From Busto the first interactive film horror

 A film just like the “old” gamebooks of the ’90s, this is what three students of the Film Institute Michelangelo Antonioni in Busto Arsizio created. It is an interactive short film in which, at the end of each episode, the spectator can decide what the protagonists will do next.

The makers of the idea and project are Nicola Frigoli, 23-year-old of Legnano, Paolo Muzio, 25-year-old of Piacenza, Tommaso Terigi, 22-year-old of Lucca. Making this, they tested a new way of relating with the public.

The title of the short film is "Mors venit", it was presented with great interest at the latest edition of the Lucca Comics & Games, and the following is "L’amore ai tempi di YouTube" ("Love in the time of YouTube") they allow the spectator to choose the path to follow in the story; suspended between cinema and videogame, they represent a new potential formula of expression, moving among different films and making always new experiences" explains Frigoli who looked after the direction.(Continues after the video).

Even though the current of the interactive stories is not completely new, in fact there are several examples of gamebooks in literature, in the cinematography the phenomenon is new. Gamebooks are different from a videogame because they maintain their literary component, similarly the interactive short film maintain its cinematography features, so: the acting, the photography, the direct drive sound, the director choices. It is clear that a videogame can offer a greater consumption because the spectator can decide the movement of the protagonist in real time, but the interactive short films are actually closer to cinema than to videogames" he points out.

In fact, at the end there are no winners. "The right or wrong choice doesn’t exist, each decision brings new experiences", underlines Frigoli. For "Mors venit" the subject chosen is the horror. "A current that, to be scary, aims to involve the spectator in first person, making them identify with the protagonist." observes Frigoli.

"[…] This is how anxieties and tensions shown on screen become real and are lived even by those who are watching." The protagonist finds herself facing a series of doors, behind which a mysterious killer may be hiding. "L’amore ai tempi di YouTube" (Love at the time of Youtube, Ed.) instead has a more comedy-like slant; here the male protagonist is struggling with a beautiful girl, trying to seduce her. The respective goals might be to not be killed or to win the girl over. "But the aim isn’t this one. In "L’amore ai tempi di YouTube" no fewer than 12 different finales are provided. Limiting yourself only to winning over the girl over would be really reductive."

The three youngsters have also created a production company for the YouTube channel, the "Butter Productions", under whose name even their new short film, "Il Natale ai tempi di YouTube", will be presented towards mid-December.

"The aim of these experimentations is not to entertain: the world of videogames suggests quick feedback and scenarios which are no doubt more impressive. This is a nuance of the seventh art, an experimentation that may be applied in the field of training, education and and in videos going viral, which enable you to live lots of different experiences with just one product," states Mr Frigoli.

"The topic is certainly interesting and not banal, especially on a market of video and film distribution that sees on-demand and interactivity stepping forward as a standard in the use of the television. Such interactive short films are interesting experimentations; even though they still have a traditional language, they innovate the technique of suspending the incredulity of the viewer with modern technology. This technique is at the base of B fiction, and even B movies," concludes Andrea W. Castellanza, head of the Istituto Antonioni.