To promote an old-fashioned style of film to contemporary audiences, the Toronto Silent Film Festival turned to one of today’s most popular social media outlets, Instagram.
But rather than use the medium in a conventional way, the film festival transformed its feed into a “choose your own adventure” silent film. Starting with the same initial film clip, users then travel through various other clips from the festival’s entries, piecing together their own unique silent film. Here’s how it works: At the end of each clip, viewers are presented with two choices for what “happens next” and a corresponding hashtag for each option. By clicking their chosen hashtag, users are then brought to the next film clip where the adventure continues. With countless combinations and possibilities, virtually no two users will build the same “silent film.” This creative use of Instagram not only gets today’s audience interacting with a film style of the past, but does so in a way that will keep users “choosing their own adventures” over and over again. It also poses the question: Is there anything Instagram can’t do?