Developing Practice:- Project Proposal 1.
Learning Outcomes:
During this module you will apply your knowledge of research and pre-production developed in your previous modules to develop and realise a completed short project or prototype for an interactive artefact based on a negotiated topic, issue or text.
My initial idea for this project is also what I plan to do for my final practical MA project. My interest lies in interactive narrative or modular narrative, the techniques needed to create an interactive story or novel. My first thoughts on this has of yet not been fully realised, and I am struggerling to come up with the right kind of narrative that would work on this genre. Comics, hypertext novels all try to achieve this, and personally I do not feel that any research I have done has satisfied me on how narrative can be broken up and retold successful in an interactive capacity. Comics obviously have been experimented with for a number of years; however I still feel that they have yet to be implemented on the web in such a way that you are not left feeling like you could have experienced that in book form, whilst lying on the sofa with a cup of tea- instead of been perched on an office chair bolt upright, blinking against the computer screen, and getting an increasingly bad headache. As of yet I don’t feel that interactive narrative on the web is successful and until someone figures out the correct formula for this type of story telling ( which I am in no way qualified to do) I think audiences will continue to be disappointed and left feeling like they don’t know what is going on and did they miss something important on that one hyperlink they failed to link to.
My first thoughts, combined with my research module, “To look at the effect of new media of the transmission of fairy tales.” Is something which has interested me for some time; however I am not sure that there is enough scope or really any point in creating an interactive fairytale? You could look at is there any point in creating anything interactive should I be thinking along those lines. However I feel that fairytales have been retold and retold, and although I would go back to the original source of fairytales, creating an interactive fairy tale might go against the premise and the point of them. That is the moral implications and the lessons that you are supposed to learn. Now that I am writing this down this might be perfect? Could the reader only get to the end of the fairy tale if they take on board the moral lessons that are supposed to be learned? This creates the problem of these tales been so well known that reader will know what they are supposed to be thinking and thus would navigate themselves through the piece with this in mind. One way to get around this would be to write a fairytale that follows the conventions and rules so to speak and not actually call it a fairytale. Thus the reader might get a feeling of the background to the text but would not know for sure.
Within this project I would like to combine narrative and illustration and perhaps a bit of animation to create a kind of hypertext novel/comic/romance. Romance being the 16th century preferred form of reading in which the novel was broken up into segments, in which the reader could choose which parts they read and which they missed. They were broken up in such a way that the reader could finish at any point and still feel a sense of closure, they were not copyrighted so should I go down this route the only problem is getting hold of a copy. Due to there excessive length apparently no body has ever finished reading one! This makes me think that these texts would be perfect for the internet. I do think studying the techniques used in this type of narrative would be a good starting point, whether I decide to look at fairy tales or some other form of narrative.
Here I’ve enclosed an extract from an essay completed for my BA in which I looked at the works of Madeleine De Scuderie:-
“Romance novels were very long made in volumes and could often extend to 10-12 volumes at a time. You could read them separately and still have a sense of closure at the end of each volume, this obviously was due to the modular structure, and relating back to today’s ‘Interactive narratives’ the use of a modular structure is needed so that you can end the experience at any time without missing the feeling of completing something. However if you read more than one, you realised that they did link together. They could be read in any order apart from the last one, which had to be at the end, which would conclude all the past volumes. As they were so long people didn’t finish them very often, they might read four of the volumes and then the concluding part, one such Romance by Madeleine De Scuderie, ‘The Map of the Kingdom of Tenderness’ is an allegory which distinguishes the different kinds of tenderness, which are reduced to esteem, gratitude and inclination. The map represents three rivers, which have these three names, and on which are situated three towns called Tenderness; Tenderness on Inclination; Tenderness on Gratitude, they are situated at Pleasing Attentions, or Petit Soins.
‘La Carte De Tendre’ or ‘The Kindom of Tenderness’ made its first debut in the first volume of ‘Clelie’, 1654. However it started its life off as a ‘Salon Game’ that was fast becoming all the rage in the 17th century, Parisian salon society. And is in my opinion the predecessor of many board games, and foreshadows certain contemporary computer games, and interactive narratives. The idea was that a group of people met and held these imaginary games. There was always a person in charge who read the narrative, and who usually had written the narrative. Romance novels were perfect for this as they didn’t have to be read in order, so one volume would be read, and on the instruction of the person playing the game would lead to another volume. ‘La Carte De Tendre’ was no exception to this. Each Pretendent, Male or Female began the journey to ‘Tendre’ at ‘New Friendship’, located at the Southern mid- point of the map and then follow one of three routes first travelling north towards ‘Tendre’. One might follow the route of ‘Inclination’, and arrive in ‘Tendre- Sur- Estime’ or the route of ‘Recognition’, and arrive at ‘Tendre-Sur-Reconnaissance’. A person might choose the wrong route, for example, and wonder into the lake of indifference, or into forgetfulness. On the opposite side of the map one might choose more wisely and wander through Submission, Obedience, Sensibility, or Constant friendship and might find oneself arriving in ‘Tendre’ more rapidly then expected. The author was always the one in charge of the narrative, the authorial voice, describing the route that had been followed, and making sure that the path they had chosen would lead to the correct part of the narrative.
