3. Some aspects of the project reminded me of other films:
 The storyline of The Inside Experience reminded me immediately of the Saw
films, in which the victims are held captive, just like Christina. This similarity is
further reinforced when Christina sees she is being watched, which also
happens to the victims in the Saw films.
 The concept of being trapped with only one form of technology reminded
me of the film Buried. Within this film the main character is trapped and only
has a Blackberry smart phone, which relates to The Inside Experience as
Christina is in the same situation, but with a laptop instead.

4.  When Christina goes to connect to the internet it seems a
bit of a coincidence that the only network available is one
in her name. This gives the impression that the network
must have been set up specifically for her, and thus makes
the audience assume the captor created it.
 The character of Kirk within TIE comes into the story as
being MIA (missing in action). This immediately seems like a
coincidence, and both Christina and the audience
assume Kirk must be the captor. Although further into the
storyline this idea is dismissed.

5.  On day 4 of TIE Christina is contacted via email by Stu
MacArthur. Already this seems strange as it is not certain how Stu
got hold of Christina’s email address. This uncertainty is further
reinforced when Stu asks Christina to go onto her Skype
account, where coincidentally he is already a contact.
 Day 10 of TIE brings around the end of the laptops battery life,
meaning Christina no longer has the ability to community with
people. Despite this she still somehow knew where to go when
she escaped, even though participants only worked out these
details for themselves after the laptop battery died.

6.  Facebook is used within TIE to allow participants to communicate with
Christina. The communication that occurs from participants to Christina
includes messages of support, as well as advice on what to do (for
example looking for clues).
 Communication via Facebook also occurs from Christina to the
participants of the project. These were typically structured as either
Vlogs, images or status’s. Christina’s communication with participants
often contained clue’s, which allowed participants to gradually work
out her whereabouts.
 Christina used Facebook as a investigation tool, particularly to find out
information about her ex boyfriend (Kirk). She visited Kirk’s profile at one
point, to find that he was MIA (missing in action). This created suspicion
around Kirk’s character and made participants think he could have had
something to do with Christina’s capture.

7. The captor uses Facebook as a resource on which to publicly humiliate
Christina:
 The first instance of this can be seen when he told Christina to create a video
in which she needed to plead for ‘Likes’. If this video received enough likes
the captor said he would give Christina food.
 Further into TIE it became apparent to participants that the captor had
placed a camera into the shower head. He then went on to turn the water
to Christina’s room on, and filmed her whilst she showered. This video was
ultimately uploaded to the internet, with a link being placed onto Christina’s
Facebook wall.

8.  The use of Facebook within TIE I feel was overall
beneficial for a number of reasons. The site allowed for
ideas and clues to be compiled in a place that was
accessible to both participants and the character of
Christina. Also the site allowed for communication to be
carried out rapidly and efficiently. The number of ways
that communication could occur was high on
Facebook, as it gave users the option to upload videos,
images or simply text.
 In comparison to other social networking sites, I feel that
Facebook was the best one to have been chosen for
the purpose it served in The Inside Experience. This is
because it gave the participants and Christina more
options when communicating, which other sites like
Twitter do not provide.

9. Skype is used within the storyline of The Inside Experience, meaning it does not actually act as another
platform for communication between the participants and Christina.
Christina uses Skype to communicate with Stu MacArthur on two occasions:
Day 4
 An email direct from Stu alerted Christina that the firewall was down, and told her to try Skype.
Christina goes on to follow this advice and their conversation via Skype begins. Like I have previously
stated, the idea that Stu already had Christina’s email and Skype addresses seems very coincidental,
maybe showing a slight flaw in the production of the project.
 Within this first conversation Stu goes on tell Christina that he thinks he knows where she is being held,
asking her to copy and paste the IP address of her laptop to confirm this. With this information
matching up Stu initiates a police raid of the location, showing Christina footage of it through the use
of webcam.
 The footage shown to Christina puts both her and the audience under a false pretence, as ultimately it
turned out to not be the place that Christina was being held.
Day 6
 Stu again talked to Christina via Skype on day six, but instead of trying to plan another rescue he was
simply informing her of the situation. He told her for example that Kirk was still missing and that he was
a person of interest.
Despite not being used in the communication between Christina and participants, I feel that Skype was a
necessary online tool to be used in the project. This is because it allowed for the character of Stu MacArthur
to be bought into the storyline in an effective way. As well as this the use of Skype allowed for a possible
rescue to occur, with evidence (footage) to allow participants to fully believe it.

10. Similarly to Skype, Twitter is used within The Inside Experience to allow for communication between two characters,
rather than Christina and the participants.
 The site is used to connect Christina to her father, h1ghway_man. The first instance of this communication
occurred when h1ghway_man posted a tweet, in which he mentioned Christina; "I know you love that music
box. Try to remember how it felt the first time you opened it. It was always your escape". At this point it was
unknown to participants that the h1ghway_man was Christina’s father, and therefore this comment have come
across as quite sinister. Although upon the realisation that he was indeed her father, this comment would seem
more like a advice. The use of Twitter in this instance can be seen as a positive thing as it is helping Christina to
cope with the situation, by allowing her to get support from her father.
 Communication between the two characters occurs again later in the storyline, where h1ghway_man posts a
tweet talking about how much Christina means to him. Within this tweet he also states the he is going to find the
person who has taken her captive. Overall I feel that this tweet reinforces the idea that despite not spending
time with Christina, her father never forgot about or stopped loving her. Also the comment showed a sense of
pride within his character when he said "the greatest pleasure in my life has... always been you".
Twitter is only really used for the one-way communication of the h1ghway_man to Christina, as Christina tries to reply
in the second instance, but is not able to due to her laptop battery dying. Despite this I feel that the use of Twitter
allowed for the connection between Christina and her father to be in some ways rekindled.

12.  I personally did not have the time to keep track of the Kill Cam Live project, I
felt a good way to gather information on it would be to create a
questionnaire.
 Within this questionnaire I asked a range of questions and got two people,
who I know where following the project closely, to answer them.
The questions I asked were as follows:
1. Briefly summarize what Kill Cam Live is...
2. What aspects of the project have made you so interested in it?
3. In what ways have you taken part in the project?
4. Did your participation in the project ultimately effect what happened within
it?
5. How well do you feel the project has been carried out so far?
6. Has the project proven to be what you expected you expected it to be?
7. Would you recommend this project to others?

13. I decided to create a summary answer for each question, incorporating information from the responses I
got from the questionnaire:
1. A brief summary of the project…
Kill Cam live is an online social film experience, which some may say is the first truly interactive one of its
kind. The experience incorporates the theme of horror to interest and persuade users to take part in it. The
story of Kill Cam Live is based around a group of students who are taking part in a social media experiment
being carried out by their professor. Users are given the opportunity to take part in live streaming events, in
which they can talk directly to other users and even characters from the film. Weekly episodes are
uploaded onto YouTube, along with Facebook and Twitter status' for characters in the film being updated
on a regular basis.
2. Interesting aspects of the project…
Participation in the experience has been due to a number of factors. Aydenn states that he chose to
participate because he feels it is "very different to other examples of social film which currently exist". This
was reinforced by Andrew who said the experience was "new and different". The theme of horror was also
spoken about within the questionnaires, with Aydenn saying it was one of the aspects which drew him to
the project and Andrew disagreeing with this. It can be assumed that a lot of the users of Kill Cam Live were
attracted to the experience because of its theme, as horror is a popular theme. Finally Aydenn talked
about how he felt like he had a say as to whether a character lived or died. This is interesting as it implies
that individuals are having an effect on the story line of the experience.

