Going Digital

When I signed up for freshmen classes in high school, I entered a class called Media Technology. Most of the time we were screwing around, but we spent some good quality time shooting and editing videos. When it came time to make a digital story I was pumped. Glassner uses the term "participatory fiction" and how it isn't that popular. I think that making a digital story is the best example of participatory fiction. Anything you want can be put together how you want it and you can have it say whatever you want. This is what makes the digital story appealing to me; I was able to have a temporary taste of a "godlike authority." (as far as editing a movie goes)

In chapter eight of Glassner's book, he talks about "time control" and how the author identifies the beginning and end. When making a digital story it's pretty obvious when the beginning and end are, but I think the most important thing is length. "Too much sugar for a dime;" something we try to avoid in shooting and editing videos. We have to tell a story in the amount of time for the viewer not to get bored. While editing my story, I chose to make it shorter because I had a simple story to tell, and I didn't want the viewers "changing channels" on me, so I made it short and sweet. On page 277 of Glassner, is a quote "It should feel new: A player's experiences through the game should each feel new."

I want to get back to the interactiveness of stories and games idea. It seems as though some of the more interesting stories are the ones with plenty of interactive qualities for the viewers, but Glassner, in chapter 10, says there is a "myth of interactivity." It is a common mistake to agree that "more interactivity makes any experience better." I think an example of this are digital stories. The only thing that viewers can interact with digital stories is watching and talking about it later, there are no "chose your own adventure" options throughout these stories. That's where the authority figure is most present, and it is up to this figure to make the story good or bad.