Although they neither could change, nor interfere in the main narrative, participants would choose their fate and where they would lead. Participants were encouraged to enter into the realm, to explore the countryside, to dream the authors dreams with them, but the author never let them enter into her dreams. As you can see, the resemblance to interactive narrative is there for all to see. A narrative made to be broken up, yet leading to different points or different endings, memory required to remember the places you have been and the consequences of your actions. All this seems to have the same rules and strategies of interactive narratives. When Scuderie first brought out the book ‘The Kingdom of Tenderness’, there was much debate on the structure of these narratives. Critics disliked this new novel, and like we are doing today discussed whether this was narrative, however they proved to be bestsellers. One does wonder at why they stopped, or that until quite recently this style has only just been adopted again. One suggestion is that people found them exciting and new, but fundamentally a bit of a gimmick, they soon bored of them.
In De Saudrys case, they allowed her to describe her feelings about fellow players without insulting them. Rather then saying that they simply bored her, she could say that they had fallen into the lake of indifference or forgetfulness. This seems to suggest that she did move around narrative to suit her own prerogatives. She was the game master and ultimately the goal was her “friendship”, I put this in inverted commas, however this was actually the prize. Many of her friends were ‘test driven’ through the salon games, if they completed in a way in which Madeline De Saudry thought honourable she made them a personal friend. The game was there to give a lesson of how to treat women, and how to give tenderness without physical interaction. This seems to give the impression that these salon games’ narrative was more interactive than ‘interactive narratives’ are now. She could change the plot when she wanted, to lead her participants where she wanted them to go, she taught them a lesson and if they did not take the hint they were led away from Tendre. Like interactive narratives today you are given a kind of route, your helped along in the direction that would be best, if you wander off this then you come into trouble, or discovered red herrings, or find the really interesting stuff! Like ‘Interactive narratives’ someone was, and is in control however much the word interactive tries to persuade us other wise. There is a structure and if there is a structure then there must be a narrative.”
My thoughts for the next few weeks is to get to grips with the type of narrative I am going to use, and the best way in which to make it interactive. As this project is a lead up to our final project, the mistakes I make and the lessons to be learned will be implemented on the final project when hopefully I will have a better understanding of what makes narrative successful on the web and interactive. My choice of program will probably be Flash using HTML for a database.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Assignment One for Research Module
New Semester, new project.
Assignment One
“Prepare a ten minute presentation of your practice in which you identify the key themes and interests evident in the practice, the nature of the practice and practitioners whose work has been of influence.”
My practice is interactive media.oierngoerngoerngoerngoerngojgnjrenognstuff here.......
Assignment One
“Prepare a ten minute presentation of your practice in which you identify the key themes and interests evident in the practice, the nature of the practice and practitioners whose work has been of influence.”
My practice is interactive media.oierngoerngoerngoerngoerngojgnjrenognstuff here.......
Think I should start by looking at the practitioners whose work essentially led me to my interest in interactive media. I enjoy the work of various artists all of which has helped me in my development however not all of them are in anyway connected to New Media. The nature of New Media and the internet means that there are no definitions of what is expected or considered the work of this practice. This means that you can push the boundaries and can branch out into various fields while still considering youself a New Media artist.
One of my key interests is what happens to texts when they are put on the internet and “The effect of new media on the transmission of various narrative forms.” For example Fairy Tales, Comics, and ghost stories the list is endless. And this is going to be my basis for this research module, which I will later develop. Within narrative the internet represents a return to the manuscript style (or even oral) culture where the reader is expected to interact rather then just be a passive recipient. The examples I gave previously are all forms of storytelling that require a certain level of interactivity, for example comics you navigate your way through them, by an almost intuitive way. Fairy Tales and Goust Storys started as an oral form of storytelling and weren’t infact recorded until the late 18th century where obviously there style and therefore meaning were changed and subverted. New Media and the ability to interact with the piece in front of you has again changed meaning and context, and imposes questions on whether these ‘new’ versions have dramatically changed these examples as well as questions on the best way in which to demonstrate and transcribe these narrative and illustrated texts.
