A new production in collaboration with the Manchester Royal Exchange's Leigh Ambassadors group at Spinners Mill for family audiences, inspired by real historical events.
In addition to support from King's College London and Sussex University, this production is made possible by a generous commission from the Manchester Royal Exchange, and will feature as part of their Den pop-up festival.
Listen to an episode of the Exchange's podcast Connecting Tales discussing the show, with Tom, Elliott, and Leigh Ambassador (and part time ghost) Mike Burwin.
Emma Bradburn, intern for the ‘Civic Theatres: A Place for Towns’ research project wrote an account of the show on her blog.
The Digital Ghost begins when a normal school assembly was interrupted by Deputy Undersecretary Quill from the Ministry of Real Paranormal Hygiene, there to recruit the school’s Year 5 class into the Department’s Ghost Removal Section. She tells them it’s due to their unique ability to see and interact with ghostly spirits.
Under the tutelage of Deputy Undersecretary Quill and Professor Bray, the Ministry’s chief scientist, the young ghost hunters must track down the Battersea Arts Centre ghost by learning how to program their own paranormal detectors. Their devices – made from two microcomputers, a Raspberry Pi and a Micro:bit – allow the children to identify objects and locations touched by the ghost. Each has different capabilities, forcing the classmates to work together to discover ghostly traces, translate Morse code using flickering lights and find messages left in ectoplasm, or ultraviolet paint. Meanwhile, the ghost communicates through a mixture of traditional theatrical effects and the poltergeist potential of smart home technology. Together, the pupils unravel the mystery of the ghost's haunting and help to set it free.
A scratch of The Digital Ghost Hunt was performed at the Battersea Arts Centre in November, 2018, funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council's Next Generation of Immersive Experiences program.
The project was given further funding from the AHRC for impact & engagement in 2019 to adapt the show into a family experience, in collaboration with Pilot Theatre. A limited, sold-out run of the show premiered at the York Theatre Royal's 275th anniversary in August 2019.
On All Souls Day 2019 the project performed a museum-late experience in partnership with the Garden Museum in London. This new format sent young ghost hunters up a medieveal clocktower and digging for clues in the gardens of the 14th century St. Mary at Lambeth church.
The SEEK Ghost Detector is a Micro:bit connected to a DecaWave DWM1001-DEV Ultra wideband radio, housed in a custom designed laser cut shell. The Micro:bit served as an accessible controller that students can program. By using Ultra-wideband Radio for indoor positioning, we leaving ghostly trails in Mixed Reality (MR) space for the students to find and interpret. There were four different detector types, all with different functions: detecting ghostly energy, translating Morse code when the ghost flashed the lights, and translating signs left by the ghost in Ultraviolet Ectoplasm.
The custom library that the students used to program their Micro:bits was written in MakeCode and C++ (available on Github.) An earlier mark 1 detector that used a Raspberry Pi was written in Python 3 (available in the Ghosthunter library on Github)
Louisa Hollway
Hemi Yeroham
Michael Cusick
Shows like Squid Game (South Korea) or Money Heist (Spain) have proven that language is no longer a barrier to becoming a global phenomenon. Entertainment content is increasingly reflecting a multi-faceted world, allowing audiences to see themselves represented in stories that were previously gatekept by traditional studios. Transmedia Storytelling: Worlds Beyond the Screen
The transition from cable television to services like Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max has fundamentally changed our viewing habits.
While we have more choices, the "watercooler moment"—where everyone watches the same show at the same time—is becoming rarer, replaced by viral social media trends that peak and fade within days. The Power of Representation and Global Media Www free xxx sexy video download com
One of the most significant shifts in popular media is the push for . As streaming services expand worldwide, content is no longer Western-centric.
Modern entertainment doesn't stop when the credits roll. We are living in the age of the and Transmedia Storytelling . A popular media franchise today often spans across: Feature Films Limited Series Video Games Podcasts and AR Experiences Shows like Squid Game (South Korea) or Money
As we look toward the future, the integration of and Virtual Reality (VR) promises to redefine entertainment once again. We are moving toward "personalized media," where AI might help generate unique soundtracks or visual experiences tailored to an individual’s mood. Meanwhile, the Metaverse aims to turn media consumption into a 3D social experience, where you don’t just watch a concert—you attend it as an avatar. Conclusion
From the rise of short-form video to the "peak TV" era of streaming, here is an exploration of how entertainment content and popular media are evolving and why they matter more than ever. The Shift from Passive Consumption to Active Participation While we have more choices, the "watercooler moment"—where
Algorithms allow platforms to serve highly specific content to niche audiences, ensuring that there is "something for everyone."