The Ocean's Call Theater
a live playlist, compiled from the collaborative work of a global community of skilled creators.
HOW TO NAVIGATE This Playlist:
- Double-click the playlist, or press the PLAY button, to interact.
- Move forward and back with your keyboard's </> keys.*
- From the main story menu, click on the "part" (or chapter, or arc, or page etc.) that you would like to explore.
- Double-click each part's title page to interact with it, and to navigate through it.
*(You can use Canva's navigation at the bottom of the playlist window to move forward and back, as well as your keyboard's </> keys.)
This theatrical playlist is made with Canva and is best viewed on desktop.
For a more mobile-friendly browsing experience, you can watch Az and Lu's videos in the order that they were originally published, as they are gathered on our Video Feed page.
ABOUT THIS PLAYLIST
"The Ocean's Call" began as an innovative storytelling venture on TikTok,
leveraging the platform's collaborative features for creators to interact and role-play with each other through videos.
These storytelling initiatives fostered a global community of creators, generating thousands of short videos, each contributing a fragment to the overarching narratives.
However, this project and others like it soon encountered significant challenges due to TikTok's limitations, including inconsistently applied community guidelines, user interface glitches, and inadequate feature development, leading to the loss of creators' work and gaps in the storyline. These issues highlighted the urgent need for a more reliable method of organizing and preserving the innovative, creative work that went into these projects.
In response to these challenges, Azrai introduced "Live" theatrical playlists as a resilient platform for these stories; giving them (and the work that went into them) a home.
leveraging the platform's collaborative features for creators to interact and role-play with each other through videos.
These storytelling initiatives fostered a global community of creators, generating thousands of short videos, each contributing a fragment to the overarching narratives.
However, this project and others like it soon encountered significant challenges due to TikTok's limitations, including inconsistently applied community guidelines, user interface glitches, and inadequate feature development, leading to the loss of creators' work and gaps in the storyline. These issues highlighted the urgent need for a more reliable method of organizing and preserving the innovative, creative work that went into these projects.
In response to these challenges, Azrai introduced "Live" theatrical playlists as a resilient platform for these stories; giving them (and the work that went into them) a home.
What is a live playlist?
A "Live" playlist is a continuously updated collection hosted on Canva, featuring each video or piece of content on individual slides.
Canva's live embed feature ensures that any updates to the playlist are instantly reflected wherever it's shared, using Canva's link or code. This innovation allows for the effortless addition of new content, enabling the narrative to evolve seamlessly.
Canva's live embed feature ensures that any updates to the playlist are instantly reflected wherever it's shared, using Canva's link or code. This innovation allows for the effortless addition of new content, enabling the narrative to evolve seamlessly.
And what, exactly, possessed Az to create an entire new viewing medium?
The motivation behind this shift was clear. Prior attempts at preserving these narratives—such as compiling extensive documents with direct links to videos, or editing short videos into lengthy compilations for YouTube—were fraught with drawbacks, including the transient nature of TikTok's expiring sharing links and the cumbersome process of updating compilations, which hindered the storytelling process and viewer experience.
The advent of live theatrical playlists represents a significant departure from these restrictive formats, offering storytellers control over their creations and ensuring the longevity of their work. This solution not only circumvents the limitations posed by platforms like TikTok and YouTube but also provides the capability to export and save hard copies of the presentations. Consequently, these stories can now change and grow without sacrificing their essence or the quality of the content.
The advent of live theatrical playlists represents a significant departure from these restrictive formats, offering storytellers control over their creations and ensuring the longevity of their work. This solution not only circumvents the limitations posed by platforms like TikTok and YouTube but also provides the capability to export and save hard copies of the presentations. Consequently, these stories can now change and grow without sacrificing their essence or the quality of the content.
These playlists restore creative agency to the storytellers,
Offering a safeguard against the volatility of digital platforms and preserving both the integrity of their art, and the artists faith in creating it. It is Azrai's hope that this innovation marks new era in digital storytelling, where creators can confidently share their narratives, knowing they are preserved and appreciated in their intended form. Both for future viewers- and for themselves.
Reconstructing these stories is a considerable effort, so we're inviting creators to aid our search and contribute their stories via the form on the 'Take Part' page of StarWhispers.
(Neither Azrai or StarWhispers is sponsored or affiliated with Canva in any way. Canva is simply, as far as we know, the best and most accessible tool for this job.)