What is interactive narrative?
Post-modern theories of narrative seem to have changed the relationship between author and reader, bringing to the foreground the importance of the reader in the process of constructing meaning in text. Many post-modern texts are designed to take advantage of the reader’s active role in making the work meaningful. Interactive narratives follow a non linear structure, the readers have to navigate and put story elements in various orders themselves. When the writer includes multiply possibilities in the development of the plot, the reader plays an active role in shaping their own paths through the story. Rather than creating finished works, the interactive artist creates relationships. My interest in interactive narrative originated from seeing Schott Mclouds interactive comics. Which shows the possibilities of narrative forms (not just in this genre) been made interactive as well as combining illustration, which is another of my key interests.
Although I previously mentioned that the reader is important in shaping the path of where they go, this is not neccisarily always the point. If a type of narrative is put on the web, even if its just written down in exactly the same way as it would be in a book, it still changes the meaning and the context. In particular my interst in fairy tales is not just how I could make the viewer shape there path through it but also the effect of just having it on the internet.
Links for Assignment One:-
One of my key interests is what happens to texts when they are put on the internet and “The effect of new media on the transmission of various narrative forms.” For example Fairy Tales, Comics, and ghost stories the list is endless. And this is going to be my basis for this research module, which I will later develop. Within narrative the internet represents a return to the manuscript style (or even oral) culture where the reader is expected to interact rather then just be a passive recipient. The examples I gave previously are all forms of storytelling that require a certain level of interactivity, for example comics you navigate your way through them, by an almost intuitive way. Fairy Tales and Goust Storys started as an oral form of storytelling and weren’t infact recorded until the late 18th century where obviously there style and therefore meaning were changed and subverted. New Media and the ability to interact with the piece in front of you has again changed meaning and context, and imposes questions on whether these ‘new’ versions have dramatically changed these examples as well as questions on the best way in which to demonstrate and transcribe these narrative and illustrated texts.
What is interactive narrative?
Post-modern theories of narrative seem to have changed the relationship between author and reader, bringing to the foreground the importance of the reader in the process of constructing meaning in text. Many post-modern texts are designed to take advantage of the reader’s active role in making the work meaningful. Interactive narratives follow a non linear structure, the readers have to navigate and put story elements in various orders themselves. When the writer includes multiply possibilities in the development of the plot, the reader plays an active role in shaping their own paths through the story. Rather than creating finished works, the interactive artist creates relationships. My interest in interactive narrative originated from seeing Schott Mclouds interactive comics. Which shows the possibilities of narrative forms (not just in this genre) been made interactive as well as combining illustration, which is another of my key interests.
Although I previously mentioned that the reader is important in shaping the path of where they go, this is not neccisarily always the point. If a type of narrative is put on the web, even if its just written down in exactly the same way as it would be in a book, it still changes the meaning and the context. In particular my interst in fairy tales is not just how I could make the viewer shape there path through it but also the effect of just having it on the internet.
Links for Assignment One:-
What is interactive media?
Its very hard to define, and answer the question what is interactive media. Have found one definition which works for some aspects but not all.
“Interactivity is the relation constituted by a symbolic interface between its referential objective, functionality and the subject.”
and from wikipedia, there is this definition:-
"Interactive media refers to media of communication that allow for active participation by the recipient, hence interactivity. Traditional information theory would describe interactive media as those media that establish two-way communication. In media theory, interactive media are discussed along their cultural implications. The field of Human Computer Interaction deals with aspects of interactivity and design of in digital media. Other areas that deal with interactive media are new media art and video game production.
While some traditional (non-digital) mass media would qualify for interactive media the term is usually only applied to digital media. The significant increase in possibilities for interactivity (especially over vast distances) brought by the internet boosted the availability of digital interactive media. Still, e.g. language in face-to-face communication would formally belong to the interactive media.
Interactive media are often designed by information designers. As all media they rely on communication. In the case of e.g. computer games this is visual, acoustic, and haptic communication between the user (player) and the game. In Mobile telephony, the communication happens between two people and is purely acoustic at the first glance. Yet, according to media theory the cultural implications of the medium have to be taken into account. Thus, aspects like constant availability, customisation of the mobile phone and Short Message Service are also part of the interactive medium called Mobile telephony. Media restrain from being translated to technological entities. Wikipedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_media
While some traditional (non-digital) mass media would qualify for interactive media the term is usually only applied to digital media. The significant increase in possibilities for interactivity (especially over vast distances) brought by the internet boosted the availability of digital interactive media. Still, e.g. language in face-to-face communication would formally belong to the interactive media.
