Todays class consisted of doing the Story Smash. It was a pretty great experience in figuring out what the aims are for the final project for this class. Me and Bronte actually managed to find a happy medium between our ideas and came up with some extremely useful platforms we could utilise for the project. The thing we did find as a result of this activity is that the simpler the idea the more options you have in regards to the platforms and options you can use. However, in saying that the more sure you are on the plot of the story the more interesting and in depth your multi platforms can become.

I dont really think I would like to do the story that we came up with, mostly the fact I didn’t love my idea that I had but I want to think of something a bit more in depth. I was speaking to a friend who was thinking of doing a political thriller and I think I could implement the things me and Bronte smashed together with that idea. Overall, as a result of this activity and the readings/theories we have discussed I am starting to understand what we should be doing for the final project.

This weeks first reading was based on the idea of Spreadabiltiy of products and content. The authors focused on multiple ways content could be spread and popularity can be increased for products. I really enjoyed this reading as it gave great examples of the different type of spreadability from rumours, history, parody and unfinished stories. They each have unique way of spreading the content. The one I found most interesting was the way humour spreads content. The use of the example of the old spice campaign really helped define it for me. It is essentially using humour and satire to enhance the brand. It comments on the stereotypical trends of advertising and how they lure the different sexes in by the use of common interests. However, leaving enough gap for the content to be reproduced in a parody platform which in turn spreads it rapidly through the digital world.

The most valuable aspect of the Gambarato reading I found was the concept of the open and closed transmedia systems. The open systems is an idea to ultimately involve the consumer and allow them to make decisions on the way they want the story to go. Whereas the closed system is a definite unchanging story that can be navigated by the audience but the outcome of the story will always be the same. The most interesting aspect is the fact that the open system is in our day in age is the more popular option. As we no longer as a generation like to solely consume media we are more inclined to lean to the stories and activities that allow us to actively engage in and decide on their outcomes.

This week we explored Interactive Story Experience in the form of ‘games’. I found this quite an interesting experience as it allowed the consumer to be involved in the game and control the way it ends. It really brings though the idea of agency and allowing the consumer to be involved. The game I focused on was Depression Quest. I found the experience quite insightful as it used such a minimal resources, essentially hyperlinking text to move the story forward. However, the added notes at the bottom of the page that show you just how depressed you are and if you are seeing a therapist and if you are taking medication keeper you enticed to find out how you end up. The use of this gets you involved in the game and makes you want to no the result of the options you pick.

The way the character is developed depends on the options you chose. The more positive options you chose the more the character becomes healthier and more happy but if you chose the negative options the character becomes more closed and isolated. The added benefit is that there is large description of the consequence of the option you chose. It gives you insight into the characters life, the other characters and the plot of the narrative. Although I didn’t classify this activity as a ‘game’ I do believe it is an interesting way to tell story. It could be useful in having the audience interact with the story I want to tell in our final project. You could use it to provide the audience insight into the story or build the identity of one of the characters before they are even introduced to them.

 

Sorry for the backdated blog but last week was a crazy week. In our Week 3 Tuesday class we spent the majority of the lesson critiquing others work. Now it may seem simple but in fact it is more difficult than you would think. Not only do you have to seperate your emotional self from the text you have to look at the piece of writing in a way where you think you have the ability to give good critic on it. Now that was the hardest part for me. As I am an amateur story writer myself it was difficult to assess and provide criticism to another work. However, once I overcame this I found it quite a rewarding and insightful experience. I believe if anything it was a great learning experience because it gave you the opportunity to dissect a story in a way where you need to imagine character development, story development and how you could it advance it, not how you need to write it and plan out the story.

At first I was apprehensive for others to read my work because as we all know your hardest critic is yourself. However, after the class I felt more settled to the idea because if  ever I go into a writing workforce people would be reading and forming opinions on my work. You need to in a way let go of some the anxiety of other people reading your work. It was an added benefit that the critique I got was quite positive and helpful. Pointing out ways I could advance my story that I hadn’t thought of initially. I found that a lot of the theory we have read was put into practice in the work I was reading particularly the Manovich idea that the story needs to resolve itself by the end. This lead to some really interesting stories that didn’t worry to much about description but were oddly the most descriptive. Overall, a really good task that helps everyone involved in the process.

