Does it work? This grand pursuit of immersion?<\/p>\n
Sometimes. Only sometimes.<\/p>\n
Universal’s Wizarding World is a \u201csometimes.\u201d People will happily spend hours looking at all the intricate details: bricks, signage, window displays. Finding surprises in every nook and cranny. It\u2019s no small wonder that it\u2019s so tricky to craft this caliber of immersive experience. We (the creators) give ourselves a pretty tremendous responsibility: We want to hold 100%<\/strong> of the guest’s attention. (Also, we want to change the world. Because, hey, why not?)<\/p>\n What makes it possible? The more you explore, the more it becomes clear: it\u2019s not money. It\u2019s not time. It\u2019s not connections. Not long ago, I became determined to find out why young, small scale immersive experiences are succeeding wonderfully while many theme parks are stumbling in the dark. So I moved.<\/p>\n I relocated from Orlando, Florida\u2014land of mice, ducks, and\u2026 whatever Goofy is\u2014to Los Angeles, motivated to escape my theme park box and partake in the Wild West territories of immersive theater and extreme haunted houses. Specifically, the kinds of experiences where your personal information is mined and exploited, you\u2019re asked tough questions on the spot, you\u2019re physically moved (sometimes aggressively), and various substances are put in your eyes, ears, and\/or mouth.<\/p>\n All my theme park friends thought I was crazy. Climbing into strange vehicles? Getting suffocated and tackled? You did what<\/em>? And then what happened<\/em>? But here\u2019s the thing: I absolutely loved it.<\/p>\n I immersed my career<\/em>. Alongside credits with Disney Imagineering, Universal, Carnival, Kennedy Space Center, and more, I added Creative Consultant for companies like Heretic and Just Fix It Productions (CreepLA\u00a0and The Willows).<\/p>\n Along the way, I collected thirteen rules that immersive theater is using to revolutionize a new medium and truly compete with the theme park \u201cbig guys\u201d \u2014 at 1\/1000th of the budget and a fraction of their corpulent schedule.<\/p>\n These rules are not remote, impossible aspirations. They\u2019re right in front of you. They are lessons about good old fashioned, impactful storytelling. They\u2019re for the new and the seasoned; the creators and the fans.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Immersive theater creators in Los Angeles will most likely tell you the hardest thing about producing their shows is securing the right location. These artists have a vision in mind, and due to everything from film production to indoor medical marijuana growing, they almost never secure the location that fits their vision. So, what do you do? You can\u2019t squeeze a good show out of a bad location, any more than you can squeeze blood from a stone. Right?<\/p>\n If you look toward some immersive success stories, quite the opposite moral comes forward with creators seemingly saying, \u201cLocation<\/em> is only a limitation<\/em> if you let it be.\u201d<\/p>\n Scout Expedition Company\u2019s The Nest <\/em><\/a>created a magical location in the back shed of a house. Stepping into this location transported you into a new world; one filled with curios from an imaginary life. They focused on their strength in set design<\/a> and purposely didn\u2019t expand their scope to include actors. They started small; they didn\u2019t try to create something huge on their first attempt, believing that their creativity, production value, and narrative would win out\u2014no matter the scale.<\/p>\n Immersive creators are repeatedly proving that you don\u2019t need blockbuster budgets to provide an experience that feels endlessly complex. You simply need to use the space you have<\/em>. Screenshot Productions, The Speakeasy Society, and ABC Project have all used their homes for their early projects. The Tension Experience team didn\u2019t try to hide their warehouse location<\/a>. They didn\u2019t transform it into something it was not. They let it be what it was, and allowed story to emerge from that.<\/p>\n With a strong show, the audience fills in the marketing cracks. Immersive amuse bouche. Small but mighty<\/em>. \u00a0Proof you don\u2019t need 100,000 square feet to impact an audience. Tiny jewels can still shine. Audiences even start to look forward to shows with a \u201cguerilla\u201d approach. They feel secret, mysterious, exclusive. Weakness becomes strength.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s that primal sensation of intermingled curiosity, excitement, and sometimes even dread<\/em>. Maybe you haven\u2019t felt it since you were six years old, hiding from monsters under the sheets or conjuring up a tea party inhabited by dozens of eccentric new friends.<\/p>\n There is nothing stronger than what your own mind can do to you. Smart creators know this, and they play upon it. Right after I moved to Los Angeles, I went to a production by Heretic Horror House<\/a>. For me, the \u201cworst\u201d part of the show was everything before<\/em> the actual ticketed event. Emails with precautions. The possibility of horrible things: waterboarding and electrocution<\/a>. Liability waivers. Safe words. As a grown adult, knowing nothing truly terrible would happen, I was still second-guessing buying a ticket. Do you realize how powerful that is?