Interactive Narratives: Creating The Future of Storytelling

INTERACTIVE NARRATIVES: CREATING THE FUTURE OF STORYTELLING
Interactive Narratives:
Creating the Future Of Storytelling
SXSW Interactive | March 14, 2011
Hashtag:
#ppp
Page 2 Developed by: Robert Pratten, TransmediaStoryteller.com

Contents
Introduction: Defining and Creating an Interactive Narrative…………..4
Andrew Lewellen – Content Strategist, Razorfish
“The Three Little Pigs”: Authoring an iPad App…………………………10

Josh Koppel – Founder, ScrollMotion
The Role of Social Media in Interactive Storytelling……………………28

Esther Lim - Founder, The Estuary, LLC
Participation: Why, What & How…….……………………………………38

Robert Pratten – CEO, Transmedia Storyteller.com
Summary…….………………………………………………………………56
Introduction:
Defining and Creating an Interactive Narrative
Andrew Lewellen
Content Strategist, Razorfish
What Is An Interactive Narrative?
Page 5 Developed by: Andrew Lewellen, Razorfish


An Interactive Narrative
• Has an authored core story

• This could be a mobile app, a print book, a web site. Or nothing more than a sheet
of paper with a Central Dramatic Question, story arc, plot, and character sketches.



• Has a social narrative

• The lives of the characters expand into a shared social space where the audience
can learn more about them and become more engaged with the story.



• Has a social narrative

• The lives of the characters expand into a shared social space where the audience
can learn more about them and become more engaged with the story.
• Integrates and encourages audience participation

• The plot moves outside of the core story and utilizes a social dialogue to engage
readers with the story and its outcome.

A dynamic story that allows for personalized

engagement and narrows the gap between writer
and reader.

“The Three Little Pigs”

Authoring an iPad App
Josh Koppel
Founder, ScrollMotion
The Original
Experience
Page 11 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion








Revising the Story Assets

• Digital book building turns pages into pixels

Step 1: Asset Assessment
Image Characteristics
• 18 Jpegs
• 450 x 420
• Vertical Orientation
• Public Domain Content

Step 1: Asset Assessment
Text Characteristics Audio Characteristics

• 18 Pages • 18 Individual Files (Page by Page)
• One paragraph per page • MP3 Files

Step 2: Visual Layout





Step 3:
Extra Features Encourage Personalized
Engagement
• Play Modules
• Record Your Own Audio

The Role of Social Media

in Interactive Storytelling
Esther Lim
Founder, The Estuary, LLC
The Role of Social Media in Interactive Storytelling

Esther Lim
Social Media as a narrative/engagement platform

Summary
Social Media is a content layering tool to provide extra content to fans
When used as an alternate narrative platform, Social Media can:
• Enrich the primary story through greater character/scenario details
• Extend the primary story through exploration of additional

standalone yet related story universes
• Engage audiences by bringing the fictional world into the real world
through social interaction, shared experiences and co-authorship
Page 30 Developed by: The Estuary, LLC

How do you use social media as a narrative platform?

Activate audience participation
• Use micro blogs like Twitter or Tumblr to capture real time events
unfolding and tweet call to actions
• Use social mobile media to drive readers to specific locations for

more content discovery

Benefits of using social media in your narrative

Audience Connection and Engagement
• Emotional Connection: Audiences can form “friendships”

with the character
• Community Building: Friendships and community forms

around shared experiences
• Engagement/Co-Authorship: Opportunity for readers to

share ideas about the story that can later be integrated into
future story development

Benefits of using social media in your narrative

Marketing and Promotion
• Story Awareness and Discovery: Bring your story to where

people play online
• Content syndication/sharing: Good stories create social

cache and are shared across friend/fan networks
• Improves search engine discoverability: More mentions,

hyperlinks, tags and discussions drives better search engine
visibility
• Audience acquisition: Multiple storytelling platforms create

more entry points for entering and engaging with the story and
its community of readers

Getting started with social media narrative

How do I know if social media is right for my story?
1. Understand your audience and how they consume content
2. Design the level of reader participation you want to build
3. Identify the best social media platforms for your story/character
4. Build natural entry points (“rabbit holes”) in the story that lead to alternate
supporting narratives
5. Leverage platform features to augment story experience
6. Write the experience for all three tiers of content consumers:
• Passive Consumer
• Occasional Participant/Lurker
• Die Hard Fan
7. Allow enough ramp up time (4-6 weeks) for character integration into a
community. Relationships are not built overnight.

