Monthly Archives: March 2018

New Directions in Media Narrative – Week 4

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Having spent some time exploring Database Narrative, particularly Rhizome Narrative I have been thinking more and more about the kind of project I would like to propose. I have had a concept called Cultureline created in a previous semester in a proposed series of podcasts and also a digital tour of India as part of that…but how can I change things up and create a project which aligns with my goals? A part of my dream career pathway would be to work closely with exhibitions and museums and I absolutely love the idea of creating a project that is both enlightening, sharing something new or less known and in a format that is extremely engaging and immersive.

I found myself extremely inspired by the Frogs and Friends virtual excursion I came across as part of my first assessment:

Landing page for immersive digital excursion: Frogs & Friends

 

If I could create material that was intriguing or thought-provoking then my job is done and well and truly cut out. But how?  I could use the plan concepts from the podcasts I set out to create and create parcels of information around each topic from History to Food, Music etc. I could possibly expand upon it by including all the mixed cultures I intend to cover the platform of the Cultureline concept, but that would mean a much bigger project and more resources. If I began with Anglo-Indians, I would have most of my resources readily available because I am a member of that community and know many people who would be happy and proud to be involved in such a piece. I would be inclined to make contact with people in Australia, India, the UK etc.

 

Cultureline: An Odyssey of Anglo-India

Create a “Who am I?” question around either an everyday occupation that the Anglo-Indians have been renowned for (for example the locomotive industry) to engage the audience which would then take you to a main page with three sections “Silk Road” ,”Imperial Route” and “A Global Minority’s Journey” that takes the audience through three different pathways in the history or background of Anglo-Indian roots, traditions, psyches etc….

I think it would be an interesting idea to create a podcast out of this version of immersion and storytelling (as opposed to the podcast series) which could be used as a tool potentially for a real-life exhibition and carnival, using bites of information, scanner codes with a real-life sense of database narrative style approach. It could be hosted on Anglo-Indians Day on August 2nd. Just some ideas …

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Edit 09/05/2018: A little late here, but as it turns out, the Frogs & Friends captured the hearts of some of my fellow students after our presentation!

I really appreciated the feedback in the blog by Chandler Ding (2018, para.1), ‘Melissa shown substantial evidence in the storytelling of database narrative and clearly decomposed the characteristics in the theory of Deleuze and Guatarri. By the way, she found an excellent example of Frogs & Friends, which made us very interested in an audience, and they answered most of the questions and timely feedback.’

Interestingly, some critique for the colour chosen for our presentation by JoyAnn Wong (2018, para 2), ‘ One thing I think they can do better is that the color of the power point is too dark so it has been difficult to watch.’ I truly wish I’d read this before I pitched my idea and gave my branding a bit more strength.

 

Reference:

Frogs & Friends 2015,  Frogs & Friends VR, Viewed 25 March 2018, http://www.frogs-friends.org/en/

Chandler Ding, 19/04/2018, Week 4- Database Narrative, viewed 09/05/2018

Joyann Wong, 08/05/2018, Database Narrative NDIN Blog: Week 4, viewed 09/05/2018

New Directions in Media Narrative – Week 3

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Exploring Narrative structures has an interesting tale to tell, and following this week’s flipped lecture it was evident that the various structures had interesting impacts on viewers and ways to connect with your audience.

The lecture was delivered with a ‘click-bait’ style beginning, designed to capture the attention of the students the same way it is created to capture the attention of social media users as they jump down the rabbit hole into a story that is unrelated but thus still managed to gain that page hit and hopefully their interest.

At first glance, one would wonder ‘why this approach?’ But upon reflection shortly after, I could identify this was what I tend to refer to as a “Babushka Doll ” concept: where a parent idea is used to encapsulate the idea being communicated. Using an example of narrative- in this case, it would have fit an almost Branching Storyline if you account for the fact that a user would click the bait and then be faced with a bunch of branching click-bait style storylines to choose from. By doing this the Week 3 Flipped Lecture duo had encapsulated the concept of the lecture with an example of that concept. I enjoyed this style, even though it did throw me at the beginning as it was thought-provoking.

The questions for this week’s tutorial were insightful. Other than retro games from the world of Nintendo and Sega, I have not spent a lot of time playing other kinds of game series like Grand Theft Auto, etc. So it was a little challenging for me to answer the questions without experiencing the example media as yet. I was a bit behind the eight ball there, so my answers to the questions did reflect that.

