Analysis of Interactive NarrativesAdriana Morales | Feb 14, 2014 | COMM.4780

Killing Kennedy (kennedyandoswald.com)

Killing Kennedy is a linear narrative that is divided into six chapters. Each chapter equally focuses on the lives of John F. Kennedy and Lee Oswald. The story tends to favor Kennedy and views his death as tragedy but humanizes Oswald rather than vilifying him.

Parallax scrolling is a used story telling medium to show juxtaposition. When the user scrolls down the page is split in half. The effect is used to show similarities, parallelism, and symmetry in the men’s lives. For instance, both were drafted into the military but pursued different paths and held conflicting ideologies.

As a multimedia narrative, Killing Kennedy uses videos, soundbites, and clips to further bring the story to life. Viewers are able to branch outside the main narrative by clicking on icons that reveal more information. Throughout the experience, music is used to enforce the melancholic, somber mood.

Although, Killing Kennedy is a beautifully rendered story, it forces the reader to view the two men’s lives as two lines converging at joint, in other words fate. Viewers should be allowed to view each men’s lives separately rather than as a single story.

Killing Kennedy (kennedyandoswald.com)

Example of parallax scrolling splitting the screen in half.

Killing Kennedy (kennedyandoswald.com)

Killing Kennedy allows readers to branch outside the story by viewing photos, soundbites, and clips from events.

Evan Boehm, a director at Nexus Interactive Arts, recently published an interactive short film titled “The Carp and the Seagull.” The short film is a user driven narrative that tells the story through the prism of two connected dimensions. In summary, the film is about a man’s fall from grace after he refuses to heed a spirit’s advice. The story takes place in two prisms: one is the natural world and the other the spirit world. Although Boehm controls and designs the film’s environments and general story line, he does not control an authoritarian space. The user controls the events, timing, and actions of the narrative through their computer. The actions of the user unravel the story and affect the fate of the film’s characters. This interactive narrative is a looking glass that shines light on the consequences and effects of an individual’s actions on a situation. 

Boehm’s film is an original project, but it the lack of visual cues and direction creates a confusing experience. The project could be improved by providing the user with tooltips that explain what to do when they get stuck.

The Carp and the Seagull (thecarpandtheseagull.thecreatorsproject.com)

The Carp and the Seagull (thecarpandtheseagull.thecreatorsproject.com)

Users can rotate the horizontal axis of the film and view two different dimensions

The Carp and the Seagull (thecarpandtheseagull.thecreatorsproject.com)

Scene from Chapter 3, the orange colors are used to transcendence.

The Wilderness Downtown (thewildernessdowntown.com)

The Wilderness Downtown is an interactive film that uses Google Maps and digital imagery to transport the viewer back to the town where he grew up. The film features a young child running through the streets of the his neighborhood trying to find his way back home while a map of the area spins in the background and birds fly around him. The narrative uses the song to tell the story. The film’s interactivity immerses the viewer in the film by allowing him to enter the address of the neighborhood they grew up in. By allowing the viewer to enter his address the film becomes personal because images of home are shown throughout the film. Additionally, the author uses animated birds to symbolize both the passage of the time, childhood freedom and paradise. The viewer can use the mouse to direct the motion of the birds. As well, the viewer is able to write a letter to his younger self. This interactivity allows the viewer to not only reconnect with his childhood but to return to his essence, the place where he grew up.

The narrative does not allow the viewer to change explore their childhood him on their own. It would be better if they could.

The Wilderness Downtown (thewildernessdowntown.com)

Screenshots from different parts of the film. At the end, users can write a letter.

Icarus (tc02.net/Icarus/index.html)

Icarus is an online comic that retells the Greek myth of Icarus’ fall from the sun. The comic uses parallax scrolling to animate Icarus’ flight and fall from grace. The comic does not faithfully follow the original myth, but instead tells the story of Icarus enduring a personal war against him. Unsatisfied with his current existence, Icarus challenges himself to reach the sun but pushes himself beyond his limits. The effects from parallax scrolling allow the viewer to visually see his descent back to the earth.

Icarus uses visual imagery and is limiting. The story could be improved by incorporating sound into the scenes where Icarus is falling that the viewer is further immersed in the story.