Esther Lim
esther@theestuarysf.com
www.theestuarysf.com
@geekgrl or @theestuarysf

Participation: Why, What & How
Robert Pratten
CEO, Transmedia Storyteller.com
Summary
• Leave a door open
• Good stories work with or without interactivity

• Build on what you know
• Structure for enthusiasm

Why bother with participation?

• The business case
– lower costs
• marketing is integrated into the product (as it
should be)
– increased sales
• social recommendation & spread
• empowerment of advocates
– engagement is measurable
• The creative case
– audience interaction is thrilling and addictive

How do I do it?
• Objective:
– Make it easy
– Make it worthwhile, meaningful, fun
• Steps
– Sketch the experience you want to create
(consider artistic and commercial scenarios)
– Layer your story for different levels of
enthusiasm such that it works for the lazy and
rewards the fan

Make it easy

Incentivize participation

Layering your story

Additional content for fans

Content for attraction

Layers united by story

Examples
• Lowlifes.tv
– solo participation
– QR codes offer additional subplot
– email-based (alternative reality) game
• Horror Unlimited short story
– play with friends
– two-player twitter game
• 3 Interactive Pigs
– play in teams
– multiplayer interactive storytelling

3 Interactive Pigs
• Strong authorship (story is on rails) but…
• Audience decides outcome at plot points
– House of Straw, House of Sticks, House of Bricks
• Pigs vs Wolf – you decide!
• Do the pigs live or die?
• Why bother?
– Fun to create and fun to play
– Facilitate social play which
• strengthens relationships
• raise awareness of other (paid) media
– Reward fans

3 Interactive Pigs in Layers

Call To Action

Layered Engagement

Poking friends
Matchword used to trigger Conducttr - tells

@BigBadWolf_2011 to send a tweet to these friends

Summary
• Leave a door open
• Good stories work with or without interactivity

• Build on what you know
• Structure for enthusiasm
• Lower costs
• Increased sales

Start writing for audience engagement: www.tstoryteller.com
Robert Pratten
CEO TransmediaStoryteller.com
@zenfilms or @tstoryteller
Summary
Summary
• Has an authored core story.
• Has a social narrative.
• Integrates and encourages audience participation.
• Is a dynamic story that allows for personalized engagement and

narrows the gap between writer and reader.

Questions?
Page 56
Thank You!

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INTERACTIVE NARRATIVES: CREATING THE FUTURE OF STORYTELLING

Page 2 Developed by: Robert Pratten, TransmediaStoryteller.com

“The Three Little Pigs”: Authoring an iPad App…………………………10

The Role of Social Media in Interactive Storytelling……………………28

Participation: Why, What & How…….……………………………………38

What Is An Interactive Narrative?

Page 5 Developed by: Andrew Lewellen, Razorfish

What Is An Interactive Narrative?

• Has an authored core story

Page 6 Developed by: Andrew Lewellen, Razorfish

What Is An Interactive Narrative?

• Has an authored core story

• Has a social narrative

Page 7 Developed by: Andrew Lewellen, Razorfish

What Is An Interactive Narrative?

• Has an authored core story

• Has a social narrative

• Integrates and encourages audience participation

Page 8 Developed by: Andrew Lewellen, Razorfish

What Is An Interactive Narrative?

A dynamic story that allows for personalized

Page 9 Developed by: Andrew Lewellen, Razorfish

“The Three Little Pigs”

Page 11 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Page 12 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Page 13 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Page 14 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Page 15 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Page 16 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Page 17 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Page 18 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Revising the Story Assets

Page 19 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Step 1: Asset Assessment

Page 20 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Step 1: Asset Assessment

Text Characteristics Audio Characteristics

Page 21 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Step 2: Visual Layout

Page 22 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Step 2: Visual Layout

Page 23 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Step 2: Visual Layout

Page 24 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Step 2: Visual Layout

Page 25 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Step 2: Visual Layout

Page 26 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

Page 27 Developed by: Josh Koppel, ScrollMotion

The Role of Social Media

The Role of Social Media in Interactive Storytelling

Social Media as a narrative/engagement platform

Social Media is a content layering tool to provide extra content to fans

When used as an alternate narrative platform, Social Media can:

• Enrich the primary story through greater character/scenario details

• Extend the primary story through exploration of additional

Page 30 Developed by: The Estuary, LLC

How do you use social media as a narrative platform?

• Use social mobile media to drive readers to specific locations for

Page 31 Developed by: The Estuary, LLC

Benefits of using social media in your narrative

• Emotional Connection: Audiences can form “friendships”