<\/p>\n Every moment from when you even think <\/em>about buying a ticket until you walk in is Pre-Show. The minutes after a Blackout<\/a> purchase, your paranoia and anxiety are slowly ratcheted up to a fever pitch. In the parking lot prior to The Tension Experience\u2019s Ascension<\/em><\/a>, your friends may ask, \u201cHas it already started?\u201d (Yes. Yes, it has. Ask any participant in an Augmented Reality Game [ARG] leading up to Tension or Alone. Everything and everyone is suspect<\/em>).<\/p>\n Theme parks are forerunners in the spatial pre-show game. They\u2019ve been keeping you busy in the \u201cwaiting room\u201d since the 1960\u2019s. Famous examples abound: The Haunted Mansion blurring the line between ride and line as you encounter wall-to-wall creeps prior to boarding your infamous Doom Buggy. And they\u2019re getting better and better \u2013 Universal\u2019s Race through New York <\/em>(the one with Jimmy Fallon) has cut the all-too-familiar \u201cqueue\u201d in exchange for spaces to explore before it\u2019s time to ride.<\/p>\n For immersive theater, the motives are different. With fewer long lines, it\u2019s all about storytelling, functioning at a fraction of the cost but potentially with greater creative rewards. The Speakeasy Society\u2019s The Kansas Collection<\/a>: The Axe<\/em><\/a>, where a bar fosters discussion<\/a> and scattered puzzles, gives the impression that you probably, possibly won\u2019t be catching everything<\/em>. In the physical Pre-Show of CreepLA\u2019s Entry<\/em>, numerous \u201ccreeps\u201d set the tone for the rest of the experience by introducing you to the narrative through conversation, art, and uncomfortably intimate moments.<\/p>\n There\u2019s an air of mystery pervading the Pre-Show. Sometimes the mystery is: Who\u2019s behind this? If you don\u2019t know who\u2019s behind it, you have a much harder time trusting them. You don\u2019t know how far they\u2019re willing to go. Creators have attempted to mask their identities for as long as possible, because Identity is<\/em> Pre-Show. Seeing behind the curtain can diminish some of the magic, but it can also generate trust\u2014the choice is up to you which stance to take.<\/p>\n The Pre-Show is when you\u2019re expected<\/em> to say everything you need to say, but design carefully. The whole experience that will follow is contained within it. In psychological terms, you are putting the audience in a receptive state towards the kind of story you\u2019re about to tell. You\u2019re priming your patrons, bringing them back to a childlike mentality where everything is pure discovery<\/em>. Pre-Show should be cared for and fed properly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As human beings, we spend a large portion of our lives in at least partial confusion (or maybe that\u2019s just me.) Even the sharpest among us are easily-confused when thrown into new and unfamiliar situations. It\u2019s easy to forget how fragile our guest\u2019s comprehension can be.<\/p>\n Immersive theater is a growing, evolving art form. The rule book is still being written. It\u2019s tremendously exciting, but it means that every experience is just a little bit different. Over here, I should touch everything. Over there, I should touch nothing. Over in that one, I can touch everything except<\/em> the stuff in Room C. None of this would be a problem, if only <\/em>the rules of the game were clear from the beginning.<\/p>\n As creators, we must go the extra mile to illustrate what the \u201cplay style\u201d is, especially if it shifts from room to room. In one recent experience, my group had just completed an escape room-style challenge. We then hurried into a new room and immediately began taking items off the wall\u2014except we weren\u2019t supposed to. We were in \u201cescape room mode,\u201d and nobody told us that part of our journey was over.<\/p>\n As quickly as possible, your audience member should know what they can and can\u2019t do. Should they answer a performer\u2019s questions, or are the questions rhetorical? Can they initiate <\/em>conversation? Will anything happen if they do? Thinking these elements through and communicating them clearly will save a whole lot of heartache. There are times where creators want that tension and friction to be present, particularly in emotional scenes. \u201cCan I speak up? I want to. But should I?\u201d It can be valuable, but it must be deliberate in the design. It\u2019s one thing to be vague on purpose. It\u2019s quite another to be vague out of ignorance.<\/p>\n Setting expectations is a major task. There\u2019s an overabundance of \u201cfirst time\u201d patrons in the immersive scene right now. If they enter with the wrong expectations, there\u2019s a greater chance to be disappointed. I have heard some patrons complain that they didn\u2019t like a show because they couldn\u2019t <\/em>interact with the characters; they were just a fly on a wall. But that\u2019s not what the performance was. It was immersive but not<\/em> interactive. I have heard others be disappointed that a show was not scary; but again, the show was not a horror experience. Telling patrons what the rules are and what to expect prior can do a lot to give people the right understanding going in.