Storytelling 2.0 — The art of telling stories in a connected world
The rapid advancement of technology has transformed us into The Jetsons. But the use of these tools to enhance our storytelling makes us seem more like The Flintstones. Writers, creators, producers and academics are still busy developing ways to create richer, more engaging and more profitable transmedia experiences. Dr Jean Pierre Magro speaks to Think on the fascinating and lucrative world of transmedia narratives. Illustrations by Sonya Hallett
Continue reading
Afflicted — Film Review
Noel: I was surprised to see that Afflicted was a vampire movie. From the trailer I gathered that it was going to be a contagion film. Vampires and pestilence share a common history but I was thinking 28 Days Later (2002) rather than The Addiction (1995). Unfortunately, despite finding it entertaining, it hardly broke any new ground in terms of vampire lore. Apart from its use of shaky-cam film-making, we’ve seen it all before.
Krista: Speaking of vampire lore—one highlight for me was the ill-fitting conversation referencing ‘traditional’ vampire lore (‘Well you should have the ability to turn into mist.’) which contrasted with that attempted ‘realist’ style. I’m actually impressed that they didn’t fall into the usual US stereotyping and made it happen in some ‘mysterious’ backwoods of ‘Old Europe’, but chose Paris as a hub of civilisation.
N: However the filmmakers still kept the vampire at arms’ length, making the monster foreign. As you pointed out, it’s not Transylvania or the Yorkshire moors; but it’s still an American who got infected by a European.
K: I also liked that despite their attempt to be innovative, they weren’t pretentious and even included traditional jump scares. I liked the first-person perspective (fpp) during the run—kind of game-like.
N: His heightened perception and supra-human powers reminded me of Chronicle (2012). It was fun but I wouldn’t want to watch it again.
K: The film spends a while setting up the friendship, so I’m not sure why it was ended early. It was a brave move and foregrounded isolation but the ending fell flat for me. I was disappointed with the half-hearted fight sequence and the cringe-worthy moralising and sentimentalising. That vigilantism could be an interesting parody and critique of institutionalised ‘justice’, seen in many ‘revenge films’. But here it just brought it back in line with conservative morality.
N: The moralising was a shaky-cam version of Louis in Interview with the Vampire (1995). Even if we had to isolate Derek’s crisis (the main character) and take it for what it was, it’s still not that interesting. It reminded me of a bad Pepsi Max advert, highlighting thrills and shallow been-there-done-that moments. On another note: what do you think about the found footage? Is it overstaying its welcome? I think so. I’m finding it tedious and boring for an entire feature-length film. Get a tripod!
K: I’m surprised that found footage has outlived its ‘novelty’ factor. I was kind of sceptical about that but several films, including V/H/S (2012), have convinced me there’s still life in it. I have three main reasons: (1) its DIY possibilities, which gives a new lease to indie directors without the backing of glossy production; (2) its proximity to some fpp video games—disorientation, chase; (3) it seems to be associated with the horror genre. Other genres borrow it as a device; horror embraces it. I’m not sure why exactly but ‘found text’ is found in horror literature, from Bram Stoker to Mark Z Danielewski, it’s an established device.
N: So, final verdict? I recommend Afflicted if you’re looking for an hour and a half of harmless entertainment. A camp-fire story for the tech-savvy generation.
K: Perhaps more of a ‘teen adult’ horror; it references a horror tradition, but doesn’t add much that’s new, perhaps more rewarding for less ‘seasoned’ horror fans.
You’re Next — Film Review
A home-invasion movie with the possible tag-line ‘they got more than they bargained for’. No, it’s not Home Alone — though you may be forgiven for thinking that.
From part of the team that gave us V/H/S, You’re Next bears Adam Wingard’s trademark playful-violent stamp (think Home Alone’s cartoonish violence, with lethal contraptions thrown in). Wingard makes an appearance in both V/H/S and as himself in his segment for The ABCs of Death (‘Q’); though he doesn’t appear in You’re Next, the latter film incorporates a characteristically self-conscious knowing wink, featuring writer Simon Barrett and fellow film-makers Ti West and Joe Swanberg in supporting roles — Ti West’s Tariq introducing himself as a ‘documentary film-maker’, with high ‘intellectual’ (and short-lived) aspirations.
Adam Wingard self-consciously plays with conventions, without quite overturning expectations. The ‘final girl’ slasher convention is here taken a little further, Sharni Vinson’s Erin is not a scream queen fleeing danger, with a dash of luck on her side, she is resourceful and an equal match for the ‘invaders’. The villains’ usual resistance to death is here transferred to a less likely character, in a ‘why won’t you hurry up and die already?’ moment that is brilliantly played up for comic effect.
