no shit
28.07.2010
Brooks, K ~ Metalinear Cinematic Narrative
category: PhD sources
tags: , , ,

Brooks, Kevin Michael
1999
Metalinear Cinematic Narrative

64-82
Describes approaches to how a story can evolve:

  1. 64-67, Knowledge-based Approach: don’t really understand
  2. 67-70, Simple-Link Approach: basically the way hypertext/links work; user clicks his way through a story
  3. 70-74, Multiple Character Approach: user interacts with characters (see 72: story engine) and learns the story from them
  4. 74f, Puzzle Approach: user moves from puzzles to puzzle and learns the story on the way; ARGs do this -> downside: Sean Stewart: TNAG
  5. 75-78, Traffic Circle Approach: user starts at a central place from where he goes down story lanes and always returns to the central place
  6. 78fSingle-Stream Cinematic Sequence Approach: moving pictures tell something in their order, even if the user is able to choose in what order to watch them
  7. 80-82, Folded Approach: not sure this is a real category (perhaps he just wanted to present his past creative work); a main character tells sth (as a moving picture?) -> user can click on screen anytime -> detail about that scene is then told by 12 characters discussing it -> user can click on on of the 12 to hear his perspective (second fold) -> user can make main character talk to that character (third fold)

72
Definition-story engine:
“the term story engine is used to describe a set of software algorithms designed to make decisions regarding how a computer-based story should proceed.” The user does something and the story engine responds in a certain way.

13.07.2010
Stewart, S ~ Bard 5.0 The Evolution of Storytelling
category: PhD sources
tags: , , , , , , , ,

Stewart, Sean
2010
TEDxEdmondon: Bard 5.0 The Evolution of Storytelling (13.07.2010)

“Any way that humankind has invented to lie to each other should be part of your storytelling toolkit.”

Storytelling generations

    Bard 1.0 – old dead Greek blind guys
    Bard 2.0 – Greek theatre – parallel bards
    Bard 3.0 – book – scalable bards
    Bard 4.0 – cinema – parallel scalable bards
    Bard 5.0 – digital storytelling (not the Hartley type)

25.06.2010
Askwith, I et al ~ Transmedia Storytelling and Media Franchises
category: PhD sources
tags: , , , , ,

Askwith, Ivan
Gray, Jonathan
2008
Transmedia Storytelling and Media Franchises
in Andersen, R et al ~ Battleground: The Media

Mentions “storyworld” on page 521.
References offer some texts I can quote for:

  • Dawson’s Creek
  • Babylon 5
  • Twin Peak

519
Definition-transmedia:
Definition-transmedia storytelling:
“Taken by itself, the term “transmedia” simply describes the process of content moving or expanding from one medium into another. As such, transmediation can describe practices ranging from adaptation (e.g., turning a novel into a film) to merchandising (e.g., creating action figures in the likeness of film characters). However, the notion of transmedia storytelling is more specific, and is used to describe the process of further developing a coherent narrative (or elaborating a narrative universe) by distributing related story components across multiple media platforms.”

520
“While most major media franchises of the 1980s expanded to include both licensed merchandise (toys, clothing, breakfast cereal) and transmedia components (films, television series, video games, comic books), many of the most popular franchises were actually financed and launched by merchandisers to help sell their products.”

521
“are these transmedia extensions being developed primarily to tell better stories, or to generate higher profits?”
“Meanwhile, each “platform” serves as an advertisement for the others, and hence for the whole, thereby allowing media corporations to make money from their advertisements.”

521f
“The most significant shift toward horizontal integration and media franchising came in the 1930s, when Walt Disney introduced a new business model that he described as total merchandising. Under this model, all Disney products served dual purposes: branded merchandise, television shows, animated movies, and amusement park rides all simultaneously functioned as entertainment and as advertisements for every other Disney product. Disney’s characters were not the first to be featured on merchandise or appear in multiple media, but they were almost certainly the first characters designed to serve as entertainment “brands.””

