Storytelling in action

This course develops students’ storytelling skills, with an emphasis on modes (film, animation, game), types (e.g. interactive/non-interactive, branching/linear), genre conventions, art movements, design, character development (e.g. actors and avatars), and, most importantly, voice. Students will also analyze and experiment with alternative narrative models to the dominant entertainment styles of screen storytelling (e.g., expressionism, neorealism, art cinema, indigenous film practice, independent game development). In the process, students will explore their storytelling voice in relation to world views, addressing the question: how is story telling in games and other interactive media different from the sorts of storytelling typically found in film and television, what do those differences mean, and how to they reveal your world view?