Interactive media are often designed by information designers. As all media they rely on communication. In the case of e.g. computer games this is visual, acoustic, and haptic communication between the user (player) and the game. In Mobile telephony, the communication happens between two people and is purely acoustic at the first glance. Yet, according to media theory the cultural implications of the medium have to be taken into account. Thus, aspects like constant availability, customisation of the mobile phone and Short Message Service are also part of the interactive medium called Mobile telephony. Media restrain from being translated to technological entities. Wikipedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_media
Links of interest
Comics Research
As I previously mentioned it was the transmission of comic books that led me to this particular field of interest. Although there are many online comics, and apart from a few examples, they often follow a similar approach to that of the printed version. It appears as of yet there is little progress in how online comics could make use of the internet and how hyperlinks and other various tools could be incorperated, to create a new experience that differs from the print, yet is just as viable"
http://www.scottmccloud.com/inventions/24hr/dare/dare.html
Examples of online Comics
http://castlezzt.net/24hourcomic.cfm
http://members.aol.com/opheliab/24hour1.html
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/caseysorrow/feral/series.php?view=single&ID=1918
Fairy Tales Research
At this point, fairy tales will be my specific field of interest. Although fairy tales are on the web, they are not interactive its just th text. Can you make fairy tales interactive? Or will that completly rid of the moral and truth messages that fairy tales excist to tell?
Sarah Bonner, Manchester University writes:
Her thesis examines the recent resurgence in the use of themes and tropes from fairy tales in contemporary visual culture in Europe and America. She argues that this resurgence is linked to an interest in rethinking gendered identity.
Re-Inventing / Re-Claiming Red Riding Hood
Approaching the question ‘In what ways have texts and images responded to one another?’ this paper proposes an investigation into the visual responses to the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. Taking this as a starting point, I will discuss how the vital and repetitive use of symbols has settled, through extensive textual and visual dissemination, into the collective consciousness of the Western world. In addition, the recent visual revisions that are challenging the established fairy tale tradition will also be explored.
Visual illustrations of fairy tales have served to reinforce the tales’ moralistic message, and have captured the main thrust of the texts through carefully selected and repeated images. More recently, there has been a shift in visual responses to the Grimm’s fairy tales from a tendency to comply with the basic parameters of the myths to an attitude of parody or critique. Increasingly fairy tales are being visually appropriated in order to subvert the nineteenth-century cultural values expounded in the Grimm’s tales, reflecting a shift in cultural attitude. The visual responses to ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ explore the relationship between girl and beast interrogating the implicated behaviour patterns presented by the symbols of traditional texts.
In the case of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, it is the red cape and the wolf that instantly identify the tale to the reader/viewer. Artists such as Paula Rego and Kiki Smith have responded to the text as well as to recent cultural pressures, commenting on gender roles through visual subversions of the traditional fairy tale. These artists’ responses to ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ create a dialogue of identity and discrimination, engaging the Grimm’s concept that appearances aren’t always what they seem.
Her thesis examines the recent resurgence in the use of themes and tropes from fairy tales in contemporary visual culture in Europe and America. She argues that this resurgence is linked to an interest in rethinking gendered identity.
Re-Inventing / Re-Claiming Red Riding Hood
Approaching the question ‘In what ways have texts and images responded to one another?’ this paper proposes an investigation into the visual responses to the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. Taking this as a starting point, I will discuss how the vital and repetitive use of symbols has settled, through extensive textual and visual dissemination, into the collective consciousness of the Western world. In addition, the recent visual revisions that are challenging the established fairy tale tradition will also be explored.
Visual illustrations of fairy tales have served to reinforce the tales’ moralistic message, and have captured the main thrust of the texts through carefully selected and repeated images. More recently, there has been a shift in visual responses to the Grimm’s fairy tales from a tendency to comply with the basic parameters of the myths to an attitude of parody or critique. Increasingly fairy tales are being visually appropriated in order to subvert the nineteenth-century cultural values expounded in the Grimm’s tales, reflecting a shift in cultural attitude. The visual responses to ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ explore the relationship between girl and beast interrogating the implicated behaviour patterns presented by the symbols of traditional texts.
In the case of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, it is the red cape and the wolf that instantly identify the tale to the reader/viewer. Artists such as Paula Rego and Kiki Smith have responded to the text as well as to recent cultural pressures, commenting on gender roles through visual subversions of the traditional fairy tale. These artists’ responses to ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ create a dialogue of identity and discrimination, engaging the Grimm’s concept that appearances aren’t always what they seem.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)