Explore The Bates Motel With Your iPhone Flashlight In New Interactive Site Alex Gerage, February 19, 2014February 19, 2014 Cinema’s most famous serial killer is back on the small screen. A&E’s successful horror series Bates Motel returns for it’s sophomore season in a couple weeks, and the network is keen to build on the buzz from the first season by giving fans more interactive content to enjoy. The show’s website recently added a new feature that immerses fans in the Bates’ world by giving them free reign to explore the motel and nearby house. Hit the jump for more. BatesMotel.com offers visitors a firsthand opportunity to explore the famed motel and manor from the comfort (and safety) of their own home. Similar to using Google’s Street View feature, direction cues at the bottom of the screen serve as your controls as you navigate your way around motel rooms and external surroundings (traveling up the infamous staircase in Norman’s house is particularly cool). As you explore though, the lights mysteriously shut off, and you are prompted to continue your tour by guided flashlight. Fortunately, those without iPhones can use their computer mouse to control the light. But those with the capability can enjoy a more realistic experience, as evidenced by the clip below:The interactive website comes courtesy of TVGla, a Los Angeles-based advertising agency that sought to give users “a first person peek into the Bates’ twisted world.” To do this, crews went around the actual Bates Motel set, filming every nook and cranny of the different motel rooms and house to provide users the immersive feeling of being in the show.TVGla does a nice job keeping the aesthetic and mood of the Bates Motel website consistent with the show. More than that, I find it interesting the website hearkens back to one of the most important themes of the show’s inspiration. I remember taking a film class in college and discussing at length the theme of voyeurism in Psycho—both in terms of the actions of characters on screen, as well as the way it was shot for the audience. One reason why the film is so terrifying and uncomfortable to watch is that Alfred Hitchcock did a masterful job using point-of-view cinematography and precise close-ups that made us feel we were more than third-party spectators, but rather voyeurs ourselves, witnessing many of the same things Norman Bates did in the film. It’s amazing how prevalent that theme remains decades later, using radically different media, as we analyze a first-person viral website for the prequel television series to the original film.The second season of Bates Motel returns March 3 on A&E.Source: AdAge Viral Marketing A&EAlfred HitchcockBates MotelPsychoTVGla
2012: Election 3rd Week of Challenges August 25, 2009Just a quick little heads up – the IHC has announced that the 3rd week of challenges in their search for the post-2012 apocalypse leader has begun at the IHC’s website. Here’s a pic of the Reasoning game: In the game, you have to solve a puzzle just by observation… Read More
Lionsgate Launches “‘The Storytellers — New Creative Voices of ‘The Twilight Saga.'” Competition October 1, 2014October 1, 2014Lionsgate is reviving their box office hit The Twilight Saga franchise by launching a writing competition where five female filmmakers will be chosen to make short films based on characters from the series. The studio will help finance each of the winners’ films, which will then be released via Facebook…. Read More
WonderCon Wrap Up: Interesting Booths and Gallery March 21, 2012December 28, 2012This was our second year covering WonderCon, the comic book and geek convention that is sort of the little brother to Comic-Con. You can read all of our previous coverage on this year’s event here and see my random gallery from the convention here. After the break I give my… Read More