2012-12-14

The Spiral: let the figures speak!

Author: Brice Le Blévennec

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The extravagant pan-European production of The Spiral might be officially over; but the way in which it redefined public engagement through multiple media is still to be studied and explored! Our latest analysis indicates the critical role of the online platform in this international success story. Developed by PKA Wanabe, a member of the Emakina Group, the platform allowed various levels of online engagement, depending on each user’s preferences.

The lowest level of participation (other than that of passive TV viewers) was that of users searching the masterpieces on our online mapping game. Many users, however, went a step further, creating their own MySpiral profile so they could take part in the game’s indoor and outdoor creative challenges. We now know that within the 36 days of the game, the map was searched almost 1.3 million times by over 140,000 users across Europe! In addition, almost 20,000 images were uploaded, some of which were even incorporated into the TV series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPT7PnMvVXk

Using the online platform, we were able to merge reality and fiction! For instance, viewers were able to interact with the actors in the Warehouse (which actually existed). In addition, the (real) return of the masterpieces to their original place in European museums was streamed live, and then inserted into the final episode, broadcast only 48 hours afterwards.

No wonder the press was fascinated by this project! The Spiral enjoyed high visibility, not only within all six countries in which the TV programme was broadcast, but across Europe and beyond. Here is a short non-exhaustive list on what some of the local press had to say:

http://seriallovers.blogs.nouvelobs.com/archive/2012/09/03/the-spiral-la-serie-dont-vous-etes-le-heros.html

http://www.liberation.fr/ecrans/2012/09/03/arte-dans-la-spiral-du-transmedia_843561

http://www.wallimage.be/newsfile.php?lang=fr&id=538

http://www.mm.be/fr/article/creative-works/08-21-2012/3923/emakina-caviar-etrennent-spirale

http://focus.knack.be/entertainment/tv/tv-nieuws/nieuwe-reeks-the-spiral-beperkt-zich-niet-tot-een-locatie-of-nationaliteit/article-4000165635240.htm

http://www.gva.be/nieuws/media-en-cultuur/aid1227638/lien-van-de-kelder-in-the-spiral.aspx

http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF20120821_00265784

http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20120821_111

http://www.cobra.be/cm/cobra/film/120821-sa-thespiral

http://www.omroepbrabant.nl/?news/179305842/Gestolen+Picasso+Van+Abbe+is+start+internationale+televisieserie+en+spel.aspx

http://www.rtbf.be/info/medias/detail_the-spiral-la-serie-tv-europeenne-a-laquelle-on-peut-jouer?id=7825157

http://www.france24.com/fr/20120821-the-spiral-premiere-serie-cross-media-europeenne