522
Description of The Lost Experience.

523
“The 1980s, in particular, brought an explosion of youth- focused media franchises. Countless film, television, and comic book characters were introduced (or reintroduced) as transmedia franchises, complete with comic books, multiple cinematic releases, animated television series, and a wide range of toys and branded merchandise. In fact, during the 1980s, many of the most popular entertainment franchises were launched not by media companies, but by merchandisers and toy manufacturers looking to build audiences (and markets) for their properties (see “1980s Media Franchises” sidebar).”
“But while branded bed linens, breakfast cereals, and soft drinks encourage children to consume products, it is important to recognize that toys, games, and many other franchise products can enable children to interact with, and take control of, a franchise’s stories, themes, and characters.”

524
“These [The Matrix'] problems indicate the degree to which transmedia stories must now carefully balance some viewer’s desires to dig deeper into the story world with other viewers’ desire not to feel left out.” -> You could simply ignore the casuals, but then you won’t get their money!

525
“From this framework, we might then understand today’s expansion of storytelling across media as providing greater opportunities for involvement, and as representing development in narrative form and technique, not just an explosion in cross-media promotion.”

526
“One of the clear signs that transmedia storytelling might be developing new ways to tell stories, and not just new platforms from which to reap profits, is that many writers and directors are becoming intimately involved in the transmedia proliferation of their products.” mentions Simpsons, Matrix, Lost as examples.
“as many transmedia tales have also been synergistic goldmines for their corporate parents, often the economics of the media industries have encouraged media corporations to vigorously pursue and solicit projects that can cross various media. Concerns regarding the hidden persuasions of product placement and the monopolistic tendencies of synergy continue to exist, but they are now being accompanied by some writers’ and consumers’ excitement at the prospect of yet more developed story worlds.”

11.06.2010
Fleming, Mike ~ Imagine’s “Transmedia Storytelling” Deal
category: PhD sources
tags: , ,

Fleming, Mike
2010
Imagine’s “Transmedia Storytelling” Deal

Explains how Brian Grazer (huge Hollywood producer) signed a first-look deal with perhaps the first true Hollywood transmedia producers: Blacklight Transmedia.

Imagine’s “Transmedia Storytelling” Deal (11.06.2010)

06.06.2010
PGA ~ Credit Guidelines for NEW MEDIA
category: PhD sources
tags: , ,

Producers Guild of America (PGA)
2010
Credit Guidelines for NEW MEDIA

Definition-transmedia producer:
“A Transmedia Narrative project or franchise must consist of three (or more) narrative storylines existing within the same fictional universe on any of the following platforms: Film, Television, Short Film, Broadband, Publishing, Comics, Animation, Mobile, Special Venues, DVD/Blu-ray/CD-ROM, Narrative Commercial and Marketing rollouts, and other technologies that may or may not currently exist. These narrative extensions are NOT the same as repurposing material from one platform to be cut or repurposed to different platforms.
A Transmedia Producer credit is given to the person(s) responsible for a significant portion of a project’s long-term planning, development, production, and/or maintenance of narrative continuity across multiple platforms, and creation of original storylines for new platforms. Transmedia producers also create and implement interactive endeavors to unite the audience of the property with the canonical narrative and this element should be considered as valid qualification for credit as long as they are related directly to the narrative presentation of a project.
Transmedia Producers may originate with a project or be brought in at any time during the long-term rollout of a project in order to analyze, create or facilitate the life of that project and may be responsible for all or only part of the content of the project. Transmedia Producers may also be hired by or partner with companies or entities, which develop software and other technologies and who wish to showcase these inventions with compelling, immersive, multi-platform content.
To qualify for this credit, a Transmedia Producer may or may not be publicly credited as part of a larger institution or company, but a titled employee of said institution must be able to confirm that the individual was an integral part of the production team for the project.”

PGA ~ Credit Guidelines for NEW MEDIA (06.06.2010)

20.05.2010
Pratten, R ~ Transmedia – Platform Selection
category: PhD sources
tags: , , , ,

Pratten, Robert
2010
Transmedia – Platform Selection

“How do I motivate audiences to cross platforms?”

Definition “story”, “storyworld”, “experience”
“Think of the story has having two components:

  • “the story” – the whole world that’s created with all the characters stretching out in chronological order
  • “the experience” – how the storyworld is revealed to the audience (timing and platforms).

Note that the story might be much larger than the project you’re working on now.
Our objective throughout this process is to have the story and the experience of the story integrated with the business model.”

