As I sat in the Networked lecture – oops, I mean unlecture, argh, symposium, wait, UNSYMPOSIUM (seriously hard to keep up with all dis cray lingo) – I found it difficult to concentrate. Maybe it was the fact that I’d had various shoots for the past three days (yay Tropfest!) requiring very early mornings and late nights and no sitting down all day, plus assignments, plus had been editing ma freakin’ Broadcast Media TV doco piece all night/morning (coz that was the only time I had to do it!). Consequently, I had eaten like two Weet-Bix. So I was damn hungry. As well as super exhausted. Hence, I found it hard to concentrate. I actually drew a lovely picture. I wrote the word ‘FOOD’ over and over, and drew a Pacman nomming all the FOODs up. Unfortunately, this did not satisfy my hunger. I also had not changed my clothes even slightly from the day before. Deal with it. I was stressed and tired. I doubt even Swisse vitamins could help me… I should probably talk about the lecture now.
As I said, I found it difficult to concentrate (also the reason I didn’t go to the class, sorry Brian! I WILL COME NEXT WEEK!!), and so did not take many notes.
Here’s some of what I took away from the unsymposium.
Q: Can certain video games be considered hypertext narratives? How/why?
As:
- Probably not
- There is no narrative to Tetris, yet it is a game.
- You can’t win stories.
- Gaming is the largest entertainment industry on the planet right now.
- The Wire
My thoughts:
- Hahaha, oh, this must have been what unconsciously inspired my Pacman drawing.
- I disagree with this a little bit. I think certain video games can be considered hypertext narratives. There is some sort of narrative to Tetris (there’s a goal, progression towards goal, etc.).
- You can win some stories. When we invest in characters, we experience the journey alongside them, willing them to succeed, and triumphing when they triumph. So, when they win, we win. But sometimes they lose. So, this is never consistent. There is no single formula. Nonetheless, winning is included in the many possibilities of storytelling.
- Gaming is the largest entertainment industry on the planet right now? Design fiction for filmmaking: interactive movies. Movies that are games. Hypertextual cinema. Unless, this is already what games are….. except games are always animated. This has all probably been done, though. I don’t know. I’m just brainstorming, here. I guess I’ll just be quiet.
- God dammit, people are always telling me to watch The Wire, and I am still yet to watch it. I have heard about it, I just haven’t had time to watch it. I WILL. ONE DAY. I PROMISE.
Q: How do you write a hypertext narrative?
As / discussion:
- Writing conventions which are premised on sequential flow no longer matter. ‘Hence’, ‘therefore’, ‘consequently’ – all these words and phrases that are based on sequence are not necessary and do not make sense in hypertext writing.
- The story/structure/flow of the hypertext narrative is subject to the reader’s interest.
- Hypertext is a post-cinematic way of writing.
- In filmmaking, meaning does not live in the shot, but in the relation between shots. It is the relation between parts that generates meaning. (Kuleshov effect, man!)
Yep. Das all I got. Unfortunately, my brain wanted sleep and my eyes were yielding to its mighty wish. I couldn’t control much, regardless of how interesting the lecture was. I managed to stay awake, but all my brain power was focused on just that. Staying awake. And my hunger. There was no room left for paying attention or taking notes. Soz. But, hey, next week I’m coming to the lecture AND class. So watch out. Yay.
:)
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[…] Ella too, suggesting Tetris is a narrative because there is a goal and you need to progress toward it. Let’s get academic here, there is no viable definition of narrative that says it is progression towards a goal. This is, though, a strong definition of what a game is. When we read we might aim to finish the book (a goal), but that is not what a story is, that is what you need to do to read the story. To think finishing = story would be the same as saying reading (since we need to read the novel) = story. It doesn’t. The phone book is not a story. Written by adrianmiles Posted in commentary Tagged with unlecture, weavings […]
[…] Now, each of these games had a story to them. Both were driven by narrative. The player – and characters they were controlling – were concerned with achieving narrative goals. Narrative progression. I am not saying that narratives are formulaically goal-driven. But this does seem to be a fundamental element in traditional narrative structure, does it not? Of course, there is so much more potential in storytelling than this structure, as I said in my other post on the lecture (the one where I complain a lot about being hungry and tired). […]