Oxon Hoath
Originally uploaded by cowbite.
I'm at beautiful Oxon Hoath for a couple of days' brainstorming the future of interactive audio drama. Lots to think about, and it's interesting to consider the conundrums of drama as specifically audio. It's such a specific format, and so much of our drama/story consumption is visual by default - books, art, TV, film, the web, photography etc. A couple of things that have stuck with me today...
The importance of intimacy to audio/radio drama. Radio dramas seem to be more likely to be consumed in a solitary way. Partly because of when they're broadcast - during the day or late at night, times when people are less likely to be gathered in the same room at home. But chiefly because they ask the listener to create the pictures for the drama for themselves. Radio drama happens in your head.
This got me thinking about intimacy and solitary media experiences. We focus so much on community and networking, harnessing the wisdom, passion and creativity of crowds that I wonder if we have discarded the notion of a solitary experience for a while. The networked world is noisy. Tweets, emails, sms, blogs, rss, facebook, video, audio, blah blah blah. At Oxon Hoath mobiles are strictly forbidden outside the conference room and grounds. Triyoga is mobile-free, as is Blacks. These are all quite premium spaces, which says something interesting about the implicit value being placed on choosing to disconnect.
Other things that sounded fun:
- TomTom hacks - can you programme your satnav to tell you stories on your journey, or about locations you drive through?
- Conflicting soundtracks - walk through a garden to a New York cityscape, tour a city listening to birdsong soundtracks. What does it do to how you experience your environment, and the audio you're listening to?
- The importance of the contract with the listener - they've got to know what they've signed up for. There's an expectation that needs to be filled, or if not the disappointment should be mitigated with something better. This ties into the nature of narrative satisfaction, which I'm still trying to wrap my brain around.
Maybe more later, in the meantime I've an idea about trees to write up...
