Multiperspectivity and Convergence in Transmedia Storytelling: A Practice-Oriented Exploration of Interactive Narratives

James  Smith; Marcos Mortensen Steagall

doi:10.24135/link2023.v5i1.245

James Smith Auckland University of Technology
Marcos Mortensen Steagall (Translator) Auckland University of Technology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24135/link2023.v5i1.245

Keywords: Transmedia Storytelling, Multi-voiced narratives, Practice-oriented research, Interactive media, Interactive Design

Abstract

This practice-oriented design research project looks to explore the question: how might the creative use of multiperspective transmedia storytelling and interactive media foster convergence? In a context of increasing polarisation and partisan politics within contemporary society, it is essential to explore how media can foster multiplicity. This PhD research investigates how transmedia narratives, as conceptualised by Jenkins (2006) and Murray (2012), can be employed to create stories that encapsulate a multiplicity of voices and perspectives. The primary aim of this project is to understand how technology-driven storytelling methods can enable the coexistence of diverse narratives. This research has both ecological and cultural significance, taking as its point of departure a Pōhutukawa (myrtle) tree in Central Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, which serves as the site of inquiry. The project explores and represents different narratives centred around this tree, utilising the tree itself as a metaphor for the potential of storytelling to foster multiperspectivity. The methodological approach is practice-oriented research, with the design researcher employing methods such as prototyping, lens-based media processes like photogrammetry, and filmmaking to gather data and create diverse narrative experiences about the site. This research contributes to the fields of transmedia design and interactive narrative studies by demonstrating how transmedia narratives can be designed to convey stories that integrate different perspectives, thus fostering a media environment that embraces multiplicity.

Author Biographies

James Smith , Auckland University of Technology

James Smith is a lecturer in interaction and communication design in the School of Art and Design, the Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). His practice-based research focuses primarily on design for new and emerging technologies, embodied and enactive design approaches, intercultural co-design, new modes and forms of interactive storytelling, and Global South epistemologies and methodologies.

Marcos Mortensen Steagall, Auckland University of Technology

Marcos Mortensen Steagall is an Associate Professor in the Communication Design department at the Auckland University of Technology - AUT since 2016. He is the Communication Design Postgraduate Strand Leader and Programme Leader for Communication Design and Interaction Design for Year 3. He holds a Master's (2000) and PhD (2006) in Communication & Semiotics acquired from The Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and a PhD in Art & Design from Auckland University of Technology in 2019. Research interest focus on Practice-oriented research in Design through a Global South perspective.