CalREN-XD/HPR WORKSHOP 2008 > Demonstrations

TITLE:

Alternate Endings

CONTACT:

Richard Weinberg • University of Southern California (USC), School of Cinematic Arts (SCA)
weinberg@cinema.usc.edu

COLLABORATORS:

Richard Weinberg, USC/SCA

Greg Townsend, USC/SCA

PROJECT URLS:

http://cinema.usc.edu/about/news/alternate-endings.htm • http://www.cinegrid.org

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Alternate Endings is an interactive mystery movie produced by graduate students at USC in high-definition (HD) format. At various points in the movie, the audience must choose which of two paths the movie will follow next. Previous screenings have been with a live audience in a single auditorium, with two live emcees standing on stage in front of the screen while the movie plays a loop offering the two choices at each branching point. With CineGrid, we shall stream the movie live from USC in Los Angeles to the audience at Calit2 in San Diego, who will choose the path the movie takes. For this presentation, two emcees will perform in front of a green screen at USC, and their HD images will be composited in front of the HD movie live and in real time for streaming to San Diego. Feedback will be gathered from the live audience in San Diego, and used to determine which paths the movie will take. We also hope to have a live audience at USC participating in the event, and connect a USC auditorium to the Calit2 auditorium for the presentation.

The project will show a new type of interactive movie, with audiences distributed in different cities participating in steering the path of the movie. Part of the challenge is evaluating several options for streaming HD and surround-sound with high-image quality, sound fidelity and reliability for theatrical presentations. This presentation and discussion is a prototype for future CineGrid distributed meetings, or CineGrid Open Channel Hour, and lays the groundwork for periodic CineGrid events with persistent infrastructure.

This demonstration utilizes HD streaming technology over the CineGrid network, with bandwidth ranging from 200 Mbps to 1.5 Gbps.