contemporary.screen.narratives.2012
DESCRIPTION
From Storytelling to Story-playing Intertextuality and Contexts of Production in Game Adaptation This paper proposal is based on a study of game production in the context of cross-media strategies, and follows the adaptation journey of the Muddle Earth IP from a children’s book, into a BBC TV series, and finally into a game. The research looks at the text and its production, drawing on empirical data from game-playing, interviews with producers and the analysis of design and production documents. Game adaptations of narratives from other media are based not just hypertextually on their source texts, but also intertextually on other games and games conventions. Besides textual influences, game adaptations are also strongly shaped by ‘extratextual’ conditions of production (budgets, technology, editorial guidelines), all of which influence the ways in which game adaptations translate existing narratives. The paper explores how storytelling devices in games both remediate older forms of media, but also create new ways of telling (or playing) stories. In this process, different source narrative elements are reused, enhanced or discarded – and mixed with ludic elements – through decisions shaped by commercial, editorial and other criteria, which ultimately define the final game text. Steering away from outdated notions of ‘fidelity’ in adaptation studies, the paper proposes the concept of ‘brand consistency’ as an essential requirement of cross-media strategies, to achieve seamless audience experiences and maximize IP audiences across media. The theoretical framework is derived from game studies, adaptation studies, intertextuality theory, narrative theory, and political economy.TRANSCRIPT
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Hi everyone, hope you’re enjoying the conference I’ll start by quickly give you some context to my presenta=on I work as a Games & Transmedia Strategist for Dubit, a digital entertainment studio and research agency My role creates a bridge between the RESEARCH and GAME DEVELOPMENT teams One day I’m doing games tes=ng, next day I’ll be working on game design or involving audiences in media co-‐crea=on approaches
Oh yeah, and I get to play a few games…
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Last year I wrote a MASTERS thesis based on a game produced for the BBC This game was MUDDLE EARTH – a casual quest-‐based virtual world aimed at children – developed by Dubit, for whom I work This presenta=on is based on the study of this game
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This was essen=ally a study of game produc=on, and followed the adapta=on journey of the Muddle Earth IP from a children’s book, into a BBC TV series, and finally into a game. As both game development professional and academic researcher I wanted to explore how games research could contribute to game produc=on and to the design of beVer games. The main objec=ves of this study were to understand the processes of adapta=on from other media into games, in the context of cross-‐media strategies; and par=cularly explore what happens to narra=ve in its journey from paper to screens to games. How it’s con=nued, how it is transformed, how it is integrated into ludic structures by inspiring game mechanics…
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• Johnson’s circuit of culture proposes four main interac=ng areas for media studies – the best way to understand a text is to cover all areas
• Most Game Studies have typically focused on textual analysis and player studies
• But produc=on has oZen been overlooked – frequently due to a lack of coopera=on between game producers and game academics
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I was really happy when I read the CfP for this conference, whose objec=ves were to:
• trace connec=ons between the narra=ves of contemporary screen media and their contexts of produc=on
• explore ways in which stories and their on-‐screen telling are informed by contemporary industrial and technological condi=ons
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The body of academic research on adapta=on of texts from other media into games and vice-‐versa is s=ll modest.
Empirical studies of games as adapta=ons, where researchers interview producers and have access to design and produc=on documents are even rarer. But in order to study media texts it is essen=al to understand their contexts of produc=on.
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The research looks at the text and its production, drawing on: • empirical data from game-‐playing • interviews with producers • the analysis of design and production documents and
conversations – had access to the project hub
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The usefulness of narra-ve theory • In a recent ar=cle in Gamasutra, a game cri=c defended that only 20% of games
should tell stories – I don’t want to get into the ludology vs. narratology debate, but even though computer games are indeed games, many of them do try to tell stories too – especially when they are adapta=ons of exis=ng stories or part of wider transmedia IPs where narra=ve is important
• Krzynskwa: narra=ve theory useful – in this case to understand how transla=on into a different medium transforms the narra=ve
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The process of adapta=on is analysed with a special focus on the ways in which the hypotext narra=ve underwent modifica=ons at the levels of character traits and func=ons, plot structure and effects (humour).
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The TV series • Previous adapta=on – Jackanory -‐ virtually a transcrip=on onto TV –
human narrator telling the story with CGI characters – high fidelity to the book
• This version of Muddle Earth was not described as an adapta=on, but instead as a cartoon ‘based on’ the book
• The objec=ve here is to describe the main transforma=ons and factors behind these
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About Games • A computer game is a game, so it’s obvious that there is a ludic
dimension in the ME game – goals, resources, skill, scores, and so on • And because it is an online mul--‐player game where you can see and
contact other people, is clearly a social dimension to playing – of the player opts to be ‘social’
• Narra-ve is an important link with original IP – narra=ves acquire heightened importance in contemporary transmedia contexts – I’m not saying narrar=ve is the most important dimension (aZer all games are games), but one that deserves aVen=on
• Narra=ve in games – especially authored narra=ve -‐ is situated at the intersec=on of mainly the ludic and representa=onal dimensions – games tell stories by being played – in games we move from story-‐telling to a mix of story-‐telling and STORY-‐PLAYING
• LET’S THEN SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ME NARRATIVE IN THE GAME – HOW IT CONTINUED AND CHANGED FROM ITS SOURCE TEXTS
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• Game adaptations of narratives from other media are based not just hypertextually on their source texts
• but also intertextually on other games and games conventions, on technological resources and constraints
• Besides textual inAluences, game adaptations are also strongly shaped by ‘extratextual’ conditions of production (budgets, technology, editorial guidelines, established industrial practices and perceptions / conceptions of target audiences.), all of which inAluence the ways in which game adaptations translate existing narratives.
• I’d like to propose the term EXTRATEXTUALITY to encompass the analysis of this type of factors – the non-‐textual inAluences on the text
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This diagram provides grater detail on the series of intertextual and extratextual factors that influenced the produc=on of the ME game • In the whole process Brand consistency was essen=al to maximise benefits of
cross-‐media and transmedia IPs – seamless consump=on, meet audience expecta=ons: readers, TV watchers – and gamers!
• Which means that it is essen=al to keep a good level of consistency with the source texts and their narra=ve in a transmedia context – this does not mean pure fidelity, but adop=ng a good level of brand consistency, and using the source narra=ve as inspira=on for narra=ve as well as ludic structures in the game
• How do we define ‘good consistency’ is another ques=on – one for my next project looking at how we can involve audiences in the design of game adapta=ons and as part of wider transmedia stories
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