14. 3. Participation in the project…
Aydenn and Andrew are taking part in multiple aspects of the Kill Cam Live experience. Both of them have
participated in the live streaming events, with Andrew using only text and Aydenn using both text and
webcam. The two have also watched the episodes posted on YouTube, along with participating on Twitter
and Facebook, through commenting the characters, in particular the 'killer'.
4. Participation and its effect on the on the project…
Both Aydenn and Andrew have been quite high profile throughout the Kill Cam Live experience, but both
have different views on whether they actually affected the outcome of the experience. Andrew talked
about how despite being very involved in the project, he did not think "anything I have done had impacted
on what the 'killer' does". Despite this he does say that overall he is 'part of the story', due to his high
involvement in it. On the other hand Aydenn believes his participation "shaped how the project turns out",
whether that be through the live streaming or through voting polls (set up by the killer). He goes on to say
that there is no other comparison on the internet that has anywhere near the same amount of interactivity
as Kill Cam Live does.
5. Comments on how the project is being carried out…
The way Kill Cam Live has been carried out can be both critiqued and praised. Technical issues towards
the start of the experience may have put people off and maybe even stopped people taking part. Aydenn
talks about how he feels that the characters are not "fleshed out enough to actually build an opinion on
their personality". This was quite apparent with the character of Amber, who was seen in one episode and
then killed off. Despite this the experience can be praised for its efforts at keeping social sites such as
Facebook and Twitter updated, particularly for the students.

15. 6. Would the project be recommended…
With social films such as The Inside Experience to compare to, Kill Cam Live
was expected to be just as good. Although, like Aydenn states, the Kill Cam
Live team do not have as big a budget and access to better actors,
showing a slight downfall in what was expected of the experience. Andrew
talks about how he knows what to expect from the project each week due
to it being "set into the pattern of the weekly live streams". He says that this
means the outcome from week to week can be predicted (one or more
people will be killed).
7. Was the project what it was expected it to be…
Finally the questionnaire asked if they would recommend Kill Cam Live to
others. Neither said no completely, but Aydenn did say "I don't want too
many people taking part". Andrew talked about how he thought that "these
are rare and experimental development that need to be experienced to
understand".
 I feel creating and implementing this questionnaire allowed me to
gather a video knowledge on the project as a whole. It overall saved
me time as it meant I did not have to research all the information myself.

16.  A group of university students agreed to take
part in a social experiment that their lecturer,
Michael Grayson, was carrying out.
 The experiment involved the group going
‘offline’ for a week. This meant they weren’t
allowed to use the internet, their mobile
phones etc.
 Ultimately the project has gone on with a
number of the characters being killed off. The
reasons for people being killed varied, from not
sticking to the experiments rules, to cheating
on a partner.

17. Participation within the project Kill Cam Live occurs in a
number of ways
 On the projects homepage users can watch a live
stream of the ‘kill room’, in which the students have
been killed off within.
 Also on the homepage there is a live chat area,
which allows participants to communicate, via both
text and webcam, to one another. At some points in
the project participants can also communicate to
characters that are being held in the ‘kill room’ using
this live chat.
 There is an option to sign up to the emailing list of the
Killer within the project. The emails received detail
what the killer wants participants to do, for example
create videos to tell others what has happened in
the story so far.

18.  On Facebook participants have the option befriend
and like a number of pages. For example each
character has a personal page, as well as the killer.
These allow for participants to communicate directly to
the individual characters.
 Participants also have the option to sign up to the killers
blog on Tumblr, which contains similar information to
that distributed using the emailing list.
Within Kill Cam Live users are given a large number of
platforms on which to participate in the project. I feel this is
and can only be a benefit to the project, as it means the
user has a choice on how and when they want to
participate, whether that be taking part in the live chats or
simply watching the episodes.

