Liana Lau is a business administration sophomore at the University of Michigan, who enjoys learning about innovative mediums and storytelling techniques. Her section Immersive is dedicated to disrupting the way in which we facilitate relationships in the digital era by exploring intimate narratives about life through unconventional storytelling mediums. Together, each piece seeks to challenge the way in which we communicate our thoughts and seek connection from others.
Creator’s Note: Mood boards are often used as a source of inspiration for something that we hope to create in the future. Sometimes the images we find come from external sources: stock photo insights into a lifestyle or aspiration that resonates with us. Yet, our past is where our own mood is set. The way we’re raised, what we dream about, and the memories we make with others all serves to shape our own identity. In a sense, our upbringing is the original inspiration for who we are now and will become in the future. There can be a tension when using our pasts in our present work in a semi-autobiographical manner, but when you’re the one creating, your experiences are just as valid as the rest.
If you have any thoughts, let me know. Otherwise, I shall see you all in Immersive’s next article!
Creator’s Note: Today’s article explores the idea of scheduling and how college students prioritize their time. Often times, we focus heavily on allocating our time to events or opportunities that will benefit us professionally in hopes that it will best set us up for our future. And while making time to grow and gain new skills is beneficial and should be encouraged, it is when we take it too far and overload our schedules that we run the risk of burnout. We have to remind ourselves that investing in our own mental and physical health is also a valid usage of our time and should be kept in mind when deciding how to spend our spare time.
As always, let me know your thoughts on the medium and the story if you have any, and I shall see you all in Immersive’s next article!
Creator’s Note: Welcome to this semester’s section of Immersive, where we take our learnings from the first 10 articles and experiment with new mediums of storytelling. Immersive is dedicated to disrupting the way in which we facilitate relationships in the digital era by exploring intimate narratives about life through unconventional storytelling mediums. And together, each piece seeks to challenge the way in which we communicate our thoughts and seek connection from others.
For this week’s article, I wanted to experiment with the interview-esque nature of the podcast format, which led me to ultimately creating a narrative that explored the transactional nature of stilted family relationships and how they can become more natural over time with the host’s improved ability to navigate different situations.
Let me know your thoughts on the medium and the story if you have any! I’d be interested in seeing how the podcast format can further be utilized. But, either way, I hope you all enjoyed this first experiment and look forward to reading more Immersive works and mediums in the future.
As the college semester comes to a close so too does this semester’s Immersive section come to an end. From the nine different features written this semester, we’ve been exposed to several different ways to engage an audience with a creative project and to put a new spin on traditional methods of storytelling, which have left us with three key insights that we can take inspiration from for our own personal projects and stories to make them more engaging:
First, unconventional media creates intrigue from a lack of pre-existing expectations.
Scarfolk Council (#2): Utilizing aesthetics from the past combined with off-kilter imagery can invoke an eerie yet compelling sense of nostalgia.
Birds Aren’t Real (#3): Portraying subtle criticism through popular culture and memes allows for satirical messages to be spread without being taken too seriously.
The Sun Vanished (#6): Watching a story unfold real-time through social media creates suspense through the wait between posts and allows it to blend into the noise of everyday life.
17776 (#7): Embracing absurdity and taking inspiration from a diverse range of topics can create something fresh that compels an audience to read more to learn about the areas of interest.
Second, non-linear narratives make player choice worthwhile.
AI Dungeon (#4): Involving AI to create original narratives allows for players to take agency over the story that is presented to them and create something uniquely their own.
Hades (#5): Creating evolving stories based around player choice makes every decision impactful and pursued with care.
Fallen London (#8) – Leaving room for elaboration within a story enables creators to have flexibility in writing future content in the same universe and creates intrigue within an audience to learn more about the world.
Third, intentional design reinforces the purpose of the story in a meaningful manner.
Life in a Day (#1): Drawing from community-based submissions allows for a more diverse yet unified experience to be portrayed on screen.
Loving Vincent (#9): Being true to the purpose of the project during all stages of production allows for the audience to also feel all the love and passion as well when observing the final result.
Overall, there are many more insights that each feature contributes to the discussion on creating immersive content that can be found within their own individual posts, but just from these short snip-bits of advice, we can truly see how the choices that a creator makes during the production process can have a significant impact on how an audience engages with and talks about the final product.
