participatory storytelling

Participatory Storytelling

Transmedia 101 Toronto, Canada July 25th 2012

Robert Pratten CEO & Founder, Transmedia Storyteller Ltd

@robpratten

Robert Pratten CEO & Founder, Transmedia Storyteller Ltd

Transmedia Storyteller Ltd “be remarkable”

Storytelling with Conducttr

Narrative Gaming

Social Networking

Participation, Conversation

Rewards Levels Collaboration Competition

Characters Plot Events Things

30-min participatory story

http://pigsvswolf.tumblr.com/

Decision points…

9 mins 18 mins 28 mins

Straw Sticks Bricks

Pig1 < Wolf?

Pig1 >= Wolf?

Pig 2 < Wolf?

Pig 2>= Wolf?

Pig 3 < Wolf?

Pig 3>= Wolf?

Choose a side!

@1st_little_pig RUN @2nd_little_pig RUN @3rd_little_pig RUN

@bigbadwolf_2011 BLOW

Stay informed of results? Text STATUS to (563) 219-7088

Content released over 15 day period

Game accessed via blogs – used real and custom websites to set challenges

http://a-cops-wife-life.blogspot.com/

http://ortegapi.posterous.com/

Lowlifes 2.0

Story-in-the-Cloud

Character’s live 24/7 in the cloud

Characters connect experience

.. with online

.. with mobile

..between product releases

Conducttr – Under the Hood

Control Layer

Content Layer

Real World

Conducttr: Pervasive Entertainment Platform

Broadcast & reply emails, Tweets, SMS Publish blog posts, videos, images, Facebook updates

Events – when “stuff” should happen Actions – personalization of experience

Audience

Under The Hood - Audience

Individual

Audience

Community

Audience is viewed as: • individual (just you) • community (everyone) • group (segments of everyone)

Individual Everyone Groups

Audience variables

Contact Details

Groups

Custom Fields

Email Twitter Mobile

Language? Level? Trait?

Health? Stamina? Power

Community-level personalization

Individual –level personalization

NB: Custom Fields also available for other entities such as Characters and Touchpoints

Alien encounter readiness (SMS)

TEST your readiness for alien encounters! Reply TEST to answer two questions that will reveal more about yourself than you knew!

– Q1: You suffer an alien abduction but are returned to Earth. What do you do? Reply keep SECRET or GO PUBLIC

– Q2: You find yourself impregnated with an an alien child. What do you do? Reply give BIRTH or KILL it.

(575) 208 5005

Results create personalize experience

You are a PERFECT HOST for alien explorers. Your willingness to

keep an alien lovechild and tell nobody has been noted and will

be rewarded.

You are an EXHIBITIONIST who seeks celebrity in two solar

systems. We are wary of you but we may use you if it suits our

cause.

You are a SILENT RECLUSE. You crave alien attention but are

afraid to show your affection.

You are an EARTH WARRIOR - ready to make a stand against alien invasion and exploration.

You are not to be trusted.

SECRET PUBLIC

BIRTH

KILL

Engagement Goal: delight each individual with personalized, surprising, evolving content

community-driven story evolution

Control Layer

Content Layer call to action

action

personalization

Real World community action

Individual

Audience call to action

Community

Conducttr

Welcome to our Worlds

Connected experience

Audience

Your Story/Experience Native cross-platform experience written without code to run from the cloud on social networks (and on other sites such as tablet apps, social games, consoles, forums etc. via Conducttr API with coding)

Invite the world into your World

Trailer or Website

Description

Date & time information

The platforms the World lives on

XP, Progress & Achievements

Mobile app

Conducttr Ecosystem

• Cloud-based intelligence

• Mobile app

• API

• Authored via any web browser with no coding.

