Abstract
An analysis is made of historical experimental films in order to determine if alternative models and techniques of narration are in use that may inform current and future creators of interactive digital narratives (IDN). An overview of experimental film leads to five case studies chosen as being of most relevance to narrative: these discuss works by Deren, Greenaway, Frampton, Markopoulos and Rybczyński. All these works predate the establishment of digital and interactive technology. Characteristics of verticality and repetition, spiral structures, ‘interlexia’ transitions, voice-over disjunction, trance narratives, multiscreen and multilayering, and the use of equations and set theory to determine the form of the film, are shown to be of potential interest to IDN.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Rees, A.L.: A History of Experimental Film and Video. BFI, London (1999)
Le Grice, M.: A non-linear tradition–experimental film and digital cinema. In: Konopatzki, B., Krönung, A., Traub, I. (eds.). Catalogue of the 43rd International Short Film Festival, pp. 145–150. International Kurzfilmtage, Oberhausen (1997)
Jennings, P.: Narrative structures for new media. Leonardo 29, 345–350 (1996)
Koenitz, H., Di Pastena, A., Jansen, D., de Lint, B., Moss, A.: The myth of ‘universal’ narrative models. In: Rouse, R., Koenitz, H., Haahr, M. (eds.) ICIDS 2018. LNCS, vol. 11318, pp. 107–120. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04028-4_8
Bordwell, D., Thompson, K.: Film Art: An Introduction, 10th edn. McGraw-Hill, New York (2013)
Buckland, W.: Puzzle Films: Complex Storytelling in Contemporary Cinema. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester (2009)
Kelomees, R.: Constructing narratives in interactive documentaries. In: Kelomees, R., Hales, C. (eds.) Expanding Practices in Audiovisual Narrative, pp. 59–103. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle (2014)
Hatfield, J.: Expanded cinema and narrative. Millen. Film J. 39(40), 50–65 (2003)
Bordwell, D.: Narration in the Fiction Film. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison (1985)
Burch, N.: Theory of Film Practice. Princeton University Press, Princeton (1981)
Mortensen, T., Jørgensen, K.: The Paradox of Transgression in Games. Routledge, London (2020)
Galloway, A.: Gaming, Essays on Algorithmic Culture. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis (2006)
Weibel, P.: Narrative theory: multiple projection and multiple narration (past and future). In: Rieser, M., Zapp, A. (eds.) New Screen Media: Cinema/Art/Narrative, pp. 42–53. BFI, London (2002)
Reas, C.: Earthly Delights (2019). https://reas.com/earthly_1. Accessed 27 Aug 2020
Frampton, H.: On the Camera Arts and Consecutive Matters. MIT Press, Boston (2015)
Manovich, L.: Database as Symbolic Form. Convergence 5(2), 80–99 (1999)
Manovich, L.: The Language of New Media. MIT Press, Cambridge (2001)
Kratky, A.: Lev manovich: soft cinema. In: Shaw, J., Weibel, P. (eds.) Future Cinema, the Cinematic Imaginary after Film, pp. 60–361. MIT Press, Cambridge (2003)
Alifragkis, S., Penz, F.: Dziga vertov’s man with a movie camera: thoughts on the computation of style and narrative structure. Archit. Cult. 3(1), 33–55 (2015)
Bard, P.: Man with a movie camera: the global remake. Public Art Dialogue 5(2), 132–140 (2015)
Maas, W.: Poetry and the film: a symposium. Film Cult. 29, 55–63 (1963)
Vosmeer, M., Roth, C., Koenitz, H.: Who are you? Voice-over perspective in surround video. In: Nunes, N., Oakley, I., Nisi, V. (eds.) ICIDS 2017. LNCS, vol. 10690, pp. 221–232. Springer, Cham (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71027-3_18
Youngblood, G.: Cinema and the code. Leonardo Suppl. Issue 2, 27–30 (1989)
Manovich, L.: Spatial computerisation and film language (adapted from the language of new media). In: Rieser, M., Zapp, A. (eds.) New Screen Media: Cinema/Art/Narrative, pp. 64–76. BFI, London (2002)
Kluszczyński, R.: Re-writing the history of media art: from personal cinema to artistic collaboration. Leonardo 40, 469–474 (2007)
Gidal, P.: Structural Film Anthology. BFI, London (1976)
Greenaway, P., Gras, V., Gras, M.: Peter Greenaway: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi, Jackson (2000)
Paul, C.: The database as system and cultural form: anatomies of cultural narratives. In: Vesna, V. (ed.) Database Aesthetics: Art in the Age of Information Overflow, pp. 95–109. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis (2007)
