iTALES - Interactive Storytelling Essay on Interactive Movies Since early 1998 when I first began discussing the concept of interactive storytelling, a common response has been, "Oh, like those children's Choose Your Own Adventure books." Well, NO! Nor is it an alternate ending gimmick. Interactive movies are movies! This essay goes into greater detail explaining the concepts and attributes of interactive movies in a practical sense. Circa - 8-03 Undetermined Screenplay for an Interactive Movie Undetermined is the follow through of Frac. It's a full feature, interactive screenplay with eight distinct divergent paths. Each path has its own dominant theme, perspective, genre leaning and subsequent splits. Each path is a full-structured story, but woven together gives fuller meaning to the tapestry of the big picture. Undetermined is an interactive tale where the fate of a civilization hinges on the choices of a reckless, thirteen year old -- Frac. Frac will try anything on a dare. Every kid in Nuemerica knows that. Best friend Raziel knows Frac's hotdogging is really misconstrued attempts to measure up to a legendary parent. The discovery of a buried, ancestral village lays hope to the truth of Nuemerica's unrealized past. A quest to the village -- a twenty-first century bunker -- reveals The Keepers Of The Truth, Nuemerica's religious leaders, were geneticists from the Old World who in haste and folly created a race of soulless beings responsible for the demise of it. Will Frac have made the right decisions along the way to be in a position that destiny calls for? Will the viewer suggest the right choices? This main storyline is the path of non-interaction, suitable for theatrical release. Undetermined shows the choices one makes, regardless of the significance, can have unforeseen and far-reaching consequences. A butterfly flapping it wings... "PG-13"-RATED. Circa - 8-03 (WGAw #946883) Main Storyline Seven Swans: The Existentialist's Canvas Scene-By-Scene Flow Chart Choose from a full-screen or full-size view to examine this step outline flow chart. This is an excellent overview of an interactive movie, showing the divergences, nuances and shared scenes, as well as the multiple endings. A note about the endings--several are identical, yet from the perspective of path taken--are different. Seven Swans is a character story of Michael, a young, student artist confronting numerous barriers--parents, girlfriend, understanding--to reaching his aspiration of being a rich, famous artist. The death of an old woman, Mrs. Wagner and the inheritance of her estate by Michael's sister Marsha, teaches Michael the true meaning of being an artist. Through the unveiling of Mrs. Wagner story, Michael learns being an artist is not about fame and money--it's about living it, being an artist is being art. However through the unveiling of Mrs. Wagner's complex past, a chain of events is triggered, putting Mrs. Wagner's estate and all connected to it in danger. Seven Swans is shelved in a first-draft stage. A second draft had also been written--in a traditional, single storyline fashion for a University of Michigan Screenwriting assignment. Plans are to revisit this story again in the near future. Nonetheless this screenplay has been a valuable exercise in developing the concept of interactive movies, it being the first complete interactive screenplay in a logical progression from Frac and Hansel & Gretel and leading to Undetermined. "PG-13"-RATED. Circa - 4-01 Story in rewrite stage. Frac - A Quantum Tale Frac, code-name for the next stage study of interactive storytelling development. This quantum, interactive saga utilizes the reader's psychology to subtlely guide the reader through the story. Not only does it branch into various storylines, but was also conceived to settle readers into a number of reading levels. This saga would be applicable to websites, CD-ROM, or eBook. "PG"-RATED. Circa - 4-01 Incomplete Hansel & