interactive storytelling

First ep of 2024! We've got Stephen (scriptwriter and narrative designer, currently Narrative Director on Motive's untitled Iron Man project in collaboration with Marvel Games. Previously a Senior Writer on Vampyr and Greedfall, Associate Narrative Director/Lead Narrative Designer on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, Lead Narrative Designer/Senior Story Designer on Call of Duty: Vanguard, Lead Scriptwriter on Immortals Fenyx Rising, Senior Scriptwriter on Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and more) and Danny (lead writer at Respawn Entertainment where he’s worked on Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. Previously a lead writer on Borderlands 3, its dlc, and Borderlands 2, as well as Battleborn and one of its story operation DLCs. He was also a narrative design consultant for Eko, a story consultant for Unbound Creations, lead writer for Ansimuz Games’ Elliot Quest, and writer for My Evil Twin Gaming Corp, Trendy Entertainment, and TRU Darknet) in to talk about the UT Denius-Sams Gaming Academy, accountability in writing, having the spine of the story figured out in pre-production, communicating changes that affect other departments, being custodians of story, soft skills, unlearning bad habits, getting better at pitching, building teams, their most used words, staying open to new ideas without losing sight of the vision, taking and prioritizing feedback, and letting go of your projects after they’re released.

Our Guests on the Internet

Stephen's Twitter.

Danny's Website and Substack.

Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

This episode was brought to you by Backlight Gem. If you're a narrative designer or writer in the world of video games, Gem is a powerful tool that empowers you to bring your stories to life by streamlining the narrative design process from ideation to release. Learn more at https://bit.ly/Gem-Script-Lock

Guests: 

Rafael Brown, CEO/Founder at Symbol Zero
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelbrown/

Carey D'Souza, CEO and Co-Founder at IAMPASS [@iampassHQ]
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/careydsouza/
On Twitter | https://twitter.com/carey_dsouza

Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast [@RedefiningCyber]

On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/sean-martin

_____________________________

Host: Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast and Audio Signals Podcast

On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
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This Episode’s Sponsors

BlackCloak 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb

Bugcrowd 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspbgcweb

Devo 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspdvweb

_____________________________

Episode Introduction

Welcome to another fascinating episode of Once Upon A Time, a monthly series on the Redefining Society podcast with Marco Ciappelli. This episode offers a deep dive into the changes in the way we consume entertainment, driven by the advent of technology. It's a conversation that transports us from the era of 8-bit games, through the immersive experiences of modern Virtual Reality, to the potential futures of personalized entertainment. It's an exploration that asks and examines some intriguing questions. How is technology influencing the way we experience stories and interact with narratives? How does nostalgic appeal factor into our connection with games and entertainment? Can we choose not only the stories we consume but also how we experience them? The episode doesn't shy away from these questions, providing food for thought and leaving the listener with something to ponder until the next edition of Once Upon A Time. So sit back, relax, and get ready to take a fascinating journey through time, technology, and storytelling.
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Resources

____________________________

To see and hear more Redefining Society stories on ITSPmagazine, visit:
https://www.itspmagazine.com/redefining-society-podcast

Watch the webcast version on-demand on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllTUoWMGGQHlGVZA575VtGr9

Are you interested in sponsoring an ITSPmagazine Channel?
👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/advertise-on-itspmagazine-podcast

Guests: 

Rafael Brown, CEO/Founder at Symbol Zero
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelbrown/

Carey D'Souza, CEO and Co-Founder at IAMPASS [@iampassHQ]
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/careydsouza/
On Twitter | https://twitter.com/carey_dsouza

Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast [@RedefiningCyber]

On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/sean-martin

_____________________________

Host: Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast and Audio Signals Podcast

On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
_____________________________

