RCVR (pronounced ''Receiver'') is a

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 ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

series created for the Internet by producer-director David van Eyssen, which offers an explanation for the exponential growth in science and technology since the late 19th century. The series was also produced by Tavin Marin Titus through production company Science To Fiction. The original story on which RCVR was based was written by van Eyssen. Brian Horiuchi and van Eyssen wrote the first season of RCVR as a team. The series premiered on Machinima on September 21, 2011 and met with critical acclaim and a user "like" rating of 96%. The show generated 2.6 million views in 14 days and approximately 6 million views by October 2011. The first season of RCVR is made up of 6 episodes each which are 6–9 minutes in duration. Cumulatively, the first season had a run-time of more than 46 minutes.

Alternate Reality Gaming

Accompanying the premiere of the series was the launch of a corresponding blog "ProjectRCVR" and Twitter account linking the user to supplemental videos and commentary that formed part of an ARG (

Alternate Reality Game An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by inten ...

) which challenged users to access a password-protected website containing the truth about human-alien encounters. At the conclusion of each episode, users were invited to "Discover The Truth" by subscribing to RCVR's Twitter account.

Story

RCVR follows SIGMA agents Luke Weber, played by South-African born actor Daniel Bonjour, and Sandy Bergson played by Catherine Kresge, as they investigate and attempt to cover up alien encounters in 1973. The agents are also "RCVR hunters", tasked with tracking down individuals who possess valuable information channeled to them by extraterrestrial life-forms. In the series, these contactees are known as "receivers" or "RCVRs" (SIGMA's notation). But beyond the many technological advances that are used by corporations and governments for personal profit, RCVRs also carry fragments of a deeper knowledge—information suggesting that life can be extended indefinitely, that energy can be created without a fuel source and that time-travel is possible. Possession of this information makes RCVRs a powerful but dangerous commodity.

Sponsorship

Motorola Mobility sponsored the first season of RCVR. The company's products and logo were integrated at key points in the series: In Episode 1 the Xoom tablet appears on a motel television; in Episode 3, models of the Xoom tablet, StarTAC phone and an oversized microprocessor are examined by Weber during his interview of a suspected contactee; in Episode 4, Sandy Bergson uses a prototype version of the DynaTAC phone which would not be commercially available until a decade later, in 1983; in Episode 5, the undercarriage of the alien mothership displays the Motorola "M" as it descends. Simultaneously, the editor of "ProjectRCVR", Alvin Peters, announced that he had uncovered a relationship between

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...

and SIGMA. Users that obtained five sets of usernames and passcodes to enter SIGMA's official website shared Peters' discoveries. In the process of accessing hidden levels of SIGMA, users would also learn the truth about six UFO-related mysteries that have been the subject of controversy: ''

Area 51 Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range. A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Base, the facility is officially called Homey Airport ...

, Roswell,

Majestic 12 Majestic 12, also known as MJ-12 for short, is a purported organization that appears in UFO conspiracy theories. The organization is claimed to be the code name of an alleged secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government offic ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

Kenneth Arnold Kenneth Albert Arnold (March 29, 1915 – January 16, 1984) was an American aviator, businessman, and politician. He is best known for making what is generally considered the first widely reported modern unidentified flying object sighting in ...

'' and ''The Arkansas Incident'' (on which Season 1 is based). Alien-styled augmented reality devices that influenced the manufacture of Motorola technology since 1973, Google-maps references of sightings, and classified archive video and articles interactively extended the RCVR mythology.

Score

The music for RCVR was composed by British composer Rob Lord and recorded in London, Paris and Los Angeles in 2011. The score features a number of unusual instruments including

ondes Martenot The ondes Martenot ( ; , "Martenot waves") or ondes musicales ("musical waves") is an early electronic musical instrument. It is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin. A player ...

, Cristal Baschet and

Glass Harmonica The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, glass harmonium, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica or harmonica (derived from , ''harmonia'', the Greek word for harmony), is a type of musical instrument that uses a ...

played by French virtuoso musician

Thomas Bloch Thomas Bloch (born 1962 in Colmar, France) is a classical musician specializing in the rare instruments ondes Martenot, glass harmonica, and Cristal Baschet. Receiving a First Prize for ondes Martenot at the Paris Conservatoire National Sup� ...

plus a twelve piece choir, live string section, piano, guitars and basses often heavily treated and manipulated with electronic effects. Much of the composition and recording was started before filming commenced and was based on the script and discussions between Rob Lord and director David van Eyssen. The music was refined further during the edit period and final changes to the score were made during mix sessions for the film at Lotus Audio Santa Monica.

Awards

In January 2012, RCVR was honored at the International Academy of Web Television Awards, held at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, with three prizes: Best Dramatic Series (accepted by David van Eyssen), Best Male Lead (Daniel Bonjour) and Best Cinematographer (Joost van Starrenburg). The series received twelve nominations from the IAWTV.

Episodes

"Little Green Men"
first aired September 21, 2011
"Birdfall"
first aired September 30, 2011
"Dry Weather"
first aired September 30, 2011
"Mission Failure"
first aired October 10, 2011
"DCVR"
first aired October 12, 2011
"The Chosen"
first aired October 19, 2011 *

Notes

References

Wallenstein, Andrew. "Could the Fall's Best Series NOT Be on TV? Meet 'RCVR'." Variety, 21 Sept. 2011.
Indiewire
"Making Content Too Good For YouTube: How 'RCVR' Found 2.6 Million Views in Two Weeks." Indie Wire, 6 Oct. 2011.
Buzzfeed
"Web Show Takes On Alien Abductions In 'RCVR'." Buzz Feed, Sept. 2011.
Digiday
Shields, Mike. "Machinima Scores With Scripted Drama." '' Digiday''. 7 Oct. 2011.
Open Minds
McClellan, Jason. "New Web Series Explores UFOs, Extraterrestrials." Open Minds , UFO Investigations, UFO News and a UFO Magazine. 22 Sept. 2011.

Powell, Jenni. "Web Content Corner With Jenni Powell: David Van Eyssen Interview." I Am Rogue. 10 Oct. 2011.
Tubefilter
Hustvedt, Marc. "'RCVR' Premieres on Machinima, Online Drama Is Getting Good Now." Tubefilter - YouTube, Web Series, Web TV and Online Video News. 21 Sept. 2011
ScienceFiction.com
Hardbarger, Bryan. "'RCVR: Little Green Men' - Recap." Science Fiction (sci-fi) News, Books, TV, Movies, Comic Books, Video Games and More... Sept. 2011
Web Television Observer
Benzakein, Dan. "RCVR, Une Serie Web Qui Rivalise Avec Les Fictions TV." Web Television Observer. 21 Oct. 2011.

External links

RCVR Series
* {{IMDb title, tt2057790
ProjectRCVR

They Walk Among Us

The Smell Of Honesty
* Instagram: RCVR_microseries American science fiction web series Transmedia storytelling