Lauren Brown

THE INSIDE EXPERIENCE

“Inside” – involvement from audience; they are ‘in’ on experience. Christina is trapped ‘inside’. Socialism, participation and engagement.

“Experience” – audience following the story, it is an experience for them as well as the crew involved. Never been done before to this extent?

WHAT DO I THINK IT MEANS?

“This is a completely new genre of Hollywood-class entertainment where the audience can play as much of a role as the A-list talent and actors. Using social media you can interact with characters in real time, aff ect the plot, and possibly earn a featured cameo alongside Emmy Rossum in the final fi lm.”

“blending fi lm and social media”

THE INSIDE EXPERIENCE (2011) What is INSIDE? [WWW] Intel . Avai lable from: http://www.theinsideexperience.com/about [Accessed: 20/10/11].

WHAT THEY SAY IT MEANS

We are introduced to the main character, Christina Perasso. She is trapped in an eerie, gloomy room alone with cameras looking down on her and she has no idea how she got there – she has been kidnapped. The mise-en-scene and music both project a disturbing atmosphere, using only dim and dark colours and creating a claustrophobic environment. The only communication she has with the outside world is a laptop with which she accesses Facebook and asks her friends for help.

There was a gap between videos to give the audience a chance to discuss what was happening. While the episodes were being made, there was also a Facebook page that was set up under the name of Christina Perasso where the actress posted comments about where she was and that she needed help. The Facebook page would be updated in real time – as the video was being broadcast. The aim of The Inside Experience, I think, was to include the audience in the fi lm as much as possible. They were allowed to cooperate and communicate with Christina, trying to fi gure out the clues that they were given.

EPISODE 1 – MONDAY 25/07/11

Th i s e p i sode s ta r t s w i th a quo te f rom some body on Face book : “He a t w i l l cause y ou t o ge t s l ugg i sh , ge t as much w at e r as y ou can” – Ke v in Ba rne t t

Th i s i s a soc i a l a spe c t o f t he fi l m as the pe op le be h ind the fi l m hav e l i s t e ne d t o t he i r aud i e nce and use d one o f t he Face book comme nt s as t he be g inn ing o f t he e p i sode .

Afte r t he comme nt a t t he s t a r t o f t he fi lm i t l e ads on t o Ch r i s t i na che ck i ng he r Face book , t he re a re v i de os f rom pe op le ( no t ac t o r s – t he aud ie nce ) on Face book . She the n se e s tha t one o f he r f r i e nds has had comme nts f rom h i s f r i e nds ask i ng w he re he i s as he hasn ’ t re sponde d to pe op le f o r a f e w day s , h i s name i s K i r k Franc i s – she se e ms puzz l e d , may be he has be e n k i dnappe d too , o r may be he i s t he k i dnappe r? She a l so has a v i de o l e f t f rom he r mum ( ano the r ac t re ss ) w ho w ou ld ’ v e be e n l ogge d on t o Face book w a i t i ng f o r he r t ime , i n be tw e e n t he comme nts f rom the aud ie nce , t o pos t t he v i de o . Th i s show s how i n te rconne c te d the commun i ca t i on be tw e e n the ac t o rs and the aud ie nce w as . The l i ne be t w e e n re a l i t y and the show i s b l u r re d . She the n i s t o l d by S tu MacAr thu r ( ano the r ac to r ) t o Sky pe h im , he re v e a l s h imse l f a s t he po l i ce offi ce r i n cha rge o f he r case . He say s t ha t t he y can t rack he r t h rough he r I P add re ss . She w atche s as t he t e am se n t t o sav e he r e n te r t he w rong room to fi nd a manne qu in d re sse d t o l ook l i ke he r s i t t i ng on a cha i r , i n he r hand i s a rou te r – t he p i e ce o f e qu ipme nt t ha t con ta i n s t he I P add re ss . I n t he room t he re i s a l so a pos t ca rd t ha t say s :“SORRY CH IE F / ONLY CHR IST INA / CAN S AVE / HERSELF”

I t t he n cu t s back t o he r i n he r room. The pe rson w e can on l y as sume i s t he k i dnappe r pu t s a sma l l che s t i n t he room v i a a ho l e i n t he doo r t ha t i s l o ckab le . I t i s a posse ss i on o f he r mum’s .

T H E I N S I D E E X P E R I E N C E . ( 2 0 1 1 ) . T h e I n s i d e E x p e r i e n c e , E p i s o d e 2 [ o n l i n e v i d e o ] . Av a i l a b l e f r o m : h t t p : / / w w w. t h e i n s i d e e x p e r i e n c e . c o m / e p i s o d e s [ A c c e s s e d : 2 0 / 1 0 / 1 1 ] .

EPISODE 2 – THURSDAY 28/07/11

This video starts with another quote: “We may need to reevaluate your friends after all…” – Lonni Gary (Facebook).

She is now using Twitter and some kind of instant messaging service to talk to Stu MacArthur. Somebody posts on Twitter under the name “h1ghway_man”: “I know you love that music box. Try to remember how it felt the fi rst time you opened it. It was always your escape…” Christina doesn’t know who this person is. She asks who he is, the internet cuts off.

The hatch opens again and an envelope with the words “IF YOUR “FRIENDS” FAIL YOU, THE SLEEP WILL DO YOU GOOD” written on it and what looks like a tablet inside it. On the front it says: “IF YOU WANT FOOD OR WATER YOU NEED YOUR “FRIENDS” HELP. POST A PLEA AND IF YOU GET ENOUGH “LIKES”… YOU WILL EAT”. Participatory culture?