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let\u2019s be real. It\u2019s the age of Instagram<\/a>. It\u2019s the age of Facebook<\/a>. It\u2019s the age of social media unceasingly adapting itself to what it thinks <\/em>you like. It\u2019s a science. The science of \u201cme.\u201d You\u2019ve wanted to be part of the story since you read that first \u201cChoose Your Own Adventure\u201d book. To be the hero. To be the villain. It\u2019s the Westworld <\/em>promise. You want everyone to care about you, and you want it to happen in someplace exciting that you couldn\u2019t normally access.<\/p>\n Film and television have tried to do this \u2013 to put the viewer in a first-person POV. They\u2019ve even given audiences the ability to text and vote to impact the story; however, more often than not,\u00a0 it comes across as a gimmick. In immersive experiences, from the park to the theater, it can feel much more natural to appeal to the \u201cme\u201d generation.<\/p>\n It all seems to be fed by the Internet. We have far more agency to make our identity known to others than ever before. We perceive this platform as not just a way to make ourselves visible, but to make our decisions<\/em> visible. We hunger for our choices to make a real impact.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like a drug hit, that small moment of \u201cme\u201d in an immersive show. We must handle it delicately. Too much \u201cme\u201d spoils the recipe, even though it\u2019s what every audience member thinks they want. Think of it in terms of a points system with a limit. Too many points\u2026 your audience member gets genuinely alienated or, worse, bored.<\/p>\n I walk into a show and ten characters know my name and ask me questions all about my real life. That\u2019s intense. It uses up a lot of points. Trickling these interactions throughout a show allows for more endurance. A little goes a long way. That first personalized The Tension Experience\u00a0or Alone moment makes you wonder, \u201cHow much do they really <\/em>know about me?\u201d It\u2019s the low-tech\/no-tech version of what Disney has sought to do with their MagicBands.<\/p>\n There are times, though, where creators want <\/em>to go all-in. Where it makes sense. In Shine On Collective\u2019s Devoted<\/em>, you walk into a room and are greeted by your own Facebook profile picture. The main character, Cara, comments on it. Ding ding ding. Lots of points. But it\u2019s also authentic to the story of the show: Cara is infatuated with \u201cme.\u201d Real<\/em>\u00a0\u201cme.\u201d<\/p>\n This brings in another important distinction: there is a difference between \u201cme\u201d and \u201cme \u2013 the character.\u201d Let \u201cme\u201d explain: in Delusion\u2019s His Crimson Queen<\/em>, we played \u201cus\u201d \u2013 the children of Burke and Selene Sullivan. Wait<\/em>. You\u2019re telling me I\u2019m \u201cme,\u201d but that means something new now? Interestingly, if you hold fast to that new role and design around it, then the audience instinctively catches up. It\u2019s nothing different from the RPG roles that gamers have assumed for years. Why should it be any different when the screen is removed? This slight distance from guests\u2019 authentic personalities slows the points system down to a trickle again.<\/p>\n There\u2019s one more thing about that Facebook picture from Shine On Collective’s\u00a0Devoted<\/em>. Once you complete the show, a new<\/em> picture is shared that will no doubt become a prized Facebook possession: a picture of you, blindfolded, with Cara, seconds after you looked at your original Facebook profile picture within the experience. That\u2019s a lot of \u201cme.\u201d<\/p>\n This \u201cafter\u201d photo or personalized keepsake becomes a crucial part in closing the \u201cme\u201d loop of the experience. Now the show is part of the guest\u2019s identity and, with all that social media, they\u2019re proud to share it. Alone fans covered in flour and face-paint. Heretic fans doused in blood. ABC Project fans with personalized poems and hand-drawn portraits. It\u2019s memorable, it\u2019s free marketing, and it brings \u201cme\u201d full circle \u2013 from my desire to be a part of the story to the proof that I was.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In medias res. <\/em>\u201cIn the midst of things.\u201d Many immersive experiences \u201cstart\u201d in the middle of an unfolding narrative. That\u2019s not accidental \u2013 it\u2019s by design. It\u2019s a storytelling technique that literature, film, and television creators have been using beautifully for decades.<\/p>\n Immersive experience creators can push this technique even further. The moment you walk through the door, characters should be providing information, objectives, physical exchanges, even significant glances. The stakes should be as high as humanly possible right from the start. If creators want me to care about the story, make me a part of the story right away<\/em>. I\u2019ll catch up.