DEVELOPMENT NUMERO QUATTRO

The concept of linearity is something that I need to clarify my understanding of. I have always believed that a linear media piece is something that starts at the beginning of a story and finishes at the end. Linear narrative can be defined as ‘a story which may contain stylistic or temporal discontinuities such as flashbacks, but which is nevertheless conventionally read or told from the beginning to the end, in contrast to an interactive or hypertext narrative’ (Chandler & Munday 2011) .

So what makes something non linear? Is linearity only appropriate if there is a story? Is linearity based on chronological order? If linear narrative is conceived as being sequential then doesn’t that inherently make any interactive form of media non-linear? Seeliger et al (2010) describe non-linear video ‘as an approach, which makes video content at interactive experience’.

Linearity is highly relevant to the project we are creating and it also links back to audience interaction. Our intent is to take different fragments of Maria Ridulph’s case and upload  them onto a central platform, including photographs and newspaper articles. However, we also want to include the narrative of the case in the form of a video. I believe that the video’s will best portray the narrative in linear form. In this way, the project is both linear and non linear, however in its entirety I believe that it is non-linear.

In terms of audience interaction, content is another aspect we could incorporate in order to generate audience engagement. As the case we are presenting is an unsolved murder mystery, the project could be utilised to provoke the audience to consider who they believe the suspect to be. This could be achieved through asking this very question at the end of the video or by including a poll on the website, separate to the video. Another option is to create a separate poll and provide a hyperlink to this poll on the website.

Seeliger, R, Rack C & Arbanowski, S 2010, ‘Non-Linear Video: A Cross-Platform Interactive Video System’, SMPTE Annual Tech Conference & Expo, Hollywood, CA, pp.1-9

Chandler, D & Munday, R 2011, Dictionary of Media and Communication’, Oxford University Press

Daniel Chandler and Rod Munday

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