1 What does McKee define as ‘The story problem’? Do you agree? Why/not?
Mckee’s “The Story Problem” asserts that, as a story becomes less involved with human emotions, desires, and perspective, the story risks being less appealing to the human condition, thus serving no real purpose as a film aimed at human audiences. I agree with Mckee as stories, films in particular, rely on symbolism, metaphors, and conventions familiar and natural to humans that allow for concise explanations and understandings with minimal time wasted. This applies strongly to sci-fi and horror films, like, for example, how Event Horizon(1997) by Paul Anderson uses extremely graphic satanic imagery to depict beings from another universe. While it may be tame by today’s standards, in a god-fearing conservative society in 1997, the satanic imagery, gore, and use of suspense cemented it as a cult-classic.
2 Think of two narratives you’ve completed (not abandoned part-way through).Recount the plot of both your chosen narratives / Tell me the story of both narratives.
Perfect Blue (Feature film)– Perfect Blue(1998) follows a Japanese idol as she quites her idol career to pursue film acting who discovers that she is being followed by a violent stalker. As the roles she acquires demand more sexual scenes from her, and the stalker’s attacks become more violent, she slowly becomes unable to discern between reality and her acting roles, leaving us to question what is fiction and what is reaility, and who is the real her?
Mob Psycho 100 (Animated TV show)– Mob Psycho(2016 – 2023) by ONE follows Mob, a student with psychic powers and his employer Reigen, a con-artist psychic who Mob thinks of as his master. Mob and Reigen generally try to lead normal lives, but over the 3 seasons, they face off against psychic supremacists, psychic supremacists again, a power-hungry ghost called Dimple, and Mob’s own destructive powers when his emotions get the better of him.
The immersiveness of Perfect Blue as a film allowed for audiences to become lost with her, joining her in her spiralling sanity, as well as making the more disturbing and dangerous events that happen to her more intimate. The episodic nature of Mob Psycho allowed us to experiencing each obtuse experience Mob and Reigen face weekly, giving us time to grow with the characters and settings so when the going got tough we cared, and when the show’s final episode aired, we felt that we had grown into better people alongside the characters.
3 Think of a story or story-world (different from question b above) that you felt immersed in. Can you relate what about the experience caused this sense of immersion?
The many cities featured in the Yakuza franchise, Kamurocho, Sotenbori, Okinawa, Onomichi, ect, was the game’s defining feature, as the developers went to ludicrous methods to accurately portray the cities in-game with stunning graphics. The sidequests involving people within the city, as well as the ability to eat at all the restaraunts and play at all the game centers all contributed to a game completion % that encouraged you to actively live inside each city. Some games even had photography, first person view, taxi driving, picking up litter, fishing, hunting, and so much more. It is considered by many to be the game series that defined living in Japan for Western audiences.
4 Would you define Forest 404 as transmedia? Why/not?
While the story subject included many forms of media, Forest 404 is an audio soundscape story that only asked for the listener’s imagination. If it were transmedia, it’d have incorporated visuals of forests, glitches, and space, or maybe even some form of interactivity into its story, yet I feel that it would hinder the audio’s purpose if it did.
5 Embed a video in your post from an internet search — this video should be an example of, or work to explain in some way, an aspect of transmedia storytelling. Underneath the video, reflect on why you thought it should be included, with reference to readings and/or your own research into narrative or crossplatform storytelling.