Although you started with the story in mind, platform selection has rightly focused on the experience. Now is the time to sanity check the experience and see if there’s any missing story, story that now needs adapting or story + experience that can be improved.
For example, now you have a roll-out strategy for your platforms (the experience), iterate back through the story and looking for these types of opportunities (in no particular order and please add more of your own):

  • Twists
  • Surprises
  • Cliff hangers
  • Inciting incidents
  • Reunions
  • Breakups
  • Conflict
  • Discovery
  • Exposition
  • Reversals
  • Suspense
  • Threats
  • Complications
  • Conclusions”

He says “roll-out strategy” = “experience”.
Jeff Gomez (I think in the interview with Lance Weiler) said “bible” = “roll-out strategy”.
Is the bible the experience? No. Is it the blueprint of the experience? I think so.

13.03.2010
Weiler, L ~ The Evolution of Storytelling
category: PhD sources
tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Weiler, Lance
The Evolution of Storytelling
2009
Power To The Pixel

“When I think about these [story/media] outlets, I think about them in terms of like OK if they have the individual arc and then I have the overall arc in the full story, and it becomes about how I pace it, how I get it to an audience, and how I have them interact with it.”

Definition “story architecture”:
“Story architecture to me is kind of the idea of what effectively is a kind of fluidness of creative, technology in terms of how you actually deliver these things, how do you scale them, how do you get them to these various outlets. How do you make it an experience that somebody is going to be engaged by and want to continue to you know hopefully tell somebody else about. And then, you know, business. The last part is kind of entrepreneurial, you know, how do you actually derive your revenue streams from this. How do you actually look at it in a meaningful way, so it is ?impactful? [5:26 min] for yourself.”

“Once you have the data, and it is the future of everything, you know, if we look and we say search was the future, you know, a number of years back, it really is about discovery, it really is about filtering. And a lot of this discussion throughout the day, throughout this whole thing, you know, this conference, is going to be about how do people discover and find you in a world that is swelling with content.”

“What is interesting is, like, normally we started with like a three act structure in a screenplay. In the case of some of the work we have been developing it starts with the build of a universe, bible, game bible, show bible, where we kind of go through and define the world, define the interactions, define the characters, define the rules, and then from there it becomes this amazing kind of depth of information where you know more about the subject than you ever did before.”

10.03.2010
Carson, D ~ Environmental Storytelling, Part II
category: PhD sources
tags: , ,

Carson, Don
Environmental Storytelling, Part II: Bringing Theme Park Environment Design Techniques to the Virtual World (01.03.2010)

“By adding varied pathways to the same destination, you allow your audience to create their own journey.”

“Even within a group of visitors, each member may have an experience unique to them. An experience they can share, but that is still distinctively theirs.” An EA can do the same.

“Tell them where they’re going,
Tell them where they are, and
Tell them where they’ve been.”
“This little bit of nudging does not have to take up very much of the game players’ time, but strategically placed reminders throughout your game will keep them on the right track and make them less apt to lose interest in where they are going.”

01.03.2010
Carson, D ~ Environmental Storytelling
category: PhD sources
tags: , ,

Carson, Don
Environmental Storytelling: Creating Immersive 3D Worlds Using Lessons Learned from the Theme Park Industry (01.03.2010)

Definition “environmental storytelling”: “One of the trade secrets behind the design of entertaining themed environments is that the story element is infused into the physical space a guest walks or rides through. In many respects, it is the physical space that does much of the work of conveying the story the designers are trying to tell. Color, lighting and even the texture of a place can fill an audience with excitement or dread.
Much of this is done by manipulating an audience’s expectations, which they have based on their own experiences of the physical world. Armed only with their own knowledge of the world, and those visions collected from movies and books, the audience is ripe to be dropped into your adventure. The trick is to play on those memories and expectations to heighten the thrill of venturing into your created universe.” Quoted in Jenkins, H ~ Game Design as Narrative Architecture

“When I say story I am not talking about a linear “once upon a time” type story. I am talking about an all encompassing notion, a “big picture” idea of the world that is being creating. A set of rules that will guide, the design and the project team to a common goal. It is this first step that will insure the created world will be seamless.”

“Self discovery can be even more enjoyable than having the story spelled out for you in the opening credits.”

He calls story chunks “story elements.” Jenkins calls them “micronarratives.”