Let’s go through them.

  1. Why is it so difficult to find a logically accurate definition for the term “Interactive”?
  2.  Of the following popular media examples which are modular, linear and non-linear narratives? Grand Theft Auto Series, Nintendo’s Pokemon Go Augmented Reality, Black Panther Movie and the Master of Media website
  3. The definition of Documentary or Documenting is; Any Reproducible Record or Recording of phenomena? Is it ;a.) Record of Facts b.) A News Story c.) A Soap Opera

 

The first question caught me by surprise as at the time of reading the question I had run through the flipped lecture and wondered if there was something I had not looked into properly. Because of a few resources I came across on the internet while considering the question, I wondered if it had to do with comparing “interactive” with “reactive” and that posing an issue of definition.

Here was my very inaccurate response:

“The mid 19th-century word from interact on the pattern of active”… Sometimes “interactive” is referred in the context of what is “reactive”.  Back in the late ’00s, “Interactive” was an industry buzzword before it became split into social media and digital. I believe the buzz world aspect might have made it/or been part of making “interactive” harder to find a logically accurate definition.

I did feel a little silly in hindsight but it was important to note that  this query about the definition of “Interactive” was interesting, and how much I am used to various kinds of definitions and descriptions used within creative context of the media world that might not be used outside the context of such an area. Having said this, because I had my “media hat” on at the time of answering the question, I struggled to grasp the reasoning behind the question upon answering it in my notebook at home – hence perhaps my inaccurate answer.

The second questions as mentioned before was a great way to determine your understanding of the various kinds of narrative structure, however because of my limited exposure to the examples, I was a bit behind the eight ball with my answers. I did find it very helpful however once we went through them in class as I then understood the media examples better and pictured them as they are structured:

Grand Theft Auto Series: Both constellation and multilayered

Nintendo’s Pokemon Go: Augmented Reality – Multilayered and non-linear (I got this half right)

Black Panther (of course I got this right)

Master of Media – Constellation/Non-linear (I couldn’t access the site but I imagined that a website would be non-linear and yes constellation at that)

The questioning around what was not a documentary seemed straightforward from a media perspective, but the context I learned later in class was more around technical definition hence I answered incorrectly or correctly depending on which way one looks at the question. I had actually answered “soap opera”, but it was debated that even a soap opera is documented. I believe this depends on the context from which we look at it- it can be from either a purist’s understanding or under the context of media.

I found the presentation interesting, I enjoyed the insights into engagement levels and graphs used to display this as well. I think my only constructive feedback here is providing visual examples of various structures is always helpful and being mindful of what’s understood about the topic already and just keeping that part on-track, capitalizing on media and perhaps using the definitions as a way to inject a sense of awareness.

Later on, during the tutorial, we wrote down a draft of our pitch which I’m still considering. It was great listening to other people’s project ideas. I would really love to bring my concept of Cultureline- exploring mixed-race cultures and making this information accessible to the general public in an interesting and engaging manner and in various forms. I would definitely love to go a multiplatform structure, but now I am thinking how wonderful it would be to create an interactive event which used various forms of media, sound, food…a tour or podcast? I have a lovely mix of contacts who would most likely be happy to be involved in the making of something like this as well. This includes a combination of respected subject matter experts and enthusiastic community members. I would be curious to find out what kinds of programs we could use to create interesting non-linear projects. Definitely some food for thought. I feel an interesting idea brewing.

Reading References:

Adams, E & Rollings, A 2010, Fundamentals of Game Design, New Riders, Berkeley, CA

 

 

New Directions in Narrative – Week 2 Blog Entry

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My exposure to non-linear documentaries and films has been somewhat limited.

The affordances covered during Week 2’s lecture were interesting, some of which I’ve come across during my time volunteering for ACMI where a digital device was hired out to visitors to offer an in-depth experience of the David Bowie Exhibition – almost like a tour guide (something that interests me immensely as I love exhibition spaces). I’ve also come across a walking tour app called Boyd walking tour available on the City of Glen Eira City Council’s website for learning more about the history in my area which I’ve been keen to try since October of last year.

But for now, I shall be exploring a few affordances that I am familiar with, referring back to documentaries that I know and love. Let’s start with a newer and most popular form of non-linear works- VR. Again, as an ACMI volunteer, I have had direct access to many kinds of interesting projects, one of them was an experience mentioned in this week’s lecture, Collisions (2016). Using VR for the sake of using VR was touched on during the Docuverse presents Ingrid Kopp talk. However, in this case VR was valuable as education and exposure to the lives of our Indigenous and the kinds of changes they have experienced in their own home over the past few hundred years is rarely given such explicit coverage.