20. Lonelygirl15 was an online interactive video series which
followed the fictional life of a teenage named Bree. The
series began in June 2006 and ran up until August 1st 2008. As
it went on the series grew in size and gained multiple
characters, but the fictional nature of the project was not
revealed until September 2006. Before this point people knew
of lonelygirl15 as a YouTube user that gained high popularity
through her Vlogs. Despite the creation of a personal
MySpace page for Bree's character, suspicions arose about
the true nature of lonelygirl15 when some
viewers recognized the actress playing Bree.

21. The videos posted onto Bree's YouTube channel started off
being based about normal everyday problems, especially
those relating to teenage problems. These videos then
became a lot more bizarre, beginning to be based on topics
such as her refusal to attend a "secret ceremony prescribed
by the leaders of the family's cult" (Wikipedia), which resulted
in the disappearance of Bree's parents.
To celebrate the finale of Season 1 Lonelygirl15 took part in
an event called "12 in 12" on MySpace, which involved 12
videos being uploaded over 12 hours. These videos followed
Bree’s friends and boyfriend (Daniel) as they tried to find her.
This event received the highest viewing numbers of the whole
series. The finale of Season 1 involved the character of Bree
being killed off. This was necessary as the actress playing her
did not wish to renew her contract for series two

22. To partner lonelygirl15 a spin off series called Kate Modern was
created. The series started in July 2007 and ended June 2008.
Produced by a production company called EQAL and being in
partnership with Bebo allowed the series to gain popularity. The
popularity of the series first season meant it was able to continue
into the creation of a second series in 2008.
Videos uploaded during Kate Modern were first done so to the
sites Bebo and lg15.com. These were then uploaded to YouTube
a hour later. This delay meant that Bebo and lg15.com users
were in the know before everyone else.

23. Their were a number of similarities between Kate
Modern and Lonelygirl15, one of these being the
storylines. Both followed the lives of a young girl
intrigued by the idea of impure blood.
The two series did merge for a period of two weeks.
Bother series also included product integration, but it
was more apparent within Kate Modern.

25.  Firstly I feel that social film has not been completely defined in TIE. This is
because users were not given enough platforms on which to participate
in the experience. All participation was based around Facebook, where
participants could comment on Christina's profile, and also view
anything that she posted to her wall. Compared to other social film
experiences, this use of only one participation platform seems limited.
 The outcome of the experience did not seem to be affected by user
participation. This is because the episodes posted from day to day were
pre-recorded and showed no evidence of incorporating participant’s
comments/views. It was only in the final film, created when the
experience had finished, that comments from participants were shown.
Despite this these comments were only a few of many, and would have
been handpicked by the production team to fit with the storyline of the
pre-recorded episodes. I feel that the lack of participants influence
within TIE was one if its major downfalls, and would have discouraged
people to carry on participating within the experience.

26.  The storyline of TIE was not ‘bulked out’ enough, particularly with the idea
of how Christina was kidnapped. The participants are given no clue as to
how she got into that room or who has kidnapped her. The ending is
similar, with Christina appearing at the station. This seemed strange to
participants because Christina’s laptop battery died before participants
were able to work out that she would be there at a specific time. This lack
of back story created an inconsistent storyline throughout the experience.
 Participants were not given enough information about the characters
(except Christina). This meant that when certain characters came into the
story (such as Kirk and Christina’s father), the participants jumped to
conclusions about them, due to the lack of information given. An example
of this is Kirk, who when bought into the story as being ‘MIA’, I jumped to
the conclusion that he could have been Christina’s captor. As the story
went on it became obvious that this was not the case and that it was silly
to think so in the first place, but that it is the lack of information about his
character that caused me to do this.

