Point of View marks a new level in interactive movies

DVD International and Digital Circus have announced the arrival of their newest film, Point of View, which will take full advantage of DVD technology to take a large step forward in the field of interactive storytelling.

“Point of View” follows the story of Jane, a beautiful, mysterious artist, and a recluse who avoids all real human contact. Holding a deep, dark secret, she is running from her past, and expresses herself only through her art. With camera in hand, Jane gazes out her apartment window, taking pictures of her neighbor, Frank. A strange attraction develops, as Jane mysteriously begins to create composite drawings of herself and Frank together. Her obsession sets the stage for danger and bizarre events, both real and imagined.

If that summary sounds somewhat vague, its due to the films interactive aspects, which can lead to new twists and turns each time around. Instead of using a typical “Choose your Own Adventure” style method of getting viewer input, the film is divided into 12 chapters, each ending with an Interactive Interlude. The viewer is asked a variety of “exit poll“” questions, based on the characters, plot elements and the central themes of the story. The input builds a personality profile, based on the viewer’s own ideas and perceptions. The answers guide the behavior of the characters, the subsequent chapters and, ultimately, the different endings of the movie.

How successful ”Point of View” will be remains to be seen, but it will be one step closer to the futuristic interactive movies promised to us by science fiction for many years. Now if we only had those flying cars…

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