<\/p>\n These shows give their audience a lot of credit to catch up, and it\u2019s great that they do. For storytelling to evolve, the audience needs to be elevated. Have You Seen Jake brought participants in after<\/em> the title character\u2019s disappearance. The team didn\u2019t hold participants\u2019 hands. They were confident that the audience would catch up and care just as much as the fictional characters did very quickly. It worked \u2013 participants got involved beyond the creators\u2019 wildest dreams.<\/p>\n The title of this rule is not an error or repetition. It means, \u201cinvolve me right away, and involve me up close and personal with the story at hand.\u201d If I walk into an unfamiliar space and am immediately grabbed by a character whispering orders in my ear, you can bet I\u2019ll feel alive and present.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When you\u2019re on a theme park ride you generally have a solid sense of your overall safety and well-being. You rarely feel you\u2019re \u201cin danger,\u201d which is fascinating in an industry where we\u2019re frequently stuck in the middle of robot battles, falling off skyscrapers, and flying to Mars.<\/p>\n Why don\u2019t we feel endangered? Because, even at the scariest of moments, we trust the ride manufacturers and know that they offer fear<\/em> without consequence<\/em>. We happily give up control.<\/p>\n When excitement and adventure are the name of the game, good experience designers need to pay more attention to subverting the guest\u2019s sense of control. Because, when we sense for even a second like we\u2019re not in control, we really, really enjoy it. Just as long as we trust the creator and we trust the experience.<\/p>\n It\u2019s why people love roller coasters so much \u2013 they\u2019re always seeking those precious seconds of \u201closs of control.\u201d To some extent, it\u2019s what all theme park visitors want. They want the park <\/em>to take the wheel for a little while, so they<\/em> can take a break.<\/p>\n Your audience is in your hands. They trust you. At least, they should<\/em>. If I whisper in your ear in a pitch-black room, \u201cRun forward as fast as you can,\u201d you should be a little worried. But ultimately, you\u2019ll do it. Only if you trust me. Only if you believe I\u2019ll catch you at the other end of the room.<\/p>\n In The Tension Experience<\/a>, if a man asks you to put on a hood and jump into a van, you do it. In a Heretic<\/a> show, if you are driven to the desert and forced to dig your own grave, you do it. In a Have You Seen Jake<\/a> show, if you are forced to be emotionally vulnerable to a character and support them through a difficult time, you do it. Immersive theater is about trust, vulnerability, and control.<\/p>\n Permission is king. Every guest has a \u201cline\u201d \u2013 no matter how extreme their preferences in entertainment may be. Permission is relevant across all cultures, and can come in many forms. If we don\u2019t think about what the \u201cline\u201d is, designing for and through it, engagement will not happen.<\/p>\n Being handled and moved around in an immersive show is like being on a human roller coaster, and everything hinges on the control of the performer. Especially safety. Not only do they need to be in control physically, they need to be so on top of their stuff that it appears <\/em>things are out of control. The task at hand for all live experience storytellers is to make the guest think that this stuff might really, possibly, be losing control.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a caveat. As an audience, we don\u2019t want to lose too <\/em>much control. Shows such as Have You Seen Jake\u2019s<\/a> Therapy & Dreams <\/em><\/a>have devoted energy to learning what each guest wants and specifically rehearsing based on these preferences. They know just how much you like to be handled\u2026 or, maybe, how much you\u2019re willing <\/em>to be handled. Theme parks and immersive museums can\u2019t tailor their experiences that much \u2013 yet. But it\u2019s happening fast. Disney has already filed patents for ride systems that read guests\u2019 moods and react accordingly. The dialogue is occurring in all levels of experience design. With refinement of this catered approach to preferences, it is possible to make guests feel \u201cout of control\u201d in fantastical circumstances more persuasively than ever before.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The live performer is captivating. The live performer is surprising. Right now, the live performer has no equal (assuming they\u2019re good).<\/p>\n Immersive experiences that use live actors correctly understand how multi-faceted they can be. They do more than just deliver dialogue. They are the temporary stage managers of the guest experiences in their scenes. They can command a scene even in the absence of props, lighting effects, and sound. Guests hang on their every word and movement. Best of all, they\u2019re able to adapt spontaneously. They\u2019re busy people.