“One of the most successful methods for pulling your audience into your story environment is through the use of “cause and effect” vignettes. These are staged areas that lead the game player to come to their own conclusions about a previous event or to suggest a potential danger just up ahead. [...] Whether you create notes scattered throughout your environments, or have the game player follow the destructive path of some dangerous creature, “cause and effect” elements will only heighten the drama of the story you are trying to tell!”

“The design mantra “Less Is More” applies. [...] One trick is to save your most decorative elements for areas you wish to draw your audience to. Rather than cluttering an unimportant corridor with gorgeous ornamentation, simply save one detailed element for the end of the hallway and let it draw your audience, like a dangling carrot, into the next space.”

“Though it is you who has orchestrated the environment, when it is done right, the game player has the illusion that they are in complete control of their character’s destiny.”

“If you must create a long expanse of repeating pillars, or some such element, make one unique among the rest. Nudge it out slightly, or knock the thing right over, it will only add life to an otherwise mathematically perfect, but boring, environment.”

“Above all, make the game playable, but use your knowledge and Story to support the enjoyment of your game rather than confusing it.”

19.02.2010
Jenkins, H ~ Game Design as Narrative Architecture
category: PhD sources
tags: , , , , ,

Jenkins, Henry
Game Design as Narrative Architecture
2004

121
“I want to introduce an important third term into this discussion – spatiality – and argue for an understanding of game designers less as storytellers and more as narrative architects.”

122f
Definition “environmental storytelling”: see Carson, D ~ Environmental Storytelling. I think Jenkins calls this “embedded storytelling”, p128?

124
“Increasingly, we inhabit a world of transmedia storytelling, one that depends less on each individual work being self-sufficient than on each work contributing to a larger narrative economy.”
“One can imagine games taking their place within a larger narrative system with story information communicated through books, film, television, comics, and other media, each doing what it does best, each a relatively autonomous experience, but the richest understanding of the story world coming to those who follow the narrative across the various channels. In such a system, what games do best will almost certainly center around their ability to give concrete shape to our memories and imaginings of the storyworld, creating an immersive environment we can wander through and interact with.”
“Spatial stories are not badly constructed stories; rather, they are stories that respond to alternative aesthetic principles, privileging spatial exploration over plot development.”

125
“Eisenstein used the word “attractions” broadly to describe any element within a work that produces a profound emotional impact, and theorized that the themes of the work could be communicated across and through these discrete elements.” Jenkins calls these elements “micronarratives”. A story can consist of story chunks that consumers put together themselves in their own minds.

126
“As inexperienced storytellers, [game designers] often fall back on rather mechanical exposition through cut scenes, much as early filmmakers were sometimes overly reliant on intertitles rather than learning the skills of visual storytelling. Yet, as with any other aesthetic tradition, game designers are apt to develop craft through a process of experimentation and refinement of basic narrative devices, becoming better at shaping narrative experiences without unduly constraining the space for improvisation within the game.”
“Russian formalist critics make a useful distinction between plot (or syuzhet) that refers to, in Kristen Thompson’s (1988) terms, “the structured set of all causal events as we see and hear them presented in the film itself,” and story (or fabula), which refers to the viewer’s mental construction of the chronology of those events (Thompson 1988, 39-40).”
“Read in this light, a story is less a temporal structure than a body of information.”
The “classical Hollywood narrative [...] the law of three suggests that any essential plot point needs to be communicated in at least three ways.”

129
Kevin Lynch (1960, The Image of the City, p116) describes city planning as “the deliberate manipulation of the world for sensuous ends.” City planning is like storyworld/-bible building!
“In each of these cases, choices about the design and organization of game spaces have narratological consequences. In the case of evoked narratives, spatial design can either enhance our sense of immersion within a familiar world or communicate a fresh perspective on that story through the altering of established details. In the case of enacted narratives, the story itself may be structured around the character’s movement through space and the features of the environment may retard or accelerate that plot trajectory. In the case of embedded narratives, the game space becomes a memory palace whose contents must be deciphered as the player tries to reconstruct the plot. And in the case of emergent narratives, game spaces are designed to be rich with narrative potential, enabling the story-constructing activity of players. In each case, it makes sense to think of game designers less as storytellers than as narrative architects.“