imp table
narrative

Interactive narrative in the Imp Table
April 20, 2006

Take a look at the storyboard for the newest edition of the narrative, which I intend as a basis for Prototype 3. I'll add more detail and complexity as I go.

Issues with this narrative:

- technically, how can we tell the difference between objects and hands? Can I do video sensing of skin tones, plus shadows within the skin-toned areas to locate escape routes? How can we sense the presence of the imps versus other shadows on the table (the current problem with the video sensing from below)?

Questions:

The physical setup: Why a table? Is there a reason for it to be a table with plate and cup? Is there a reason for a flat table-like surface at all? Why would people approach and interact with a brightly lit table? Should it be more or less conspicuous as an installation? What about using a bar or dinner table in a restaurant. What is the intended display environment?

Fitting narratives: What plot-lines am I interested in that would work well in this installation? What will provide a more compelling experience than simply watching these cute little guys run around and make shapes with you? Prison versus escape. The lone hero versus the group, and that narrative flipped.

Intended direction for Prototype 3:

-Narrative writing and detailed storyboarding
-Dance and movement research
-Videotaping new scenes
-Animating
-Better Video sensing: Jitter or Java?
-Physical setup: what's the largest possible surface area given projector and camera limitations?

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April 10, 2006: Interactive Narrative?

My swim team buddies seem to agree that the 'narrative' I have created for my table imps is a bit superficial, but charming. I agree that the piece is less than epic storytelling, but because of the different possible directions that depend on interactivity, it allows for more than merely observing character development. The question becomes more about what do I want to keep and what can be thrown away. So, to get back to basics:

One thing I know about the piece as it is right now is that the simple visual effect of seeing the animations emerge unexpectedly and move naturalistically on the table top is engaging and interesting to most people. In the interest of attempting to be a good interactive artist, I'll follow Crawford's advice and try to take this further. Why do people like this piece? The natural human movement of the imps is unexpected, and the flat 2D effect integrated with the real-world objects on the table provides an engaging illusion.

Starting there, I believe that being able to interact with these characters - simply watching them behave differently and seemingly in reaction to your actions - would enhance that pleasure. And yes, I agree with you that having an objective that you can help the imps with or block them from may be a good way to create a relationship.

I also believe that the piece would benefit from more depth to the story and character. How to do this without making the whole thing so complicated that the user can't intuitively understand the experience in the first 30 seconds? But deep enough that they can stay for 5 minutes, or come back and learn more the second time around? Is it enough for me to come up with a rich backstory and allow that to seep into the work? Similar to, when writing a novel, knowing that your main character hates carrots and was traumatized by horses as a kid, but never directly referring to those things?

As for your concerns, I wonder if it isn't part of narrative to learn about a character. Isn't it true that good plot comes through character? I believe most of our readings have been consistent on that point. However, it's true that it needs to go further than just character study. Is it not enough that the imps start off by being curious about the human input, and then can become either increasingly agitated and tentative or further engaged and entertaining? Hmm, perhaps not. There does need to be more. I do like the idea of a shared or separate objective, like moving the plate in order to reveal something.

I've also been wondering if there should be just one main imp. Maybe I've been reading too much of the Joseph Campbell. I am interested in the lone hero as mythic symbol that everyone can relate to, and I wonder if the mass protagonist muddies the waters.

Okay, so what about this:
The imp comes out from under the plate after you touch it. He goes about his business. If you come near him, he's surprised and a bit concerned. He waves at you and if you touch him, he knows for sure that you can see him. He asks, somehow, that you help him move the plate a little. If you do, he gets excited and happy. When you move the plate over enough, more imps are revealed to you. You've somehow released them from their prison under the plate. This lends more drama to the story, which it needs. But why have they been trapped? When you release them, what happens? Should the user have to do more than just move the plate?

I don't agree with Crawford on many things (including his love of himself), but some of his statements raise good relevant points for me:

- Design the interactive experience by designing the rules of the world you create, while letting the user determine the nature of the events.

- "To use interactivity effectively, you must deeply understand the human truth that people see and hear what they want to see and hear, and then you must come to understand those desires. Being right is not good enough; you must somehow see your truth through other people's eyes." Yikes! I would love to do this, but is it even possible? Perhaps if you're having a face to face conversation, but through the medium of technology? What I can take from this without getting completely overwhelmed is the instruction to think more thoroughly about the perception of the audience as individuals.

- "Penetrate closer to what makes you human". I think this is a good rule for most art. And it's a good reminder for me of why I'm uncomfortable with this table project being merely charming. I want it to be achingly heartfelt and challenging. That needs to come through in my narrative. Perhaps the imps are in jail, and the users' actions can release or further confine them. A more careful and reason approach will release them, while rash action and aggression will imprison them further.

- As Ball, McKee and Crawford remind us, good plot often relies upon developing characters that are so believable that when presented a choice, they must make a decision that is true to their fundamental nature. So how can you can the user in the role of a character when you know nothing about their character, and still allow the plot to progress in a way that is reactive to their particular input? Crawford argues that you need to break this rule of good narrative and give only the simplest, dualistic and balanced opportunities for decision-making. This is problematic - I'm not sure good narrative can survive without interesting and complex characters that make interesting and complex decisions.

