In the rapidly changing landscape between technology, art and entertainment, storytellers must begin to apply new strategies to integrate their narratives across an increasingly complex system. This lecture will better define key areas in narrative design such as story engine, user engagement, socialisation and immersion. It will lay out basic principles and challenges in creating these new narrative experiences.

1. Designing the New!
Narratives !
Adam Sigel !
Cutbait Productions !
#PixelLab!
@powertothepixel!

2. The Ultimate Dinner Party
Experience
Experimentation
Release of
Control

3. Designing the New Narratives !

4. Designing the New Narratives
Have you ever been Experienced?

5. From Spectacle to Story
Had to evolve the film experience

6. Convergence – What’s old is new again
Additional
dialogue
Advertise
movies
Trivia about
Actors
Movie Star
is born

7. Subjective Identification -
Expand the first part of
the story of “Psycho”
Feelings of empathy -
Anxiety, Chaos, Guilt,
Suspense and Tension -
Building up the moment
and then the release
Hitchcock - The Classic Auteur

8. The scene that shocked the world and ruined
the shower forever.

9. Rules of Engagement: How Hitchcock made
“Psycho” into a multiplatform experience
Deal with impact of TV
Make it an event - reason
to come to theater.
Change behavior — Watch
from the beginning

10. Rules of Engagement: How Hitchcock made
“Psycho” into an multiplatform experience

11. Early activities - Books,
Oaths
Rules on how the movie
would be screened
Security on hand to
prevent riots
Hitchcock audio recordings
played in the lobby
The first Blockbuster
Rules of Engagement: How Hitchcock made
“Psycho” into a multiplatform experience

12. Innovation Born of Idiocracy
The revolution will be an accident

14. Innovation Born of Idiocracy
The revolution will be an accident
$31 M in 10 days
Over $50 M total
Sony’s #1 online
release of all time
Studios are
changing how they
release films
(mostly Indies)

15. “That a tale shall accomplish something and arrive
somewhere”
- Mark Twain

16. Audience Engagement
Art is wedded to
engagement
Guided by user
behavior
Levels of engagement

17. Welcome to the Convergence
Telecommunication has gone from scarcity to
limitless abundance.
Audience interactivity morphs the passive
audience into an engaged audience.
Colin R. Blackman

18. Audience Engagement
Creatives have an
opportunity to explore
and continue creating
Guided by user behavior
Make it an event

19. Levels of Engagement
Three Levels:
Passive -
Traditional
Casual - Minor
Commitment
Active - Story
comes to Life
Audience Engagement

20. Passive Engagement – The World & Genre
Audience Engagement
Traditional marketing
with community
management
Assets created to
promote central
component.
“In space no one can
hear you scream.”

21. Casual Engagement - Minor Commitment
Audience Engagement
Games & Apps go
beyond central storylines
Interface requires some
participation
Parallel, mirrors,
expands story of the
main component

22. Active Engagement – Story comes to life
UGC, ARG, LARP
Real World & Virtual
Major Release of
control
As participation
requirement increases,
number of participants
decreases
Audience Engagement

23. Examining Engagement
Aesthetic
And
Integration
Looking Inside

24. Narrative Aesthetic
… In a language embellished with each kind of artistic
ornament, the several kinds being found in separate
parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative…
Must have six parts,
which determine its
quality
Plot
Characters
Diction
Thought
Spectacle
Melody
Aristotle

25. Narrative Aesthetic
Important part of gameplay
Creates sense of immersion
Can over-complicate and deter users
Fragmentation

26. Narrative Aesthetic
Generative
User Generated
Content is king
Dynamic – Time is
part of the story
Responsive – Like a
Meme
Gives authorship to
the audience

27. The Culture of Participation
“Fans are the most active
segment of the media
audience, ones that refuse
to simply accept what they
are given, but rather insists
on the right to become full
participants.”
Henry Jenkins,
Convergence Culture

28. Culture of Participation
“Participatory Culture”
by Henry Jenkins
1. Low barriers to engage
2. Sharing
3. Training & passing of
knowledge from a mentor
4. Belief that contributions
matter
5. Social connection with
each other
1. Call to Adventure
2. Supernatural Aid &
Threshold
3. Challenges & Help from
the Mentor
4. Revelation &
transformation
5. Atonement & Return
“The Hero’s Journey”
by Joseph Campbell