This Episode’s Sponsors

BlackCloak 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb

Bugcrowd 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspbgcweb

Devo 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspdvweb

_____________________________

Episode Introduction

Welcome to another fascinating episode of Once Upon A Time, a monthly series on the Redefining Society podcast with Marco Ciappelli. This episode offers a deep dive into the changes in the way we consume entertainment, driven by the advent of technology. It's a conversation that transports us from the era of 8-bit games, through the immersive experiences of modern Virtual Reality, to the potential futures of personalized entertainment. It's an exploration that asks and examines some intriguing questions. How is technology influencing the way we experience stories and interact with narratives? How does nostalgic appeal factor into our connection with games and entertainment? Can we choose not only the stories we consume but also how we experience them? The episode doesn't shy away from these questions, providing food for thought and leaving the listener with something to ponder until the next edition of Once Upon A Time. So sit back, relax, and get ready to take a fascinating journey through time, technology, and storytelling.
_____________________________

Resources

____________________________

To see and hear more Redefining Society stories on ITSPmagazine, visit:
https://www.itspmagazine.com/redefining-society-podcast

Watch the webcast version on-demand on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllTUoWMGGQHlGVZA575VtGr9

Are you interested in sponsoring an ITSPmagazine Channel?
👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/advertise-on-itspmagazine-podcast

You’re in for a great conversation this week with creative technologist Eric Thompson. Eric staked his claim in the Atlanta tech space through his entrepreneurial work through Georgia Tech, and is now helping support the next generation of makers and creators through his work at Spelman College.

We talked a lot about the Spelman Innovation Lab and how it functions as a third place, and Eric shared his journey from construction and mechanical engineering in New Jersey to studying user experience and human computer interaction in Atlanta. He also spoke about the thriving tech scene here, working with his partner on a food startup called Eat Unrestricted, and the lessons he’s learned along the way.

This conversation is packed with deep insights, and I love how Eric is pushing the boundaries of innovation of creativity!

Links

• Eric Thompson’s Website
• Eric Thompson on Instagram
• Eric Thompson on LinkedIn
• Spelman College Innovation Lab
• Spelman College Innovation Lab on Instagram
• Eat Unrestricted
• Eat Unrestricted on Instagram

For a full transcript of this interview, visit revisionpath.com.

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Click or tap here to make either a one-time or monthly donation to help keep Revision Path running strong.

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Credits

Revision Path is brought to you by Lunch, a multidisciplinary creative studio in Atlanta, GA.

• Executive Producer and Host: Maurice Cherry
• Editor and Audio Engineer: RJ Basilio
• Intro Voiceover: Music Man Dre
• Intro and Outro Music: Yellow Speaker

Transcripts are provided courtesy of Brevity and Wit.

☎️ Call ‪626-603-0310 and leave us a message with your comments on this episode!

Thank you for listening!

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Sponsored by Brevity & Wit

Brevity & Wit is a strategy and design firm committed to designing a more inclusive and equitable world. They are always looking to expand their roster of freelance design consultants in the U.S., particularly brand strategists, copywriters, graphic designers and Web developers.

If you know how to deliver excellent creative work reliably, and enjoy the autonomy of a virtual-based, freelance life (with no non-competes), check them out at brevityandwit.com.

Brevity & Wit — creative excellence without the grind.

Apologies for the wait, but we're back! We don't often do episodes focused around one specific thing, but we're making an exception to talk about Netflix's newest interactive special: We Lost Our Human, and we're joined by its two co-creators, Chris and Rikke! (They also co-created the Nickelodeon series Pinky Malinky, and both have worked on many, many other animated projects, with Chris working as showrunner, producer, writer, art director, storyboarder, character designer and more. As for Rikke, she’s also been a showrunner, producer, voice director, animator, animation director, storyboard artist, and more.)

Together they talk about how they broke into animation and got into interactive narrative, what they thought the hardest part of making We Lost Our Human would be, getting advice from the Bandersnatch folks, making media for kids vs adults, whether it was difficult for the actors to keep the branching story in their heads, unexpected learnings, the new production pipeline they had to build, Netflix’s branch manager tool, James Baxter, whether they had to adjust WLOH based on Netflix data, and what advice they’d give to someone making an interactive special now.

Our Guests on the Internet

Chris' Instagram, and Twitter.

Rikke's Instagram.

Stuff We Talked About

We Lost Our Human

Pinky Malinky

Bandersnatch

Heroes of Might and Magic

THE NEWZEALAND STORY

Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.

