INTERACTIVE FILMMAKING
For the past few years I have been researching ways to design interesting story experiences by combining video and interactivity. I have produced two interactive movies; Lost Cause (2007) and Disconnected (2010). Both interactive movies have been displayed in various film and new media festivals including; Women in Film (Vancouver, 2009 & 2010), and iDMAa's IDEAS (2007 & 2010). My research on interactive filmmaking was also presented in new media conferences, Imaging Cinema at India Institute of Technology (Madras, 2010), ACM International Conference on Multimedia (Vancouver, 2008), and was published in the 2007 Philadelphia Conference Issue of The Journal of the International Digital Media and Arts Association. I am currently producing my third interactive movie, where multiple viewers can collectively interact to construct a movie.
My goal during my Master of Arts degree (2008) was to design a movie which would not distract the viewers from the interactions but keep them immersed into the story. To understand how to keep viewers immersed in a state of suspension of disbelieve I deconstructed different types of multi-linear narrative structures used in movies such as Rashomon, Short Cuts, and Run Lola Run. These movies are on the verge of interactivity but engage viewers into the linear version of the story. In order to understand how to design an interactive structure based on these linear movies I created an interactive version of the movie Short Cuts (Altman, 1993) as a case-study prototype. The movie has 22 different characters that live in the city of Los Angeles that are all connected to one another through their relationships. Interactive Short Cuts takes 20 minutes of the movie and breaks it down into a database that allows viewers to navigate through the footage. This interactive prototype allows viewers to make connections between common themes and characters relationships while navigating. After observing linear movies I then deconstructed current interactive movies such as Mercedes Benz: 7 Years Later to see what was successful about their design approach. I developed my own theories after conducting a few experimental projects and produced the interactive movie Lost Cause.
Lost Cause is an interactive film which allows viewers to navigate between the perspectives of three main characters. I found that in order to maintain immersion I would have to place multiple storylines parallel to each other so that viewers could explore the characters through space instead of through time. Once Lost Cause was completed I had viewers interact with the film and then fill out questionnaires. I found that viewers were able to maintain immersion if there was a sense of challenge in the interactivity, which kept them in an oscillating state between immersion and active participation similar to being immersed while playing a video game. I also found that viewers had developed different understandings of the story based on the sections of the movie they had watched. Lost Cause was presented at the ACM International Conference on Multimedia (Vancouver, 2008), and was published in the 2007 Philadelphia Conference Issue of The Journal of the International Digital Media and Arts Association.
Disconnected is a series of interactive web video chats which allows the viewer to explore conversation in web cam chats between two characters at a time. Disconnected followed the same principles for immersion as Lost Cause did, but focused on the interactive medium as a metaphor for misunderstandings and miscommunication through online communication. Disconnected was part of the Women in Film Festival in Vancouver (2010) and was exhibited at the iDMAa IDEAS Digital Narrative exhibition at Emily Carr, Vancouver (2010).
