srn2020oxford 26 Jul 2021 Panel 2, Theory, VR

Nelson-Tabor – Storyframing: finding the holy grail of a formalised narrative language as a framework that can finally utilise VR technology

Jodi Nelson-Tabor (University of Greenwich, London, UK)

Panel 2 – TECH 1 (VR, IMMERSIVE)

Tuesday 31 August (Day 1), Session 1, 10 am

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Paolo Russo on 27 Aug 2021 at 2:10 pm
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Tx for such a deeeense presentation, enriched by so many first-hand examples of your own teaching experience and with very promising future developments too. A few questions:
– Would the resulting document (i.e. a screenplay for a VR story) be called a “storyframe”?
– Very interesting range of software combinations and uses. What about one that merges a “regular” script format with tagged elements embedded wherever needed and that can then be popped up to reveal any sort of related, additional information in any format/media necessary?
– (for you but for all the other panellists as well): Doesn’t the main difference between a traditional screenplay form and VR scripts lie in the fact that the former is mostly preoccupied with time sequencing whereas the latter has space as its main issue to sort out (also as per your description of the pyramid navigation)?
– The pyramid is all fine but it looks to me to be exactly the same as the hierarchy described by Edward Branigan’s in Narrative Comprehension and Film. If so, what makes this distinctively for VR?

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Deborah Klika on 28 Aug 2021 at 2:49 pm
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I agree with Paolo’s comment on film being a time based medium and this new form is a space based medium. Would Delueze assist in theorising or unpacking some of the issue and developing a framework? I could be off-piste here and it is years since reading Deleuze but it does seem that from all the speakers on this panel that some theorising of VR work from script to screen might assist with an approach in developing these works in some consistent manner. What was interesting was the various approaches of development, in particular the VP section, which is similar to a test shoot in cinema, but the difference is the VP stage can affect the story for a number of reasons, underlining your point that writers in this form need to understand/know the production process/workflow.

One point I’d like to comment on is:in ‘flat’ storytelling the audience ‘doesn’t have to work for it’ – good scripting writing engages an audience by making them fill the gaps left including thematic approaches, disruption of time and unspoken motivation of character. What seems different is that different audiences arrive at the same point in different ways in VR, but everyone has the same information in ‘flat’ storytelling. Again can the audience of a flat version each have a different view of character motivation and theme, much like audience in a VR story? Very interesting and detailed presentation thank you.

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SRN 2021

Nelson-Tabor – Storyframing: finding the holy grail of a formalised narrative language as a framework that can finally utilise VR technology

READ ABSTRACT & BIOS

WATCH PRE-RECORDED PRESENTATION

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