<\/p>\n A new type of actor is being born, capable of bringing forward multiple scraps of text depending on the situation of the moment. Capable of drawing upon many different acting styles. The Tension Experience relied on actors who could adapt to any scene, any audience member, any emotion. If an audience member complied or resisted\u2014there was a path for them. The Speakeasy Society is another company who prioritizes strong, versatile actors, often resting their shows on the shoulders of these performers and not on sets or special effects.<\/p>\n Theme park attractions \u2013 often hybrid show-rides with one or two live actors \u2013 rarely capitalize on the remarkable capacity of their performers. They can tell a story to hundreds of guests, and then personally impact one guest up-close in the span of only a few seconds.<\/p>\n The big lesson here is that while we have amassed a considerable design tool kit, nothing currently beats the potential of one great performing human being. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are currently hot tickets. Everyone is trying to figure them out. VR aims to unlock a sense of spontaneity and experiential freedom without the potential pains of staffing performers\u2026 feeding them\u2026 changing their litter\u2026<\/p>\n As of now, VR still carries too many technical and operational challenges. Artificial intelligence is being labored over to simulate the sensitivity and adaptability of a human. Too often, though, as with audio-animatronics, we enter the uncanny valley. The place where simulated interaction just gets weird. <\/em>Until this valley gets filled and paved, we should not overlook the power of live performers to imbue experiences with thousands of minute and instinctive corrections \u2013 the direct result of conscientious listening-to and reacting-to the audience.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Denise Chapman Weston is a highly-regarded themed entertainment interactive designer, with a background in psychology and behavior engagement. She has used this unique perspective on how people play and engage to invent landmark experiences such as MagiQuest<\/a>, a live-action gaming complex with locations all over the world.<\/p>\n When Denise heard about immersive shows that incorporate touch, she was a little uncertain. She said that it would be \u201chard to trust the creators of an experience enough to let them touch me.\u201d When you think of her background, it makes sense. There is deep psychological complexity to the notion of letting strangers touch you. As a guest and as a creator in rehearsals, I have let performers touch me more intimately than I have let friends who I have known for years touch me. Why is that?<\/p>\n Denise is not alone in her unease. At a recent Halloween convention, a mini haunt experience incorporated touch. Multiple guests were interested in entering it, up to the point <\/em>when they learned they would be touched. It\u2019s a border most people are not willing to cross.<\/p>\n So why bother? Why touch an audience?<\/p>\n When done right, this kind of intimacy is an unbeatable shortcut to intense emotions. Guests are smelled, hugged, kissed, shoved, carried\u2026 a whole spectrum of intentions. Eyes are the window to the soul? Touch is the window to emotions.<\/p>\n The adage in screenwriting is \u201cshow, don\u2019t tell.\u201d Touch allows immersive theater to go one step further with this. In Screenshot Productions\u2019 The Rope<\/em>, the character King Exul tackled me to the floor and reprimanded me for showing my face in his territory. The style of touch, the approach. In milliseconds, they painted a picture of an entire character and his motivations.<\/p>\n As with control, touch is inextricably tied to permission<\/em>. Just because an audience has arrived for the experience, it does not mean we have their full permission\u2014yet. As Denise says, performers have to understand the basics of behavior and read their audience in a whole new way. Permission is the through line with touch; every second involves small, silent negotiations of permission.<\/p>\n We have not yet figured out a way to make touch palatable to mainstream audiences. Denise\u2019s psychological perspective suggests that this touch come at a slight remove initially… gloves or puppets. Perhaps it\u2019s in the way the touch is introduced. Gentle, supportive, and kind at first. Whatever the case, this element is dying to take its vital seat within the storytelling lexicon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cClose your eyes.\u201d I am grabbed and pulled through a motel room into its bathroom. A gloved hand covers my eyes. I am moved into the shower stall. Another hand clenches around my throat, releasing and increasing tension. Manipulating me like a plaything. I can hear my tormentor\u2019s violent breathing right next to my ear.<\/p>\n An actor standing in front of me narrates an evening of terror, as one hand uncovers and covers my eyes. Irising my gaze like a camera lens. I see a woman\u2019s fateful path before her brutal murder. Moments later, I am moved to the foot of the bed. I assume the perspective of the killer. I watch as hands which appear to be my own strangle the nude woman from behind.<\/p>\n In Heretic\u2019s VANIISH<\/em><\/a>, this is the director transforming me into a camera. Directing my point of view with precision. This is strategic addition and removal of vision to vision. This is the new auteur cinema.