BBC NEWS | Technology | Japan leads mobile game craze
Interesting overview...
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Thursday, August 07, 2003
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Animators turns to video games
Now THIS is interesting - remind me to tell you about machinima.
Now THIS is interesting - remind me to tell you about machinima.
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
INTERACTIVE MEDIA
WEEK 1: Overview of Interactivity
Transmedia or convergence storytelling is poised to supplant traditional filmmaking as the dominant dramatic form of the 21st century. Although the rapid pace of innovation and advance has left a landscape dotted with failed ventures, several dominant forms have begun to emerge. From both winners and losers, there are a host of lessons to be learned. Students will be exposed to narrative forms ranging from simple analog interaction to hugely complex MMPOGs. This information overload will open students minds to the possibilities presented by these new story forms.
Topics:
Course objectives
State of the Union - State of the Industry
Analog interactivity
Simple interactive forms
The cinematics of interaction
The atypical
Assignments:
Adopt-a-Nerd
Read McLuhan: Understanding Media - is the medium the message?
Read MIT article on Transmedia Storytelling
Read Creative Screenwriting article
WEEK 2: Variations in Story Structure
To understand interaction, one must add a Z axis to our way of thinking about storytelling. This is not to suggest a wholesale departure from what we know of dramatic structure, but rather to transform our way of thinking to allow for multiple narratives and multiple outcomes. In other words, this material lives at the treatment level. Using a model-by-by model approach, this class will show how interaction simultaneously challenges and reinforces conventional storytelling.
Topics:
Five ways of looking at storytelling structures
Examination of various interactive models
Consideration of software - StorySpace, Inxight and the Brain
Screening of / Participation in "Point of View"
Assignment:
Prepare sample videogame script
WEEK 3: Interaction in Action
Recently, increased attention has been devoted to transmedia properties - those stories, concepts or characters that live equally online or offline, as either analog or digital creations. In many ways, such properties are the Holy Grail of convergence, representing the best chance for successful - and profitable - collaboration between technologists and filmmakers. This class will focus on the characteristics of such properties and how they have been successfully realized. Or not.
Topics:
Review of interactive principles
Discussion of transmedia properties
Screening of Run Lola Run
In-class unpacking exercise
Assignment:
Visual models - what is a Moebius strip? Trajan's column? The Bayeux Tapestry?
WEEK 4: Collaborative Storytelling
One of the challenges of interactive narrative is involving the audience in the experience without sacrificing the thrust of the narrative. While there have been some signature successes, few technology-driven forms have been able to surpass the success of the classical oral storyteller. The chief limit of the technical form has been the 3 x-1 rule. How do we bound our worlds such that narrative consistency isn't compromised but audience participation is maximized?
WEEK 5: Presentation and Discussion of Final Projects
This final session of the course will be spent presenting, analyzing and discussing students' projects. Emphasis will be given on how well students have processed the information presented in previous sessions in both their own work and their critique of fellow students.
Trust me - it'll be fun.
Peer review of projects
Discussion of results
WEEK 1: Overview of Interactivity
Transmedia or convergence storytelling is poised to supplant traditional filmmaking as the dominant dramatic form of the 21st century. Although the rapid pace of innovation and advance has left a landscape dotted with failed ventures, several dominant forms have begun to emerge. From both winners and losers, there are a host of lessons to be learned. Students will be exposed to narrative forms ranging from simple analog interaction to hugely complex MMPOGs. This information overload will open students minds to the possibilities presented by these new story forms.
Topics:
Course objectives
State of the Union - State of the Industry
Analog interactivity
Simple interactive forms
The cinematics of interaction
The atypical
Assignments:
Adopt-a-Nerd
Read McLuhan: Understanding Media - is the medium the message?
Read MIT article on Transmedia Storytelling
Read Creative Screenwriting article
WEEK 2: Variations in Story Structure
To understand interaction, one must add a Z axis to our way of thinking about storytelling. This is not to suggest a wholesale departure from what we know of dramatic structure, but rather to transform our way of thinking to allow for multiple narratives and multiple outcomes. In other words, this material lives at the treatment level. Using a model-by-by model approach, this class will show how interaction simultaneously challenges and reinforces conventional storytelling.
Topics:
Five ways of looking at storytelling structures
Examination of various interactive models
Consideration of software - StorySpace, Inxight and the Brain
Screening of / Participation in "Point of View"
Assignment:
Prepare sample videogame script
WEEK 3: Interaction in Action
Recently, increased attention has been devoted to transmedia properties - those stories, concepts or characters that live equally online or offline, as either analog or digital creations. In many ways, such properties are the Holy Grail of convergence, representing the best chance for successful - and profitable - collaboration between technologists and filmmakers. This class will focus on the characteristics of such properties and how they have been successfully realized. Or not.
Topics:
Review of interactive principles
Discussion of transmedia properties
Screening of Run Lola Run
In-class unpacking exercise
Assignment:
Visual models - what is a Moebius strip? Trajan's column? The Bayeux Tapestry?
WEEK 4: Collaborative Storytelling
One of the challenges of interactive narrative is involving the audience in the experience without sacrificing the thrust of the narrative. While there have been some signature successes, few technology-driven forms have been able to surpass the success of the classical oral storyteller. The chief limit of the technical form has been the 3 x-1 rule. How do we bound our worlds such that narrative consistency isn't compromised but audience participation is maximized?
WEEK 5: Presentation and Discussion of Final Projects
This final session of the course will be spent presenting, analyzing and discussing students' projects. Emphasis will be given on how well students have processed the information presented in previous sessions in both their own work and their critique of fellow students.
Trust me - it'll be fun.
Peer review of projects
Discussion of results
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