Back in the throes of summer, we've got Corey (lead narrative designer at Silver Rain Games, writer and narrative designer on WindRush Tales, editor and social media manager of Butterfly Books, and a journalist, critic and content producer for companies such as PlayStation, Yahoo! and the Eurogamer Network) and Kelsie (narrative designer at Obsidian Entertainment on Outer Worlds 2,  narrative lead for Dangers in the Motor Vortex,  lead writer for Death Carnival,  creator of It Girl, and was also a content designer at Jam City and a writer at Pixelberry Studios) here to talk about writing tests, barriers, common motifs & themes in their writing, games they wish they wrote, unexpected pieces of media that inspired them, games where they felt the most invested in the player characters, silent protagonists, things they wished game narratives delved into more often, character tropes, building characters from scratch, and more!

*The views and opinions expressed by Corey do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Silver Rain Games*

Our Guests on the Internet

Corey's Twitter and Website.

Kelsie's Twitter and Linkedin.

Stuff We Talked About

Jax & Daxter series

Hades

90 Day Fiance

Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Return of the Obra Dinn

What Remains of Edith Finch

Dragon Age: Origins

The Activision Blizzard Diversity Space Tool

Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.

This week’s guests are our new friends Jake Sorgen & Matt Bowdren!  Jake is a Composer-Poet and Musician based in Chicago. Jake has released 7 albums of lyrical songs and interdisciplinary music/spoken word pieces. Matt is a theatre artist based in Chicago, IL. Matt is a founder and Governing Ensemble member of The Story Theatre, and an Artistic Associate for the Rogue Theatre. Together, they started Small Giants.  

Small Giants is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary ensemble that blends language, music, and improvisation. The debut album is set to be released summer 2021 with a live concert/performance piece currently in development.

We dove into the idea of Small Giants, micro moments that it creates, and new transmedia methods to get the word out and invite new audiences and artists into the project.

It’s a great idea filled episode!

Follow Jake & Matt:

https://mattbowdren.com

https://jakesorgen.com

#smallgiants #poetry #music #band #newdiscipline #theater #interactivestorytelling #storyworld #storytelling #transmedia #collectivejourney #artists #creatives #worldbuilder #showrunner #screenwriters #producers #indie #newconcepts

Are you an intrepid explorer with your own story world? You should be a guest on Story World Explorers! Connect with us here: https://clovispointcm.com/be-a-guest

This week’s guest is our new friend, Christian L. Nommay!  Christian is the founder of the indie RPG publishing company, Knight Errant Media, and the creator of the tabletop RPG and StoryWorld, Titan Effect.

Titan Effect is an espionage and Sc-Fi tabletop role-playing game and transmedia project, set in a near-future where spies gifted with psychic powers clash with genetically enhanced soldiers, in a secret war in which the fate of human evolution is at stake.

 We dove into the lore of the Titan Effect World, the amazing storylines that exist within it, and the transmedia future of the world.

It’s an amazing, engrossing world and creator!

Titan Effect RPG Tabletop: 

·         https://titaneffect.com/

·         https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/249701/Titan-Effect-RPG

Follow Christian:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristianNommay

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiannommay/

 Want to watch instead of listen?  Go here: https://youtu.be/npO4-TJvzz0

#Titianeffect #RPGtabletop #tabletopgame #interactivestorytelling #storyworld #storytelling #transmedia #collectivejourney #artists #creatives #worldbuilder #showrunner #screenwriters #producers #indie #newconcepts

Are you an intrepid explorer with your own story world? You should be a guest on Story World Explorers! Connect with us here: https://clovispointcm.com/be-a-guest

Spring is here and so are Leslee (Design Producer on Marvel Strike Force at Scopely, previously a writer and development manager at Riot, and held a variety of narrative design and production roles at 2K and Dorian) and Cassandra (award-winning game & fiction writer who’s worked on such games as Sunless Skies, Wasteland 3, and Falcon Age)! They join us to talk about being stubborn, knowing when to stop pushing for something, writing barks, overlapping dialogue, where they start when creating characters, whether they’re plotters or pantsers, what their writing habits are, how to force yourself to start writing, how COVID has changed their habits, navigating bureaucracy, knowing when to leave your environment for a better one,  dealing with people overstepping their boundaries, and more!

