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Featured Projects:

Interactive narratives by Erin Phelan:

Immersive projects:

Curatorial Statement:

This year, we are celebrating both interactive and immersive video projects. Three projects by Erin Phelan demonstrate not only high-level creativity but also the possibilities of the interactive form with both plot-based and character-driven branching narrative as well as a movie that plays out in “parallel tracks” (where the viewer can make a choice at any time as the story unfolds). Erin also introduces her projects and shares advice for future interactive video producers in this interview. These interactive video projects were created in MSP 3701: Genres of Media Production (Dynamic and Interactive Storytelling) with Prof. Laura Zaylea in Fall of 2021.

The three 360° immersive videos featured here were created through a collaboration between Emergent Media Production (with Prof. Laura Zaylea) and Psychological Processing of Media (with Dr. Matthew Lombard) in Fall of 2021. Together, creative production teams and a student research team designed immersive videos guided by presence theory and then evaluated these videos in an original research study. This theory-production collaboration lead to three projects in the Fall of 2021: An immersive fashion show, a behind-the-scenes look at TUTV (Temple University Television), and a day at Philadelphia’s Laurel Hill Cemetery. The second two videos feature voiceovers that speak directly to the viewer, a strategy used to increase the sense of social presence felt through the video. Fashion show OPTICS does not include a voiceover, but it does include impressive sound design including original music composed by Dylan McGonigal. Enjoy!

Return to the Emerge, Volume 5 (2021) table of contents