The HBO Voyeur Project
Encyclopedia
The HBO Voyeur Project was a theatrical multimedia experience and marketing campaign launched in the summer of 2007 using Voyeurism
as a vehicle. Content related to the characters is scattered online in fictional web pages, in photo and video clips on media sharing platforms such as Flickr and YouTube, in blogs and social networks, on the HBO channels, and through mobile content. The focus seems to be on people living in eight fictional apartments on the corner of Broome Street and Ludlow Street. The display was projecting on a massive scale on the side of a building on Broome and Ludlow street on June 28 - July 1, from 9 - 11pm, and again from July 5 - July 8. The same film is set to music on the website at HBOVoyeurhttp://www.hbovoyeur.com The site's slogan was "See what people do when they think no one is Watching." The residences and their respective stories appear in New York City
.
Apartment 1A, "The Tempted"
Apartment 1B, "The Departure"
Apartment 2A, "The Discovery"
Apartment 2B, "The Proposal"
Apartment 3A, "The Killer Within"
Apartment 3B, "The Grown-Up Table"
Apartment 4A, "The Delivery"
Apartment 4B, "The Temptress"
Broome & Ludlow seems to be the focal point of the series with the idea of one story of the entire apartment complex consisting of 8 other sub-stories that all relate to each other. The stories appear to involve murder, violence, romance, marriage, and cheating.
's ad agency BBDO
. BBDO NY's Content Department hired production company RSA to shoot the content, Asylum for post-production & special effects, Search Party for original music, Big Spaceship
for the site and PHD for media buying. The main wall film as well as "The Watcher" were directed by Jake Scott
and the 4 exclusive interactive stories were directed by Chris Nelson.
Core BBDO NY team that conceived and produced the project --> Group Heads/Creative Directors: Greg Hahn, Michael Smith, David Carter. Executive Producer, Director of Content: Brian DiLorenzo. Content Producer: Jiffy Iuen. Interactive Producer: Sandra Nam. Hypermedia art director: Carlos Franco. Digital Writer: Kesu James http://www.hbovoyeur.com, http://www.bbdo.com
The Project includes the main website, HBO On Demand and HBO Mobile exclusive content, MySpace
pages for the characters from the stories, supporting websites, and additional content for those willing to follow the breadcrumbs or "artifacts" hidden in the other media. Clues /discussion about voyeur artifacts found at the promotional blog http://www.thestorygetsdeeper.com (which has been frozen/removed). The project was estimated to have cost between $7 and $10 million dollars, and took about a year to create.
Some of the players who had advanced knowledge of the storyline also chastised the project for ending too abruptly, which left large plot holes, such as how characters were connected, and also complained that some of the characters seemed to have very little thought put into them, outside of their setup in the original movie sequences.
Voyeurism
In clinical psychology, voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature....
as a vehicle. Content related to the characters is scattered online in fictional web pages, in photo and video clips on media sharing platforms such as Flickr and YouTube, in blogs and social networks, on the HBO channels, and through mobile content. The focus seems to be on people living in eight fictional apartments on the corner of Broome Street and Ludlow Street. The display was projecting on a massive scale on the side of a building on Broome and Ludlow street on June 28 - July 1, from 9 - 11pm, and again from July 5 - July 8. The same film is set to music on the website at HBOVoyeurhttp://www.hbovoyeur.com The site's slogan was "See what people do when they think no one is Watching." The residences and their respective stories appear in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Story
There are 5 story locations with their respective addresses:- West 41st Street, "The Artist"
- East 85th Street, "The Housewife"
- Prince Street, "The Meditator"
- West 72nd Street, "The Mortician"
- Broome & Ludlow with 8 individual stories:
Apartment 1A, "The Tempted"
Apartment 1B, "The Departure"
Apartment 2A, "The Discovery"
Apartment 2B, "The Proposal"
Apartment 3A, "The Killer Within"
Apartment 3B, "The Grown-Up Table"
Apartment 4A, "The Delivery"
Apartment 4B, "The Temptress"
Broome & Ludlow seems to be the focal point of the series with the idea of one story of the entire apartment complex consisting of 8 other sub-stories that all relate to each other. The stories appear to involve murder, violence, romance, marriage, and cheating.
HBO Voyeur On Demand
HBO Subscribers can also watch additional materials related to the online site via HBO On Demand, including an additional story "The Watcher", trailers for the online site, and paired apartment storylines from "Ludlow & Broome".Development
The Project was developed for HBO by Omnicom GroupOmnicom Group
Omnicom Group is a holding company whose agencies provide marketing and communications services in the disciplines of advertising, customer relationship management , strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and...
's ad agency BBDO
BBDO
BBDO is a worldwide advertising agency network, with its headquarters in New York City. The agency began in 1891 with George Batten's Batten Company, and later in 1928, through a merger of BDO and Batten Co. the agency became BBDO...
. BBDO NY's Content Department hired production company RSA to shoot the content, Asylum for post-production & special effects, Search Party for original music, Big Spaceship
Big Spaceship
Big Spaceship is a digital creative agency located in Brooklyn, New York. The company, which specializes in interactive marketing and communications, was founded in 2000 by Michael Lebowitz and Daniel Federman. Lebowitz also co-founded in 2008...
for the site and PHD for media buying. The main wall film as well as "The Watcher" were directed by Jake Scott
Jake Scott (director)
Jake Scott is a British film director who works primarily in the field of music videos. Most of his works were produced under the Ridley Scott Associates banner or RSA's music video subdivision Black Dog Films...
and the 4 exclusive interactive stories were directed by Chris Nelson.
Core BBDO NY team that conceived and produced the project --> Group Heads/Creative Directors: Greg Hahn, Michael Smith, David Carter. Executive Producer, Director of Content: Brian DiLorenzo. Content Producer: Jiffy Iuen. Interactive Producer: Sandra Nam. Hypermedia art director: Carlos Franco. Digital Writer: Kesu James http://www.hbovoyeur.com, http://www.bbdo.com
The Project includes the main website, HBO On Demand and HBO Mobile exclusive content, MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
pages for the characters from the stories, supporting websites, and additional content for those willing to follow the breadcrumbs or "artifacts" hidden in the other media. Clues /discussion about voyeur artifacts found at the promotional blog http://www.thestorygetsdeeper.com (which has been frozen/removed). The project was estimated to have cost between $7 and $10 million dollars, and took about a year to create.
Viewer Response
HBO Voyeur received a lot of critical praise, but it was also heavily criticized by its viewers for being too vague in what they were trying to accomplish, as well as hosting some content on mediums that excluded large portions of their audience. Many responses admitted that they didn't get the purpose of the project, and some even went as far as to call the video portions "pointless" in the absence of a clear interactive experience.Some of the players who had advanced knowledge of the storyline also chastised the project for ending too abruptly, which left large plot holes, such as how characters were connected, and also complained that some of the characters seemed to have very little thought put into them, outside of their setup in the original movie sequences.