Sometimes the popularity of a narrative in a single medium creates the need for it to be adapted into a movie or a movie being simulated into a game world for the viewers to be able to have a more engaging and immersive experience through a media universe of an already available narrative.
While the basic elements like characters in the story remain the same, they are dynamically set to cater to the new adapted form.
For instance, Harry Potter – what started as a character lead narrative from a novel series, becoming a phenomenon, creating the need in the market to keep its wide range of audience engaged in the narrative world extended into multiple forms of media platforms – movie sequels or a simulated game world. But all of the multiple modules became unified under the same single phenomenon, i.e., Harry Potter.
Hereby quoting Jenkins to explain the why and how the choice to explore the choice to explore the phenomenon in multiple modules emerged in the first place.
“Transmedia storytelling represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes it own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story.” (Jenkins 2011).
The different forms of media platform allowed the narrative to be experienced by a much larger audience, thereby each module stimulating a certain kind of response associated with a particular kind of media for that specific audience segment.
It is the evolving media landscape and its need for creating a platform for the user to be engaged, the developing convergence of a narrative across cross-platform has extended my approach in choosing the user interactivity handle for the group project website.
Giving the viewer (or user) the freedom to look at the prevalent type and conditions within various states of homelessness through the choice of their character, assumingly has them engaged from step one.
The interactive documentary largely aims at giving the user the choice of :
- WHAT to see
- WHERE to see
- and HOW to see
“Cheese hole design is about recognizing the opportunities within the story … Cheese holes are the places where you would like or will actively steer an audience to create content, perhaps in the form of back story, additional characters, ancillary storylines, Rashomon-style alternative perspectives or around artifacts from the storyworld. It doesn’t necessarily mean disruption to impact the storyline.” (Alison Norrington, quoted in Miller 2014, p. 168)
I have used the Cheese Hole design as a borrowing for the interactive documentary on homelessness. A major part of user participation and marketing strategy will include steering the audience to contribute a familiar story or a personal experience in form of text, photo or video.
Also, utilising the launch of the website as an opportunity to engage with our homeless segment within the target audience, we plan on holding an open day where they can have a luxury day – get a haircut, washing and cleaning done, leading them to contribute their experiences as well in the process.
References :
How Subliminals Work. 2015. How Subliminals Work. Available at: http://altered-states.net/barry/newsletter223/.
Jenkins H. 2011, Confessions of an Aca-Fan (blog), available at http://henryjenkins.org/
Miller C. H. 2014, Digital Storytelling: A Creator’s Guide to Interactive Entertainment, Focal Press, Mass. Available RMIT Library http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=806308&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Reality tunnel – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2015. Reality tunnel – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_tunnel.
Rebecca Young. 2015,Transmedia Storytelling. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/rebeccayoung1800/transmedia-storytelling-52825197/1.
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