Tele 5990 Seminar Media Arts: Interactive and Transmedia Narrative
by Dr. Hartmut Koenitz, University of Georgia, Athens, Estados Unidos
Course Type: Design and Technology-focused
Keywords: transmedia, interactive, digital, design, Hyperfiction.
| University | Department | Level | Credits | Length | Medium |
| University of Georgia | MMA (Mass Media Arts) | Undergrad | 1 term | In-person |
Course Description
Interactive Narrative is a hot topic in many areas: computer games, interactive documentaries, education, digitally enhanced journalism, health communication etc. While much has been achieved as evidenced by recent narrative games titles like The Walking Dead or Heavy Rain, or the interactive documentary Fort McMoney, Interactive Digital Narrative (IDN) is still an open field that provides many opportunities for creative professionals, researchers, and artists. The course will present the field of IDN by exploring significant works and also by hands-on experience which will result in a fully working interactive narrative title by the end of the term, with the potential of a release in the AppStore.
Course Objectives
- Present the field of IDN by exploring significant works
- Hands-on experience which will result in a fully working interactive narrative title.
Weekly Outline
Week 1.
Monday: Introduction to the course
Wednesday: Introduction ASAPS
Friday: ASAPS example Breaking Points
Week 2.
Monday: The State of IDN – How did we arrive here and ways to move forward, Introduction to Interactive Digital Narrative, issues and research questions
Wednesday: Discussion HoH, Chapter 1, The Garden of the Forking Paths
Friday: Example: Save the Date
Week 3.
Monday: No class – Labor day
Wednesday: Harbingers: Multiform and interaction pre-digital Discussion HoH Chapter 2
Friday: Example: Run, Lola Run Pen. Paper exercise due: Choose your own adventure
Week 4.
Monday: The beginnings: From Eliza to IF HoH Chapter 3, Montfort
Wednesday: Student Presentation ASAPS Lecture
Friday: Examples: Hitchhiker’s Guide Through the Galaxy, Planetfall
Week 5.
Monday: Moving pictures, interactive. From Kinoautomat to Borg. Naimark, Davenport
Wednesday: Student Presentation, ASAPS Lecture
Friday: Example: Interactive documentary, Storyboard for interactive film exercise due
Week 6.
Monday: The End of Books? The rise and fall of Hyperfiction Discussion Coover, Bolter
Wednesday: Student Presentation + ASAPS Lecture
Friday: Example: Afternoon, a Story. Hyperfiction exercise due
Week 7.
Monday: Interactive Drama: From Theory to Realization. Bates, Mateas
Wednesday: Student Presentation + ASAPS Lecture Midterm project announcement: Short ASAPS story
Friday: Example: Façade
Week 8.
Monday–Friday: Midterm Project Design Critique Week
Week 9.
Monday: Games vs. Narrative or not? The Case of narrative games. Aarseth, Frasca
Wednesday: Student Presentation + ASAPS Lecture, Midterm Project due
Friday: Examples: The Walking Dead, Limbo
Week 10.
Monday: Design Critique Midterm projects 1
Wednesday: Student Presentation + ASAPS Lecture
Friday: Design Critique Midterm projects 2
Week 11.
Monday: On the fringes? Installations and Rides Naimark, Mine
Wednesday: Student Presentation + ASAPS Lecture
Friday: TBA
Week 12.
Monday: The question of transmedia Narrative Jenkins (2003, 2011)
Wednesday: Student Presentation + ASAPS Lecture
Friday: The Beast, Blair Witch Project
Week 13.
Monday: Where to go from here: Beyond Interactivization and Movie Envy: A framework
for IDN as a separate expressive form – Koenitz
Wednesday: Quiz, In-class work with supervision
Friday: In-class work with supervision
Week 14.
Thanksgiving break/Catch-up week
Week 15.
Monday: Final Project progress report and discussion
Wednesday: Student Presentation + ASAPS Lecture
Friday: In-class work
Week 16.
Monday: Final class week, Monday and Tuesday (operates as Friday)
Wednesday: Student Presentation + ASAPS Lecture
Week 17.
Final Project presentation,
Readings
- Aarseth, E. (2004). Genre Trouble. In Wardrip-Fruin, N., & Harrigan, P. (Eds.), First person: New media as story, performance, and game, Cambridge: MIT Press. http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/firstperson/vigilant
- Murray, J. (1997). Hamlet on the Holodeck: The future of narrative in cyberspace. New York: The Free Press.
- Bates, J. (1994): The role of emotions in believable agents. Communications of the ACM, 37(7), 122-125.
- Bolter, J. D. & Joyce, M. (1987). Hypertext and creative writing. In Proceedings of Hypertext ’87 the ACM conference on Hypertext (pp.41-50). New York, NY: ACM. doi:10.1145/317426.317431
- Borges, J. L. (1964). The garden of forking paths. In Labyrinths: Selected stories and other writings. New Directions, New York. http://www.americanbuddha.com/garden.fork.htm
- Coover, R, (1992, June 21). The End of Books. New York Times Book Review, pp. 1, 23-25.
