Reflect on your experience of presenting your research, and note anything you learnt from the presentations of others. 

As for my own presentation, I don’t have much to say, other than that I was unexpectedly chosen first, so I definitely wasn’t as clear and succinct in the description of my essay as I would have liked.  I undoubtedly benefited more from listening to the findings and thought processes of others, particularly those who also chose to base their research on the transmedia viral marketing campaign of The Dark Knight.

As discussed in my Week 3 blog post (which I’ve since amended to reflect this revelation), originally I doubted the ‘narrative relevance’ the campaign had on the film itself.  I believed that while mock articles in The Gotham Times, which are filled with “Easter eggs” and direct references to Nolan’s The Dark Knight universe, the Bat Signal being projecting over a city as the ‘Citizens of Batman’ gathered below was simply a marketing ploy for the then upcoming film. And while bonus scenes of a news bulletin on a Gotham television network featuring a press conference with Harvey Dent actor Aaron Eckhart which became viewable to fans could easily slip into the universe’s canon, ordinary citizens of the real world rallying for the “I Believe In Harvey Dent” cause, was not.

However, my perspective was completely changed (and indeed as was my entire outlook for my essay’s argument) when my fellow classmate Mollie presented her findings, in which she explained how one of the first scenes in The Dark Knight involves Gotham City residents dressed as Batman, trying to take down Scarecrow before the real Batman intervenes.  This is synonymous with the final act of the film’s advertising campaign, where the ‘Citizens of Batman’ gathered in city streets beneath the Bat Signal.  At the same time, the rallies that had been conducted in real life, supporting Harvey Dent as Gotham’s new District Attorney also directly coincides with the film, as we learn Harvey has recently been elected for the role.  She argued that in this way, the promotional campaign for the film could even be seen as a prequel itself for the film, taking place between the events of 2005’s Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight sequel three years later.

For the final 50-100 words, provide your new understanding/philosophy of what story is, based on your research.

While the definition of story still remains, it is evident from The Story Lab course that the many ways in which story can be told is vastly underrated and often given little thought by audiences, though it appears this is rapidly changing by ways of new technologies which allow audiences to interact differently by engaging directly with narrative.  Story is not limited to a book or a song; instead the smallest or most complex narrative can be found in the world around us – it just needs an author.