neh vectors korsakow workshop

The Korsakow System

NEH Vectors Institute 7.23.09

Labyrinth Research Initiative

USC School of Cinematic ArtsInteractive Media Division

“A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end... but not necessarily in that order.”

-Jean-Luc Godard

Interactive narrative provides an opportunity to think about storytelling along multiple axes

(i.e., we are not shackled to a three-act structure)

Kinder-Manovich Debate

Lev Manovich: database is the opposite of narrative“[new media], are the new battlefield for the competition between database and narrative.”

Marsha Kinder: all narrative is database narrative“virtually all stories – like language itself – derive from combinations of narrative elements within a given set of parameters, which is very much in keeping with the way databases function.”

Ludology vs. Narratology

Ludology: interactivity is the opposite of narrative; we should not impose the critical apparatus of linear-based narratology on games; we need new models for thinking about game mechanics, social dynamics of gaming, etc.

Narratology: both narrative and interactivity take many forms; even traditional linear narrative has elements of (emotional, cognitive) interactivity; narrative can be emergent, algorithmic, dynamic, etc.

Narration vs. Narrative

Designing narratives in an interactive structure means releasing a degree of control into the hands of two seemingly unreliable entities:

1. the user

2. the computer

What’s the problem?

Releasing authorial control goes against cherished beliefs about artistic production: creativity, originality, authenticity, authority, etc.

Ian Flitman, Hackney Girl (generative / random)

http://www.blipstation.com

Andrea Flamini: Melodrama 8(generative / ambient)

Lev Manovich & Andreas Kratky: Soft Cinema (2005) (generative / algorithmic)

Barbara Lattanzi, HF Critical Mass

http://www.wildernesspuppets.net

Subservient Chicken | Burger King | Crispin, Porter & Bogusky

The Subservient Presidenthttp://iml.usc.edu/remix/subservientpresident

http://www.davisanddavis.org/askarnold

Georgia-Pacific, Innocent Escapes (2005) - Fallon

Dexter | Icetruck.tv (2007)http://icetruck.tv

Bob Dylan, His Greatest Songs (2007)http://www.dylanmessaging.com

Greg Roach, Virtual Cinema X-Files Game (Fox Interactive 1998)

Greg Roach, Virtual Cinema

“artificial intuition”

Chris Hales, Cause and Effect (2003)

combines interactive cinema with live theater

http://www.koti.org/tomtom/causeandeffect

Morten Schjodt, Switching (2003)

Michael Lew, Office Voodoo (2003)

http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~lew/research/voodoo

Pia Tikka, Obsession (2006) http://www.enactivecinema.net

Michael Mateas & Andrew Stern, Façade (2005)

http://www.interactivestory.net

emotional, interactive character behavior and drama-managed plot

Korsakow System

Florian ThalhoferUniversity of the Arts, Berlin

Mediamatic Amsterdam

Korsakow workshops

Korsakow 5 (2009)

Florian Thalhofer, 13terStock (2005)

http://13stock.thalhofers.com

Florian Thalhofer, Love Story (2003)http://www.lovestoryproject.com

snu

SNU

Smallest Narrative Unit

(determine granularity of project)

snu

Personal ad

Keywords describe a SNU and express preferences for other SNUs

I am a man / woman ISO man / woman

I am a cat / dog person ISO a cat / dog person

I am a smoker / nonsmoker ISO a smoker / nonsmoker

woman

woman

“I am a woman in search of other women”

woman

woman<woman>

“I am a woman in search of other women”

“I am a woman in search of other women”

dogcat>

dogcat>

“I am a dog person in search of dog or cat people”

“I am a dog person in search of dog or cat people”

(random = lack of agency)

“I am a dog person in search of dog or cat people”

man<woman>smoker>

man<woman>smoker>

“I am a man in search of women who smoke”

woman<man>cat>

nonsmoker>

woman<man>cat>

nonsmoker>

“I am a woman in search of men who like cats and don’t smoke”

nonsmoker

“I don’t smoke and I am in search of others who don’t smoke”

nonsmoker

“I don’t smoke and I am in search of others who don’t smoke”

nonsmoker<cat>

“I’m a non-smoker and I am in search of someone who likes cats”

nonsmoker<cat>

“I’m a non-smoker and I am in search of someone who likes cats”

nonsmoker<cat>

“I’m a non-smoker and I am in search of someone who likes cats”

(lack of narrative motivation)

Korsakow authoring tool

3 link interface

Many link interface + subtitles

preview text

Positive/Negative linking

No Exit

No gateway movie

Multiple lifetimes

woman

“I am a woman in search of other women”

Women

woman

“I am a woman in search of other women”

Women

gateway SNU movie rating = low

woman

“I am a woman in search of other women”

Women

number of lifes = 1

womanman-

“I am a woman in search of other women only”

Women

killer keyword -

woman<man>

Gateway SNU:“I am a woman in search of a man”

Women

Men

woman<man>

Gateway SNU:“I am a woman in search of a man”

Women

Men

gateway SNU movie rating = 1

Gateway SNUs + movie rating

Gateway movie(low rating)

Shared keywords

No movie ratings

Interactive sweet spot

Functional relation (click left, go left; type an “a,” see an “a”)

Interesting relation(non-trivial, reflective, algorithmic response)

No relation(lack of agency: random results to user input)

Download Korsakow Software http://www.korsakow.com/ksy