In an era of transmedia, interconnectivity and immersion, Syfy and Trion have set the bar high for new media. A couple of years ago they began production on Defiance, a TV show and online (massive) multi-player game that will be completely connected and reliant on one another. The game has only been out for a week, and you can truly feel the excitement on social within the gaming world.
The experiences the gamers have while playing will consequently be reflected in the show’s premiere on April 15th.
There’s a new world full of possibilities that we'll enter when the show starts. The audience doesn't need to play the game, but for those who do there will be little easter eggs during the first episode.
The two projects are one in the same- the mythology is the same, the characters too, and they will continue crossing these two universes as the story develops. Kevin Murphy explained this on a conference call we had a week ago:
“We are passing several characters back and forth in both directions. And one of the things that we have to be very careful about is […] in how we go about creating our crossovers because we have to make sure that when we do a crossover element that the, you know that the one side doesn't feel that they've missed a chapter or they don't feel frustrated or, ‘I can't enjoy this television show if I'm not also playing the game so I'm not going to bother watching the television show.’” *
Defiance is not like any sci-fi show we've been watching. We will get see how the world has developed after years of alien presence in our planet. The multiple species that will inhabit the earth alongside humans bring their own culture, as well as the exact same basic need to survive. It’s a fight for coexisting, for power, for hope, for a better, united world.
Here are some things I'm watching out for in this new show, which has the possibility to continue changing the rules of how TV is made:
- The multiple languages, created by the same man that came up with the Dothraki language for Game Of Thrones, David Peterson.
- Seeing how the 2 universes- the one in Saint Louis and the one in Chicago- interact and develop.
- How the set designs represent the characters.
- How human characteristics and basic needs such as hope, love, hunger for power, among others, reflect in the alien races.
- The Music and pop songs in different alien languages created by Bear McCreary
- And the amazing cast Defiance presents, with the CGI and make up it promises.
Less than a week away from the premiere I’m excited to get lost in the world Kevin Murphy and the guys at Trion have created, what about you?
*You can read the whole transcript here
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