Little nods to other home-invasion movies frame particular moments: such as an animal-masked figure — simultaneously disconcertingly jarring and ridiculous — sitting on a couch beside a propped-up dead body in an upper-middle class setting, for a quiet Funny Games pause in the action, with an added cartoonish element.
The generally fast-paced action is spaced out with moments of tension, and an effective balance is struck between the danger trying to penetrate into the space of the family/parents’ home, and the danger already ‘within’.
The ‘home’ itself is a newly-acquired house, territory as unfamiliar to the family and guests as it is to the uninvited invaders — not quite lived in, not quite a ‘home’ yet, just as the family-relations are themselves characterised by awkwardness. While lessening the terror that stems from the violation of a warm and safely welcoming homely space, this accentuates the unsettling absence of refuge for the characters, with vulnerable interior–exterior boundaries.
With two striking exceptions, death scenes were disappointingly standard. The premise and set-up of the movie could easily have led to more inventive devices. You’re Next is slasher, home invasion, and murder mystery, all rolled into one; yet, it remains firmly and respectfully within genre conventions. Nothing wrong with this — I’m not about to make any apologies for a genre I have so much affection for. Yet, there is a lingering sense of an opportunity missed — Wingard’s self-awareness and sense of the ridiculous gives a glimpse for greater potential here restrained.
The Conjuring — Film Review
Krista: James Wan’s film is irresponsible for its appalling suggestion that the Salem witch hunt was somehow a justifiable massacre. The dead earnestness of those who ‘inspired’ it makes me shudder. The ‘true story’ malarkey is common in horror taglines but this movie seems more earnest about those credentials by basing its characters on real people.
Noel: You’ve got a point there. Even though the story revolves around female characters, most of them are either ghosts or victims. The true menace is motherhood itself. Even Annabelle the doll exploits maternal instinct to haunt its hosts. The ghost of the witch, despite being after the children, first possesses the mother then tries to make her kill the child.
K: Are you suggesting that the film distorts the maternal instinct?
N: Yes, as far as the witch’s ghost is concerned. That is why it tries to corrupt the other mothers. The males simply orbit.
K: That’s another thing: how seriously does it take itself? There’s the playfulness one associates with a Wan film, especially references to other horror movies, such as The Evil Dead (‘groovy’). Wan is a horro fan who indulges in it for its own sake.
N: I found The Conjuring very dark in tone, compared to Insidious, his previous ghost film. The geeky paranormal researchers play a less central role.
K: How does the motherhood bond in The Conjuring compare to the fatherhood bond in Insidious?
N: The fatherhood bond is tenuous there. The mother is most worried about their haunted son.
K: You are right about the mother being the emotional centre and her level of concern in Insidious. However, the problem originates from the father, who passes on the legacy of astral projection. And it’s the father who rescues the son. I thought the mother-son relationship was more peripheral. She tries to influence events but isn’t a moving force.
N: Off on a tangent: James Wan is such a good filmmaker. He’s confident and knows exactly what he wants to get across without resorting to boo! gimmickry. The scariest bits in the film happen with a static camera and no cuts. Just mise-en-scène — a visually artful way of telling a story. For example, the bedroom scene with the two sisters. One of them points at a ghost that is never seen. Since we’re watching a horror film, we know it’s there. And Wan sustains the scene long enough to get under our skin. Brilliant!
K: That’s true. Though in terms of unexpected shifts, these do occur often. Take that ‘odd’ devil scene in Insidious where it feels like a different horror subgenre. There are these shifts in tone and style in The Conjuring too, but it is more consistent than Insidious overall.
N: Insidious is simply superb up until the ‘ghostbusters’ appear; then it becomes goofy.
K: Though I’d take any Lin Shaye character over the Warrens.
N: I am with you on Wan’s playful approach. Honestly, I’d love to see a ‘mature’ James Wan film through and through. Given the right script, he would make a great film. Krista, could we say that The Conjuring is a second take at Insidious?
K: I agree with what you said when we came out of the cinema — that it refers back to his earlier film. Though I still prefer Insidious, because of those jarring shifts from subtle to unsubtle, which are tricky to pull off, but
somehow work. The Conjuring is certainly more polished, but I cannot quite see it as more ‘mature’ than Insidious, mainly because of its political irresponsibility.
Cockneys vs Zombies — Film Review
At a site in East London, two construction workers inadvertently unearth the tomb belonging to the late King Charles II. Upon entering the crypt, they are assaulted, bitten and unkilled by former plague victims. Meanwhile, brothers Terry (Rasmus Hardiker) and Andy (Harry Tread- away), with their cousin Katy (Mi- chelle Ryan), are planning a bank heist. The trio concoct this heinousness with a noble intent: saving their grandad’s (Alan Ford) retirement home from be- ing demolished by heartless property developers. But of course, everything goes pear-shaped when the entire neighbourhood is invaded by hordes of the undead.
