MoCo.News has an interesting article about the made-for-cellular mobile television episodes Dubplate Drama (see below).
Covering the Mobile Content World conference, MoCo.News says the four-minute episodes were made for Sony PSP, 3 and Talk to Frank, a government drugs advisory service, and targeted at children 16 to 19 years old.
The theme for the 200,000 pound ($ ) project was a young female DJ who tries to succeed in London. The Web site says:
"She's a normal girl from the ends with a big talent and ambition to match it. Her first mission -- to get her dubplate cut.
"The second -- to get famous. It's a long road. She's gonna meet plenty of people who can help her make it. And plenty of people who are gonna try and hold her back.
"When you start from the bottom there are problems are every turn. Issues to sort out decisions to be made. But it doesn't mean you can't make it.
"It's time to put yourself in Dionne's shoes. Her fate is in your hands. Get thinking. Get voting. It's Dubplate Drama."
At the end of each episode she has to decide among two moral choices. Viewers are asked to vote for one or the other.
Producing for mobile TV
The executive producer for the series, Sam Conniff, said traditional movie-making methods and scripting don't work. "You have to throw away the rules -- it’s a new medium and needs new methods."
The article says the technique is to employ "short bursts, quick easy hits, easy to get and leaves the user wanting more." There was a lot of information available for viewers.
The article says, "3’s offering had full-length episodes for users with certain handsets, cut-down episodes, a mini sub-series using background characters from the show, behind the scenes footage, diaries of two cast members and related music and video downloads. In all, 73 pieces of content."
Pricing and viewer reaction
Here's what Gigaom says about the pricing and viewer response. (It's almost 3:30 a.m. and I don't have the stamina to summarize!).
"Conniff said there had been a good level of downloads across the country but the episodes, along with the branding of Talk to Frank, were also being spread by Bluetooth.
"3 recouped 10 percent of its investment through around 1,000 downloads per week (bear in mind the tiny cost of this production at £200,000). Most content was free for users with add-ons between 25p - 50p.
"On the PSP, the series saw 5,000 downloads per week. Online votes for the series were around 70,000 each week. On mobile, votes dropped from around 1,000 each week at the start of the series to 300-400 by the end."
Next moves
There will be a second series and auditions are now being held.
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