Digital storytelling : a creator's guide to interactive entertainment

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<P>Part 1: New technologies, new creative opportunities </P><P></P><OL><P><LI>Storytelling, Old and New </LI><P></P></OL><P>This chapter examines the origins of storytelling and older forms of narrative and human activities that have influenced Digital Storytelling, such as participatory dramas, rites of passage and athletic games. It will retain many sections of Chapter 1 from the Third Edition, but they would be shortened whenever possible. The chapter would include a section on nonlinearity and note the special characteristics of Digital Storytelling, as opposed to traditional storytelling. Sections that would be deleted or drastically shortened include discussions of myths and rituals.</P><B><P></P><P>2. Backwater to Mainstream: The Growth of Digital Entertainment</B> </P><P>This chapter investigates the beginnings of Digital Storytelling and how Digital Storytelling is being utilized. In addition, the chapter on convergence would be integrated into this chapter (Chapter 3 in the Third Edition) and some concepts from the chapter on kiosks (chapter 23) would be added. The section on convergence would be titled "Harnessing Convergence to Digital Storytelling." It would define convergence and offer examples of convergent genres of Digital Storytelling, including a greatly shortened discussion of transmedia, which is examined in Chapter 10, and which would now be deleted. This section on transmedia would include a description of <I>Westworld</I>, a transmedia TV series, and <I>The Wizarding World of Harry Potter</I> transmedia attraction at Universal. It would also contain a greatly shortened discussion of Alternate Reality Games taken from Chapter 18, which would be eliminated as a chapter, and a discussion of Location Based Entertainment (p. 283), which include the examples of The Q Game (p. 331) and Ingress (p. 436) and any good new examples that can be found.</P><P>I would also offer another new section called "Borrowed Technologies." This would be about technologies not normally thought of as being employed for storytelling, but which, surprisingly, are sometimes used for this purpose. They include these references from the Third Edition, plus new material if there are any new developments to use as examples:</P><UL><UL><UL><P><LI>QR codes (originally discussed on pages 330, 421)</LI><P></P><P><LI>GPS (pp 49, 87,433)</LI><P></P><P><LI>Electronic kiosks (using a small amount of material from Chapter 23, which would now be deleted)</LI><P></P></UL></UL></UL><P>This chapter would include a condensed history of the first video games; a discussion of how content for a new medium evolves; and how Digital Storytelling is impacting everything from journalism to politics. The sections that would be cut include a history of the computer and the Internet and a history of other platforms that have become obsolete.</P><STRIKE><P></P><P>Moving towards Convergence</STRIKE>

delete as chapter; though basic concept will be included in Chapter 2, plus examples, as noted above </P><B><P></P><U><P>Part 2: Creating Story-rich projects</P></B></U><P></P><B><P>3.</B> <B>Interactivity and Its Effects</P></B><P>In what ways does interactivity impact storytelling? The major concepts and examples from the chapter in DS3 would be retained, though tightened wherever possible, and new examples would be offered.</P><B><P></P><P>4. Old Tools/New Tools</P></B><P>What old storytelling tools work in Digital Storytelling? What new tools should be considered? Most of this chapter (Chapter 5 in Third Edition) would be retained, though tightened wherever possible.</P><B><P></P><P>5. Characters, Dialogue and Emotion</P></B><P>What kinds of new characters can be found in Digital Storytelling? How do characters (and the users) communicate with each other? What role do emotions play in Digital Storytelling? Most of this chapter (Chapter 6 in Third Edition) would be retained, though tightened wherever possible, and relevant new examples would be included.</P><P></P><B><P>6. Structure in Digital Storytelling</P></B><P>While creators of movies and novels pay a great deal of attention to structure, the same is not always true in the creation and consumption of works of Digital Storytelling, although it is equally important to Digital Storytelling. Much of this chapter would be devoted to describing the various kinds of structures that are employed in Digital Storytelling. Chapter 7 in the Third Edition covered this subject and much of it would be retained, though tightened wherever possible, and relevant new examples would be included. Certain sections, such as "Spaces to Explore," would be revised and updated. A new section would be added that would discuss the use of the open world structure in works of virtual reality and in some cases, works of augmented reality.</P><P></P><B><P>7. Your Audience</P></B><P>No work of Digital Storytelling is going to appeal to everyone, just as no movie or novel appeals to everyone. What are the different types of audiences for Digital Storytelling and what do you need to consider in order to target a specific audience? Most of this chapter (Chapter 8 in Third Edition) would be retained, though tightened and updated wherever possible, and relevant new examples would be included. The section on young audiences would be significantly condensed. In the section on senior audiences, new material would be added to discuss how seniors respond to VR (surprisingly, with great enthusiasm). And it would also give examples of target demographics for various media productions. For example, according to a producer of promotional videos for TV shows, the target demographic for one genre of shows is... "upscale professional women sitting alone at home watching TV while eating popcorn and drinking red wine."</P><P></P><B><U><P>8. Social Media and Storytelling</P></B></U><P>The telling of stories by employing social media is relatively new, but creative people have been quick to see its possibilities. Most of this chapter (Chapter 9 in Third Edition) would be retained, though tightened wherever possible. The section on the <I>Lizzie Bennet Diaries</I> would be condensed and examples of new works of Social Media storytelling would be added, as well as a brief discussion of how social media storytelling is being used to promote political agendas. </P><P></P><B><STRIKE><P>Transmedia Storytelling</STRIKE>

</B>this chapter would be deleted as a chapter, though sections of it would be incorporated into other parts of the revised edition, especially in Chapter 2.</P><P></P><B><P>9. Creating New Projects: The Development Process</P></B><P>This chapter offers guidelines for creating works of Digital Storytelling, reviews the types of documents typically used in this process, and offers a ten-point development checklist. Most of the content offered in the third edition (in what was Chapter 11) would be retained, and an example of the development of successful new works, the two new apps for <I>Very Hungry Caterpillar</I>, would be offered.</P><P></P><B><U><P>Part 3: Harnessing digital storytelling for pragmatic goals</P></U><P></P><P>10. How Digital Storytelling is Used for Teaching, Marketing and Informing</P></B><P>This new chapter combines three chapters previously found in the third edition: how to use digital storytelling to teach and train; to promote and advertise; and to inform. (Chapters 12, 13, and 14.) These three endeavors have many considerations in common and thus combining them into a single chapter works well. An overview of these commonalities would be offered and then each of the three fields would be discussed in more detail, with more recent examples given. Terms specific to each endeavor would be offered and defined, such as <I>serious games, gamification, viral marketing, social marketing, advergaming, </I>and<I> locative journalism</I>.</P><P></P><STRIKE><P>Using Digital Storytelling to Teach and Train </STRIKE>- Deleted as a chapter; incorporated into chapter 10</P><STRIKE><P></P><P>Using Digital Storytelling for Promotion and Advertising</STRIKE>

Deleted as a chapter; incorporated into chapter 10</P><STRIKE><P></P><P>Using Digital Storytelling to Inform</STRIKE>

Deleted as a chapter; incorporated into chapter 10</P><P></P><B><U><P>Part 4: Media and models: under the hood</P></U><P></P><P>11. Video Games</P></B><P>Video games play a major role in the entertainment universe, but not all video games are alike