Second screen narrative uses one primary screen, commonly in a traditional film format, to tell a narrative with a second screen, such as a mobile phone or tablet, which interacts with the primary screen to provide additional information to the narrative.
ITV acknowledges that modern audiences usually watch TV as a ‘background noise’ and their attention is on the content on their handheld devices, such as a mobile phone. Therefore they began creating a way to tailor content to this second screen. As the company relies on advertisements to fund their company, they have incorporated linking their on screen adverts to the second screen using the app Shazam in order for the audience to get more information on the products, using second screen in a more commercial way. (https://www.itvmedia.co.uk/advertising-opportunities/online-advertising/second-screen)
Alternatively the Sony owned company PlayStation have created the Playstation Play Room which incorporates the use of a second screen such as a phone or PS Vita. The second screen works like a remote for the Playstation console, a keyboard or for stream chat. Games such as Wolfenstein also utilise the second screen and use it as a way to expand upon the narrative within the game’s story world as it can be used to present maps, health bars and other content. (http://www.theparanoidgamer.com/wolfenstein-new-order-takes-advantage-ps-vita-second-screen-feature/)
Proposal
For this project the aim is to create a video which uses a second screen to further immerse the audience. Instead of taking a fictional approach, this project will be more commercial as we aim to create a short ‘Tasty’ style How To Cook video (https://www.facebook.com/buzzfeedtasty/videos/1779793032273338/?autoplay_reason=gatekeeper&video_container_type=0&video_creator_product_type=0&app_id=273465416184080)
This will work well with a second screen as it will provide further cooking instructions if the audience choose to scan the codes. However it is not necessary to the narrative of the video will not be lost if the audience choose not to scan the codes as the recipe will still continue through a linear path. The QR codes will show other short videos or images on how to chop an onion or linking to a shopping site where the audience can buy the ingredients online and have them delivered to them the next day.
Creating the idea
In order to decide upon the structure of the video, a plan of the recipe and the order of adding ingredients had to be made. From this it created a clear map of how the video would be presented and the group and I could discuss which points in the video would be most appropriate to have QR Codes and what information would be relevant at these points. This made us consider the audiences needs throughout the video in order to maintain their attention.
At the start of this project I had no knowledge of QR codes or how to create them, so this was a good opportunity to learn the basics of creating and testing the codes to see how they work.
Product and Evaluation
What works well: The initial idea of the use of the QR codes to provide extra information works well within this instructional video format. The use of codes expands upon what is being shown in the primary screen, ensuring the audience is further immersed into the programme.
What doesn’t work: One issue with QR codes is that it can take a while to initially scan the code, especially if the code is small. With this video the code perhaps should have remained on the screen for longer to allow ample time for the audience to scan the code and to see the second screen content.
Moving Forward
Overall, this is a neat example of how QR codes and Second Screens can be used simply in order to give the audience further information about a subject or narrative. Perhaps narratives which use video alongside a video on a smaller screen work more effectively as it seems to work smoothly in comparison to having to constantly scan a screen in order to access the information on the second screen, which may cause an audience to ‘click off’ the video. Therefore it is unlikely that QR codes will be used within the final project within this blog, however it would be worth considering the use of two separate videos which ran alongside in each and directed the attention using audio or less interest on one screen. This project has questioned how to direct the audiences attention and when it is appropriate to do so in order to effectively
Creative Media Practice 