As mentioned in the first part of this two-part focus on virtual world television outside of Second Life, while the project itself focused on programming produced in that social virtual world, we did not want to classify VWTV as purely a Second Life phenomenon. Any virtual world that affords some control over the digital environment to the user, even if it is only basic customization and camera control, could be a platform in which people produce television analogs, just as they are producing film analogs called machinima.
To that end, this week’s blog post focuses on the work Pooky Amsterdam has done in the social virtual world Habbo Hotel. We discussed her work, which was some of her first producing work in virtual worlds, at the beginning of our relationship, when I was seeking to understand all of the producing experience Pooky had and how she was positioning herself as a producer in virtual worlds. The following are her thoughts, feelings, and stories from producing in Habbo Hotel.
When I first starting conversing with Pooky at what would become this project on virtual world television, I wanted her to talk about all of her production experiences. To help with this task, I sent her a table with specific things I wanted to know about these productions. She dutifully and descriptively completed this table, and even added thoughts beyond it. I’ve replicated part of that table below. This part of the table has her reflections on the productions she did in the United Kingdom version of Habbo Hotel.
The table reflects how active she was in the virtual world, producing shows — not all of which were recorded, unfortunately — from 2003, a few years after the virtual world was launched, until January of 2008. First entering Second Life in 2006, she returned and truly entered it in March of 2008, and quickly gleaned that she could produce better quality entertainment in that environment with the superior creation tools and more sophisticated audience. However, for the beginning, Habbo provided the place for first experiences and experimentation. In my first interview with Pooky, she mentioned that it was her daughter that brought her into the Habbo world.
My daughter, who was I think ten at the time, had found Habbo Hotel. And I had never seen an online virtual world before. But she showed it to me, and it was very cute, but I, as a mother, was coming from a position of I wanted to know what she was doing. Or know at least the world that she was in online. So I made up an avatar, easy to do, in, I guess, November of 2002.
She went on to recall the first production she did in Habbo, listed in the table as “Saturday Night Poetry Jam” — a production that she began after only being inworld for about five months.
I started in March of 2003 a weekly poetry slam, and people would come from all over the world and type out in text poems that they had written, or lyrics that they had written, or even poems that they had loved. I remember reciting “Tiger Tiger” in text one night. The first time, some of the people in the room had ever heard the poem in full. It was remarkable. People would come, they’d put their name in the line-up, they’d even wait their turn…. It was amazing, that here were people of all ages from all around the world who would come and want to be part of an event where you’re really just sitting there reading the poetry that other people had written. I was blown away. People came again and again. It became a weekly thing. We maxed out over and over again.
This first appearance appeared to have been a formulative one for Pooky, as it helped her to realize how much of a need people have to connect with others. The responses she got from producing that series helped her think about what else she could do, and how she could do it. In thinking about what her next work would be, she settled on doing what was her first real production in a virtual world and perhaps also the first time a Shakespeare play was performed by avatars, anywhere. In September of 2003, she produced, in six acts, Romeo and Juliet with Habbo inhabitants — just as with a theatre performance in the physical world, the performance was live, with avatars acting and avatars watching. The popularity led to doing Shakespeare festivals.
Shakespeare was fascinating to produce, and they needed to be rehearsed. It doesn’t take a lot of rehearsal but it does take about 2 – 3 weeks of just about every night to get a production down on the boards. That is after the main set design and costuming. Things are always added afterward, or taken away. It was essential to provide a start and a script as a focal point. I also directed, and encouraged the actors to let the words reach them as if they were really their own.
With the success of the Shakespeare productions, Pooky was off to the races, becoming completely invested in virtual world television.
Then, of course, I became a woman slightly possessed, because I realized what can’t you do? I had a weekly comedy club, I had a debate club, I had an improv group, I did a weekly talk show called the Biskit TV Show. … I really grasped that this was an important form of self-expression, of connection, of entertainment, and I said, why watch TV when you can star in your cartoon movie every night?
A version of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” called “Chrimbo Carol,” which can be watched here: http://blip.tv/pookymedia/chrimbo-carol-filmed-live-in-habbo-1614338
While Pooky may be more known in the virtual worlds community these days for her work in Second Life, it was her work in Habbo that helped her determine what she could do with these productions, and even what these productions could be because of the affordances of virtual worlds. Throughout the conversations I have had with Pooky, she has stressed the importance of the audience in her productions: that she doesn’t want people to simply watch her television programs, but to participate, as audience, as crew, and even perhaps someday as producers themselves. She hopes for a future we were no longer ask what is on television tonight, but what can I do on television tonight. And this philosophy began with her work in Habbo.
The audience’s main activity is in commenting along with the proceedings. This I have found to be true in all the productions I have done. Sometime less, as with the Shakespeare, where the audience was really reading the text with little comment, to more with the comedy. People typed out their appreciation as well as their disdain during the comedy club nights. You haven’t lived till you have a whole screen of LOL following your last remarks.
The one which had a very interesting audience activity was the Poetry Slam. The audience was the content. There people would come and when I began by typing who wanted to recite, individuals place their name on a paper and pencil list I kept near my computer. At intervals I would take down more names. The Poetry Slams sometimes lasted for three or more hours. People who griefed were ejected from the room, and everyone waited for their turn to be called. It was a remarkably civilized way to spend time. Remarkably, I also realized that people will live up to their better expectations of themselves if given the chance and opportunity.
For the Bizkit TV Show, people were so psyched, they would often camp out in the adjourning feed room with the teleport waiting for the door “to open,” sometimes for hours. One person left their avatar in there overnight to secure a spot at the show, which sat only 25. There were opportunities for audience answers, prizes, and lots of laughs. We also attracted some of the staff of Habbo and I think it was widely thought to be a fabulous use of the product itself.
Audience is central to Pooky’s approach to VWTV. She wants her audience to participate, and she feels that this participation is desired by people due to their innate need to connect to others, to be a part of something larger than themselves. She feels that this need to connect and participate is what will drive any future for “connected TV” or “inhabited TV” or VWTV. And while she may be now working to further these ideas in Second Life, it all started with a virtual world that offers far less user-generated content or control over the digital environment and only allows for text-based communication. Habbo does not allow scripting of any kind, and all items must be bought from the inworld catalogue with inworld coins; not truly limitations, only parameters to work within.
But even in this limited environment, Pooky was able to produce events and shows that included audience participation in the same way it is included in The 1st Question and The Dating Casino. This affordance came about due to how virtual worlds connect people in real time, around the globe, allowing for a type of social presence in a designated virtual space. It also came about due to Pooky’s vision of the need for having audience participation, realizing that having such will meet people’s needs to connect and be involved. Thus, a confluence of technology and vision helped to structure this particular approach to virtual world television, allowing for more social interactivity and content interactivity than seen with traditional television.
Should this confluence continue, there is no reason we will not see more VWTV in more virtual worlds.
