Digital Storytelling

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Slides

The slides of the lecture of 13 November 2007 can be found here (PDF)

Assignment

The assignment consists of 4 parts:

1. Create your own digital story. By this we mean not just a "traditional" story told using digital means, but a story that makes use of the additional possibilities offered by the computer. The digital story should have at least two of the following characteristics:
  • Variability / transformation. The story has different versions by means of:
    • Varying selection / combination of story elements (characters,  events, etc.)
    • Allowing different perspectives, parallel events
    • Varying the way the story is presented
  • Interactivity. The user can influence the story in different ways (see variability aspects)
  • Automation. The generation and variation of the story (see above) is (partly) done automatically.
2. Write a report (between 3000 and 4000 words) in which you provide a review of the relevant literature on digital storytelling, and an analysis of  your digital story in the terms you have become familiar with from the literature putting your own work in a wider context by relating it to other digital stories / storytelling systems. (You can take the links to literature and systems provided below as a starting point; however, you are also expected to find additional information yourself, for instance using Google Scholar.)

3. Write a critical review of your work, as if written for a magazine / newspaper. Take the point of view of a critical outsider. (If you can successfully arrange this, it would be a good idea to work together with another group and review each other's digital story!)

4. Give a presentation + demo of your work.

Note that the assignment is to be made in groups of 2 or 3 persons. This means that you should not be too ambitious with respect to your digital story!

If you are interested in this assignment please contact Mariët Theune: m.theune@ewi.utwente.nl

Planning

  • First meeting with instructor in week 47 or 48 (between 20 and 29 November). Discuss your first ideas.
  • Second meeting with instructor in week 51 (between 17 and 20 December). Discuss progress.
  • Please hand in a draft version of your report on 14 or 15 January 2008.
  • Presentations are PROBABLY on 22 January 2008.
  • The deadline for handing in the final version of the digital story, report and review is on Friday 1 February 2008.
A workspace will be provided for you on Teletop. Please upload all your intermediate and final materials there.

More links

Interactive movies:
More scientific publications:
(NB: the conference proceedings listed below may be accessible from the UT only)

     

Links

The following links may be of interest.

Hamlet on the Holodeck (Janet Murray, 1997)
(A very well-known book on digital storytelling, outdated in some respects but still relevant in others.)
Related links & reviews:
Morphology of the Folktale (Vladimir Propp, 1928)
(Propp studied the structure of Russian folktales; his model is still very influential.) Related links:
Aristotle's poetics (350 B.C.)
(
Aristotle's classic analysis of tragedy as a literary genre, discussing plot, character, etc. Very readable!)

Relevant narratological concepts you might also want to investigate include narrative / narrative structure, plot, dramatic structure, etc.

Chris Crawford on Interactive Storytelling (Chris Crawford, 2004)
(One of the "gurus" of (automatic) interactive storytelling; with interesting but controversial ideas.)
Reviews:
Systems by Chris Crawford:
Trigger happy (Steven Pool, 2001)  -- free download
("Trigger Happy is a book about the aesthetics of videogames — what they share with cinema, the history of painting, or literature; and what makes them different, in terms of form, psychology and semiotics.")

More books (Amazon links; also check out the recommendations given on Amazon):

Grand Text Auto
(Very interesting weblog on interactive digital storytelling, games, and other related work, with loads of further links)

Some interactive fiction links:


Electronic literature / online fiction:
Interesting projects and systems:
Two online KMT student projects: