''On_Line'' is a 2002 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Jed Weintrob and executive produced by Richard D. Titus, Tavin Marin Titus, and

Claude Arpels Claude Arpels Jr. is a French-American businessman, and investor who is the heir to the Van Cleef & Arpels fortune. He also owned the Italian brands Borbonese and Alessandro Dell'Acqua. Biography Arpels was born to Claude Arpels, son of Jul ...

. The film was selected to world premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

and was released theatrically, on DVD and television worldwide.

Plot

Roommates and pals John Roth (

Josh Hamilton Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from to , most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers teams that won two consecutive Americ ...

) and Moe Curley (

Harold Perrineau Harold Perrineau (born August 7, 1963) is an American actor best known for his roles as Michael Dawson in the ABC television series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), Augustus Hill in the HBO television series '' Oz'' (1997–2003), Sheriff Boyd Steven ...

) start an adult internet site named InterconX where Jordan Nash (

Vanessa Ferlito Vanessa Ferlito is an American actress. She is known for playing Detective Aiden Burn in the first season of the CBS crime drama ''CSI: NY'', as well as for her recurring portrayal of Claudia Hernandez in FOX drama '' 24'', and for her starri ...

) is one of their stars. John has recently gone through a disastrous break-up with his

fiancé An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

, and is now obsessed with a woman named Angel, who lives her life on 24-hour

webcam A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in videotelephony, livestreaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral d ...

. A handful of people whose lives revolve around internet relationships at an adult web site become entangled in person in this

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

Cast

as John Roth *

as Moe Curley *

Isabel Gillies Isabel Boyer Gillies (born February 9, 1970) is an American author and actress. She played Kathy Stabler, Elliot Stabler's wife in '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. Her memoir ''Happens Every Day'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller, and h ...

as Moira Ingalls * John Fleck as Al Fleming *

as Jordan Nash *

Eric Millegan Eric Millegan (born August 25, 1974) is an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Zack Addy on the Fox series '' Bones''. Early life Millegan was born in Hackettstown, New Jersey, and raised in Springfield, Oregon. He attended Springfi ...

as Ed Simone * Liz Owens as Angel

Transmedia

On_Line is an early example of

transmedia storytelling Transmedia storytelling (also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling) is the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies. From a producti ...

in feature film by expanding the narrative to other platform and related media. Relying heavily on technology the film predates or anticipates several technologies - as well as cultural habits - that would later become standard online practice and interaction:

Netiquette Etiquette in technology, colloquially referred to as netiquette is a term used to refer to the unofficial code of policies that encourage good behavior on the Internet which is used to regulate respect and polite behavior on social media platforms ...

. The design, look-and-feel, animation, programming, and general technologies used in the overall

transmedia Transmedia storytelling (also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling) is the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies. From a producti ...

experience was created by Christian D. Bruun, with development starting in 1999. Programming was assisted by Steven Osit and Kate Schaffer. The technological implementations have several components.
:During production /on set: :*Filming and recording four to six cameras simultaneously on two separate locations or sets. This set-up included two-way live video feeds embedded real-time in an interactive interface. The cameras included DV cameras (SONY PD-150 pal, Sony TRV900) and a variety of USB and FireWire web cameras. :*Creating a reliable, high quality video signal for the various web chats which connected all the characters. Developing the interfaces for the web chats in the film Tim Dorcy and his iVisit software were consulted. :Internet: :*All the websites created and used in the film were also made available on the internet. :*Extending the reach and universe of the film beyond the movie going experience. This included making the featured websites available online for the audience to explore the back stories as well as future developments of the characters in the film. This meant that the websites had to reflect each characters or mimic the social environment in which it existed. :Featured sites: :*SilentCity.net. This is the main character's web video diary (a precursor to Blogs and Vlogs). New videos featuring Andrew Osborne as the online version of John Roth was regularly uploaded. These videos both preceded the film but also continued Joe's life after the film ended. :*AngelCam.org. AngelCam is a 24/7 online website of webcam girl Angel. On her web site we can watch what John is watching in the film and read about Angel's daily activities. For a while the site was truly live as real life web cam girl Liz Owens' camera feed was streamed through the site. The site was loosely inspired by the phenomenon of

JenniCam Jennifer Kaye Ringley (born August 10, 1976) is an Internet personality and former lifecaster. She is widely regarded as the first camgirl. She is known for creating the popular website JenniCam. Previously, live webcams transmitted static shot ...

. :*FinalExit.net is a

goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

/ suicide website where Moira Ingalls and Ed Simone meet. :*InterCon-X.com is an adult web cam service designed to enable both professionals and amateurs to connect, watch and talk to each other. :Viral video: :*The marketing of the film utilizing the websites and viral video clips. The clips could be emailed as well as transferred and shared on

Palm OS Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) was a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS was designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provi ...

devices. Initially launched at the Sundance Film Festival the clips was an early example of digital video

viral marketing Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way tha ...

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 0302889, On_Line
Roger Ebert Review

2002 drama films 2002 films American drama films American independent films 2000s English-language films Transmedia storytelling 2002 independent films Articles with underscores in the title 2000s American films