the modus operandi.
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