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Another affordance I have had exposure to is the podcast documentary, named Earshot on ABC Radio. It is a show that I’ve referenced as part of my Master of Media portfolio while creating a few episodes of Cultureline that adopts the same kind of immersive style using the power of great storytelling, folly and sound effects.

Camcorder video documentaries are quite common these days, and the portability is a beautiful thing. One documentary that stands out is one of my favourites, Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey, (2016). The storytelling is spectacular and powerful as it follows Spencer Wells around the world in a bid to tell the story of what connects us all genetically which is quite compelling from a journalistic point of view.

There have been some ideas I want to develop further as I would consider myself quite invested in them. One is the Cultureline series called An Odyssey of Anglo-India which explores the history and lives of the minority mixed-race cultural group hailing from India as a result of the Spice Trade era and Imperialism. Another project that interests me is creating audio documents and being passionate about being a Melbourne- born woman, I would love to create audio document tours inspired by Hidden Melbourne tours. Another project I am considering is a non-linear choose your own adventure storybook based on my new children’s book series I am working on called The Redonks.

Reference

Boyd Walking Tour, Glen Eira City Council, viewed 11 March 2018, <http://www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/Places-and-events/Arts-and-Culture/Boyd-walking-tour>

The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey, 2005, DVD, PBS Home Video, The United States, directed by Clive Maltby

CollisionsVR 2017, viewed March 11 2018, <http://www.collisionsvr.com>

Earshot, 2016-2018, radio program, ABC RN, Sydney, viewed 11 March, 2018 <http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/earshot/>

New Directions in Narrative – Week 1 Blog Entry

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I have something to confess. I have never truly spent much time watching any web series online! I know, bad media student! Having said this, sitting here in my first Directions in Narrative tutorial, I feel I am about to embark on something very interesting.

Non-linear storytelling is something that does arouse my curiosity. If we were to think back to our childhood and the “choose your own adventure” storybooks, I would say this is a technologically enhanced version of the traditional ‘old world’ format. Why is this appealing? How popular is this concept? This, I truly do not know but intend to find out.

What also strikes me and was then posed as a question in class was how much time was spent in production mode.

And then I am drawn to thinking about how some authors go about piecing together fictional stories like The Time Traveller’s Wife, where the author pieced together separately written chapters to create the narrative of the novel.

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I think the value of non-linear storytelling at first glance is great in a world of screens and disconnection. Why? It encourages the user to think about where a story could go, think about and appreciate production and serve as an interactive media rich in educational value in terms of innovative thinking.

But there are some things that I would like to consider.

Non-linear documentaries- what exists?

There are actually various kinds of non-linear story structures that one could engage with or consider using as a foundation for a storyline. It is important to note that it is still a new concept and something that should be considered in terms of why one would choose to use this new technology of interactivity, considering factors like internet users whose user habits can be flippant, requiring less attention span.

Here’s a brief rundown of non-linear narrative structure:

Branching Narrative: this one is a classic ‘choose your own adventure’ narrative. 

Fishbone Narrative: this narrative style does not deviate too much from its linear cousin, so the “backbone” of it is actually still linear- nor veering away from the core storyline. 

Parallel Narrative: considered to be a blend of branching and fishbone narrative.

Threaded Narrative: this narrative is a great option to convey multiple points of view and where the plot itself does not follow one path alone.

Concentric Narrative: this narrative style allows the viewer to choose their starting point. The core storyline does remain the same, so no matter which path they take they will be taken back to this main narrative. It is considered easy to set up and allows for a lot of viewer freedom, however, the view might not experience a true journey-like-feel that they would in the previous narrative non-linear styles. (Munday, 2016)

 

I really look forward to exploring New Narratives and Directions in Media and hope to create a proposal of some value in the end.

References:

Munday 2016, Interactive Documentary Guide, Director’s Notes, viewed 04/03/18 <http://directorsnotes.com/2016/08/08/interactive-documentary-guide/>

Akpem 2015, Building NonLinear Narratives for the Web, A List Apart, viewed 04/03/2018 <https://alistapart.com/article/building-nonlinear-narratives-for-the-web>

Niffenegger, A 2003, The Time Traveller’s Wife, MacAdam/Cage, USA.