The Story Lab – Project Brief 3

Our Project Brief for the assessment task three of The Story Lab 2016 surrounds the concept of creating a narrative that unfolds over multiple media platforms, allowing the audience to participate in a range of interactive manners.

Our project, “The Barlow Enquiry“, surrounds the story of a modern-day young man who finds himself uncovering his family heritage after a traumatic life event. Through his research, the young man, Atticus Barlow, stumbles across a distant family member who was murdered by the infamous “Right Hand Man” killer, who murdered multiple members of Melbourne’s elite throughout the early 1900’s, his calling card the amputation of a finger from his victims right hand.
Despite the brutality and media attention surrounding the murders, the case eventually went cold, the killer having never been brought to justice. Now, nearly 114 years later, Atticus Barlow pursues the case, engrossed by the notion that his family was a part of something so detrimental in Melbourne’s history. The drive to discover who this killer was, along with his motive, is driven by Atticus’s grief after his grandfather’s passing.

The Barlow Enquiry will unfold over multiple media platforms, each platform providing audience members with a range of interactional opportunities. Social Media platforms used will include a WordPress blog, a Twitter profile and an Instagram account. Additionally, there will be a range of real world artefacts such as wanted posters from the times of the murders, newspaper articles and journal entries. While each platform will be sustainable and self-efficient on their own, their content will work to encourage audiences to encounter the overall narrative.

While The Barlow Enquiry is essentially a non-linear narrative. Each media platform will contribute a piece of information that spurs the story forward.  While the social media platforms will predominantly recount the story of Atticus’ findings, they will also exist to encourage interactivity from audience members. The platforms, such as Atticus’ blog, will be a place where audience members can contribute their own thoughts and theories, those of which they have developed from the historical items provided to them. While most of these historical items will exist in the form of the tangible items such as the journal (where the relative recorded his thoughts) and faux newspaper articles recounting the murders, information will also be spread across web pages and possibly included within Melbourne city.

Planning is vital in the construction of our transmedia project. Through strict scheduling, we will work to construct a timetable of when and where all information and plot lines are released. With a solid narrative, a more intricate and attractive story is able to be produced, providing a stronger sense of agency among audiences. In order to keep track of the success rate and interest from audience members, social media platforms will be used to measure followers, likes and page visits.

Through group collaboration, the roles and responsibilities of The Barlow Enquiry will be distributed amongst group members, each member encouraged to pursue both their current skill sets, and those they are looking to improve. Personally, I would like to undertake in tasks that employ Photoshop and design skills, while I am also interested in the creation of the tangible artefacts. Through completion of this assignment, I hope to gain a greater understanding of how to successfully plan and produce a transmedia project.

Check out the trailer for “The Barlow Enquiry” below: