On Tuesday evening I travelled into London for the latest BBC Connected Studio studio briefing at Shoreditch Village Hall. Connected Studios are the BBC’s way of recruiting external designers to brainstorm and develop digital projects in support of programming. This event was to brief designers interested in taking part in a two day development workshop, building and presenting ideas for the latest One Planet landmark series broadcasting in 2016.
The BBC’s Natural History Unit talked through their work and showed some genuinely amazing footage which uses the very latest filming technologies and innovations. The aim is to develop immersive digital media that will enhance the viewer’s television experience. The series is groundbreaking in that it is being conceived at an early stage as a convergence of digital and TV (rather than digital in support of TV). The aim is to create epic, emotional, life affirming and escapist content that re-connect the viewer with the reality of the natural world. Immersing the viewer in the big issues of love, life, death, sex and violence – telling stories around the reality of natural selection on a global scale.
Members of the BBC R&D team demonstrated some new technologies, and the commercial arm of the corporation BBC Worldwide discussed the target audience and potential global reach of the programme.
