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A General Theory of Dramatic Structure for Interactive 3D Environments
Tamiko Thiel
www.tamikothiel.com
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Traditional narrative theory
“You need characters in order to have drama.“
Create drama by building tensions between characters.
Audience engagement comes through identification with characters
Assumes traditional medium (book, theater, film) with passive audience.
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But:
There is drama in climbing a mountain, watching a sunset, wandering through a city.
The audience – YOU – are interacting with the environment
The drama takes place between YOU and the environment.
You have agency -> emotional responsibility for your actions and outcomes
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Two forms of “first person viewpoint”:
Traditional narrative media:
First person narrative viewpoint
Interactive media:
First person experiential viewpoint
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First person narrative viewpoint..
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First person experiential viewpoint..
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First person experiential viewpoint
Designer creates framework of experiences for the user.
User = Audience = Main Character = Silent Narrator
“I am experiencing something myself “
User has agency – story doesn’t happen without her engagement.
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First person experiential viewpoint
Focus on the user:
“Character development” should happenin user.
i.e. designer choreographs emotional journey the user should go through while experiencing the piece.
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First person experiential viewpoint
Real life examples:
Non-competive performative (e.g. music, sport)
Rituals/ceremonies (e.g. weddings)
Guided tours (e.g. citywalks, castles)
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Third person experiential viewpoint
3rd person POV is special case of 1st p. POV
i.e. “the world” includes my avatar
Experience of avatar NOT important
Experience of user while manipulating avatar IS important (e.g. Laura Croft)
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Dramatic interest in games:
Interactive by definition
Audience = User
User follows rules to achieve goal
User investment of time, effort creates engagement
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Who is left out if interactivity == games?
Non-gamers who:
hate to lose or hate competition
don’t value investing time into learning rules, solving puzzles
But also:
Situations with limited time ( gallery, museum, public space, websurfer)
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Who is left out if interactivity == games?
We need to develop interactive structures with fewer rules to reach a wider audience.
Focus more on process / experience rather than learning rules/achieving goals
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What I was looking for:
General theory of dramatic structure applicable to all media
“Abstracted” to understand how emotion is provoked in humans as response to aesthetic experience
-> independent of medium
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Emotion and Meaning in Music (Meyer, 1952)
Psychological theory of emotional affect:
Emotion is aroused when a tendency to respond to a stimulus is arrested/inhibited
e.g. smoker reaches for cigarettes, but pack is empty.
Conscious or unconscious tendency to respond creates “expectation.”
Arresting that tendency creates emotion
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Emotion and Meaning in Music (Meyer, 1952)
In music (or any time-based art form)
Music works within defined tradition or structure: e.g. medieval Western, classical Western, Jazz, Rai, US Rock, etc
Within a given structure rules & conventions define (for example): what is perceived as “happy,” “sad,” etc. “allowable/expected” transitions (e.g. „Sukiyaki“ – „Ue o muite aruko“)
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Emotion and Meaning in Music (Meyer, 1952)
Within a given structurecomposers provoke emotional responses by:
setting up listeners expectations, then
playing with their expectations: surprising, frustrating, rewarding, etc.
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Emotion and Meaning in Music (Meyer, 1952)
Examples:
Repetition creates expectation (and desire) for change and completion
Doubtful / ambiguous stimulus (significance, function, outcome unclear)creates desire for clarity
-> we believe in purposefulness and integrity of the artist.
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Emotion and Meaning in Music (Meyer, 1952)
But manner of clarification not predictable:
Expectation creates state of suspense Suspense is ignorance of future course of
events, … which creates doubt and uncertainty, … which is perceived as a lack of control, … which creates apprehension and “fear”
-> even if there is no specific object causing this fear.
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Emotion and Meaning in Music (Meyer, 1952)
Any stimulus must be progressively intensified over time
Effectiveness diminishes as we become used to the stimulus.
Without change in stimulus, expectation of relief (or some sort of change) diminishes
-> i.e. we lose interest and disengage
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Does drama theory relate to music?
Freytag Diagram (Laurel, “Computers as Theatre”)
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Sonata-allegro form (stolen off the web):
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Musical form vis a vis narrative form
Conversation with Betsy Marvit, composer
Introduction / opening sets general mood (i.e. expectations)
Introducing main theme is like introducing ‘main character’
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Musical form vis a vis narrative form
Secondary theme = new and different charactero What is their relationship?o How do they cause each other to develop?
i.e. creates anticipation
Resolution of dissonance/conflict between themes is like resolution of story
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Consequences for interactive media
Designer composes choreography for story
Leads user through sequence of dramatic moods, experiences-> like composer composing a symphony-> hyperlinked structure: will be episodic rather than one grand climax
Allow user to have agency -> emotional responsibility for their actions and outcomes
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Consequences for interactive media
Focus on internal emotional states of user
What should user feel at each stage?
Curiosity, trepidation, delight, fear, surprise, frustration, relief, exaltation
Create balance of positive and negative
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Consequences for interactive visual media
Ideally using life-sized image:
Engage kinesthetic sense, sense of scale
Body’s perceptual mechanisms respond as if images, events are real
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Philip Thiel, “People, Paths, and Purposes”
Emotional effect of
space
sequences of spaces on the user
-> from first person experiential perspective
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Anatomy of space..
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Kinesthetic experience of space...
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Space Establishing Elements (SEEs)
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Order, explicitness of space
Emotional affect depends on situation:
comforting orclaustrophobic
freedom orlonliness
exhilaration or vertigo
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Emotions reinforced / determined by: Music, light, denotation of environment
(prison, garden), etc.
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26.01.2017 34
Vietnam Veterans Memorial (WaDC, Maya Lin)
Exposition ( opening scene / overview )
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Vietnam Veterans Memorial (WaDC, Maya Lin)
Rising action (development):
Descend into V Names, height of wall
increases, enclose you
Climax: Apex - height of our
involvement in Vietnam Names, wall 10’ high.
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Vietnam Veterans Memorial (WaDC, Maya Lin)
Falling action (denouement): Deaths, height of wall reduces
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Vietnam Veterans Memorial (WaDC, Maya Lin)
Resolution: Re-emerge into daily life
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How does our theory fit in here?
Spatial, metaphorical experience
Not character-based i.e.NOT interaction between two soldiers.
First person experiential viewpoint: focuses on effect of space on your emotions.
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How does it engage us?
Yes, there are characters: other visitors add to emotionality of the environment, searching for names, leaving offerings
But main effect is on user:
Interactive - visitors must physically engage with the piece and descend into the ‘V’
Addresses our sense of scale, enclosure
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Summary
First person experiential viewpoint
Drama takes place between user and environment(which can include characters)
User has agency -> emotional responsibility for actions and outcomes
“Character development” happens in user.
Designer choreographs emotional journey for user.
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Summary
Within a known structure provoke emotional responses by:
setting up expectations, then
playing with the expectations: surprising, frustrating, rewarding, etc.
Create balance of positive and negative to avoid boredom, stimulation overload