Willoquet-Maricondi, P., Alemany-Galway, M.: Peter Greenaway’s Postmodern/Poststructuralist Cinema. Scarecrow Press, Lanham (2008)
Rokeby, D.: The Giver of Names (1990). http://www.davidrokeby.com/gon.html. Accessed 27 Aug 2020
Thompson, N.: CKRBT (2019). http://nyethompson.net/works/the-seeker-ckrbt.html. Accessed 27 Aug 2020
Enns, C.: Frampton’s demon: a mathematical interpretation of Hollis Frampton’s Zorns Lemma. Leonardo 49(2), 156–161 (2016)
Seaman, W.: Ex.Mech, Artintact 1 CD-ROM (1994). In: Sommer, A. (ed.) The Complete Artintact DVD-ROM edition. Hatje Cantz, Stuttgart (2002)
Seaman, W.: Recombinant poetics and related database aesthetics. In: Vesna, V. (ed.) Database Aesthetics: Art in the Age of Information Overflow, pp. 121–141. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis (2007)
Queneau, R.: Exercices de Style. Gallimard, Paris (1982)
Weinbren, G.: Ocean, database, recut. In: Vesna, V. (ed.) Database Aesthetics: Art in the Age of Information Overflow, pp. 61–85. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis (2007)
Newitz, A.: Movie written by algorithm turns out to be hilarious and intense. Ars Technica, 6 September 2016. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/06/an-ai-wrote-this-movie-and-its-strangely-moving/. Accessed 27 Aug 2020
Landow, G.: Hypertext 3.0: Critical Theory and New Media in an Era of Globalization. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore (2006)
Sitney, P.: Adams: Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde 1943–2000, 3rd edn. Oxford University Press, New York (2002)
Keller, S.: Maya Deren: Incomplete Control. Columbia University Press, New York (2015)
Deren, M.: Notes, essays, letters. Film Cult. 39, 1 (1965)
Johnson, M.: VRWandlung (2018). http://files.cargocollective.com/c305679/VRWandlung-Press-Kit.pdf. Accessed 27 Aug 2020
Markopolous, G.: Towards a new narrative film form. Film Cult. 31, 11–12 (1963)
Hales, C.: You Who? In: Holloway-Attaway, L., O’Dwyer, N. (eds.). Non-human Narratives Art Exhibition Catalogue, pp. 37–38. ICIDS (2018)
Tackfilm website (2010). https://tackfilm.se/. Accessed 27 Aug 2020
The Wilderness Downtown website (2011). http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/. Accessed 27 Aug 2020
Just a Reflektor website (2015). https://www.justareflektor.com/. Accessed 27 Aug 2020
Kluszczyński, R.: (Audio) visual labyrinths. non-linear discourses in linear media. In: Konopatzki, B., Krönung, A., Traub, I. (eds.). Catalogue of the 43rd International Short Film Festival, pp. 138–144. International Kurzfilmtage, Oberhausen (1997)
Malinowski, T.: Friday to Saturday - a film about Zbig Rybczyński. Flying Brick Films, London (1991)
Digital Pictures: Night Trap. Digital Pictures (1992)
Philips POV: Voyeur. Philips Interactive (1993)
Love Shack: Framed. Noodlecake Studios Inc. (2015)
Koenitz, H.: Towards a specific theory of interactive narrative. In: Koenitz, H., Ferri, G., Haahr, M., Sezen, D., Sezen, T.I. (eds.) Interactive Digital Narrative: History, Theory, and Practice, pp. 91–105. Routledge, New York (2015)
Turvey, M.: Ken Jacobs digital revelationist. October 137, 107–124 (2011)
The Tulse Luper Journey. http://www.tulseluperjourney.com. Accessed 27 Aug 2020
Le Grice, M.: The chronos project. Vertigo 1(5), 21–25 (1995)
Le Grice, M.: Kismet, protagony and the zap splat syndrome. Millen. Film J. 28, 6–12 (1995)
Kinder, M.: Tracing the Decay of Fiction: Encounters with a Film by Pat O’Neill. In: Shaw, J., Weibel, P. (eds.) Future Cinema, the Cinematic Imaginary after Film, pp. 356–357. MIT Press, Cambridge (2003)
Courchesne, L.: The construction of experience: turning spectators into visitors. In: Rieser, M., Zapp, A. (eds.) New Screen Media: Cinema/Art/Narrative, pp. 256–267. BFI, London (2002)
Hales, C.: Practical experimentation with parallel video streams. In: Hagebölling, H. (ed.) Interactive Dramaturgies, pp. 159–166. Springer, Berlin (2004)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Hales, C. (2020). Weird and Wonderful: How Experimental Film Narratives Can Inform Interactive Digital Narratives. In: Bosser, AG., Millard, D.E., Hargood, C. (eds) Interactive Storytelling. ICIDS 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12497. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62516-0_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62516-0_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-62515-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-62516-0
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)