29. ABOUT STORYWORLDS…
Topos - Settings
Mythos - Mythology
Ethos - Character, Themes, POV

30. Topos - Settings
Physical and material
landscape
Social and temporal
aspects
Technological
STORYWORLDS

31. Mythos - Mythology
Backstory - What got us to this point
Timeline / Chronology - key events in history
Archetypes - Shapes how we perceive
characters
STORYWORLDS

32. Ethos -
Character, Themes, POV
Morality - Codes of behavior &
ethical questions
Values - What matters to the
characters
Perspective - The Center of
Good
STORYWORLDS

33. Narrative Aesthetic

34. Narrative Aesthetic
Fractals
Fragments that
replicate the
original
Sub-plots, mirror
stories
Help reinforce
central theme and
story

35. Narrative Aesthetic
Facets
Fragments are parts of the
whole, distinct purpose
Franchise, may or may not
be connected
Extend world and brand

36. Merchandising (Monetization) -
Marketing - Community
M.M.C.!

37. Merchandising (aka Monetization)
The Business Model
Is it a process or a
product?
Each component is:
Unique (Content)
Complete (B-M-E)
Benefit (Value)

38. Merchandising (aka Monetization)
Disney: The King of Franchise
Transmedia is working when you don’t notice it

39. Narrative Integration

40. PLATFORM SELECTION
Each has its own kind of experience vectors
MOBILE WEB GAMING EXPERIENCE FILM/TV REAL WORLD/EVENTS COMMUNITY
Narrative Integration

41. Social media platforms have unique characteristics

42. Social media platforms can have context collapse

43. Community
The Social Proof
Fans and Followers are the new currency

44. ABOUT STORYWORLDS…
Topos - Settings
Physical and material landscape; Social
and temporal aspects; Technological
Mythos - Mythology
Backstory; Timeline / Chronology;
Archetypes
Ethos - Character, Themes, POV
Morality / Codes of behavior; Ethics &
Values - The Center of Good

45. Branding
Finding the “Trans”
Madison Avenue
developed many of
the tricks —
Marketing has always been part of the story

46. Building Your Brand
Brand as an account
Deposits and
Withdraws

47. The Brand Account - Star Wars

48. What is point?
If you want to
send a
message, try
Western Union.
Frank Capra

49. GET TO THE CORE

50. GET TO THE CORE
The Strategy is the road map
The Core is the driver of your story

51. Strategy Defined:
A plan of action designed
to achieve a particular goal.
A media plan defines the
roll-out strategy.
Driving platform and
evolution of experience.
Always remember your
CORE.
PLAN OF ATTACK

52. A strategy to do what?
How to break the Internet?

53. What is point?
If you want to
send a
message, try
Western Union.
Frank Capra

54. Thank You
@cutbait

55. The Medium is the Message
Audience Engagement

56. The Four E’s
Experience
Everywhere
Exchange
Evangelize

57. Designing Narratives
Have you ever been Experienced?
Viewers are
now users
Complex
Engagement
Release Control

58. Designing Narratives
Here, There, Everywhere
Users want to
access content
when and where
they want.
Each component is
complete
Users control
amount consumed

59. Designing Narratives
Exchange = Engagement
Prizes (contest)
Causes (feel good)
Status (scarcity)
Fun (it’s fun)
Value proposition

60. Designing Narratives
Spreading the Word
What makes
something viral?
Users will promote
what are invested
in.
Community
building

61. Touch points are how we engage with the world
Finding them is not a science
Narrative Integration

62. PLATFORM SELECTION
Each has its own kind of experience vectors
MOBILE WEB GAMING CORE EXPERIENCE FILM/TV REAL WORLD/EVENTS COMMUNITY
Narrative Integration

63. I
doc
examples
http://www.invisiblepictureshow.com/
http://www.48hourgames.com/
Serous
games
–
Paper’s
please
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/08/23/
papers_please_serious_video_game_raises_tricky_moral_questions.html
Community
Building
/
Engagement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ
http://www.participantmedia.com/
http://www.bokabuddies.co.za/wordpress/archives/1564
MIT
doc
http://docubase.mit.edu/