Don't know if any of you guys are local and/or interested
in this -- this Thursday --
http://graphics.stanford.edu/glunches/glassner.html
Fiction, Graphics, and Interaction: Storytelling for a Wired World
Andrew Glassner
Abstract
People love stories. Good stories can grab us by the gut and take us
on an adrenaline-powered rush, they can grab us by the heart and make
us feel deep emotions, they can stimulate our minds and make us think,
or do all of these things and more. Given the importance of stories,
the art and craft of storytelling has been raised to a very high
level. Skilled practitioners constantly search for new and effective
media in which to create works of fiction. The hardware and software
of today's computational and communications environments hold richly
attractive possibilities for storytellers. The promise of massive,
interactive computer environments has caught the imagination of some
developers, and a passionately dedicated (though relatively small)
audience. But these environments have so far lacked the elements that
have made traditional stories successful - that is, they are places
filled with people and objects and short missions, but no overall
narrative. The commercial appetite for fiction is enormous: it is the
sum of television, films, novels, and more. But we have yet to see a
commercially breakthrough title in interactive fiction. In this
speculative talk, I will argue that there are a few basic principles
that are satisfied by almost all successful storytelling media, and
suggest some visual and structural ways to apply those principles of
storytelling to create a new style of massively participatory fiction.
I'll try to go; not sure yet.
Zell
