Navigating parallel interactive narratives in virtual reality

ABSTRACT

The application of Campbell’s hero’s journey in cinema commonly adopts a director-centric approach in which the director decides how the viewer will see the narrative. A parallel interactive narrative in virtual reality titled Table for Two adopts screen production enquiry to investigate the divergence from the hero’s journey from a director-centric approach towards a navigator-centric approach. Here, the conventional cinema viewer is proposed as a navigator due to the immersive, interactive, and intellectual role they perform in terms of 360-degree viewing, teleportation, and meaning creation. While hero’s journey has been examined across various narrative platforms such as literature, theatre, cinema, gaming, theme parks, education, and more; there are limited discussions on the hero’s journey and its relevance to virtual reality experiences. Table for Two is a one-shot 360-degree audio-visual experience captured simultaneously by three 360-degree cameras. The navigator is encouraged to teleport from one narrative to another as the remaining narratives unfold irrespective of their choices. Each navigator is empowered to untie the knotted pieces and construct a narrative puzzle. Table for Two diverges from the hero’s journey through its multi-linear structure, simultaneous parallel narrative approach, and 360-degree spatial storytelling that offers freedom to navigate.

KEYWORDS:

• Parallel narratives
• cinematic virtual reality
• 360-degree film
• navigator
• multiple genres
• Table for Two

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Table for Two trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWgCeqiNFCU&t=1s.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

D. J. Remedios

D. J. Remedios is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (India). He is an animator and illustrator, with a Master’s degree in Animation Film Design from the National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media from St. Andrew’s College, Mumbai. His student films at NID have received National and International recognition. His group project 0200 (2008) was an official selection for Annecy Film Festival, France 2009. His film Deluge (2009) was awarded Best Director at Asian Youth Animation & Comics Contest, Guiyang, China 2010. Post NID, he has worked in Mumbai as a Visual Designer in the eLearning industry in areas such as visual storyboards, character designs, infographics, illustration, mural art, and animation. His film Save Our Species (2020) has been screened at twenty-four international film festivals. He is the author and illustrator of the web comic series Shayne’s World. He has been invited as a jury panel member at Anifest India and Equinox Mountain Film Festival. At the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, he teaches courses related to animation, illustration, and filmmaking. His research interest is in Cinematic Virtual Reality.

D. J. Mathew

D. J. Mathew is a Professor at the Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (India). He is involved in setting up the Design Department at IIT Hyderabad. He holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts (Graphic Arts) from the M.S. University, Vadodara, and has a PhD in Design Education from the Centre for Advanced Studies in Education, M.S. University, and Vadodara. At NID, Deepak was the Head of Photography Design from 2002 to 2013. He has been instrumental in designing and developing the dual postgraduate programme in Photography Design. He also set up the Photography Design discipline and started an International Postgraduate Certificate Programme in Photography at the institute in collaboration with the University for Creative Arts, Farnham, UK. Deepak has curated a number of exhibitions, his photographs have been published in various books, he had five solo shows in UK and India, exhibited his work at many international and national exhibitions, and has authored several papers. He has written a book called, Principles of Design through Photography and is a regular contributor and columnist to magazines.

M. Schleser

M. Schleser (B.A. Hons, M.A., Ph.D.) is a Senior Lecturer in Film and Television and Researcher in the Centre for Transformative Media Technologies (CTMT) at Swinburne University of Technology (Melbourne, Australia), Adobe Education Leader, Founder of the Mobile Innovation Network & Association (www.mina.pro) and Screening Director of the International Mobile Innovation Screening & Festival. Max’s research expertise is Immersive Media and Creative Arts 4.0 with a focus on Cinematic VR and interactive filmmaking. His research explores Screen Production, Emerging Media, and Smartphone Filmmaking for community engagement, creative transformation, and transmedia storytelling. Max’s experimental films, moving-image arts, and cinematic VR projects are screened at film festivals and exhibited in galleries and museums (www.schleser.nz). His community engaged documentaries are broadcast on TV and online (https://www.behance.net/maxschleser). Max co-edited the books Mobile Media Making in an Age of Smartphones and Mobile Story Making in an Age of Smartphones, published with Palgrave MacMillan, and edited journals for Ubiquity, the Journal of Pervasive Media, and the Journal of Creative Technologies. He conceptualised and conducted digital storytelling workshops for a number of cultural institutes, city councils, and government bodies in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. His industry consultancy includes projects for Adobe, BBC, Nokia, Frontier Strategy, and Open Lab, among other agencies and production companies.