So what exactly do we mean when we say “mobile entertainment?” The de facto response is most likely “games and applications.” At least that’s what the majority of mobile users, who engage content beyond the standard functionality of a mobile phone, currently view as such. And understandably so.
But is that it? When it comes to carrying around an ever-evolving communications device in your pocket that has within it the capability of delivering numerous forms of entertainment, does the buck stop at games and utility applications? Do a search for “mobile entertainment” and the majority of marketing or development firms that you find that fly the “entertainment” colors list their services and products using the aforementioned descriptions. Granted, games are clearly a form of entertainment, and many of the best mobile utility programs out there are highly entertaining.
One can easily fill a phone, iPod, or iPad with movies and tv shows. But therein lies the rub. This other leg of entertainment, that exists within that cinematic experience of television and movies, is still represented as something of a digital immigrant— blockbuster films and hit shows arriving in droves at the steps of your mobile queue.
(iPhone: Not David Lynch’s thing. Warning — cuss word at the end)
The breakthrough we haven’t seen yet? One in which meaningful narrative content is created purely for mobile devices, in such a way that it is accepted by a massive population, adopted as an entertainment genre and embraced by content creators such as filmmakers, writers and animators.
As someone with a background in all of the above forms of cinematic storytelling, this is the aspect of the mobile universe that intrigues me the most from a creative perspective. Of course, there are pools of creators and users out there exploring and engaging this next step of how mobile technology is becoming integrated into our lives and the pop culture consciousness.
Online festivals and user generated collections like MobiFest are showcasing films made for mobile or made via mobile technology. Intriguing yes, but is this real mobile narrative? How does this differ from short form films that filmmakers might already produce or screen at traditional festivals? I doubt that shortform narrative is the natural fit and solution for mobile entertainment, just because of its length.
Recently, there was a film festival news item that discussed the (potential) first time a mobile application was entered as an official festival entry. The app, called Murder on Beacon Hill pairs interactive narrative video with a walking tour. The user or audience engages the mystery at the same time that they actually walk the physical route across which the story takes place.
It’s a nifty idea, and seems to be in-sync with the tenants of transmedia storytelling, a term used to describe entertainment experiences that utilize cross platform media. Physical locations, user interactivity, film making, gaming, real world and digital world found objects can all converge to tell a story or expand the universe of another story.
Fans of Lost and The Dark Knight may remember the expansive alternate reality games that both promoted the core creative property as well as added to the stories’ respective universes.Maybe this is the key to unlocking the larger canvas of mobile entertainment. In one approach, pairing an interactive or narrative experience with a mobile device, giving it an expansive and robust experience, all while keeping that experience anchored to a larger known property. Imagine another Batman film with a premium mobile application attached. The application gives the user access to the full Gotham City and a wealth of additional stories within it; both as short cinematic experiences as well as games. Taking advantage of touch screen technology and designing the application around it truly ties that entertainment to the device.
And that’s one approach.
Another could simply be offering short form episodic content with an added value feature of game content tied into each purchase. One could paint this any number of ways. But the trick will be to find those golden models which produce meaningful entertainment experiences which have a real shot of building a massive fan base. Once those are found, and sponsors line up, we may see the birth of a new entertainment industry.
