Going Deep: Creating a Layered Narrative Experience through Touch
Ramona Pringle
Peak Media
We are the species that tells stories; It is how we store memories and make sense of the world around us… and for the most part, our stories stay the same: man versus man, versus nature, versus himself… versus machine. But, as technology advances at an exponential rate and new gadgets become ubiquitous tools in all of our lives, the ways for telling, sharing and experiencing those stories are also rapidly changing. With the rise of the Internet and the potential for telling stories across multiple platforms came Transmedia storytelling. This presentation will explore a new production model for telling intersecting narratives, whereby the features of Transmedia storytelling can be integrated within one intuitive, touch screen experience – with layers of content that allow for a deep- rather than wide – exploration of narrative(s).
This presentation dives deep into the nitty gritty of creative and technical research and development on Avatar Secrets, an interactive documentary for the iPad being produced by Ramona Pringle Productions with TVO, The Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund and the CMF, to explore how tablets and personal touch screens are changing the documentary viewing experience, and how the lines are blurring between documentary narrative, journalism, and art.
Avatar Secrets has been produced to give viewers a richly customizable immersive narrative experience, with a continuum of personalization that ranges from cinematic viewing to interactive exploration, to the experience of reading a rich media book. Integrating cinematic video content, animated graphic novel style sequences, documentary stories, expert interviews, and a POV memoir, audiences can view the narrative as a lean back experience, dig deeper into storylines and thematic explorations through an interactive interface with embedded hot spots and navigational features.
Avatar Secrets Links
The trailer for Avatar Secrets launched at Social Media Week in Toronto, in September. The interactive documentary project was featured as part of a spotlight on Canada at Power to the Pixel, in London, in October.
Website
Trailer
Global Television Interview