EPISODE 3 – SATURDAY 30/07/11

“PEANUTS and WATER is not being FED!!!” – Patrick Longalong (Facebook).

She is given a hamburger and chips and the water is turned on. She showers clothed – there is a camera in the showerhead. Very short episode. Have they run out of ideas?

EPISODE 4 – TUESDAY 2/08/11

Same date as episode 4.“You will get a meal, and hopefully a shower, and a

good nights sleep. After this and only after this will we continue to play this charade…” – Ernie Fascio (Facebook).

What I find interesting about this is that the audience are acting like this is a real situation and not a sequence of fi lms. They have become so involved that they seem to think Christina has genuinely been kidnapped. There is another video from an audience member. They appear to be acting in their videos, as if they have been cast in this fi lm as well, but they are playing themselves. Kirk Francis posts a video – he is Christina’s ex-boyfriend saying he will find her and he loves her.

EPISODE 5 – TUESDAY 2/08/11

“Just stay calm…” – Heather Corder (Facebook). She wakes up and finds that the laptop has been

moved from the bed to the table – someone has been in the room. The kidnapper has posted a video on Facebook of Christina washing herself in the shower. She smashes the room up as well as the electrics so the camera is cut off.

EPISODE 6 – WEDNESDAY 3/08/11

Same date as episode 6. “It’s time to take a leap of faith and believe…” – Shawn Morse

(Facebook). She makes a video saying a little something about everyone she

knows – as if she thinks she is going to die. She mentions all her new “friends” – the audience. And says how they know pretty much everything about her. This again is a blur between reality and video as they do not know the real her, because she is not Christina Perasso, she is Emmy Rossum (and I also too am starting to forget she is an actress when I watch the episodes). She takes the tablet that was given to her in episode 3. She falls over onto the ground, the laptop is in front of her. ‘h1ghway_man’ posts again: “I will fi nd this person. I watch you everyday online to make sure you’re okay. The greatest pleasure in my life was and” – the post ends and is followed by “always has been you. Because no matter what you might think, I never stopped thinking about you”. Is this her dad?

EPISODE 7 – WEDNESDAY 3/08/11

Final Episode“Over and out” – Christina Perasso (YouTube) – this is

a quote from her. Maybe because it’s the final episode? Christina is lying on the floor. A man comes in with a wheelchair and puts her in it. He walks over and picks the chest up and turns back – Christina has got out of the chair and slams the door after her shouting “We’re not together” and locks it and then turns the heat up. Cuts to Kirk running in an airport, she is also in the airport. They find each other as does one of her friends. Stu MacArthur is also there. The person who was on Twitter as ‘h1ghway_man’ is there too, he introduces himself as her dad.

EPISODE 8 – THURSDAY 4/08/11

At fi rst I thought that The Inside Experience was good as it drew me in and I wanted to know what had happened to Christina, but by episode 3 I’d lost quite a lot of interest in it, which I thought was a shame. After episode 3 it just seems as though they are just trying to fi ll time as they feel they have to do more videos; episode 4 was pointless, that could’ve easily been integrated into another episode, it didn’t deserve an episode on its own, all we did was watch her eat…

In episode 6, we see a video of her showering that has been posted on Facebook by the kidnapper (we still have no idea who he is). Christina tears the room apart and smashes the cameras that are watching her, why didn’t she think of doing this before? Anyone in their right mind would probably feel uneasy being watch by cameras all the time, and would not want to eat, sleep or move, but she seems pretty calm about the situation and did from the start.

MY THOUGHTS

Episode 7: ‘h1ghway_man’ posts again: “I wil l fi nd this person. I watch you everyday online to make sure you’re okay. The greatest pleasure in my life was and” – the post ends and is fol lowed by “always has been you. Because no matter what you might think, I never stopped thinking about you”. After reading this I already know that it’s her dad as she’s just said in her speech she never had a relationship with him. As soon as I realised this I lost all hope in the storyline because it seemed as though they were throwing loads of diff erent (and pointless, may I add) stories into this already dwindling plot.

In Episode 8 we see her escape but we sti l l don’t have any idea where she is because we don’t see that bit, we see her in a train station. How did she fi nd a train station if she had no idea where she was? I’m assuming she wasn’t being held captive in a city due to the suspicion it would raise. Also, why didn’t she just go straight to the police and take them to the kidnapper to arrest him? That would’ve been a lot better than just seeing her reunited with Kirk and her other friend (also how did they know she’d be there!?)

MY THOUGHTS CONTINUED…

And surprise, surprise, h1ghway_man is her dad as he reveals it at the train station (because obviously he knows where she’s going to be, he didn’t even know she’d escaped and hadn’t spoken to her in years. The holes in this storyline keep getting bigger…). Why was he revealed as her dad? It didn’t add anything to the story, he was hardly in it, he didn’t help at all, his character was useless.

Finally, after all the videos have fi nished, we stil l don’t know who the kidnapper is and if he got arrested; what an incredibly big and stupid cliff hanger. We spent the whole fi lm (if that’s what you want to call it) wanting to know who he was and have just been left in the dark. The Inside Experience started off well and I l ike how social it was for other people, however I think you should be slightly wary blurring the line between reality and fantasy as a lot of people thought this was real, and those that knew it was fake seemed to get so involved they probably started believing it was real. In conclusion, I think that The Inside Experience was a social fi lm, however, I do not think it was good.

MY THOUGHTS CONTINUED (AGAIN)