Ah, alternate reality games--or ARGs, if that’s too much of a mouthful. I used to love those things way back when, and I still appreciate them even now. I find the concept of ARGs extremely fascinating--it’s a fictional, collaborative medium that we the audience know isn’t actually real, but dang if it isn’t fun to craft theories and solve clues. It makes you feel like you’re a part of some secret club that only allows really smart, sophisticated people, except half of the time your theories turn out to be wrong and you probably overlooked a clue somewhere down the line.
That said, there’s an aspect of ARGs that tends to be overlooked--namely, how the medium is used to tell the story. Marble Hornets used multiple YouTube channels and video distortions to create a horror-mystery, while The Blair Witch Project used a shaky handheld camera and method acting. Ben Drowned used YouTube videos, written forum posts, a website that housed cult members, and video game footage to weave an ambitious storyline based off of The Legend of Zelda, of all things. Even lesser-known ARGs can pull off a few neat tricks-- Daisy Brown, for example, used YouTube captions to provide backstory and hide other Easter eggs for the audience. In those cases, part of the fun was seeing how the creators used their chosen medium to engage their audience in the mystery, making the experience feel much more personal to the viewer. You’re more likely to watch things you’re interested in--and ARGs are no exceptions.
It's fascinating how storytellers have used a variety of mediums, often within the same story/game experience, to make their ARG immersive and rich.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how true it is but I remember hearing that during and after the filming and release of the Blair Witch Project, the actors weren't allowed to contact the media while the producers or director (can't remember which) spread the rumor that all the actors had actually died.
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