Inspiration for the Narrative

To get inspiration for the narrative of my artefact I read antidotes and watched videos of real-life people telling their stories about their online experiences.

The videos I looked at are below:





References

• Netsmartz.org, (2015). Amy's Choice. [online] Available at: http://www.netsmartz.org/RealLifeStories/AmysChoice [Accessed 21 Feb. 2015].
• Netsmartz.org, (2015). Julie's Journey. [online] Available at: http://www.netsmartz.org/RealLifeStories/JuliesJourney [Accessed 21 Feb. 2015].
• Youth Internet Safety, (2011). Real-Life Online Predator Stories. [online] Available at: https://youthinternetsafety.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/real-life-online-predator-stories/ [Accessed 21 Feb. 2015].

Target Audience

Why is target audience important?
Identifying a target market means you can focus your product. Once a target audience is identified it becomes "a critical influence on the communicator’s decisions about what to say, how to say it, when to say it, where to say it, and to whom to say it." (Kotler, 2002: 272). 

Below I have written an audience profile of somebody who is likely to view and enjoy my piece.

Chloe Maxwell, 16, Newcastle

Profile

Chloe is in her first year of sixth form at Dane Court grammar school, she studies English, Geography, Business and Art and is predicted ABBC. She listens to pop music, her favourite artist being Jess Glynn. Chloe enjoys reading and contemporary art, she loves visiting the galleries in London. When she grows up she wants to be an English teacher. Chloe's favourite colour is orange and she enjoys watching rom-com films, her favourite being Love Actually. 

I feel that Chloe would enjoy my narrative piece as she is the same age as my character Victoria, Chloe may have encountered similar situations and experiences to Victoria which means she can emphasise with the character and storyline.

References

Kotler, P. (2002). Marketing Management, Millenium Edition. 10th ed. Pearson Custom Publishing.

Research Findings

My research found that the large majority of interactive narratives and games relating to online safety and awareness generally catered to a young audience (typically 10-15 year olds). This was apparent in the visual style of the pieces, they mostly used cartoon images, lots of animation and bright colours, all designed to keep a younger audience interested.

Content which targeted an older audience (16-20 year olds) on internet safety awareness I found were mostly public information videos and unimaginative downloadable leaflets. This is perhaps because developers feel older adolescence already know the dangers of the internet and do not need to be 'taught' using interactive content.

I feel my project will successfully appeal to an older audience as the visual style is unique and interesting. I want users to become involved with the story and content. Online safety is just an underlying theme within the narrative, therefore older teenagers will not feel as though they are just being lectured to about the dangers of the internet. Hopefully my project will manage to raise awareness of such issues in an interesting and engaging way which will not be boring or patronizing to older teenagers,

Research: Cyberbullying.info

Cyberbullying.info is an interactive website designed to raise awareness of cyberbullying.

Narrative & Flow
Users direct themselves on an interactive journey through a detective’s office to learn more about cyberbullying. The user can hunt and explore their way through a fun website uncovering clues and information about cyberbullying and how to recognise what to do.

Interactivity
Users can click on numerous interactive items in the office (Tray, Chair, TV, Noticeboard) and discover different stories, information and tips all to do with cyberbullying.

Visual Style
The visual style of the piece is very cartoony and the colours used are vibrant and eye-catching. There is also a lot of animation used to suit the target audience of the piece (10-14 year olds).

Research: Bad Guy Patrol

Canada's human services team have created an interactive narrative/game designed for 5-10 year-olds and their parents to learn about internet safety. 

Available at: http://humanservices.alberta.ca/badguypatrol/default.htm

Narrative & Flow
Users follow Blockin' Betty the bull and her animal friends through a series of questions and games, There are four stages and answering the questions correctly and completing the games will earn you a flag. Once you collect all four flags the user can then download a certificate and access additional information.

Interactivity
The interactivity of the piece comes from the questions and games. The user cannot progress unless they click the correct answer on the questions and compete in the numerous games on each level. There are also little interactive buttons and animations along the way to keep the user interested.

Visual Style
Again the visual style of this piece is very cartoony and child friendly - again because of the 5-10 year old target market and this is what suits the audience. The colours and animations used are very lively and eye-catching.

Research: Choices & Cheaters

Available on the nsteens website is the Stand By or Stand Up interactive comic.
Link: http://www.nsteens.org/Comics/StandByOrStandUp

Narrative & Flow
The narrative involves a young boy who is bullied by two other children. The user is put in the position of another child at the school and encounters conundrums as to whether or not to stand up or stand by the bullied child. The user can pick which path the story takes. The story gives the option of the right or wrong path and shows the consequence of each depending on the users choice.

Interactivity
The user navigates through the piece by scrolling down the page, scrolling down causes the story to develop and scrolling up causes the story to rewind. At certain points in the narrative the user will be given a scenario, they then have to drag and drop their chosen choice into the characters phone and the story will take that path.

Visual Style
The visual style is comic book style, simple computer-drawn characters. The graphics are fun and eye-catching which suits the target audience (11 - 16 year olds).

What is an interactive narrative?

What is an interactive narrative?

Interactive storytelling is a form of entertainment in which the user themselves can influence the narrative and its evolution. Interactive narratives combine elements of narratology and game design to form interactive entertainment development metholodigies.

Marie–Laure Ryan says that "The combination of narrativeity and interactivity oscillates between two forms: The narrative game, in which narrative meaning is subordinated to the player's actions, and the playerable story, in which the player's actions are subordinated to narrative meaning" (Ryan, 2009: p45). 

Interactive narratives often do not "do not aim at a specific goal, and they do not lead to winning or losing". (Ryan, 2009: p46). They focus on transporting the player through mild play using their visual and auditory senses.

References

• Dinehart, Stephen. (2015). Transmedial Play: cognitive and cross-platform narrative | The Narrative Design Explorer™. [online] Available at: http://narrativedesign.org/2008/05/transmedial-play-cognitive-and-cross-platform-narrative/ [Accessed 14 Mar. 2015].

• Marie-Laure Ryan, (2009). From Narrative Games to Playable Stories: Toward a Poetics of Interactive Narrative. StoryWorlds: A Journal of Narrative Studies, 1(1), pp.43-59.

Introduction to Girl Online

I have decided to create an interactive narrative piece. 

Narrative
The piece revolves around 17-year-old Victoria who faces trouble when she decides to meet up with the handsome and ever-so charming Charlie, whom she first starts talking to online. But is all what it seems? Genre: Drama.

Themes 
As well as being engaging and enjoyable I also want there to be a serious message behind the story, I want to highlight the issues and dangers surrounding social networking and young people.

Structure/Content 
My story will be nonlinear, the user will be able to choose the path of the character and influence the narrative. Encountering puzzles, conundrums and a variety of interactivity along the way.