Cockneys and zombies: that’s what the title promises and that’s exactly what it delivers. Given the self-conscious- ly schlocky title, you would expect a crudely-made, amateurish production,
the likes of which litter the internet. The truth is, thankfully, very different. Cockneys has quite a high production value. It’s not World War Z but footage of London enfolded in chaos and may- hem is rendered in good quality CG, as are the close-up shots of carnage.
Still, one problem with comedy zombie flicks is that they will forever be in the shadow of Edgar Wright’s masterful Shaun of the Dead (2004). Shaun was a perfect storm of comedy, horror, excellent production, inspired casting, and fortuitous timing. Just as everybody was trying to get his/her head around the seemingly dubious merits and immense popularity of tor- ture porn horror films (Saw and The Passion of the Christ were both released in 2004), in waltzed Messrs. Wright, (Simon) Pegg and (Nick) Frost who made everybody’s sides split with laughter.
Luckily, even though Cockneys vs Zombies is nowhere near as brilliant as Shaun, it still can hold its head high. Director Matthias Hoene and writers James Moran (Severance, 2005) and Lucas Roche touch upon, but don’t expand much, on the zombie-as-meta- phor angle. They just want to play it for laughs and get more hits than misses. The scene in which poor old Hamish (Richard Briers) is being chased by the notoriously slow-moving zombies is pure gold and West Ham United sup- porters can put their mind at rest that, even after death, the feud with Millwall still rages on. In an inspired scene, we are at last shown that even infants are not immune to a zombie infestation.
Cockneys is no (early) George A. Romero and does not aspire to be. It just wants you to relax, pop some corn, sip on soda, and enjoy a zombie-tour around the streets of East London.
THE WIG HUNT
Imagine a crime story told through film, photoshoots, autopsy reports, audio recordings, emails and more — how would you read it? Where would you start? This is the nature of transmedia, taking a universe and spinning from it many stories and subplots. Its an exciting way of telling a story, used to advertise Game of Thrones, the latest Batman movies and the Star Wars franchise. But even a church can be a Transmedia experience with statues, sermons, stained glass, and architecture retelling the Bible’s stories.At this year’s Evening on Campus, Josianne Mamo’s The Wig Hunt entry won the first Transmedia Storytelling Competition ever held in Malta. I managed to meet her just before she left to Scotland.
– What is the wig hunt?
The Wig Hunt starts off with a car crash near Loch Lomond (North of Glasgow). In the car they don’t find anyone, just blood. A short distance away they find a brutally murdered and sodomised woman. And, PC James Murray — he’s the investigating officer — is quite new to the business. He’s not really doing well, but he slowly builds his skills as he goes along.
– Is he inexperienced?
He was in a different field, but because of love he changes his career. He moves to Glasgow to be closer to the person he loves, but this move has made the relationship difficult. Probably inspired by my own life. He was in scuba diving before moving into police investigations. He finds the suspect… I shouldn’t be giving too many spoilers. Let’s just say there is another murder and the investigation takes a whole new turn. It’s a story about sex, drugs and crime in Glasgow. I’m trying to take freemasonry as we know it in the Mediterranean and place it in Scotland. Will that be successful? We’ll see.
– Where did the inspiration come from?
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski was a major influence in my writing. What’s fascinating about it is the form in which the story is told, which inspired me. My story started off as an exercise in free writing and then it moved from there. The idea was to give bite sized information. I tried to keep the reader going by giving snippets of information then moving on to the next part and the next part and the next part. It fascinates me how a titbit of information grows and becomes never ending. Of course, at the end you need to find a resolution — you need to tame your idea.
– Many of my friends won’t read novels or anything longer than 2000 words.
That’s why I chose this form. The idea was to simulate something that you would find on the internet. Let’s say you found a newspaper article and it got you piqued, and you moved to the next article. It’s like surfing the web and letting those bits of information unfold.
– What media do you use?
The actual text, simulating official documents (autopsy reports, police reports and so on); a short film on the website; audio clips similar to police investigators talking into a recorder and hearing the conversations as they go along. The idea is not just to give a manuscript but supplementing it with other material.Following the story through different media is what is exciting about it, because it is so different. I moved on and created a website with a timeline where the reader could actually go and read whichever piece of information he wanted, be it the video clip, audio, and you don’t need to read all the titbits. If he’s more interested in the personal relationship then there is another section he can go into. The reader can choose what he wants to read and how to read it.
– What changes did you need to do to make it as a writer in the way you thought of the story to be able to write in a transmedia style? How did you research your novel?