Oftentimes, adaptations of pre-existing work are translated into new mediums in order to expand upon the impact and outreach that the original work holds. However, given that every medium has its own advantages and disadvantages, these adaptations run the risk of losing the insightful themes and emotional responses that the original creator sought to invoke within their work. Nevertheless, when adaptations do manage to stay true to the original message, the end result can truly add onto the original contributions of the creator’s work in a meaningful manner.
One such adaptation that takes this approach of having a deep rooted understanding of the original work while transforming it into something revolutionary is through the 2017 feature film Loving Vincent directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman: from its conceptualization to implementation, Loving Vincent sought to put a new spin onto the life of Vincent van Gogh and the circumstances surrounding his death by having its animation consist entirely of hand-drawn paintings, becoming the world’s first ever fully painted film.
In having every frame of the film be painted in the style of Vincent van Gogh, Kobiela sought to build upon the words van Gogh stated in his last letter: “We cannot speak other than by our paintings.” And since such an ambitious feat had never been pulled off before, the creators had to spend 4 years developing the technique that would allow them to accurately capture the fluidity of film within frame by frame oil paintings. But after they managed to hone their technique, it took the team of over 125 painters another 2 years to finish the film, which consisted of over 65,000 frames painted over 1,000 canvases. The end result would be a nostalgic yet vivid world that truly allowed for its viewers to experience what it would be like to live within the contemplative and nuanced world of van Gogh.
Adeline Ravoux Folding Napkins
Overall, Loving Vincent embodies its name within all aspects of its production, retaining the expressive style and intentions of van Gogh while inspiring new life into his works through animation: it is truly a product of love for what van Gogh stood for and what he means for other creatives and admirers who gaze upon his work for inspiration. The film also serves as an indicator on how traditional mediums can be transformed into something new and innovative that adds onto the original work without subtracting from it. It is also a reminder that love for a project can go a long way in ensuring that all elements of the production work with intention and in harmony with one another, which is a mindset that I hope we are all able to embody within our own personal pursuits and creative endeavors.
When writing a story, all too often creators develop a linear course of events, from which worldbuilding information is slowly introduced to the readers through the characters’ exploration of the narrative plot. What isn’t essential to the story ends up being relegated to obscure references or supplementary material elsewhere. While this form of worldbuilding can still impact the reader emotionally with its intentional design, there is still a disconnect present between the reader and the main character, primarily due to the fact that the reader is prevented from fully experiencing the world on their own terms in following the perspectives of the character themselves.
As such, some stories have fallen on a model of interactive fiction where the reader is able to gain agency within the story and discover the world through their own perspective by actively making choices to move the narration along. Recognizing the power that this narrative style had, Failbetter Games developed the text-based open-world RPG Fallen London to explore the concept of a lore-rich exploratory world that provides the player with the gift of choice.
In Fallen London, choices are immediately given to the player from the start as they craft their own identity and explore a Victorian-Gothic underworld full of many diverse and intriguing storylines that are revealed incrementally and at random. A sense of depth and space is carefully cultivated within the player through the vivid descriptions and visualizations of the city and its residents. Additionally, gameplay decisions are limited by action points, which causes the player to consider their actions carefully and to experience the story in real time.
But, what makes the game most interesting is the fact that it can’t be completed in the traditional sense where there is a clear path to victory. Rather, fulfillment is created on the player’s own accord based on their own ambition. Within the Fallen London universe, the Seeking Mr. Eaten’s Name (SMEN) storyline has become widely regarded as the storyline that challenges the extent to which a player’s ambition lasts through the sacrifice that they must go through to reach the ending, which holds no equivalent reward. Pursuing SMEN is a brutal endeavor that slowly drains the player of their in-game belongings as they’re all given up in hopes of gaining a slim glimpse of progress, simulating a downward spiral of desperation and struggle. To make matters even more unconventional, if the storyline is completed in its entirety, the game ends. The account is no longer playable: a shocking realization that permanent consequences are not avoidable even within a game.
In the end, with this mixture of endless world exploration and permanence, Fallen London truly resembles an in-depth world where the player has the power to shape the narrative to their own desires and one in which the text-based visual format can thrive as seen through Failbetter Games’ dedication to the game even years after its initial release in 2009. While sometimes the nature of Fallen London being all-encompassing from character attributes to storyline depth causes the beginning player to feel overwhelmed by the amount of choice, the slow evolution of becoming comfortable in navigating the visual space is a compelling enough motive to continue the exploration of the world for those who find themselves motivated by knowledge.
