StoryTelling for New Media

First a brief reminder: Thursday you need to hand in one page describing what you will be doing for your final project.

For class begin by reading the wikipedia article on Alternative Reality Games and this Quick Start Guide. Next you should sign up for an account and take a look around Adam’s current game, Conspiracy Asylum. If you are interested his previous game was called Deus City.

Welcome back from Spring Break. On Tuesday we will be looking at “Choose Your Own Adventure” narratives. For a bit of context read the Wikipedia entry on Forget The Rules then watch the three most recent episodes of the show (28-30 these are short and should not take you much time). Also take a look at the press packet the creators made.

Next take a look at a “choose your own adventure” show of a different sort, which is aptly namedChoose Your Own Tube. Watch Season 2 which is six episodes long. The choice in this one are more explicit then in Forget the Rules.
(If you want you can take a look at a third example Satacracy88 produced by itsallinyourhands.tv., which we will talk about in class.)

Yes there is an assignment the last day before Spring Break, but don’t worry it is enjoyable. You should watch Four Eyed Monsters. You can try and watch the whole 71 minute movie through YouTube, if that doesn’t work you can go to the foureyedmonsters’s store and purchase a digital download of the film. It is cheap (only $3.00) and the money goes to the artists, so it is worth it.

Tuesday we will be talking about A Million Penguins a collaboratively authored novel. You should begin by reading the About page to give you a sense of the project, and then read Section 1 (you only need to read Section 1 for class—the entire thing would require to much time). When you have finished reading Section 1 you should check out some of the supplementary material such as the blog. Also make sure to read this short article on the project, and finally read this article from Wired Magazine that talks more generally about crowdsourcing writing.

For Thursday you should read Parts 1-3 of Inanimatealice. Do the reading, while I am not likely to give a pop quiz on the reading I might do something equally as loathsome if you come to class without having done the reading.

Also, you should email me one paragraph regarding your participation grade (what you think it should be and why).

For Tuesday you should read Implementation. You might want to start by reading the project description and then reading the Installments (linked to from the home page). Also you should look at some of the photos by location as they will give you a sense of how this story unfolds in physical space.

P.S. Remember to complete the Wiki updates by Tues. and email me which three articles you modified, as well as a statement from your Patchwork Girl group.

Update: In response tho those who have emailed, the “A4″ sections of Implementation are the same as the letters, just formated for A4 paper (i.e. in the first case read “#1 Letter” but skip the A4 as it just repeats the same content for a different printer style).

Groups will present their respective Patchwork Girl reworkings in class on Thursday. There will be no reading due that day (i.e. you can ignore what the syllabus says about “Twelve Blue). If you missed class Thursday (the 14th) and thus did not join a group you should email me or someone in class to find out about joining one.

For Tuesday you should read Douglas and Hargadon, “The Pleasure of Immersion and
Interaction” (in First Person).

Update on Class Wiki: In order to give you time to work on Patchwork Girl you do not need to have your contributions to the wiki done until next Tuesday (Feb 26th). But, you absolutely must have it done my that date as midterm grades are due that week.

If you have already read Patchwork Girl than you have no reading for Thursday’s class (if you have not read it yet, as some indicated, than make sure you take time to do this). Instead, spend some time thinking about the interface and presentation issues we discussed on Tuesday, as we will spend class time on this.

Additionally, you should spend time contributing to the class wiki. Specifically you need to edit three pages to which you have not already contributed (one of these can be an entirely new page, but two need to be editing and enhancing material others have contributed). You can see my comments on specific articles at the bottom of each page on the wiki. Keep in mind that the goal here is to have clear academic style prose that explains the nuance and multiple sided nature of discussions about the text and issues on the wiki. You could also consider enhancing the format of the wiki, adding in references, or modes of presentation besides just text. Once you have done this, you should email me a list of the three articles you changed/enhanced along with a sentence or two summary of what you did. You should plan on completing this assignment by next Thursday so that it can be part of your midterm grade.

(get it Patchwork Girl patching together . . .)

For Tuesday spend two hours reading Patchwork Girl. Warning: If you have an Intel based Mac you will not be able to run the CD which has the story on it, so make sure to leave yourself time to read it on a friend’s computer or on campus at the PC labs.

Once you have read it for two hours you need to write one page (double spaced) on ONE aspect of Patchwork Girl. (Think of this a similar to the KateModern assignment where the goal is to talk about one aspect of the text rather than develop an overarching thesis to explain the world. Remember narrow and specific are good.) Bring these to class and we will use them to talk about Jackson’s piece.

For Thursday you should read Michael Joyce’s “Notes Towards an Unwritten” (this is an easy read), and read Derrida’s “The Book to Come” (available on eReserve). As I indicated in class Derrida’s text is notoriously difficult. Spend two hours reading it. If you do not finish in that time that is fine, but give it two hours worth of effort to try and understand what he is saying. Bring a copy of the article with you to class.