<\/p>\n In this type of experience, we as audience members have [perceived] 360-degree control. Where we look. How fast we move. What we touch. Up. Down. Side to Side. It\u2019s the power the best new VR experiences have, to tell a story that works no matter where you look.<\/p>\n We are given the gift of a full range of vision. It\u2019s thrilling when we have complete choice in this environment. In some ways, however, it\u2019s even more thrilling when our view of this environment is sophisticatedly choreographed or directed.<\/p>\n If you study the films of Hitchcock, you\u2019ll see painstaking attention paid to the staging and blocking of both the actors and the camera. Relationships come forward in how they interrelate. A character standing at an elevated position compared to another feels more powerful. Camera movement can telegraph delirium, celebration, and everything in between. As a participant in Screenshot Production\u2019s<\/a> Fear is What We Learned Here<\/em><\/a>, scenes play out above your reclined body<\/a>, in tents you crawl through, and from your huddled position in a wheelchair. Without dialogue, your personal staging explains your status in the story. Your status then seeps into your emotions. You\u2019re part of the palette. In Zombie Joe\u2019s Underground Theatre Group\u2019s<\/a> Tortured Souls<\/em><\/a>, we are made to lie down on the cold cement as actors loom above us or crawl beside us. Our restricted viewpoint sets an entirely new context for characters we think we already understand.<\/p>\n We become the dancer. We become the camera. In a new generation of entertainment, this is a new way for the creators to leave their signature stamp on a story.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We now come to a subject that many immersive creators do not<\/em> excel at\u2026<\/p>\n Immersive writers and directors: we haven\u2019t been involved in your story for as long as you have. You\u2019ve been there from the beginning. Plotting out character appearance, motivations, relationships. Building family trees in your heads.<\/p>\n Go easy on us. Remember what makes the experience truly engaging. Is it more about the characters\u2019 names, or what they do and what they stand for?<\/p>\n Many times, in the middle of a show, a character approaches me and says (for example), \u201cBalthazar is plotting a horrid revenge! You must go find him!\u201d\u00a0 To which I invariably reply, \u201cGreat! Who is Balthazar?\u201d<\/p>\n When theater is immersive or interactive, you\u2019re giving the audience a lot of stuff to do. Now they are assuming active roles with goals without the rehearsal you\u2019ve had. On top of that they\u2019re also being grabbed and moved around. The active role is great. But now the guests need to act, and <\/em>keep track of dozens of characters? Once again, it\u2019s a balance. The more characters, the more lost we can become. Emotional distance creeps in. The harder it is to care about any one character. And wasn\u2019t that the whole point in the first place? Caring <\/em>what happens?<\/p>\n Larry Ahern is a renowned interactive designer, writer, and creative director, who has worked on the Monkey Island<\/em> video game franchise and projects for Disney. He attended a recent immersive show, and his favorite part was being told to sneak into an office and steal a file folder. He had lost track of the characters\u2019 names, but he absolutely<\/em> understood the action of sneaking around. And when he was caught in the act by another performer, he didn\u2019t need to know the full backstory. He still felt excited\u2026 and a little ashamed.<\/p>\n In Larry\u2019s words, the story should be \u201cdead simple.\u201d Great writers of live experiences understand when there\u2019s too much information to retain. They know what to leave out. Blackout<\/a> has been the boldest in this respect, confidently producing experiences that break free from \u201cstory\u201d<\/a>, focusing instead on atmosphere and feeling. The guest can\u2019t hide behind the familiar architecture of a story. They must face the experience head-on.<\/p>\n I had a great moment in Alone\u2019s<\/a> The Rite of the Anthropocene<\/em>. A barkeep character made me sweep his floor, and then had me choose a drink: water, wine, or vodka. I chose water. He shook his head. I chose vodka. He nodded and pushed the cup my way. It was funny, curious, and engaging. No names. No words. Think twice before you go down the path of information overload.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This one ties closely to establishing the rules of the game. Immersive shows often involve guests on multiple tracks, taking in shifting information, in complex scenarios. A ticking clock is hanging over every immersive experience. Even if it\u2019s not an escape room, the experience needs to be designed with a clear sense of pacing.<\/p>\n The production team\u2019s solid understanding of timing is useless if the audience has no idea.<\/p>\n Too often, audience members linger where they shouldn\u2019t, or race through moments we assumed they\u2019d luxuriate in. It\u2019s not the audience\u2019s fault. It\u2019s ours for not using performers, sound, lighting, props, and story to dictate timing.