Digital Storytelling I — History and Theory of Interactivity, Fall 2021
Exploring emerging forms of storytelling and the practice of World-Building.
Welcome!
Welcome to Digital Storytelling 1- History and Theory of Interactivity. This document explains the focus, schedule and requirements for the course. The syllabus is a living document that will evolve over the course of the semester, it contains links to readings and digital media.
Syllabus:
Digital Storytelling I combines the study of interactive storytelling, both as an ancient form of expression and a contemporary form in our digital age, with the art and practice of world-building. How does human interaction and emotion shape the way we create narratives? What does storytelling have to do with world-building? How do we tell stories within media, games, virtual reality, and immersive theater that center the interactor? How can we craft narratives that emerge from the dynamics of interaction, exploration and choice?
Interactive storytelling and world-building are active practices. They require us to question the way we move through an experience and challenge us to subvert the structure we employ to create, craft, and consume narrative experiences. This course will take a close look at the mechanics of world-building and storytelling within dynamic media, exploring connections between interactivity and narrative experience. The course will examine examples ranging from the design of single player games to massively multiplayer experiences, from hypertext to AI, from Oculus to interactive performance.
The class will use Miro as a hub for all lectures and group exercises. Students are expected to check in and add to the Miro board. All of the readings and other resources will be linked in this syllabus.
Readings and Assignments:
Readings and activities will be added to the syllabus throughout the semester. Additionally, there will be optional reccommended articles, books, and experiences to peruse as the semester unfolds.
Syllabus:
(reminder- the syllabus is a living document and is subject to change)
Fall 2021 Film AF8305 section 001
Week 1: Welcome to DSL 1
- Intros and Goals
- Framing Lecture: Interactive Storytelling: Practice and History
- Framing Lab: Horizontal Avalanche
- Check-out: Next Steps and Reflection
Reading: Excerpt from The Design of Everyday Things (Norman)
Assignment: Horizontal Avalanche Paper
Week 2: Intro to Interaction Design
- Check-in
- Framing Lecture: Intuitive Design and Storytelling
- Discussion: Don Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things”
- Framing Lab: Three Legged Chair Challenge
- Check-out: Next Steps and Branching Map Assignment
Reading: Bandersnatch (Netflix), Question Bridge, and Seven Deadly Digital Sins
Assignment: Branching Map Essay
Week 3: Branching Structures
- Check-in
- Discussion: Impressions from Homework
- Framing Lecture: Exploring Interactive Structures
- Framing Lab: Exquisite Choice
- Check out: Next Steps and Reflections
Reading: CameraPerson (Johnson), Howling Dogs (Porpetine)
Assignment: Branching Map Essay
Week 4: Branching Navigation
- Check-in
- Framing Lecture: Hypertext and Branching Structures
- Framing Lab: Reading Hypertext
- Intro: Final World-Building Project
- Check out: Next Steps and Proposals
Reading for next class: Motto (Morisset & Michaels), Violet (Freese), Nonce Upon Some Times: Rereading Hypertext Fiction (Joyce).