![On a dark gray background, the white text reads as follows: "Transcript," "EP 1 - A New Home for Everyone." Below this text, the transcript starts: "[THEME MUSIC] Ba Ba (BB): Hello I'm Ba Ba and you're listening to Family Time Quality Time. Life has been difficult for everyone since the divorce, but in honor of starting fresh, we're kicking off this podcast by showing Christina the new house where Ba Ba will be living for the time being. [CLASSY ELEVATOR MUSIC] BB: Say hello to the recorder, Christina. We're now live. Christina (CH): Hi. BB: Hello Christina, thank you for agreeing to come on to the podcast today. Are you excited to see your new room? CH: I'm tired. BB: Well, it has been a long day for you with all the driving around. But, Ba Ba just wants to show you one last thing before you go to sleep. Before you arrived, I made sure to decorate your room just the way you've always wanted - space themed! [DOOR CREAKS OPEN] BB: Ba Ba tried really hard to make sure the stars were in the right place on the walls. What do you think? Do you feel like a real astronaut? CH: It's smaller than before..."](http://artsatmichigan.umich.edu/ink/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2.png)
![At the top, there is a small icon of the podcast image. To the right, the white text reads "EP 13 - Literally Home-schooled" and underneath the gray text reads "Ba Ba talks to Christina about her first day of online school during the..." Underneath the date of the podcast is August 2020, and it is 52 minutes and 13 seconds long. On a dark gray background, the white text reads as follows: "Transcript," "EP 13 - Literally Home-schooled." Below this text, the transcript starts: "[FRUIT PLATE CLATTERS ON THE TABLE] BB: Ba Ba brought his favorite daughter an after-school snack because she doesn't have in-person school anymore! How was your day? CH: It was okay. BB: How did it all work? Did you have to join those online meetings for every class? CH: Yeah, they sent us emails with the meeting links to join the classroom. From there, it was just like... regular school? Nothing else too different. BB: That's good to hear. Were you able to make any new friends? CH: It's only the first day! BB: First day of high-school ever! It's important to make those friends sooner rather than later, especially if you need help with school. CH: Yes, I know. I'll try harder next time..."](http://artsatmichigan.umich.edu/ink/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/3.png)
![At the top, there is a small icon of the podcast image. To the right, the white text reads "EP 25 - One Day They'll Leave Us"" and underneath the gray text reads "Ba Ba drives Christina to her friend's house for a birthday party while..." Underneath the date of the podcast is August 2021, and it is 1 hour and 28 minutes long. On a dark gray background, the white text reads as follows: "Transcript," "EP 25 - One Day They'll Leave Us." Below this text, the transcript starts: "B: You should take driver's ed soon. It'll be good for you to get around quickly without having to wait on Ba Ba to drive you. CH: Don't worry, it's okay if I'm late. Everyone's always late to these things anyways. It's always awkward being the first one there. BB: Do you have everything that you need? Present? Clothing? Phone? CH: Yes, Ba Ba, you don't have to ask me again - Oh, turn left here, it's that house on over there with the yellow balloons on the mailbox. [TURN SIGNAL CLICKS] BB: Well, I hope you have fun. Text me if you need anything, and don't stay up too late. It's not good for your health. CH: I will! See you later, Ba Ba. [CAR DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES] BB: Looks like I'll have the house all to myself tonight..."](http://artsatmichigan.umich.edu/ink/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/The-Home-2.png)
![On a dark gray background, the white text reads as follows: "[CLASSY ELEVATOR MUSIC] BB: It's been a long time with many failures in trying to be a good father for Christina, but I think this is the first time it has set in that I only have two more years left to spend with her until she goes off to college and starts her own life... BB: But even though I only have those two years to make the most of our time together, I'm thankful that I started this effort to talk publicly about this struggle for connection and work on developing a functional relationship for two years rather than all four years. To those of you looking to change your relationships with your kids, start now. You never know when they'll leave you and what you have to lose until they're gone. BB: Anyways, thank you for listening to Family Time Quality Time. This podcast would not be where it is today without your continued support. All the advice and feedback really means a lot to me and helps others learn more about developing healthy family dynamics as well. But, until next time, this has been Ba Ba, and I hope you all take care."](http://artsatmichigan.umich.edu/ink/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/The-Home-1.png)
