Finally, we get to narrative!

Hmm..

1. In the Introduction to Story and Discourse, Chatman quotes Claude Bremond, who says: “Any sort of narrative message… may be transposed from one to another medium without losing its essential properties: the subject of a story may serve as argument for a ballet, that of a novel, can be transposed to stage or screen, one can recount in words a film to someone who has not seen it.” Chatman goes on to suggest that “transposability of the story is the strongest reason for arguing that narratives are indeed structures independent of any medium”. Choose a narrative that has been expressed in both an interactive and a non-interactive medium, for example the game Tomb Raider and the movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Discuss how the transposition to/from interactive media has changed the narrative. Has the structure of the narrative remained intact?

The narrative I've chosen is the Star Wars game, "X-Wing". Haha. Its a rather old game that can actually be installed on the computer using floppy discs! Set in the time of episodes 4-6, it allows the player to play as a fighter pilot under the command of the Rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Unlike many games, it is unique in the sense that the player starts off as a lowly pilot in the Rebellion's fleet, and works up through the ranks. The gameplay is a simulation of starfighter piloting, and the missions are linked to the story of the movie - each level allows the player to engage in battles that link (somewhat vaguely at times) to the storyline of the movie. For example, the player may be asked to be part of the starfighter escort for certain important people, to destroy enemy "star destroyers" that are attacking the supply ships carrying vital supplies, and finally, to fly as one of Luke Skywalker's wingmen in the attack on the Death Star. Players would see the general story unfold in the battle against the Empire, such as key events that happened - the capture of princess Leia, the grand battle with the Super Star Destroyer, and of course, the destruction of the Death Star. However, since the Star Wars Movies focus mainly on the exploits and adventures of several key characters like Luke, Leia, and Han, it is rather impossible for the game to follow the storyline exactly. Thus, it is perhaps more accurate to say that although the narrative was preserved, it was summarised and of course, presented in a slightly different way. What the game allowed was to instead have the player feel as if he/she was right there flying alongside the main characters and engaging in missions that were small but vital to the survival of the Rebellion. Furthermore, choice was also an integral part of the game - being more skillful (perhaps by undergoing through more training in the "simulation chamber") could mean that more of the players allies survived in the actual missions. The player was also allowed to choose which type of fighter craft to use, each having its own advantages. Thus, in this way, the game successfully gave an enjoyable time, besides leaving out most details of the story, by giving the player the feeling of being right there immersed in the virtual world the game provided.

2. Chatman observes that “whether… the author elects to order the reporting of events according to their causal sequence or to reverse them in a flashback effect – only certain possibilities can occur… Of course certain events or existents that are not immediately relevant maybe brought in. But at some point their relevance must emerge, otherwise we object that the narrative is ‘ill-formed.’” This is the notion of self-regulation.Interactive media allows for choice and control on the part of the reader/user. What problem does this raise for self-regulation? What, if anything, does this suggest about designing interactive narrative?

The problem this raises, I believe, comes from the fact that in the designing of the narrative inside the interactive media, one has to choose a balance between the impossibility of creating a space where anything is possible (infinite possibilities) and one which appears to force the user into a certain way or path, which would not by itself be very entertaining. Clearly, it is impossible to have an infinite set of possible events or existents that would automatically be activated logically depending on the user's actions. As such, if the designer was to allow interactivity that does not impose a fixed storyline or narrative on the user, there would have to be existents and events that are created but may not be activated or shown, depending on which of the possibilities the user takes. Also, the parameters or conditions must be set as to whether or not each event or existent will happen, and when. Thus, the designer must be clear of all the possible actions that the user can take, and map out the possible outcomes. This, of course, means that designing interactive narrative is not easy at all.

3. Discussing the concept of interpretation, or "filling in the gaps", in narrative, Chatman states that “there is… a class of indeterminacies… that arise from the peculiar nature of the medium. The medium may specialize in certain narrative effects and not others. For instance, the cinema may easily – and does routinely – present characters without expressing the contents of their minds… verbal narrative, on the other hand, finds such restrictions difficult… Conversely, verbal narrative may elect not to present some visual aspect… The cinema, however, cannot avoid a rather precise representation of visual detail.” Think of an example of the use of narrative in interactive media. With reference to your example, suggest what the “peculiar nature” of interactive media may be, and which narrative effects it may specialize in.

The example that I thought of is the game "Enter The Matrix" which I played during my free time when I was in NS... I found it particularly interesting as it incorporated the story into the game and it actually linked two of the Matrix movies together. In fact, I was rather interested to know that in order to know the complete story of the Matrix, one had to not only watch the 3 movies but also play this game, and watch the Animatrix, a series of animations inspired by Japanesse style animation. Initially, I played the game just to kill time but eventually found the story and not just the gameplay rather engaging. After each level, there would be short clips showing what happens to the characters. Thus, although after much playing of the game, it is apparent that the storyline is sort of strictly imposed in a subtle way (there is a rough path which has to be taken no matter how hard one tries to deviate from it), it then becomes clear that the intention of the designers was to allow the user to immerse totally in the Matrix world and be part of the action, not unlike the actual concept of the Matrix in the narrative (real humans stuck in a virtual world). Well, I wasn't exactly stuck, but it was rather addictive, and for a period of time I found myself imagining in real life that I could run on walls and make weird jumps around in double quick time....

