ShakesVR:  Redefining narrative strategies for linear storytelling in a fully immersive environment

The author posits that the author-driven approach of storytelling, resulting in a linear narrative, remains a valid approach for VR. Therefore, the paper investigates the question how a traditional storyline can be told in VR, while simultaneously addressing the specific issues that arise from the audience becoming part of the story. For instance, how might the actions of the viewer (who in traditional film would have passively consumed the story) affect the way in which the story is being experienced? In a fully immersive environment, the user can freely choose where to look and this can affect the experience of the story. How can we avoid that he/she misses essential parts of a linear storyline? Our research project therefore investigated how VR can accommodate the needs of traditional narrative forms. In this essay the author will demonstrate how the integration of interactive elements and audio-visual storytelling strategies can actually support the understanding of a linear narrative in a fully immersive environment.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Hannes Rall

Conference

Publication date: July 2020

Publication date (Print): July 2020

Pages: 302-306

Affiliations

[0001]Nanyang Technological University Singapore

81 Nanyang Drive, 637458 Singapore

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVA2020.55

SO-VID: 11ee8925-164d-45c7-b9f6-b844ad0653b9

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Proceedings of EVA London 2020

Conference acronym: EVA 2020

Conference number: 30

Conference location: London

Conference date: 6th July – 9th July 2020

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: AI and the Arts: Artificial Imagination

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVA2020.55

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCES

J Canemaker 2017 H Rall Unpublished. NYU Tisch School of the Arts New York City
M Dobson 2016 H Rall Unpublished. Shakespeare Institute Stratford-upon-Avon
S Dredge 2015 Pixar co-founder warns virtual-reality moviemakers: “It’s not storytelling.” www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/03/pixar-virtual-reality-storytelling-ed-catmull 22 March 2020
T Flores 2018 Google Spotlight Stories Releases Animated Short ‘Age of Sail’ on Multiple Platforms Variety.com https://variety.com/2018/film/news/google-spotlight-stories-age-of-sail-1203028811/ 22 March 2020
H RallE ReinhuberW Weber 2019 Redefining Storytelling: Towards Narrative Solutions for Animation in VR CONFIA-Conference for Illustration and Animation Esposende, Portugal June 14–15 206 IPCA Esposende, Portugal
E Sullivan 2016 Hannes Rall Unpublished. Shakespeare Institute Stratford-upon-Avon
S Thill 2019 We Want to Inspire the Virtual Reality ‘Citizen Kane’ https://www.cartoonbrew.com/interactive/oculus-tdmax-planck-we-want-to-inspire-virtual-reality-citizen-kane-116769.html 22 March 2020

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] J Canemaker 2017 H Rall Unpublished. NYU Tisch School of the Arts New York City

[2] M Dobson 2016 H Rall Unpublished. Shakespeare Institute Stratford-upon-Avon

[3] S Dredge 2015 Pixar co-founder warns virtual-reality moviemakers: “It’s not storytelling.” www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/03/pixar-virtual-reality-storytelling-ed-catmull 22 March 2020

[4] T Flores 2018 Google Spotlight Stories Releases Animated Short ‘Age of Sail’ on Multiple Platforms Variety.com https://variety.com/2018/film/news/google-spotlight-stories-age-of-sail-1203028811/ 22 March 2020

[5] H RallE ReinhuberW Weber 2019 Redefining Storytelling: Towards Narrative Solutions for Animation in VR CONFIA-Conference for Illustration and Animation Esposende, Portugal June 14–15 206 IPCA Esposende, Portugal

[6] E Sullivan 2016 Hannes Rall Unpublished. Shakespeare Institute Stratford-upon-Avon

[7] S Thill 2019 We Want to Inspire the Virtual Reality ‘Citizen Kane’ https://www.cartoonbrew.com/interactive/oculus-tdmax-planck-we-want-to-inspire-virtual-reality-citizen-kane-116769.html 22 March 2020

Celebrating 65 years of The Computer Journal - free-to-read perspectives - bcs.org/tcj65

ShakesVR: Redefining narrative strategies for linear storytelling in a fully immersive environment