Exploring the Digital Storytelling of "5 Haitis": Narratives of Resilience and Reality

1. 5 Haitis Digital Storytelling

2. What is 5 Haitis? • Digital narrative • Themes • 2010 Earthquake • Characters • Omar • Bronte • Guerda • Interaction • Character stories • Scene stories • Character dialogues

3. Intro • The concept • Hyper/deep attention • Serious games • The 4th wall • Other inspirations • The process • Character and narrative development • Graphics and Interactivity • The critique

4. The Concept • A sombre, serious subject • An event of current concern • Something that would provoke thought, personalise the event

5. Hyper / Deep Attention • Katherine Hayles – “Hyper attention is characterized by switching focus rapidly among different tasks, preferring multiple information streams, seeking a high level of stimulation, and having a low tolerance for boredom” (Jan, 2008) • How do we prefer to interact? • Deep concentration on one task • Frequently shifting focus around multiple tasks • Which is best? • Situation determines suitability

6. What about video games? • A seeming paradox • The key • Interactivity and rewards • 1000 gamers involved in a study with University of Rochester • I wanted the narrative to… • Give users freedom to explore and interact • Provide rewards • Provide multiple stimuli simultaneously allowing choice • Lots happening to keep users engaged

7. An example of hyper/deep attention media • Emphasis on sound and text • Limited interactivity • Text flashes up, animates in time with music • Stimulates hyper and deep attention • WARNING – contains flashing images • An inspiration for the text animation and speed

8. Serious Games • Games for more than just entertainment • When used in training context can be termed ‘game-learning’ • Can be used to engage users while at the same time delivering a serious message • Examples – Darfur is Dying, Food Force, Floodsim

9. Users play refugees trying to survive • Tasks include foraging for water, helping their family, irrigation etc • The experience is deepened by the interaction • The subject matter is handled sensitively and seriously

10. A serious narrative • I wanted the narrative to be serious, allowing interaction in order to make a deeper impression • 5 Haitis is not a game • No protagonist • No main goals • However it does allow autonomy, interaction • Users choose how to explore the narrative • Rewards are given in the form of details learnt • The narrative does progress

11. The 4th Wall • Represents the imaginary wall separating the audience and the story • Can be broken for dramatic or comedic effect • Used to involve the audience • Tamara (1981) dissolves the 4th wall • Takes place in a large house with ten actors performing simultaneous scenes in the rooms • Audience can choose how to experience the play

12. 5 Haitis and the 4th wall • The barrier between narrative and audience is removed by allowing interaction • Users must choose how to experience the narrative • Characters relate their stories directly to the user apart from the conversations • Everything happens simultaneously allowing repeated viewings

13. Other Inspirations • ‘Waltz with Bashir’ • Documenting the 1982 Lebanon war • Stark, sombre, dark graphic novel style • Evocative soundtrack

14. Developing the Idea • Initial idea • Four characters in quadrants • Story set a year on from the earthquake • An aftershock occurs • The user controls the choices of the characters • Problems • Time limitations • Not based on reality • Too complex to programme

15. Three characters chosen • Relate their histories • Interact with the scene • Interact with the other characters • Narratives occur simultaneously, allowing the user to choose how to experience them • Scene • Typical but fictitious Haitian location • Based on Port-au-Prince • Time Frame • Just before and then one year on from the earthquake

16. Making Digital Storytelling Work • Break the 4th Wall • Use tension, uncertainty • Employ a character arc • Give characters realistic flaws • Employ role reversals

17. Creating realistic characters • Character biographies and back histories • Character motivations should be reasonable, understandable • In digital fiction, no room for subtlety • Avoid stereotypes or twist them • Use easy to understand language • Realistic speech and conversation • Clear words and short, bite-sized pieces

18. Realistic dialogue • In early versions, the dialogue was too unnatural, formal • Suggestions (James, 2009) • Avoid ‘on the nose’ dialogue • Reveal nuances of character personality • Fit the words to suit the character • Characters generally interrupt each other • Use a subtext • Employ humour • Ensure the dialogue adds to/ moves the story forward

19. The narrative structure • 3 act structure • Act 1 sets the scene and context • Pre-quake scene • Act 2 develops the story, explores conflict, relationships and themes • Pre-quake ending in earthquake • Act 3 is the consequence of acts 1 and 2 • Post-quake • Exploratorium model with fractals • Users can explore bowls of freedom that are connected together • The story expands allowing players to explore freely but following only one theme

20. Graphical Development • The scene – a composite of multiple photos blended together

21. Interaction • Built using flash • Interaction achieved through action script • Narrative built using the iterator pattern • This allowed interruptions in back histories to occur and then resume from same position • All narrative in xml form • Allowed definition of timings, pauses, unique id’s for narrative parts

22. Critique • Main issues in development • Believable characters • Unnatural speech • Consistency • Interactivity • More features were desired • Character, scene animations • More hot spots • Structure • Exploration and multiple viewings

23. Thanks! • Any questions?