The test run of the AR hip-hop experience Consequences took place last Friday as part of the Raindance Film Festival. The story unfolded in and around the rest of the festival .
In these sort of immersive shows taking place among non-participants the signifier is important. Is it a Punchdrunk full face mask, a wrist band or a dash of paint across the forehead? For Consequences it was a pair of sunglasses. You too can bob nervously in a corridor as people walk to try out another VR experience or get a beer.
You are dropped into the shoes of ‘The Player’ meeting your mate Barry in a secret underground club. You’ve been out of the business and now you’re back. This reminded me a little bit of the Saints Rows games where everyone just called you ‘Playa’ or ‘Boss’ but unlike those games it does appear you are defaulted into being male.
Playlines is working in collaboration with BOSE in order to make a show that uses these sunglasses with speakers in them. Thus you walk into the club listening to the narrative conveyed through the lyrics of MC Harry Shotta.
Through these songs the characters rap at you telling you that you’re trouble or that your ex is in the club. The phone around your neck allows you to see who exactly is currently yelling at you for being a jerk. This sadly does mean the flow of the narrative does sorta stop as you stand in your glasses just waiting for the song to end and for someone to tell you where to go next. In the end I sit passively on a VIP room sofa listening to two people tell me how they are going to beat me up.
There are moments of interaction with performers. There were a couple of very keen actors who gladly bobbed up and down with me to the music only I could hear as well as pointing at me and going “YEAH!” But due to the nature of the sound I was unable to hear them or interact really. Are they my mates? Is it one of my goals to get them into the club or the VIP room with me?
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A bouncer guards the door and you have to wait for the secret word to let you in. I prepared for a clue in the song, a puzzle to solve. Instead Barry, outside of the music, just says what the word is and he’ll meet you in the club.
Once inside/standing in another corridor the show uses beacons to set up the different rooms of the club. A “Smoking Area” (with a large sign informing us to please not smoke) on the balcony, a toilet to do drugs in.
This seemed an interesting beginning taster of an experience. The final piece has six different endings and the piece can respond with space relying on positioning of the beacons. The sunglasses are a nice alternative to more bulky headphones and do a nice job of conveying a character. Even if The Player has a habit of spending most of his time in a corner holding his hands over his ears and looking at a wall.
I would be excited to see how this full piece works in a dedicated space with scenic design, lighting and not a room full of folks queuing for VR headsets.
Consequences played as part of the Raindance Film Festival 18 September — 29 September, 2019 in London, and is making the festival circuit.
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