Research

This page will direct you through all the research I make for my final project and I found useful.

My chosen project is:

3. Examine the informational structure of one digital game or one digital narrative of your choice. Explore these as examples of interaction, with particular reference to the rold of the audience

'TELLING TALES AND PLAYING GAMES'

'INTERACTION IS NOT INTERPRETATION'

Interaction is all about offering audience choice whereas Interpretation differs because the idea is already set and you follow one line of rules that gives you an opinion and one single end result.

'Interactivity means the ability to intervene in a meaningful way with representation itself'
Andy Cameron

The MyFry app was created for an audience to follow a non-linear structure and by doing this creating a completely new narrative. The user is able to navigate through 122 chapters/areas of the reading and view their opening words. There are 4 color coded areas that include: People, Subjects, Feelings and Fryismsee - you can identify sections you've read and save to favorites. I believe this is a form of interpretation as you can only offer opinion on what is givn to you rather than be given choices to change what is already written.

NARRATIVES = STORIES

Telling stories is the way in which we interact with each other and bond. Stories help us understand who people are and what they have experienced in the world.

Mieke Bal 1885 - Uses his work to define a story - it should contain 3 distinct levels consisting of the text, the story and the Fabula - its contents should be a series of connected events causes or experienced by actors.

Interaction and Audience

Games are both object and process
can't be read as texts or listened to as music .. they must be played! EVERY GAMES IS DEFINED BY A SET OF RULES!

Both World of Warcraft and Morris less more are both interactive narratives that rely on you as the audience to interact and participate in order for the storyline to continue.

I have decided that my topic of research will be based around 'A Duck has an Adventure' - a interactive narrative based around the life of one duck and his adventures around the world.

My final piece will be based upon my subject of research for my essay: A Duck has an Adventure. I will be creating a collection of images that fit a storyline I will create. Using the same concept as A Duck has an Adventure, I will also come up with different/alternative options and endings! On this page you will see my development as well as research and imagery.

My story will be based on my dog: Toto. It will follow 3 different areas of his life. The structure of the narrative will follow the same outline as 'A Duck has an adventure' however there will be different alternatives and an introduction to new characters.

Above is a online story called 'My Boyfriend came back from the War', it allows you to click on images in order for the story to continue. This is part of the inspiration for my final piece, as it also relates back to 'A Duck has an Adventure' - it allows the audience to fully direct the alternative storylines and follow a story they control. This is what I want to achieve with my final outcome.

'Life of Pi' directed by Ang Lee was a movie made in 2012. The movie itself has an interesting narrative especially because there are 2 alternative endings. This narrative structure as a movie works well in helping the audience understand what is going on - the 2 alternate endings may also confuse the audience as to what really happened. However it works well in keeping people entertained and intrigued.

I found that the game Dominos was an interesting coloration to interactive narrative and relates to 'A Duck has an Adventure' - As one domino falls after another, it keeps the flow of the falling dominos going - this shows me that with interactive narrative, as long as the audience keeps the story going, then it doesn't stop - just like dominos.

The target audience for my interactive narrative is based for children aged 5+. My illustrations will be created on Adobe illustrator and will be very bright and bold so that they appeal to children aged 5+.

Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar was the first novel written with 2 alternate endings.

Here is some pictures of sketches I did as part of development. The development of character included, Toto and Guiseppi - Totos best friend.

At first, I based Guiseppi' character on the popular Internet sensation 'Grumpy Cat' -
however I wanted to
make sure my work
was original and
so I created my own
Guiseppi.

Using flowcharts I created my story outline and took thought into the 3 different storylines I would explore in 'Totos Adventures'

A duck has an Adventure is a Nodal plot structure which means that the narrative is a lot more complex in terms of format i.e. choosing different paths. There will always be a choice of alternative endings. Transitions can be made at an early stage of the story and you also have the choice of going back to the beginning or to another stage of the story in order to change the path that the duck takes. The benefits of this plot structure are that there is development of the character and the narrative grows too, and the author must make sure that the interactive components of the narrative are there as a means of exploring elements – I believe ‘A duck has an Adventure’ does this successfully.