27. The level of participation within projects such as Kill Cam Live and The Inside
Experience I feel is dependent upon a number of aspects.
 The first of these is the number of opportunities the users are given to participate
within the project. For example, within TIE users were only really able to participate
through Facebook, yet in Kill Cam Live users could participate through live chats,
social networking sites etc.
 Another aspect that participation depends on is individuals interest in the project
itself. If the topic of a project is not something a person is in interested in, they will
simple not choose to participate in it. For example Kill Cam Live would attract the
sort of people that are interested in horror films, as it is very similar to films from this
genre.
 Finally I feel that projects like these need to stay interesting throughout the
duration. If this is not done successfully the project could loose out on participants
and thus go down in popularity.
In relation to this I feel that participation can be split up into two categories:
- Online involvement
- Physical involvement

28. Online involvement I feel is any participation in a
project that occurs online.
 Main forms of online involvement include
participating in these projects through social
networking sites, such as Facebook, Bebo etc.
 An example of this could be the use of
Facebook within Kill Cam Live. The online site is
used to give participants the option to take
part in the project wholly or partially. This is
dependent on the amount of characters the
participant befriends and/or pages they join
on Facebook.

29. Physical involvement is anything which takes place mostly offline.
Crowd sourcing
 Crowd-sourcing can be classed as a form of physical involvement
within social film. This is when a task is undertaken by a group of
people rather than an individual.
 A prime example of this is Star Wars Uncut, in which a group of fans
recreated the film. The first step of this was that the producers cut
the film up into 15 second clips, which were then distributed to the
fans. The fans then went on to recreate their assigned 15 second
clip in their own way (see below). These clips were then bought
back together by the producers and created into an alternative
version of the film. This is a good example of crowd-sourcing in a
social way, as a group has worked together to create the final
outcome, a recreation of a Star Wars film.

30. Crowd funding
 Crowd funding is another form of physical involvement that is present in
social film. Similar to crowd sourcing a group of people undertake a
task, but in this case it is to raise the money needed for a film project.
The concept is fairly new but is becoming widely popular, as it gives
those who would not typically have the money to create a film, the
chance to do so.
 A dedicated site called Crowd Funder, allows users to sign up and pitch
their film project to the online community. If a user then decides they like
the concept of the film, then can choose to donate to it, with different
rewards being given for different amounts (see below for example). Sites
like this are giving social film a new meaning, as they allow for people to
get involved in the production, without physically doing so. Also, they
are allowing people to create higher budget videos without going into
debt or worrying about how they can get hold of the money needed.

31. Finally within this section I decided to talk
about my views on the concept of social
film and how I feel it may be wrongly
defined. I personally feel that these social
films would be better described as ‘social
experiences’. Despite this I will briefly go on
to talk about how projects such as The
Inside Experience could be defined as
either a social film or experience.

32.  Episodes within projects such as TIE were pre-recorded,
meaning they had a set start, middle and end. The idea
of this relates to film as like the project, films have a TIE I
feel was a downfall of the project, as it allowed for no
changes to occur in the storyline of the project. Overall
this meant that users participation did not have an
effect on the overall outcome of the project.
 The concept of film is further added to with the idea
there is only one storyline throughout these projects.
Take Kill Cam Live for example, where the basic storyline
is that a person is killing off a group of students who are
taking part in a social experiment. This single storyline
differs to typical episodic projects, such as televisions
series, which contain multiple storylines taking place in
one episode.

33. The episodic nature of online interactive
projects such as Kill Cam Live and The
Inside Experience can sway the favour
to the term ‘social experience’. This is
because when watching a film, it is
usually done in a block. By this I mean
that films are usually watched all the
way through, rather than being
stopped and started again at a later
date. This idea is similar to that of
television series where the storyline is
split into episodes; which are then
shown on television at different points.

34. Another idea that favours the term ‘social film’ is that some of these
online interactive projects are created like a Hollywood production
would be. The main example of this is The Inside Experience, in which
the budget of the project was obviously a reasonable amount. This
budget it can be assumed, was only so great due to the projects aim,
to advertise a new product for Intel. Also within the project the
production team used a reasonably famous actress. These aspects all
add to the idea that the project was similar to a Hollywood production,
and thus could be define as a ‘social film’ rather than ‘experience’.
Regardless of this, not all of these kinds of projects are created like a
Hollywood production. A good example of this is Kill Cam Live, where it
is obvious to the viewer that the budget is not a great amount. This may
be because the project did not have sponsors and was not created to
sell a product, like The Inside Experience was. Another reason for this
lack of budget could simple be that the producers did not have much
money.