<\/p>\n There are examples of obvious pacing, and examples of subliminal pacing. Take Ascension<\/em><\/a> and His Crimson Queen<\/em>. They are not shy about telling you what\u2019s at stake and how much time you have. In the former\u2019s Red Room and the latter\u2019s Attic, they literally show you a countdown timer and an hourglass. By the same token, in other scenes we move forward to the next space compelled by nothing more than a speaking performer walking away from us.<\/p>\n Pacing is not just moving from action to action. There\u2019s just as much power in the absence of action. The reprieve after all the action has stopped in a Screenshot Productions show\u2014where you can reflect on what transpired. Conversely, Blackout<\/a> manipulates pacing on an extreme level with great skill. They know exactly when to push you and then they know exactly when to pull back\u2014leaving you alone, utterly afraid of when<\/em> it will start back up\u2014and how<\/em>.<\/p>\n Immersive shows are expanding more and more into series <\/em>of interconnected shows. This means that creators must set expectations for the pacing of puzzles and new content across the entire series of shows. A continuity. Not all shows need to obey the same metronome, but if you\u2019re going to shift up or shift down, let your audience know. Otherwise they\u2019ll spend way too long trying to invest way too much meaning in things that were really meant to be fleeting.<\/p>\n Picking up on new pacing is like learning a new language. The \u201cARG,\u201d a bedrock of some major works in our field, was born out of a desire to let players pace themselves. An early ARG, like 42 Entertainment\u2019s Halo <\/em>tie-in I Love Bees<\/em><\/a>, mostly lived in full online, just waiting to be devoured. Players could take small bites at their leisure, or consume the entire meal in one sitting. It was up to them. When players conversant in ARG language come to immersive theater, they expect the same pacing. However, with immersive experiences, it\u2019s not up to the player to set the pace; it\u2019s up to the creators. The creators set you in a train car and decide when you can move to the next car. You can discuss that train car to your heart\u2019s content, but it\u2019s the job of the creators to advance you on their terms. Good creators know when people are starting to get bored or tired, or when they need more time in a train car.<\/p>\n If creators overload content with little regard to pacing, every moment feels less resonant. Sometimes, there is value in holding back content until it will make the greatest impact. It\u2019s experience economics \u2013 basic principles of supply and demand\u2026 just with wizards, murderers, and cult members.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The show is becoming a living entity. The script is a creature. I\u2019m particularly excited by where this is going, for multimillion dollar theme parks and intimate theatrical productions alike.<\/p>\n If VR is the hot trend that theme parks are obsessing over, loosely-scripted, multi-scripted, or unscripted storytelling is the hot trend for immersive theater. The benchmark has been set by Punchdrunk<\/a> and The Tension Experience<\/a>, with creators like The Speakeasy Society<\/a> and Heretic<\/a> rapidly interpreting this mindset in their own voices.<\/p>\n One of the most inspiration-stimulating aspects of The Tension Experience<\/a> is that large portions of the live show are being shaped on the fly <\/em>by guest choices and spur-of-the-moment creative team experimentation. The cast has earpieces, in constant communication with the managers, writer, and director. Every night, *something* happens once that will never happen again. Based on something you<\/em> did. And it\u2019ll never happen again. Maybe the potential for it to happen has been there all along, but nobody has sprung the trap. This has absolutely become a driver for more visitation, and repeat visitation. For the creators, it means the playing field is evergreen. For guests, it means a moment where they can truly feel special.<\/p>\n Have You Seen Jake<\/a> front-loaded a reactive, loosely-scripted nature. Each event was tailored to each patron, to the extent that rehearsals were conducted per participant<\/em>. Personalized threads were pulled from real lives and intricately intertwined into the narrative. For The Speakeasy Society<\/a>, the multi-scripted approach works. A performer is called upon to commit five different paragraphs to memory for the same scene, on the off-chance that one guest will perfectly set them up for #5. Heretic<\/a> seems increasingly fascinated by the unscripted. For upcoming show DVIL<\/em><\/a>, guests will buy into a variable length of time in an unscripted environment. Scenes are crafted by instinct. It\u2019s like sculpting in snow. Or really, really scary jazz.