The short story that I wrote for the first assessment was called Summer. When writing this story there were several things I took from what we have looked at in class to form the idea and the structure of the final product. The way I formed my idea was largely based around the activity we did in class with the cards and then also aspects of the Manovich reading. I laid out some ideas and then moved them around to see how they could work together to form an interesting story.

Once I had characters, locations and actions it was then time to think about how to write it so it had the fantasy that was suggested by Brander Matthews. In fact having the aspects of short story that Matthews talks about in the back of my head whilst writing it really allowed me to cull the things that were not important and have a story that resolved it self by the end of it. Also, i wanted to be clear on the entire story so the audience feels as if the story I was telling at the start was the same one I was telling at the end.

I am quite happy with my story. Although it is not extremely complicated, I believe it includes all the elements that make up a good short-story.

Today, we focused on Sherlock Holmes. The main reason for looking at this was to emphasise how story can essentially stand the test of time. Sherlock Holmes the character was written almost 100 years ago however, it is still alive and well today. There have been books, films and T.V shows made about it and even the younger newer generation know the name Sherlock Holmes. So, how do they keep recreating the same character? Through the use of the same tropes and stigmas around Sherlock Holmes. His quick wit, genius abilities, attention for details, mystery, him being a detective and even the dreary London town where he lives. These story elements are what we know as Sherlock Holmes.

When it came to watching the T.V series first episode we expected to see these tropes. However, not only did we see them, they were adjusted to fit in to a current society. I found this really interesting because it shows that although we have so many forms of story telling in this day in age, the foundation of what we are doing, that being telling stories, will never die, wether they are original or recreated.

Then we downloaded the Sherlock game that correlates to the TV show. When playing the game the things I found really interesting was the connection it had to the story although in game form. It was a new way of looking at the story and really brought through the idea of agency that Murray talked about in the reading. We are now able to control the way the cases unfold, although you do get some help from the characters. It really brings you into the world of the series. It gives you a good idea of the character of Sherlock Holmes right from the starting video of Sherlock talking to you as if you are physically in the room. This is a great way to boost the audience engagement of the app. In a few ways however they have had to gamify the app. For example for when you want to get to place around London you have to chose to walk, catch the train or a cab. Each option has there pros and cons but it lets you decide.

Overall I found the concept of the whole TV show, app and character interesting and it shows you, that if you have a strong story it can last a long time and be shaped into many different mediums.

This week we spoke about the readings of Manovich and Murray. In total honesty I didn’t thoroughly enjoy the readings as I believed they kept reiterating the same points in different ways over and over. However, there was at least one major point that I truly resinated with from both.

In regards to Manovich, I really enjoyed the way that story was contrasted and compared with algorithms. In a way it was a slightly more complicated and in depth explanation of what we did last week regarding the story structure form the cards. It compares story to be structured and created from a series of actions, characters, places and time. In its foundations story is essentially a rhythmic way of telling a sequence and or an algorithm. It is essentially the cause and effect rule. When something happens there has to be something written to consequence it.

In regards to Murray, the use of the term agency is what really stood out to me. Agency is the active involvement of the consumer in the story as if their actions are determining the way the story goes. This is why the multiple use of game examples are used by Murray.  This is because in a game our actions or the path we chose to take determines the way the story goes. This is prevalent in games that follow a story line like the The Order or something like Assassins Creed.

Both writers make good and unique points in regards to story. Although at times they were complicated and hard to follow.

Today’s tute was interactive and gave me a deeper more simplified understanding of how a story can be brought down to a  structured linear medium. We had two activities to complete, the first was to choose a well known story, in our case Little Red Riding Hood and then break it down into a series of charts each specific to one of the below:

1. Emotional Intensity– the feel of the story as it unfolds. How do we feel?
2. Character Journey- the path the characters embark upon through the story and how prevalent are they?
3. Themes- the main themes through the story and how much each character feels and are impacted by them?
4. ???? (Our own chart)

This got us thinking and the charts are below:

 

 

 Little Red Riding Hood

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main aspects I took away from this task were that story is able to be broken down into something as structured and linear as graphs because essentially it is a culmination of ideas that are categorised into different groups whether it be themes, emotional intensity or even character profiles. They all work cohesively to move the story forward. The other thing I discovered is that although in todays society we use story in a more creative and unique way, breaking it down back to its foundation will actually allow us to write are more throuough and detailed story that does not over describe or lag but actually inspires and evokes feelings from the reader.

