I is for Interactive (2020)

Featured Projects:

Interactive videos:

  • Ben’s Cooking Corner by Ben Abrams (watch on Eko or YouTube)
  • Crunch Time by Sarah Johndrow (watch on Eko or YouTube)

Interactive website:

 

Curatorial Statement:

Interactivity is a key feature of emerging media communication technologies.  Using this feature *well* however is something that creators are continually discovering. Here we have examples of interactive storytelling as well as interactive research visualization. The interactive videos featured here were created in MSP3701: Genres of Media Production (Dynamic and Interactive Storytelling with Video) in Spring 2020 with Prof. Laura Zaylea. Rebekah J. Pierce’s project was created as her culminating project for the MSP Master of Arts program.

Interactive storytelling can involve a wide range of formats, from “choose your own adventure” books to epic digital games with multiple endings and characters. Although not new, increasingly major producers are creating television shows and films that utilize interactive narrative forms. From a creative perspective, the key challenge of making these projects is giving the audience a meaningful choice (i.e. there is a tangible impact of the choice in what they see next) and making a compelling enough product that they want to engage in the experience again and again. For this project students used Eko Studio, a free online tool that produces easily customizable interactive videos which can then be shared across a variety of distribution platforms. Viewers watching/playing the videos by Ben Abrams and Sarah Johndrow get to choose the ingredients of their meal and what their protagonist will wear on a date.

Rebekah Pierce’s MA project offers a scholarly but accessible primer for users on fandom and fan cultures. It invites users to investigate different topics, see pictures she took and listen to interviews she conducted at fan conventions, as well as read insights offered by cosplayer Scarlett Rose. There is also an easy to navigate and extensive glossary to help anyone jumping into fandom for the first time.

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Return to Emerge, Volume 4 (2020)