No surprise when the Twitter stream was flooded with reactions from Flash Forward, the hot new show from David (Batman) Goyer and a show which was somehow bagged by Channel 5. And it was a solid start too. Similar enough to shows such as Lost, Heroes, Fringe and The 4400 for it to quickly nestle down in the arse-groove of our sofas. There were mysteries and clues, portentious looks and expositional dialogue a-plenty.
It was great. Now if only it would last for just a season. Big impact drama and less of the soap opera. That, I’d stick with.
That’s not going to happen of course so, reading the reactions in the aftermath and wondering about Dimitri, GBO man and why the hell Mark didn’t just put the bracelet on his other wrist, I began thinking how easy it would be to write a show like this by throwing a thousand “what-ifs” into the air and sitting back whilst the creative network out there began gathering and piecing them together again. There would be nothing quite as powerful as listening to the way a million creative minds attempt to explain the inexplicable. Given half a chance we can make a muffin out of nothing and then claim the Government put it there.
It’s also a great way of gauging the bits of a story that grabs the imagination. Like focus testing but less contrived and more in line with the way everyone is banging on about social marketing. The Mosaic website angle in Flash Forward is a superb addition. A little clumsily inserted into the narrative perhaps but it still manages to work.
It all helps us feel a part of the story. It moves us on from passive viewers to active (superficially at least) participants. It gives us a degree of ownership of the story and a stake in the show’s future. Apple did something similar years back when they launched the iPod and encouraged consumers to create their own iPod ads. It appeals to the creative in all of us, often with great results.
For the lazy adman this option can be a dangerous thing but for those genuinely interested in creating something wonderful it can be a rewarding tactic. There’s nothing as potentially powerful as the collective creative and shows such as Flash Forward demonstrate how this could be used and how other forms of media such as video games, comics and even novels, could tap into an open desire to just create.