Assignment: World-Building Muse board and Question (Due week 5)
Week 5: Interactivity as Storytelling
- Check-in
- Framing Lecture: Serendipity and Storytelling
- Discussion: World-building as Storytelling
- Framing Lab: World-Building Brainstorm
- Check out: Next Steps
Reading for next class: Queering the Map (LaRochelle), A Dark Room (Townsend), Queers in Love at the End of the World (Anthropy)
Assignment: World-Building Proposal (Due week 6)
Week 6: Ritual and Storytelling Games
- Check-in
- Framing Lecture: Performance as Storytelling
- Discussion: Storytelling as Action
- Check out: Next Steps and Fluxus Score Assignment
Reading for next class: The Fluxus Handbook
World-Building Assignment: Ritual and Routine
Assignment: Long Form Narrative Paper (due week 8)
Week 7: Games and Narrative
- Check-in
- Framing Lecture: Roles, Tasks, and Instructional Language
- Framing Lab: World-Building Character Sheets
- Discussion: Ritual and the Art of World-Building
- Check-out: Next Steps and Final World-Building Project
Reading for next class: Excerpt from Design is Storytelling (Lupton), The Majesty of Colors (Weir), Dys4ia (Anthropy)
Assignment: Long Form Narrative Paper (due week 8)
Week 8: Games and Narrative
- Check-in
- Visting Artist: Lucas LaRochelle
- Discussion: Infinite World-Building
- Check-out: Next Steps and Final Project Check-in
Reading for next class: Before Everyone Was Talking About Decentralization, Decentralization Was Talking to Everyone (Winger-Bearskin)
World-Building Assignment: Systems and Environment
Week 9: Storytelling in the Metaverse
- Check-in
- Framing Lecture: VR, AR, and the Metaverse
- Framing Lab: Objects in Space
- Discussion: Tangibile and Virtual Objects
- Check-out: Next Steps and Final Project Updates
Reading for next class: Listen to “Raising Devendra” by Invisibilia (on Spotify), Facade (Mateas, Stern)
World-Building Assignment: Every-Day Objects
Week 10: Artificial Intelligence and Narrative
- Check-in
- Framing Lecture: Co-Creating with Artificial Intelligence
- Framing Lab: Building With AI
- Discussion: AI and Originality
- Check-out: Next Steps
World-Building Assignment: Final presentation
11/24/21- NO CLASS
Week 11: Final World-Building Presentations
- Check-in
- Students present final projects
- Discussion and Feedback session
- Check-out: Reflection and Next Steps
World-Building Assignment: Bring World-Building Artifacts and Actions to perform.
Week 12: Decentralized World-Building
- Check-in
- Framing Lecture: Decentralized Storytelling
- Framing Lab: Connecting Worlds
- Discussion and Feedback session
- Check-out: Reflection and Questions
Final project and assessable tasks:
Over the course of the semester, each student will build their own world by completing a number of guided exercises and assignments. These smaller projects will culminate in a 10–15 minute presentation of the solo world-building exploration. This presentation should include a design document with images, a description of the society, culture, character(s), environment, and systems that sustain the world. Students will present their worlds during the penultimate class.
The world-building presentation will be accompanied by a 4–6pp response paper in which the student will choose 3 mediums (e.g. an interactive narrative project, a hybrid theater experience, a film, or an episodic narrative) they may use to further develop their world. This paper should explain why the systems or modes were selected, what thematic or emotional effect these separate experiences are meant to provide, and include reflections on their own world-building process. This paper is due before the semester’s end.
Lastly, students will present a tangible object and lead the class in a performance of a routine or ritual from their world. These two assignments are due on the last day of class (after their final presentations).
In addition to the final project, students will be required to complete the following tasks:
- 10 exercises, to be conducted as “framing labs” or as take-home assignments, in which students respond to a specific constraint, due throughout the semester.
- A branching narrative map and 2–3pp response paper in which they analyze the form of the branching structure, how it relates to the content of the work, and their mapping experience. Due week 4.
- A 4–6pp descriptive essay on an interactive narrative of their choosing in which they explore how the system and design of the experience influences the narrative, and how they imagine the process of world-building for the experience. Due week 8.
Learning Outcomes:
By the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Identify and reference a variety of interactive works from different genre and media
- Analyze the formal structures of this narrative work in a critical way
- Identify interactive tropes of storytelling for use in their own work
- Write critical responses to interactive work in an academic rigorous form
- Utilize world-building practices that strengthen and foster new discoveries in their personal storytelling practice
- Develop and design a world that can incorporate many forms, e.g. a formal system of interaction, a digital game, a hybrid theater experience, a film, or an episodic narrative
Guest Speakers
Guest speakers will join the class in-person and virtually. They will be present throughout the semester and cover the following subject areas:
Oral and Traditional Storytelling
Experience Design
Artificial Intelligence
Interactivity and Storytelling
Strategies for Social Change
World-Building
Final Grade Calculation
- Participation/Attendance 20%
- Branching Narrative Map 20%
- Long Form Interactive Narrative Analysis 20%
- Weekly Assignments 15%
- Final Project and Presentation 25%
Office Hours:
- Office hours are available upon request.
Key Dates:
Class is held Wednesdays 6 pm — 9 pm Eastern time
Saturday, September 25th
Story I/O 10 am to 3 pm (via Zoom & Miro) *optional opportunity
Monthly Meetups
Columbia DSL meetups (via Zoom & Miro) *optional opportunity
Class Will Make Use of:
- Courseworks: course-related communication
- Miro: for documentation and prototyping
- Google Drive: for solo-work and readings
