The Inside Experience was an experimental film project from 2011 that attempted to blend film with social media by having the audience interact with and influence the plot in real time through platforms like Facebook and Twitter. It followed the story of Christina Perasso, who is kidnapped and trapped in a room with only communication to the outside world through social media. While innovative in its approach, the project lost coherence and momentum after the first few episodes as the storyline became convoluted with loose ends and it was unclear if the audience truly impacted the direction of the story.

1. THE INSIDE EXPERIENCE Lauren Brown

2. WHAT DO I THINK IT MEANS?
 “Inside” – involvement from audience; they are „in‟ on
experience. Christina is trapped „inside‟. Socialism,
participation and engagement.
 “Experience” – audience following the story, it is an
experience for them as well as the crew involved. Never been
done before to this extent?

3. WHAT THEY SAY IT MEANS
 “This is a completely new genre of Hollywood -class
entertainment where the audience can play as much of a role
as the A -list talent and actors. Using social media you can
interact with characters in real time, af fect the plot, and
possibly earn a featured cameo alongside Emmy Rossum in
the final film.”
 “blending film and social media”
 T H E I N S I D E E X P E R I E N C E ( 2 01 1 ) W h a t i s I N S I D E ? [ W W W ] I n te l . Av a i l a bl e f r o m :
h t t p : / / w w w. t h e i n s i d e ex p e r i e nc e . c o m/ a b o ut [ A c c e s s ed : 2 0 / 1 0 / 1 1 ] .

4. EPISODE 1 – MONDAY 25/07/11
 We are introduced to the main character, Christina Perasso. She
is trapped in an eerie, gloomy room alone with cameras looking
down on her and she has no idea how she got there – she has
been kidnapped. The mise-en-scene and music both project a
disturbing atmosphere, using only dim and dark colours and
creating a claustrophobic environment. The only communication
she has with the outside world is a laptop with which she
accesses Facebook and asks her friends for help.
 There was a gap between videos to give the audience a chance to
discuss what was happening. While the episodes were being
made, there was also a Facebook page that was set up under the
name of Christina Perasso where the actress posted comments
about where she was and that she needed help. The Facebook
page would be updated in real time – as the video was being
broadcast. The aim of The Inside Experience, I think, was to
include the audience in the film as much as possible. They were
allowed to cooperate and communicate with Christina, trying to
figure out the clues that they were given.

5. EPISODE 2 – THURSDAY 28/07/11
 This episode starts with a quote from somebody on Facebook: “Heat will cause you to get sluggish,
get as much water as you can” – Kevin Barnett
 This is a social aspect of the film as the people behind the film have listened to their audience and
used one of the Facebook comments as the beginning of the episode.
 After the comment at the start of the film it leads on to Christina checking her Facebook, there are
videos from people (not actors – the audience) on Facebook. She then sees that one of her friends
has had comments from his friends asking where he is as he hasn‟t responded to people for a few
days, his name is Kirk Francis – she seems puzzled, maybe he has been kidnapped too, or maybe he
is the kidnapper? She also has a video left from her mum (another actress) who would‟ve been
logged onto Facebook waiting for her time, in between the comments from the audience, to post the
video. This shows how interconnected the communication between the actors and the audience was.
The line between reality and the show is blurred. She then is told by Stu MacArthur (another actor) to
Skype him, he reveals himself as the police officer in charge of her case. He says that they can track
her through her IP address. She watches as the team sent to save her enter the wrong room to find a
mannequin dressed to look like her sitting on a chair, in her hand is a router – the piece of
equipment that contains the IP address. In the room there is also a postcard that says:
“SORRY CHIEF/ONLY CHRISTINA/CAN SAVE/HERSELF”
 It then cuts back to her in her room. The person we can only assume is the kidnapper puts a small
chest in the room via a hole in the door that is lockable. It is a possession of her mum‟s.
 THE INSIDE EXPERIENCE. (2011). The Inside Experience, Episode 2 [online video]. Available from:
http://www.theinsideexperience.com/episodes [Accessed: 20/10/11].

6. EPISODE 3 – SATURDAY 30/07/11
 This video starts with another quote: “We may need to
reevaluate your friends after all…” – Lonni Gary (Facebook).
 She is now using Twitter and some kind of instant messaging
service to talk to Stu MacArthur. Somebody posts on Twitter
under the name “h1ghway_man”: “I know you love that music
box. Try to remember how it felt the first time you opened it.
It was always your escape…” Christina doesn‟t know who this
person is. She asks who he is, the internet cuts of f.
 The hatch opens again and an envelope with the words “IF
YOUR “FRIENDS” FAIL YOU, THE SLEEP WILL DO YOU GOOD”
written on it and what looks like a tablet inside it. On the
front it says: “IF YOU WANT FOOD OR WATER YOU NEED YOUR
“FRIENDS” HELP. POST A PLEA AND IF YOU GET ENOUGH
“LIKES”… YOU WILL EAT”. Participatory culture?

7. EPISODE 4 – TUESDAY 2/08/11
 “PEANUTS and WATER is not being FED!!!” – Patrick Longalong
(Facebook).
 She is given a hamburger and chips and the water is turned
on. She showers clothed – there is a camera in the
showerhead. Very short episode. Have they run out of ideas?

