Starship Boron: to boldly go, to go boldly or boldly to go?
"Space, the final frontier..." (sounds best if you put on your best William Shatner voice); at any rate, our journey on the REACT Documentary Starship Boron should echo the mission of the Enterprise "to boldly go". Certainly, our attempt to marry a linear film with interactive elements often feels like an exploration of a strange new world. What the heck, our regular monthly meetings with our fellow adventurers and advisors at the Pervasive Media Studio might even equate to the "seeking out new life and new civilisations" bit.
Actually, now that we've arrived at the Alpha stage of testing out a very early prototype of "Boron Mon Amour", it would be more accurate to talk of Space and Time as the new frontiers; well if not new, then at least in an unfamiliar, slightly unsettling relationship. The space of the frame: where exactly is the viewer/user's attention during a transition from a linear section to an interactive interlude? How much should the narrator's voice gently encourage the user to click on an element - or alternatively (according to the age-old logic of reverse psychology) instruct the viewer *not* to do so but to pay attention? Likewise, to pause the linear flow of the traditionally constructed piece in order to create a series of interactive moments where the viewer/user can explore at their own pace demands a new way of thinking. These "zones of reflection", as we sometimes call them, are visually represented by the hinterlands of the Mojave desert around Boron CA and the huge opencast mine, way bigger than the one-horse town. It's a battle getting the balance right, and it's likely that there will probably be two versions in the end - a standalone piece as well the main one embedded in the 94 Elements website. Similar, but slightly different...
One of the key aspects that the Future Documentary Sandbox has encouraged to think about more deeply are the primary and secondary "personae" of the user/viewer whose degree of engagement could be anything from incidental to passionate. Guest presenter Daniel Burwen (part of the team behind Operation Ajax for the iPad) talked to us about how story and interactive elements might relate to each other, balancing emotional complexity against mechanical depth; examples such as the The Last of Us demonstrated quite how rich and complex this "user journey" can become (and also how much time, money and effort is needed to achieve this).
Meanwhile, back to our own inter-galactic mission to "...seek out new life and new civilisations": it turns out we are not alone on the planet in our love of Atomic Number 5 on the Periodic Table!
On the West Coast of America (actually Oakland CA) we find conceptual artist - writer - musician Dan Nelson, the creator of the gloriously titled electronic Boron: The Beige Album - check the link for tracks such as Boroner’s Report, Boron & Boroner and Stop Faking Sense. That's Dan below playing the keyboard in what appears to be a kebab emporium (nice outfit, man!)
And in the other corner, deep in Middle Europe there's the legendary Lubos "Kuba" Toth, founder member of the hardcore metal outfit Boron that has been around for some three decades, known as the "Czech Pantera" and based in the town of Sokolov, about 90 miles due West of Prague. For a rather different musical flavour, check out Kuba's homepage with samples of songs including Něžně krásná (Gently beautiful), Rej čaroďejnic (Red Witch) or Ve tmě (In the Dark).
Two Boron connected musicians halfway around the globe: could Dan and Kuba finally meet up in Boron Mon Amour?
Rock on, dudes! Let us boldly go!