- Davenport, G. (1997). Extending the documentary tradition (Speech at the Oberhausen International Film Festival) [PDF document]. Retrieved May 9, 2009 from http://mf.media.mit.edu/pubs/conference/OberhausenExtending.pdf
- Davenport, G. (2002). People often ask “what is interactive cinema?”. Retrieved May 19, 2009 from http://ic.media.mit.edu/people/gid/research.html
- Frasca, G. (2003). Ludologists love stories, too: notes from a debate that never took place. http://www.ludology.org/articles/Frasca_LevelUp2003.pdf
- Jenkins, H. (2003). Transmedia Storytelling. In Technology Review, January 15, 2003. http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/13052/
- Jenkins, H. (2011). Transmedia 202: Further Reflections. http://henryjenkins.org/2011/08/defining_transmedia_further_re.html
- Koenitz, H. (2010) Towards a Theoretical Framework for Interactive Digital Narrative. In Proceedings of ICIDS 2010, Berlin: Springer.
- Mateas, M. (2004). A preliminary poetics for interactive drama and games. In Wardrip-Fruin, N., & Harrigan, P. (Eds.), First person: New media as story, performance, and game, Cambridge: MIT Press. http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/firstperson/aristotelean
- Mine, M. (2003). Towards virtual reality for the masses: 10 years of research at Disney’s VR studio. EGVE, 39, 11-17.
- Montfort, N. (2003b). Toward a Theory of Interactive Fiction. http://nickm.com/if/toward.html
- Naimark, M. (1998). Interactive Art – Maybe It’s a Bad Idea. In Leopoldseder, H., Schopf, & C. (Eds.), Cyber Arts 1998 – International Compendium Prix. Ars Electronica (pp. 66–106). Wien: Springer.
Viewings
- Naimark, M. (n.d.). [Video of Aspen Movie map demonstration] http://www.naimark.net/projects/aspen/aspen_v1.html
- Tykwer, T. (Director). (1998) Run Lola Run [Motion Picture] Germany: X-Filme.
IDN Artifacts
- Adams, D.: Hitchhiker’s guide through the galaxy. [Interactive Fiction]. Cambridge: Infocom. http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/infocomjava.html
- Joyce, M. (1991). Afternoon, a story. [Hypertext fiction]. Watertown: Eastgate Systems
- Mateas, M. & Stern, A. (2005). Facçade (Interactive drama) [Software]. Available from http://www.interactivestory.net/
- Naimark, M. (1991). EAT – A Virtual Dining Environment. In Tomorrow’s Realities catalog, Siggraph, Las Vegas.
- Planetfall. (1983). [Interactive fiction]. Cambridge: Infocom.
- Save the Date (2013) [Computer Game] http://paperdino.com/save-the-date/
- The Beast. (2001). [Alternate Reality Game]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_(game) The Blair Witch Project (1999) [Transmedia Narrative]. http://www.blairwitch.com/
IDE and IDN Authoring Tools
- ASAPS, provided by instructor
Major Assignments (being assignments whose value is of 25% or more)
Midterm Project (25%)
- Platform: ASAPS
- Purpose: Create initial prototype for class project
- Requirements: Create an IDN with at least 20 different beats and at least 3 different outcomes, use at least one procedural aspect (trackers, global variables, timers), the project can be incomplete in parts and can use stand-in graphics
- Project Length: variable
- Project Size: variable
- Project Aesthetics: 2D Graphics, can use sound and video
- Coding Proficiency: entry-level (understanding of variables and condition checking)
- Evaluation:
- Overall interactive potential of project:40%
- Realized Interactivity:50%
- Production values: 10%
Final Project (40%)
- Platform: ASAPS
- Purpose: Final class project
- Requirements: Create an IDN with at least 30 different beats and at least 3 different outcomes, use at least one procedural aspect (trackers, global variables, timers), must be fully playable and have final graphics, continuation of midterm project is encouraged, but not mandatory
- Project Length: variable
- Project Size: variable
- Project Aesthetics: 2D Graphics, can use sound and video
- Coding Proficiency: entry-level (understanding of variables and condition checking)
- Evaluation:
- Overall interactive potential of project:40%
- Realized Interactivity:50%
- Production values: 10%
Course Best Practices
- Classes at Grady will teach you about particular topics. But they will also teach you how to be successful professionals in whatever field you choose. Below you will find some standards of practice. Adhering to these rules will not only make you a more successful student, practicing them in your career will make you a better professional.
- Up to 5 points extra credit for course related technical support/helpfulness to other students/resource contribution.
- Up to 5 points extra credit for exceptional originality and ambition.
- The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.