8. EPISODE 5 – TUESDAY 2/08/11
 Same date as episode 4.
 “You will get a meal, and hopefully a shower, and a good
nights sleep. After this and only after this will we continue to
play this charade…” – Ernie Fascio (Facebook).
 What I find interesting about this is that the audience are
acting like this is a real situation and not a sequence of films.
They have become so involved that they seem to think
Christina has genuinely been kidnapped. There is another
video from an audience member. They appear to be acting in
their videos, as if they have been cast in this film as well, but
they are playing themselves. Kirk Francis posts a video – he is
Christina‟s ex-boyfriend saying he will find her and he loves
her.

9. EPISODE 6 – WEDNESDAY 3/08/11
 “Just stay calm…” – Heather Corder (Facebook).
 She wakes up and finds that the laptop has been moved from
the bed to the table – someone has been in the room. The
kidnapper has posted a video on Facebook of Christina
washing herself in the shower. She smashes the room up as
well as the electrics so the camera is cut of f.

10. EPISODE 7 – WEDNESDAY 3/08/11
 Same date as episode 6.
 “It‟s time to take a leap of faith and believe…” – Shawn Morse
(Facebook).
 She makes a video saying a little something about everyone she
knows – as if she thinks she is going to die. She mentions all her
new “friends” – the audience. And says how they know pretty
much everything about her. This again is a blur between reality
and video as they do not know the real her, because she is not
Christina Perasso, she is Emmy Rossum (and I also too am
starting to forget she is an actress when I watch the episodes).
She takes the tablet that was given to her in episode 3. She falls
over onto the ground, the laptop is in front of her.
„h1ghway_man‟ posts again: “I will find this person. I watch you
everyday online to make sure you‟re okay. The greatest pleasure
in my life was and” – the post ends and is followed by “always
has been you. Because no matter what you might think, I never
stopped thinking about you”. Is this her dad?

11. EPISODE 8 – THURSDAY 4/08/11
 Final Episode
 “Over and out” – Christina Perasso (YouTube) – this is a quote
from her. Maybe because it‟s the final episode? Christina is
lying on the floor. A man comes in with a wheelchair and puts
her in it. He walks over and picks the chest up and turns back
– Christina has got out of the chair and slams the door after
her shouting “We‟re not together” and locks it and then turns
the heat up. Cuts to Kirk running in an airport, she is also in
the airport. They find each other as does one of her friends.
Stu MacArthur is also there. The person who was on Twitter as
„h1ghway_man‟ is there too, he introduces himself as her dad.

12. MY THOUGHTS
 At first I thought that The Inside Experience was good as it drew
me in and I wanted to know what had happened to Christina, but
by episode 3 I‟d lost quite a lot of interest in it, which I thought
was a shame. After episode 3 it just seems as though they are
just trying to fill time as they feel they have to do more videos;
episode 4 was pointless, that could‟ve easily been integrated
into another episode, it didn‟t deser ve an episode on its own, all
we did was watch her eat…
 In episode 6, we see a video of her showering that has been
posted on Facebook by the kidnapper (we still have no idea who
he is). Christina tears the room apart and smashes the cameras
that are watching her, why didn‟t she think of doing this before?
Anyone in their right mind would probably feel uneasy being
watch by cameras all the time, and would not want to eat, sleep
or move, but she seems pretty calm about the situation and did
from the start.

13. MY THOUGHTS CONTINUED…
 Episode 7: „h1ghway_man‟ posts again: “I will find this per son. I watch
you ever yday online to make sure you‟re okay. The greatest pleasure in
my life was and” – the post ends and is followed by “always has been
you. Because no matter what you might think , I never stopped thinking
about you”. Af ter reading this I already know that it‟s her dad as she‟s
just said in her speech she never had a relationship with him. As soon
as I realised this I lost all hope in the stor yline because it seemed as
though they were throwing loads of dif ferent (and pointless, may I add)
stories into this already dwindling plot.
 In Episode 8 we see her escape but we still don‟t have any idea where
she is because we don‟t see that bit, we see her in a train station. How
did she find a train station if she had no idea where she was? I‟m
assuming she wasn‟t being held captive in a city due to the suspicion it
would raise. Also, why didn‟t she just go straight to the police and take
them to the kidnapper to arrest him? That would‟ve been a lot better
than just seeing her reunited with Kirk and her other friend (also how
did they know she‟d be there!?)

14. MY THOUGHTS CONTINUED (AGAIN)
 And surprise, surprise, h1ghway_man is her dad as he reveals it
at the train station (because obviously he knows where she‟s
going to be, he didn‟t even know she‟d escaped and hadn‟t
spoken to her in years. The holes in this storyline keep getting
bigger…). Why was he revealed as her dad? It didn‟t add
anything to the story, he was hardly in it, he didn‟t help at all,
his character was useless.
 Finally, after all the videos have finished, we still don‟t know
who the kidnapper is and if he got arrested; what an incredibly
big and stupid cliffhanger. We spent the whole film (if that‟s
what you want to call it) wanting to know who he was and have
just been left in the dark. The Inside Experience started off well
and I like how social it was for other people, however I think
you should be slightly wary blurring the line between reality
and fantasy as a lot of people thought this was real, and those
that knew it was fake seemed to get so involved they probably
started believing it was real. In conclusion, I think that The
Inside Experience was a social film, however, I do not think it
was good.