Our Guests on the Internet

Leslee's Twitter and Tiktok

Cassandra's Twitter and her three upcoming books are Walk Among Us, The All-Consuming World, and Nothing But Blackened Teeth

Stuff We Talked About

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Life is Strange 2

The Least of My Scars by Stephen Graham Jones

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey

Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

We're back again this month with Heli (theatre and performance costume designer, most recently a costume and character designer for Remedy’s Control and the upcoming Crossfire 2. Also worked on Mirages for Kroma Productions, and EGO CURE for Aalto University)and Claire (currently an art director at Valve, previously an artist and associate production designer for Microsoft Studios on a ton of Kinect games, Fable Legends, Sunset Overdrive, Powerstar Golf, and more. Also the production designer for Westworld VR) to talk about why costume design as a specialized role isn’t more common in games, the narrative features of costume design, differences with fashion design, research, building costumes for worlds less-based in reality, the problem of flowing clothes, working with the non-monetary budgets of video games (memory, processing power, etc), not holding back on your first draft, their most important collaborators, iteration, pitching ideas that may be too “out there,” the hardest costume they’ve designed (that they can talk about), knowing when something’s done, how non-costume designers can learn more about costume design, mundane costume design, work/life balance, and how can writers make costume designers’ lives easier.

Our guests on the Internet

Claire’s Twitter and Website.

Heli’s Website and Artstation.

Stuff We Talked About

Marvelous Designer

LA Noire

The Art of Manipulating Fabric by Colette Wolff

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Bayonetta

Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Frank Mungeam leads the newsroom innovation lab for The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU, where he and his students drive innovation and interactive storytelling that inspires the entire news media industry.

We're all avoiding our deadlines to bring you this episode with Olivia (writer, narrative designer, and editor and currently works at Failbetter Games where she’s worked on Fallen London, Sunless Sea, Sunless Sea: Zubmariner, and Sunless Skies. She’s also worked on Lethophobia, The Mystery of Kalkomey Isle, Cheaper Than Therapy, and Where the Water Tastes Like Wine) and Jessica (former Lead Writer at Telltale Games where she worked on Batman, The Walking Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Wolf Among Us: Season 2, and since then has written for WB Games San Francisco, and is currently working with Bad Robot Studios and Google Stadia), who are here to talk about writing meaningful choices, their personal favorite choices in games, what makes a good NPC, what takes you out of a game’s story, storytelling quagmires, getting through rewrite fatigue, when do you know you’re done with a script (apart from deadlines), maintaining a healthy work/life balance, time management, and what’s inspiring them outside of games.

Our Guests on the Internet
Olivia's Twitter.

Jessica's Twitter.

Stuff We Talked About

Heaven’s Vault

Gris

Transistor

A Burglar’s Guide to the City by Geoff Manaugh

The Chrestomanci Series by Diana Wynne Jones

Alice Diamond and the Forty Elephants by Brian McDonald

The Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab

Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita

Uncharted 4 spoilers abound as we've got Josh (former Cinematics Animation Lead at Naughty Dog on the Jak and Daxter series as well as Uncharted 1 through 3, followed by co-writer on Uncharted 4) and Sarah (actor and voiceover artist, heard in such games as Gone Home, Codename Cygnus, Skulls of the Shogun, Galak-Z, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, and Uncharted 4) in to talk performance, can you know too much about a character, the writing process at Naughty Dog, what you accomplish in level dialogue vs cutscene dialogue, why there isn’t an open world Uncharted, was Sam ever Samantha, structure, taking the time to develop characters in-game and spend time with them, where do you start when creating mysteries/puzzles, serious pirate history, making the main character an asshole, ghost pirates, and can you enjoy the games you’ve worked on.

Again, SPOILERS FOR UNCHARTED 4 IN THIS EPISODE.

Our Guests on the Internet

Josh's Twitter.

Sarah's Twitter and Website.

Stuff We Talked About

Babycastles

The Uncharted comic series on Comixology

A Second Chance at Sarah by Neil Druckmann

Nate's journal illustrations by Alex Neonakis

A General History of the Pyrates by Capt. Charles Johnson

Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.