Linear story

Branching narrative

decision point alternative endings

A

B

C

Open storyworld

plot point

character detail

Exposition

TV/Web Series + Open Storyworld

EPISODIC Video

AUDIENCE-DRIVEN PARTICIPATION

Open storyworld + TV/Web Series MANCHESTER

Facebook Participatory Story

Goal

• Avoid another genre story ;)

• Demonstrate that participation is not “giving up control to the crowd”

• Solution: Short story about family relationships

The Brothers

The Story

• A day with two brothers whose father’s funeral is the day before Mother’s Day.

• Three “episodes”: – Funeral

– The night between

– Mother’s Day lunch

Participation

• Audience can read either or both brothers on Facebook

• Brothers twice ask Facebook friends for help – What to do that evening after the funeral

– Whether to go to the Mother’s Day lunch

Timing & pacing • Decision: Campaign or Re-playable?

– Play out over specific date & times or…

– Play out based on repeatable trigger event

• Decide scene and decision timing

Funeral Night before Mother’s Day

Monday 9am

Monday Noon

Monday 5pm

Tuesday 9am

Tuesday Noon

Event + Time=0

Event + Time=3hrs

Event + Time=8hrs

Event + Time=1day

Event + Time=1day, 3hrs

Date & time

Event + relative time

Jargon

• Community = the whole audience

• Person = only one member of the audience

Personalization

• Community-driven story – Comments on Facebook decide what each brother

does the night after the funeral – Although both brothers will go to the lunch,

comments on Facebook decide how the scene plays out

• Personalized story – Each brother’s reaction to individual Facebook friends

(e.g. the audience) is determined by comparing that person’s recommendation/suggestion with the community-driven decision

Characters & relationships

Mum Wife

COMMUNITY EFFECTS of INTERACTION How the character relationships change over time is affected by the audience interaction. That is, audience interaction causes an action by Richard that cause a reaction from the other people in his life. PERSONAL EFFECTS of INTERACTION The characters also change their relationship with the audience member. For example if a person gave good advice, was supportive or negative etc.

Richard Brian

Audience

Mother’s Day scene

C D

A B Forrest

Younger woman

Older woman

Beach

Four possible ways for a. the scene to play out

based on Community decision

b. to interact with audience member based on comments they made

The scenes with the brothers reveal different information about them and hence changes the relationship between the brothers and the audience. That’s why the Mother’s Day scene has four possible endings – the scene is written knowing what the audience knows and what it doesn’t

New parameter: Which mother’s day card?

BRIAN

RICH

ARD

16 end points!

Richard

Forrest

Old Plain card

Strange card

Young Plain card

Strange card

Beach

Old Plain card

Strange card

Young Plain card

Strange card

Brian

Young

Beach

Plain card

Strange card

Forrest

Plain card

Strange card

Old

Beach

Plain card

Strange card

Forrest

Plain card

Strange card

Mother’s Day Lunch Mother’s Day Lunch

Information revealed?

C D

A B Tony Forrest

Fly Younger

Apples Older

Car Beach

BRIAN

RICH

ARD

Open story?

Fly Apples

Brian

Tony Car

Richard

Forrest Beach

Young Old

Lunch

Richard

Brian

4 end points

Tony Car

Fly Apples

Richard

Plain card

Strange card

Brian

Plain card

Strange card

Events in conclusion have new significance

Tony Car

Fly Apples

Richard

Plain card

Strange card

Brian

Plain card

Strange card

Tony

Car

Fly

Apples

TV/Web Series + Open Storyworld

EPISODIC Video

AUDIENCE-DRIVEN PARTICIPATION

Fly Apples Tony Car

Facebook + TV/Web series

Tony

Car

Fly

Old

Brian Richard

Episode 1 : Funeral Episode 2 : Mother’s Day

Script

Engagement

Episode 1 : Funeral Episode 2 : Mother’s Day

? plain strange

Companion mobile app

The End

Robert Pratten robert@tstoryteller.com

@robpratten USA: +1 415 287 4150

Europe: +44 207 193 4567