As transmedia storytellers, one of our primary goals is to create an immersive experience for our audience, but what is that, and how do we do it?
In the context of telling a given story, you could say immersion is about minimizing the gap between the part of your mind that entertains fantasy and the part that experiences reality. It’s about creating a storytelling space where the audience feels they’ve momentarily inhabited the story.
There are many ways to achieve this, like engaging multiple senses, creating photorealistic 3D environments, or inspiring a meaningful connection to your characters. Different media provide different opportunities for immersion.
Achieving immersion through fictional podcasts.
The Unknown 9 narrative universe promises stories of mystery and the paranormal. It’s all about what exists in the shadows, what’s just out of sight.
There’s no more powerful tool for conjuring images of indescribable danger than your imagination. As storytellers in an audio-only medium, if we can use words and a soundscape effectively, the audience then mentally leans into the story, providing the visuals in their mind’s eye, effectively co-creating the immersion with us.
How transmedia extends immersive storytelling experiences.
That’s the end of the story for most scripted fictional podcasts. But Out of Sight is part of Unknown 9’s fictional transmedia universe, which presents us with even more opportunities to create immersion.
By offering interconnected stories in multiple formats, audiences can hang out in our universe more often. For instance, a true fan might play Unknown 9: Awakening during their free time in the evening and listen to the Unknown 9: Out of Sight podcast while exercising. They could even read the Genesis Trilogy on their commute to work!
Taken together, these stories immerse you in different complementary aspects of the narrative universe, giving it depth and a life of its own in your imagination. And then, just like that, you realize that you too Believe in the Unknown.
Reflector’s Unknown 9: Out of Sight podcast
Written by Jessica Kincaid and released in March 2020, Reflector’s fictional podcast, Unknown 9: Out of Sight, is part of the larger Unknown 9 universe that brings this all-new entertainment franchise to life across multiple platforms, including comic books, novels, a video game, and more.
Season 1 of the scripted audio drama follows Blake Elrich (Jorge Cordova), an urban explorer with a haunted past, as he travels the country in an old RV with co-host and producer Lazari (Reyna de Courcy). At every stop along their journey, our duo encounters an inexplicable occurrence. What’s more, they’re beginning to suspect that someone is leading them to each strange case. Events intensify when an enigmatic figure emerges, terrorizing whole communities. Blake and Lazari must now race to undo the damage that’s already been done and prevent a terrifying force from emerging.
All nine episodes of the Out of Sight podcast are available for listeners on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Youtube.
What the team behind Out of Sight has to say:
1. How different was it to work on a podcast compared to other media?
Each medium has its own set of challenges and rewards. When thinking of the podcast medium, the most different aspect is really how to embrace the audio format and make the narrative feel like it can only be told through a podcast. We believe the creatives developing the series have delivered on that experience to the point where an adapted version of Out of Sight wouldn’t be anywhere near the same.
2. What was the most exciting part about hearing the episodes coming to life?
Whenever you can give an actual voice to a character who has only existed in text, it’s exciting. Hearing Blake and Lazari come to life, how Jorge and Reyna really owned these characters, it’s really something special.
3. How did you cast the actors?
In addition to using conventional casting channels, our production partners tapped into their wide network of regular collaborators. The rapport that a lot of the performers came into the studio with is part of the magic that you hear as the podcast’s story unfolds.
4. Where does Out of Sight fall within the narrative universe’s overall story?
Without getting into too much detail (spoilers) Out of Sight is firmly rooted in the modern-day events of the Unknown 9 universe. There’s no specific order you need to consume the stories in, so whenever you stumble upon the adventures of Blake and Lazari is the right time to be listening to them. BUT it is important to listen to the series in order, starting at Episode 1.
5. What is the deal with Lazari?
You’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out. All questions will ultimately be answered. Or will they?
6. What can you say about what’s next for the investigative duo?
As storytellers, we don’t want to spoil anything. All we can say is that their RV has been spotted around town, which means they’re likely to return to the airwaves with more tales of the impossible soon!