<\/p>\n Performers must be capable of adjusting to complex changes in an instant. Communication chains must be open and reliable \u2013 this means depending on the technology of phones and walkie talkies more than ever, and that may not always be ideal. The biggest risk is losing the kernel of the show. With all this potential for change, the audience can\u2019t get tangled in the puppet master\u2019s strings. Don\u2019t forget the heart. It\u2019s a challenge. On several fronts. Not every show benefits from trying it, and ultimately your show\u2019s structure<\/em> must be informed by function<\/em>. If the narrative will benefit, this is a fun rabbit hole to hop down. But don\u2019t do it just because all the cool kids are doing it.<\/p>\n When it\u2019s good, the audience feels catered to, attended to. They feel nourished. At best, they feel the direct hand of the creators from behind the curtains. This type of show is a living thing. It reacts. It expands and contracts. Just remember that, at the end of the day, you still own it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n When your audience looks at your Facebook page, or even your fa\u00e7ade, what do they see? The people driven to create immersive experiences often have complex motivations driving their creations. They want to do it all. Unfortunately, when you try to do it all, you are often left with a muddled mess of disconnected ambitions. When a prospective audience member sees that your show is about politics, and death, and gender roles, and dissociation, and life, and bacon, and music, and philosophy, and religion…they end up with very little confidence in your voice. They end up not looking forward to the experience.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like they say: \u201cJack of all trades, master of none.\u201d You want to be a master.<\/p>\n A clean outward-facing identity begins with a grounded understanding of what you want your experience to be. You must commit to a style; don\u2019t play the middle. In a haunted attraction example, are you a higher-priced, personalized, and small audience experience like Heretic<\/a> or an affordable, high-throughput experience like The 17th<\/sup> Door<\/a>? It rarely benefits a show to intermingle these very different approaches.<\/p>\n Is your experience an extreme haunt with full contact? Is it an immersive show where you have free reign to explore and interact? Commit and make these hardcore decisions; everything flows from there.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve given yourself a good, hard look in the mirror, you\u2019ll be ready to brand your experience\u2019s identity in the public eye. Once again, this can be a minefield. Your branding, imagery, and tone are the first introductions to your creation\u2014and thus, they should accurately match the experience. An image can create an atmosphere in a prospective customer\u2019s head in a single second. A picture\u2019s worth\u2026well, the whole thing.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t succumb to your own imagination\u2019s pressures to do it all. Keep your self-portrait clean. Remember, if all goes well this will be just one of your many shows. You\u2019re not letting a favorite theme, character, or operational model die. You\u2019re preserving <\/em>it\u2026for the next time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Scout](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/TheNest_PressPhoto_6.jpg\")
1. Blood from a Stone<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Vanish](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FB_IMG_1448896312688-300x300.jpg\")
2. Pre-Show is Precious<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Willows-12.jpg\")
3. Great Expectations<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Zombie](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Zombie-Joes.jpg\")
4. Me, Me, Me<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/They-stand.jpg\")
5. Involve Me Immediately, and Involve Me Immediately<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Lessons](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Alone5.jpg\")
\u00a06.\u00a0<\/strong>I Want to Lose Control (But Not Too Much)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/tension2-300x198.png\")
7. The Live Performer Stands Alone (For Now)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Blackout](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/BLACKOUT.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n
8. Touch: The Final Frontier?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Taylor-1-300x225.jpg\")
9. I Am a Camera<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Lessons](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/ABCproject-300x225.jpg\")
10. \u2026What Was His Name Again?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Lessons](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Delusion.jpg\")
11. Pace Yourself<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Firelight](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_5883.jpg\")
12. It\u2019s Alive!<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"17th](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/17thdoor.jpg\")
13. Self-Portrait of a Tortured Immersive Artist<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/Becomeimmersed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/ThejohnnycyclePt3_4.jpg\")