This week we’re getting into a bit of software and I’ll be running a workshop on 2 different platforms that can be used for interactive stories. These are Korsakow and Klynt.
I will spend the class introducing how to use each of these platforms so please bring some media – video, audio and stills in these formats (mp4, mp3, jpg). Video shot on phones are an easy format as they don’t need transcoding. Also download the trial versions of of both Korsakow and Klynt. Familiarise yourself with some of the projects made in each of the softwares.
Both of these platforms produce narratives in what Judith Aston and Sandra Gaudenzi call the Hypertext mode “because it links assets within a closed video archive and gives the user an exploratory role, normally enacted by clicking on pre-existing options.” (2014, 127). While both of these systems contain a finite amount of material within the projects, these platforms operate quite differently in terms of authorial control and user participation.
KORSAKOW
Korsakow inventor Florian Thalhofer describes Korsakow films:
They are interactive – the viewer has influence on the film.
They are rule-based – tthe author decides on the rules by which the scenes relate to each other, but he does not create fixed paths.
They are generative – the order of the scenes is calculated while the viewer looks at a Korsakow-project.
Here is a database of Korskaow projects.
Images from Morgan Tam’s Two Horses.
KLYNT
Klynt operates more like a forking paths narrative where the audience is given a range of options to select from. So this could be described as multi-linear as there might be a range of linear progressions in the project. With Klynt, you can also create links to external websites, maps and media.
Elderscapes gives an overview of ageing in urban South-East Asia.
You can also build a gaming into these projects as well. Find Santa uses a simple premise to engage the audience although it presents limited opportunity for participation and interaction.
Further Reading about Interactive Documentary projects