21 April 2016
I feel like I have wasted the last week of study. Although I managed to source almost 20 more sources, I still don’t feel like I have advanced much further than last week either, but I am now forcing myself to just sit and write about whatever comes to my head – based on the assessment brief – and refer to my reading material wherever I can.
The good news:
I managed to find an article that related to both interactive media and the responses based on the personality traits of the participants used in the study. It was a complete study that divided the participants into viewing a linear-based movie, and viewing the same movie but having a choice in deciding the outcomes of the plot. There was a controlling factor unbeknownst to them in that the movie was the same no matter the outcome, but what I believe they were truly measuring here were the responses people had to being given a choice or not, and to see whether their personalities played a part in influencing their responses. This was the closest thing I could find that was relevant to my research (without reading a 357pg book based on the psychological impacts of cinematic narration!). I still need to find one more academic source, but I have plenty to choose from.
Practitioner-wise, I have plenty of creators of interactive media out there, my only issue here is to narrow it down to 2 more. I already have Roger Ebert the film critic and the creators of Bear 71.
The bad news:
Finding – or wording – the topic question so it is more relevant to the research and it’s purpose. I feel like I can’t go any further until this is sorted.
So I went for a walk. To a nearby cafe where they serve a delicious raspberry cake with cheesecake filling.
The walk – not the cake – cleared my head for a bit while I ran the original idea through my head once again. I looked at the examples of previous AR1 pieces supplied by Heather to see what they did and how they went through their processes, and they all had something similar in mind: a challenge. They had sought to form a solution to a challenge they had come up with. With this light bulb, I too realised that I had become lost in the researching, and was only looking at posing a question that was more argumentative based, or at least that’s what I think I’ve done.
So how am I to look for a topic question based on my research re interactive media? Where do the challenges lie in using interactive media in movies and storytelling?
My thinking is there could be a risk of losing the original intentions of the author, the true essence of the story, and for the viewer(s) to become less passive, allowing the story to unfold in it’s natural or intended progression.
“Death of an author” comes to mind for some silly reason…
But on the upside, does interactive media actually enhance the experience?
Now to structure that into a legible statement…