I went there as a writer of historical novels and I ended up writing a crime novel. That went beyond my wildest imagination — it was something major. I had to change in my way of thinking. The fact that I am studying at Glasgow opens various doors. What I did was instead of approaching actual people, I read genuine reports that were leaked online, like David Kelly’s report and various others. I try to go online. My next step is to go to this crime writing festival called Bloody Scotland, which I am very excited about. There will be the likes of Ian Rankin and Denise Mina whom I met at an event at the University of Glasgow. On a whim, I bought the tickets before I started writing the story, now it will be even more exciting. One of the talks will be on how they do research, some people do go all the way and follow police officers and some of them have been police officers, like Karen Campbell was and then she started writing. There are different degrees of involvement.
“It was refreshing for me to write in these different media. That actually helped me in the writing process.”
– You had the likes of Malcolm Galea, and other big names in your photoshoot and film. Why do you think they agreed to get involved?
I’m still asking myself that question. Malcolm was a major plus for me. He kept using a word when I was showing him a particular character I wanted him to act out (Val Gina — a transvestite performer), which was ‘fun’. Injecting a bit of humour into my script might have helped get him on board. I always had him in mind for that particular part — it was a major thing for me to get him involved.
-Did you find it hard to write for so many different types of media and why was this a Transmedia story?
More than the writing it was producing it that was very demanding. The challenge was making sure that the tone for each document was right. It was refreshing for me to write in these different media. That actually helped me in the writing process. One big challenge was trying to inject flavour, characterisation, bringing them alive, especially the actual murdered victim. In the crime scene, I tried to strike an emotional chord through the photos. As for the actual investigator, having that subplot going on hopefully makes the character three-dimensional.
– What does Transmedia bring to storytelling?
I would say that it adds richness. Telling a story is challenging. As a writer you have a picture in your mind and
you have to place it in words. Showing that picture that you have to the reader
is exciting and a writer of a traditional manuscript would have to transmit that only through words. In my case I am doing this with various different means, photos, audio clips, so people can hear the suspect speaking. The challenge was to link all this together to make sure that there are no loose ends.
Perhaps this might inspire next year’s participants: “It is a fantastic opportunity to be working on something you really love and winning this transmedia competition means I’ll have even more time to work on this project,” said Josianne Mamo. “You learn so much by doing something different. And, I loved it,” she said
The other participants:
| How it all started |
|
Every story has a beginning. This competition was inspired by a BBC TV programme which highlighted the Transmedia approach of telling stories. After watching this, Patricia Camilleri got her team hooked onto the idea, at the same time as Jean Pierre Magro was organising the first Transmedia seminar in Malta. The rest, as they say, is history. This year there were six entries. Daphne Kelleher, the event’s organiser said, “I was intrigued by the stories […] I wanted to see them visually and what they could come up with, […] they captured the imagination”. Josianne Mamo’s entry was the one which gave the most various and well prepared media. For next year, Daphne suggests, “Go into what you know and use it in detail, be enthusiastic and form a team with people who have different skills.” Transmedia uses different media, but instead of having one storyline, build a universe and from it draw many stories. To be continued… new competition launched in March 2012, see:
|
– ANGELUS
Simon Theuma, Gabriel Borg, Mark-Anthony Fenech & Jean-Luc Portelli
Post-war 1950’s. A new city has sprung up in the desert where life is dictated by God. You are wellcome as long as you have God in your heart, but what does that mean?
Media: an Alternate Reality Game, Novels, Live Events, Comics, TV Series, Webisodes, Podcasts/Radio, Newspapers, Augmented Reality, web-based role playing game (MMORPG), Twitter and Facebook.
– CYBER SECRETS
Daniela Azzopardi, Marta Vella & Graziana Agius
The University of Malta’s Media Faculty blog has been hacked and secrets… dark secrets… are being exposed. The shameful side of lecturers and students are being exposed. Everyone has a secret — whose will be next?
Media: blogs, online forum, mobile app, TV series, and novellas.
– DREAMS OF THE UNDESERVING
Ivan Xuereb
Insomnia! Everyone can suffer from it, but just imagine if you never slept. This is the Sandman’s fate. He offers people the chance to have their dreams… at the expense of others.
Media: website, blogs, Vimeo, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Physical Installation, and Graphic Novel.
– THE DARK
Jean-Marc Chapelle & Karl Xuereb
In Malta a secretive research company called Obertek finds a dome under Mdina. Inside it they find an artefact which has extraordinary powers but after a failed experiment the artefact vanishes. The dome’s carvings hold a mystery that must be solved to reclaim the artefact.
Media: website, TV series, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, videogame, mobile app, email newsletter, QR codes.
– THE UNDERDOGS
Neil Attard & Valentina Cassar
Coming from a difficult background Donovan finds it difficult to succeed. He has problems with work, colleagues and his girlfriend. After meeting a stranger in a bar, he is darkly reborn and seeks revenge on his employers.
Media: webisodes, film, comics, game, website, television, other promotional media.