Academic Year:
2022/23
1015 - Māster Digital Culture and Emerging Media
32744 - Digital Storytelling: Models, Trends and Innovation
Teaching Plan Information
Academic Course:
2022/23
Academic Center:
801 - Masters Centre of the Department of Communication
Study:
1015 - Māster Digital Culture and Emerging Media
Subject:
32744 - Digital Storytelling: Models, Trends and Innovation
Ambit:
---
Credits:
4.0
Course:
1
Teaching languages:
| Theory: | Group 1: English |
| Practice: | Group 101: English |
| Seminar: | Group 101: English |
Teachers:
Joaquim Colas Alvarez, Alan Tapscott Baltar
Teaching Period:
Second quarter
Schedule:
Presentation
This course will cover the history and models of digital storytelling, including the key referents and current trends. From video games (including broad and specific commentary covering genres and platforms) to innovative digital experiences such as web docs and improvisational narrative media, the course covers narratological and interactive approaches to storytelling and digital interactive drama. Also, the role of computational creativity and artificial intelligence will be explored from the syllabus perspective. Lastly, we will introduce digital communities and their relationship to collaborative narratives and story world construction.
Associated skills
Knowledge
-
Digital storytelling history and models
-
Project bootstrapping and prototyping know-how
-
Key innovations, references and underlying philosophy
-
HCI, narratological and AI perspectives
-
Digital communities and collaborative narratives
Competences
Basic competences
|
BC6. To possess and understand knowledge that lays the groundwork or opportunity for being original in the development and/or application of ideas, often in a research context.
|
|
BC7. For students to know how to apply the knowledge they have acquired and solve problems in new or little-known environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their field of study.
|
|
BC9. For students to know how to communicate their conclusions and knowledge and the ultimate reasons underpinning them to specialised and nonspecialised audiences in a clear, unambiguous way.
|
|
BC10. For students to possess learning skills that enable them to continue studying in a way that may largely be self-directed or autonomous.
|
General competences
|
GC1. To analyse the digital and emerging media, as well as the cultural phenomena around them, using a critical sociocultural perspective with suitable theoretical and methodological development.
|
|
CG2. To design, develop and assess a basic, applied or practice-based research process and transform the results into contributions that are of interest to society.
|
Specific competences
|
SC1. To use the main theories, approaches and methodologies needed to analyse and assess digital culture and the emergence of new media.
|
|
SC2. To design and carry out a basic, applied or practice-based research project on the digital culture sector and the emerging media.
|
|
SC4. To analyse digital culture and the emerging media and the practices associated with them, addressing their communicative, social, political, technological and economic dimensions.
|
|
SC6. To develop scholarly contents in different media and formats for both specialised and nonspecialised audiences.
|
|
SC7. To conceive, make prototypes of and assess interactive digital works for different systems (PC, mobile phones, online and offline) in the field of informative, persuasive, artistic, narrative or entertaining communication.
|
|
SC8. To assess the potential of applying the theories, methodologies, concepts and results of one’s own research to underpin decision-making in the professional field.
|
Learning outcomes
|
LO7. Analyses the languages of the digital and emerging media and their communicative and expressive specificities.
|
|
LO8. Uses a sociocultural perspective to analyse and interpret the texts, communicative/narrative forms and interaction formats characteristic of the digital environment and compares them appropriately with other media.
|
|
LO9. Analyses and assesses the experiences and cultural practices of users and audiences in the new media environment, paying attention to the interactive-participative dimension.
|
|
LO12. Compares, categorises and critically analyses interactive productions (both fiction and nonfiction) and digital works of art of all kinds.
|
|
LO13. Identifies and analyses the different dimensions (social, cultural, economic, political, technological) expressed and affected by the digital media and productions.
|
|
LO19. Designs and develops the prototype of an interactive digital product or an expressive/artistic work, creatively applying the theoretical and methodological knowledge acquired.
|
|
LO20. Identifies strong points and limitations of the prototype of a work or an interactive digital product.
|
|
LO23. Justifies decisions taken using a theoretical and methodological underpinning based on their research experience.
|
|
LO26. Identifies and creatively resolves any potential critical situations that may arise during a research process.
|
|
LO27. Plans research projects with the potential to make original, relevant contributions in the corresponding academic field/subfield.
|
Sustainable Development Goals
ODS4#ODS8#ODS12
In order to acquire values and attitudes that allow them to contribute to sustainable development, throughout the course partial assignments in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be carried out. On a general level, students will be asked to integrate to a certain degree at least one of the 17 SDGs into the theme of their digital storytelling development project. The teachers will encourage the inclusion to be central and not merely tangential to the chosen topic.
On a more specific note, the skills that will be worked on associated with sustainable development, and which are described in the skills section, are:
- SDG4 Quality education: BC6, BC9, BC10, GC2, SC6 and SC8
- SDG8/SDG9 Decent work and economic growth/Industry, innovation and infrastructure: BC7, BC10, GC1, GC2, SC2, SC4 and SC8
- SDG12 Responsible consumption and production: BC7, BC10, CG2 and SC7
Prerequisites
There are no specific prerequisites for studying this subject.
Contents
Block 1. Interactive Storytelling
Theory:
-
Holistic exploration of the fundamentals of digital storytelling and interaction
-
Historical retrospective and salient exponents of the field: hypertext fiction, tabletop and roleplaying games, graphic adventures and videogames
Lab:
Block 2. Computational Creativity
Theory:
Lab:
Block 3. Virtual Communities
Theory:
Bibliography and information resources
-
Harrigan, P. y Wardrip-Fruin, N. (2000): First Person: New Media as Story, Performance and Game. Cambridge, MIT Press.
-
Harrigan, P. y Wardrip-Fruin, N. (2007): Second Person: Role-Playing and Story in Games and Playable Media. Cambridge, MIT Press.
-
Harrigan, P. y Wardrip-Fruin, N. (2009): Third Person: Authoring and Exploring Vast Narratives. Cambridge, MIT Press.
-
Murray, Janet Horowitz, 1946-. (1997). Hamlet on the holodeck : the future of narrative in cyberspace. New York: Free Press.
-
James Au, Wagner. (2009): The Making of Second Life: Notes from the New World. Harper Collins.
-
Deterding, S., & Zagal, J. P. (2018). The many faces of role-playing game studies. In Role-Playing Game Studies (pp. 1-16). Routledge.
-
Erdem, M. N. (Ed.). (2018). Handbook of research on transmedia storytelling and narrative strategies. IGI Global.
-
Phillips, I. (2020). Once Upon a Time Lord: The Myths and Stories of Doctor Who. Bloomsbury Publishing.