35. Interactivity within certain online projects I feel limits them from
being defined as a ‘social film’. This is because typically films are
not interactive, people simply sit down and watch them. Where
as within online projects such as Kill Cam Live users are given
multiple platforms on which to interact with the project as a
whole. This can be seen in Kill Cam through the use of multiple
social networking sites such as Facebook an Twitter.
Despite this it could be said that some films are interactive. An
example would be the 1967 film Kinoautomat by Radúz Činčera.
At multiple points during the film the action would stop, and a
commentator would appear on the screen asking the audience
to choose between two scenes. A vote was then taken and the
scene with the highest votes was then played. The idea that the
audience themselves could ultimately choose the outcome of
the film, I believe is what defines this as a ‘social film’.

36. Online interactive projects are typically carried out in real time. This
means that when the participants are watching or taking part in
something related to the project, it can be said that it is happening at
that same point in time. An example of this in Kill Cam Live is the live
streaming, which like the name suggests, happens live. These real time
aspects of the projects I feel stops them from being defined as 'social
films’, as films are typically set over a period of time rather than just the
few hours that they are on for.
Despite this it could be interpreted that some aspects of online
interactive projects are similar to that of a film, the main one of these
being the episodes. Take Kill Cam Live as an example where the
episodes are set over one or multiple days, just like films. The lack of real
time in these episodes means that these could contribute to online
interactive projects being defined as ‘social films’ rather than
‘experiences’.

37. From the ideas I have stated I have come to the
conclusion that online interactive projects such as
Kill Cam Live and The Inside Experience would be
better defined as ‘social experiences’. My main
reason for this is the episodic nature of the
projects, which helps to dismiss the idea that the
projects are film-like, as films are seen in bulk not
in episodes. Another reason for this conclusion is
that I feel the interactivity of the projects means
they cannot be defined as films, as films are
typically not interactive. Finally my last reason for
this conclusion is that the projects are often
carried out in real time, which again films are not.

38.  SLASHERBOB (2004) Image from Saw 1 [Online image] Available from:
http://www.slasherbob.com/movies/saw/ [Accessed: 08/12/11]
 CHRISANDPHILEPRESENT (2011) Image from Buried [Online image] Available from:
http://www.chrisandphilpresent.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Buried1.jpg [Accessed: 08/12/11]
The Inside Experience screenshots taken from videos on:
 THEINSIDEEXPERIENCE (2011) YouTube Channel [WWW] Available from:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheInsideExperience [Accessed: 08/12/11]
Kill Cam Live screenshots taken from:
 KILLCAMLIVE (NA) Kill Cam Live Official site [WWW] Available from: http://killcamlive.com/main.html
[Accessed 08/12/11].
Lonelygirl15 screenshots taken from:
 YOUTUBE (2006) Lonelygirl15 YouTube channel [WWW] Available from:
http://www.youtube.com/user/lonelygirl15 [Accessed: 08/12/11].
Kate Modern screenshots taken from:
 YOUTUBE (2007) Kate Modern YouTube channel [WWW] Available from:
http://www.youtube.com/user/KateModernLG15 [Accessed: 08/12/11].
Star Wars Uncut screenshots taken from videos found on:
 STARWARSUNCUT (NA) Star Was Uncut website [WWW]. Available
from: http://www.starwarsuncut.com/ [Accessed: 08/12/11].
Crowd funding screen shots taken from:
 CROWDFUNDER (NA) Different Perspectives feature film [WWW]. Available
from: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/investment/different-perspectives-feature-film-
270 [Accessed: 08/12/11].