So what exactly is this "interactivity" thing, anyway?

Hi everyone who's reading this... wow the readings are kinda long.. anyway.. here's finally my attempt at answering some of the questions...

1. In “What is New Media?” Lev Manovich proposes 5 principles of new media: numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and transcoding. Choose an example that you consider to be “new media”, and describe it in terms of these principles. What implications do these principles have for narrative and play within interactive media?

To my horror, the example of new media I've chosen - Instant Messaging such as the new Windows Live Messenger(MSN), has already been mentioned by two other people, at least form what I have browsed through.. However, I'm still crossing my fingers and hoping that I don't really say the same things as them. OK..

Well first of all, it is clearly numerically represented - what we say, that is. This follows easily from the fact that everything on the computer is numerically represented. The messages that we type into the computer are intrinsically different from traditional note-writing or speech. In fact, what we type is expressed in terms of a certain font, font size and perhaps font colour.

It is also apparent that such instant messaging programs are modular. An assortment of functions are available for use. For example, one may use just the simple chat function, the "file sending" function that allows users to send files to each other, and perhaps the group chat function. Other modules are also available to those who would like to use them, such as choosing a display picture which others can see, the use of "emoticons" to express emotions in the chat function, sharing a common window background picture with their friends and also giving "winks" - short animations that appear on both users' screens. All these components are unique inthemselves, yet they combine to form the instant messaging programs that we use commonly now as an integrated whole. It also follows from this that many of the functions are automatic now. Just by dragging a document into the window, one can let the program automatically interpret this as a sending of the file to the other user in the chat window. Furthermore, certain sequence of text being typed will be automatically interpreted by the program and translated into preset emoticons which will then be automatically displayed to the other user. In this, the variability of the program is also observed. Different users can use different emoticons that may be obtained from the internet or created using image files. The user can then set a customised set of alphabets that correspond to the emoticon. As a result, the same emoticon of a little animal waving its paw can be used as "hello!" or "bye!" depending on the preference of the user.

Perhaps the most apparent aspect of instant messaging is that it has been "transcoded" into our culture. People now leave not just their telephone numbers and addresses with people but more often than not, they leave the instant messaging addresses and a simple "Just IM me" will solve any problems of losing contact or inability to transfer electronic information from a person to another. In fact, the term "IM" has slowly but surely made its way into the vocabulary of many.

2. Manovich questions the usefulness of the term interactivity, suggesting that “once an object is represented in a computer, it automatically becomes interactive. Therefore, to call computer media ‘interactive’ is meaningless – it simply means stating the most basic fact about computers.” In contrast, in “What exactly is Interactivity?” Chris Crawford proposes a much stricter definition of interactivity. Compare these differing views, with reference to your own experience of interactive media systems.

I agree with Crawford to a larger extent. Clearly, Manovich is right, but certainly what he says is as meaningless as his claim that calling computer media interactive is meaningless. One can claim that almost everything IS interactive if we were to push the definition of interactivity. In real life, almost all the objects we see can be touched, manipulated, and they respond accordingly (such as explode, fall over, or make some sound). Conversely, many things on the computer are not more interactive than these things - for example, a VCD movie may only allow the user to watch it in 1 language, without allowing fast-forwarding or rewinding. It would not be apparent then that such media is more interactive a s a book lying on the bookshelf. Crawford, however, gives not only a stricter definition but a more usable one. In fact, perhaps that is how most people instinctively think about interactivity. The key is the need for the user to experience something similar to daily life (in that things respond in an intelligible way) in their experience with the computer. There must be a perceived process of listening, thinking, and the output from the object which is being examined or experienced by the user. Only then will the user have an experience of interactivity (despite the fact that the responses may actually be a limited set of pre-recorded ones).

3. Narrative, interactivity and play – how does Run Lola Run reflect these concerns? How does this relate to Manovich’s concept of transcoding?

The movie is indeed very interesting. Like many others who have already poste don their blogs, I believe that the movie was being compared to made to look like a game. Traditionally, movies were told as stories with a singular ending and linear plot. However, in this case the movie was presented in such a way that it was like a game and Lola was the main character. Interestingly, she also seemed to be the player herself and not just a passive character in a game that was being controlled by some player (she wills the time in the movie to return to the start, and throughout the movie, she reacts as she would in real life). Thus, I believe that the movie has transcoded games into the realm of real life in that it raises a question of whether there is such a thing as "fate". Certainly, it proposes that there is no such thing, since the small differences of whether Lola falls down the stairs or jumps over the angry dog determine whether or not in the end she succeeds in rescuing her boyfriend and having a happy ending. Interesting is that she has some special abilities such as remembering the past attempts to achieve the goal (before restarting), the ability to change outcomes by her powerful scream (the casino scene), and the ability to "cheat" in the game (call upon some higher power to help). Moreover, the movie perhaps also questions the thoughts of some who may subconsciously think that their life is like a computer game in which they can try and retry many times to get the best outcome. This seems to be expressed in the fact that every small choice of action leads to dramatic and serious differences in the end point.

1st Post

Hi everyone,

testing 1..2..3..

Ok it works.