- Another thing that struck me from Crawford is this passage: "For interactive storytelling, ... the foremost cognitive modality at play is social reasoning. The infinite complexity of the dynamics of human social relationships gives the interactive storyteller a bottomless well of material; the problem lies in getting some sort of algorhythmic grasp of the problem. Reducing social mechinations to mathematical form without compromising their richness, however, requires deftly combining artistic insight and mathematical fluency." And interestingly enough, he then directs the reader to his chapter on personality models. Through the table, I'm increasingly thinking that the narrative needs to embody a very dramatic and elemental story of human relationships. Perhaps about the individual versus society, or xenophobia/nationalism. Maybe about the impulse in ourselves to control that which we don't understand, and thereby losing the chance to learn from it.

- The choices you give the user must be functional and engaging. In my project, I'm not sure that the choices are so very compelling. I need to make them more significant, and avoid pointless action.

- The storyworld concept makes sense to me. It's what I'm driving at with the table environment, but this reminds me to be more thorough about creating the rules and history of that world.

So, I want to further develop a rich story about the table, and integrate some dramatic tension that goes further than merely introducing the audience to this world and peoples. I am thinking that the users should play a role in either releasing the imps from a trap, or further confining them. One large problem with this is repeatability or continued use: once you've released the imps, there's not much more to do. I'll ask about this in class

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March 27, 2006: What makes good non-linear plot?

Some possible answers relevant to questions emerging in my own projects jumped up from reading First Person:
- create strong characters your users can respect and relate to, characters robust enough so as to seem to live beyond your interaction with them
- immediate and sensical interactive response (although I think that taking that away from users can work well in certain situations)
- because our postmodern life is so virtual and constructed, there are ripe opportunities for highlighting and twisting our everyday experience without the user getting too caught up in the technology that drives it
- people are increasingly aware of and interested in the possibilities of multiple realities
- in order to reconcile the conflicts between interactivity and plot, keep things simple and well-planned but let a rich back story seep in intuitively if possible
- make the interactive plot subtle and clever so as to not seem coercive or contrived
- think about the piece not just as it will be used by interactor but also as it will be seen by an observer
- beware of a branching structure (this is exactly how I've been constructing my narrative)
- give clear purpose to interaction all the way through, not just one goal to reach at the end
- plot should emerge through the characters
- because the work I want to create tends more towards installation, this brings in a whole new level of questions involving space and time. It also means that I can think about a level of interactivity that's impossible on the screen and may open up more possibilities.

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March 2006: Narrative Ideas

In my first rendition of the table, I had the imps emerge ready to engage the viewer and show off. Upon thinking about the plot and characters of the imps, I realized that they should begin with thinking that we can't see them, and express surprise at our engagement with them. How would a group react to a new presence and attention in their community? What interactions would create the most tension and richness for simple plot development that really engages this particular medium?

The imps should have strong personalities and clear motivations. There will be 21 possible scenes. It should be possible to end at either a very good place - with the imps happy and showing you their talents, or badly - with the imps refusing to emerge for you.

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The shadow imps are really very private creatures. They work tirelessly to build the shadows of objects us humans are always carelessly buying and tossing around. They mainly ignore us and go about their work. Where there is more contrast between light and shadow, they thrive. They are judgemental about the objects they make shadows for, and therefore judgemental of us. Working with the shadows gives them a deeper knowledge of the history of the objects they live under. They're a close-knit community, and although they all look the same, there's no hive mentality but a real individuality among them.

The imps are playful but also passionate and given to anger. They know we exist, but think that we can't see them. So, when they're touched on the imp table, they're surprised, curious, a bit frightened. They are protective, and if you touch them too much, they'll become angry and hide.

So, the narrative can take many turns, depending on how respectful the viewer is of the imps. If you want to touch too much, even touch the young imps who are clamouring for attention, they'll start to get angry and hide. If, on the other hand, the viewer simply watches, the imps will show off.

One narrative line:

Imp 1, the boss emerges from under the plate, thinking something's been placed on it. He wants to go about his work building the shadow. If he's touched by the viewer, he's surprised but incredulous. At a second touch, he's convinced that the viewer is actually aware of him. He's a little nervous, but a pretty confident guy, so he waves and looks at the viewer, and finally goes back inside. If you touch the plate, he'll come back out and show off a bit by creating some shadows for you. He'll bring some friends who are interested in this new phenomenon. But if you touch him too much, or pick him up -- well, he has his pride -- he'll get pissy and leave. If you touch the plate again, he'll come up but be exasperated and leave quickly.

Another:

If Imp 1 has already learned about you and gone back under the plate, when you touch the spoon, lots of young imps will run out from under the plate. They've heard about the fact that you can see them, and they want to show off. They jump around the spoon. If you touch these guys, the rest want to be touched. They love the attention. The older imps get increasingly agitated as you play with the young ones, and they call you back in. Interactions after this will be strained.

Some questions:

- What's a good payoff in this narrative? Is a payoff necessary?

- Will users be impatient if a scene plays twice? Or is it engaging enough for some repetition, especially if - depending on how they act in a scene, the next scene plays differently?

- is the simple good/bad plot line complex enough for sustained interaction? Should the backstory and motivations be developed more, or is that overkill for a piece like this? I don't want this piece to be simply charming. The original intention was to be educational, but I think that too much information on this piece would become preachy and lose some of the simple goodness.

Plot/Interactivity Diagrams

These are the best way I've come up with for figuring out the plot lines. Like a Venn diagram, they show the different scenerios based on the user interaction, plus what interactions have come before.

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