This is lead largely by cause and effect. Without the cause for something the result of that action, dialogue or event can not take place and ultimately there will be no story. The second activity today really allowed us, in a trivial yet extremely useful way, to explore how certain locations, characters, professions, time and action effect the way a story is told. We had a bunch of different catagories and aligned them in an order that went-

     Scene 1                          Scene 2          

Time – Place                    Time Place      

Character – Profession – Action – Character – Profession – Action – Character – Profession

e.g

Day – Buckingham Palace                     Dawn – Bridge

Elizabeth – Physician – Watches T.V – Henry – Monarch – Bashfully Speaks – Holly – Bowling Alley Owner

The purpose of the above is that it gives you the basis of  a story to build on. Like Queen Elizabeth a pseudo physician but Queen watches T.V with Henry who is a monarch, they see an ad about bowling and Henry decides to throw a surprise party for Elizabeth. So he meets with Holly the bowling Alley Owner. You see how (although simple) a plot is created and you have cause and effect. This essentially is the crux of all great film, novels and games (in instances). I also found this extremely useful in creating ideas for stories if you are stuck because it is a great stimulus to get creative juices flowing. Allowing un thought of ideas and storylines to pop into your head.

All in all it was beneficial in understanding the ‘rules’ if you will of story, but now it is our job to break those rules and create new and innovative ways of story telling on both a literary and trans-media platform.

In class we looked at two types of stories, Frankenstein (1931) and War of the Worlds (1938). These texts helped us in finding and identifying the key points of a story.

1. Plot
2. Audience
3. Character
4. Genre

Although identifying the above may seem mainstream and junior of this type of analysis it really does give you a deeper understanding of the beginnings and foundation of a story and the impact they can have on people. All the elements of a plan are in these points. Another thing I found is the importance of a plan although I don’t have the best track record with them I think they can be very helpful in writing my own short story.

When it comes to thinking of ideas for my own short-story for next weeks assessment I was sort of confused as to what to write or how to structure it. After the readings and the sessions this week I have found that it would be easiest if I worked from a strong simple idea and let it flourish from there. There was something said this week in regards to the reader knowing that the ending of a short story was intended from the beginning of the story. The only way to achieve this is to be certain and understood within your idea.

So now all I have to do is become certain on a plot, characters and genre…

Do you know the difference between a short story and a novel? Besides the obvious neither did I until today. In the words of Brander Matthews a short story “shows one action, in one place, on one day.” in comparison to a novel where there can be multiple stories, characters, settings and it can go over an extended amount of time. I found this quite intersting as I have never approached it in this way. From a background of writing for film, it is sometimes useful to write you story plot in a short and concise way. I had always had a problem with this as I found it so hard to condense so many storylines, character and timeframes into one short page or two. Now I understand why because you can’t write a good short-story if it is in fact not intended to be a short-story.

Although his views were at times racist and extreme there was one other thing Matthews brought up that really resinated with me and that was his comments on what makes a good short-story.

“If to compression, originality and ingenuity he add also a touch of fantasy, so much the better”              -Brander Matthews 

This emphasises the difference between a novel and a short-story and really gives the short-story its own stand alone identity. In particular, the “touch of fantasy”, obviously not meaning it in the literal sense that there needs to be magic and fire breathing dragons in every short-story but in a wider sense that the readership walk away with from the story a sense of something different that stays with them and allows them to remember the story as a stand out experience.

Reference:

Brander Matthews, The Philosophy of the Short-story, 1901, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.

This week in Story Lab we spoke about story and what it is that makes story? It was concluded that story exists in many platforms and parts of all of our lives. From movies and TV shows to music and mobile applications. In film there are many aspects that make up a story and in contemporary times these aspects are much more varied than that of early times. These days stories can exist in many forms, they can be non-linear and they can transport us to other dimensions and show us what would have at one time been considered simply a fantasy or a dream. This shows us the awesome power that stories have. However, this is not to disparage the stories of earlier times. These stories although more linear and structured still had the power to effect us in the same sort of ways stories of today do. This is pinned together by the crux of a story, cause and effect. This particular story technique is what drives and is what has always driven a memorable story.

This post has merely touched on the aspects of what a story is made up of, it is in my opinion important to appreciate both classical and contemporary story because without it we would not know what the foundations of a story are. We would not know the rules to follow and of course in many instances the rules to break and change.