the narrative
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?
my example is "lord of the rings" - the book and "lord of the rings, the battle for middle-earth" - the game. the narrative has in fact gone through several transposition, from the book to the movie then to the game. but more interestingly is the transposition from a non-interactive descriptive text to a highly interactive visual game experience.
the changes of the narrative through the transposition is mainly due to the change in representation (from text to graphics) and the change in amount of user control. ironically, the story represented in the non-interactive text encouraged active participation of the mind in imagination while the story represented in the graphics of the game fixes a certain image on the existents of the story. the amount of user control in the different media reverses this. in the book, the reader has absolutely no control over the plot of the story. he has to accept the fact if his favourite character dies. however, in the game, we can control how we want the characters to behave, and in turn twist the plot to suit our liking or our game-playing abilities. this may make the narrative more interesting to the user as he can be involved in decision making. he would also have to work his brains out on what the best decision is.
the narrative is based on a grand mission to save middle-earth, and the game reflects the same mission. it also preserves the major events and existents such as the fellowship heroes and battles. the game in particular focuses mainly on the battles rather than on how the plot progresses. the player assumes the role of a hero and controls troops and resources to battle for the ring. i feel that the structure of the narrative is less evident in the game. it maintains the main mission, but neglects many other events that build up the narrative. the game lacks a narrative component and the player definitely cannot figure out the plot of the narrative from playing the game. the game also breaks up the story into 25 different smaller missions so as to retain the gamer's interest. there is thus no flow in the sequence of events, and consequently losing the properties of a narrative.
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 arises when choice and control conflict with the intended flow of the narrative. this is because in a narrative/story, certain choices (kernels) made by the characters of the story will lead to the series of events that ultimately will link back to the choices made by the characters. however, if the reader/user is given the control over the decisions made by the characters, events that originally follow from these decisions may no longer be relevant to the story. this may be how interactivity conflicts with self-regulation.
however, if one values self-regulation more than interactivity, he may design the system such that it limits the choices of the user or even forces the user to follow certain paths directed by the original narrative. but this will defeat the experience of interaction for the user.
this implies that in designing interactive narratives, usually one or the other, self-regulation or interactivity, will have to be compromised.
there are of course ways to remedy this, like creating sets of possible outcomes rather than one possible outcome. certain events that subsequently take place will be related to the certain decisions the user make and thus leads to the different endings. but many will argue that having many outcomes is never intended of most narratives. and in fact it makes a story ambiguous and incoherrent. the problem lies in the difference in expectations of the user when experiencing the narrative in different media representations. in movies the viewer would want to sit back and relax, while in games the player would want to engage in active mental and/or physical processes. thus, to make a movie interactive will be difficult, and the same for making a game self-regulated.
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.
my example is a text-based adventure game.
a text-based adventure game is much like a narrative in a book, or more closely related, an adventure book. it avoids creating images of characters and scenes, replacing them with simple descriptions in texts. usually, this is because physical images are unimportant to the progress of the game/story. the game maker may choose to only describe the important parts (sometimes inserts unimportant parts to confuse the player) of characters or scenes and thus saving on resources. he can even choose to portray the thoughts, comments and judgements from the characters in the story or as a third person, the narrator. a text-based adventure game is hence very flexible.
however, it loses on the aesthetic appeal that physical images provide. action is also unlikely to be portrayed effectively and the player is less likely to feel excited about the game.
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?
my example is "lord of the rings" - the book and "lord of the rings, the battle for middle-earth" - the game. the narrative has in fact gone through several transposition, from the book to the movie then to the game. but more interestingly is the transposition from a non-interactive descriptive text to a highly interactive visual game experience.
the changes of the narrative through the transposition is mainly due to the change in representation (from text to graphics) and the change in amount of user control. ironically, the story represented in the non-interactive text encouraged active participation of the mind in imagination while the story represented in the graphics of the game fixes a certain image on the existents of the story. the amount of user control in the different media reverses this. in the book, the reader has absolutely no control over the plot of the story. he has to accept the fact if his favourite character dies. however, in the game, we can control how we want the characters to behave, and in turn twist the plot to suit our liking or our game-playing abilities. this may make the narrative more interesting to the user as he can be involved in decision making. he would also have to work his brains out on what the best decision is.
the narrative is based on a grand mission to save middle-earth, and the game reflects the same mission. it also preserves the major events and existents such as the fellowship heroes and battles. the game in particular focuses mainly on the battles rather than on how the plot progresses. the player assumes the role of a hero and controls troops and resources to battle for the ring. i feel that the structure of the narrative is less evident in the game. it maintains the main mission, but neglects many other events that build up the narrative. the game lacks a narrative component and the player definitely cannot figure out the plot of the narrative from playing the game. the game also breaks up the story into 25 different smaller missions so as to retain the gamer's interest. there is thus no flow in the sequence of events, and consequently losing the properties of a narrative.
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 arises when choice and control conflict with the intended flow of the narrative. this is because in a narrative/story, certain choices (kernels) made by the characters of the story will lead to the series of events that ultimately will link back to the choices made by the characters. however, if the reader/user is given the control over the decisions made by the characters, events that originally follow from these decisions may no longer be relevant to the story. this may be how interactivity conflicts with self-regulation.
however, if one values self-regulation more than interactivity, he may design the system such that it limits the choices of the user or even forces the user to follow certain paths directed by the original narrative. but this will defeat the experience of interaction for the user.
this implies that in designing interactive narratives, usually one or the other, self-regulation or interactivity, will have to be compromised.
there are of course ways to remedy this, like creating sets of possible outcomes rather than one possible outcome. certain events that subsequently take place will be related to the certain decisions the user make and thus leads to the different endings. but many will argue that having many outcomes is never intended of most narratives. and in fact it makes a story ambiguous and incoherrent. the problem lies in the difference in expectations of the user when experiencing the narrative in different media representations. in movies the viewer would want to sit back and relax, while in games the player would want to engage in active mental and/or physical processes. thus, to make a movie interactive will be difficult, and the same for making a game self-regulated.
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.
my example is a text-based adventure game.
a text-based adventure game is much like a narrative in a book, or more closely related, an adventure book. it avoids creating images of characters and scenes, replacing them with simple descriptions in texts. usually, this is because physical images are unimportant to the progress of the game/story. the game maker may choose to only describe the important parts (sometimes inserts unimportant parts to confuse the player) of characters or scenes and thus saving on resources. he can even choose to portray the thoughts, comments and judgements from the characters in the story or as a third person, the narrator. a text-based adventure game is hence very flexible.
however, it loses on the aesthetic appeal that physical images provide. action is also unlikely to be portrayed effectively and the player is less likely to feel excited about the game.
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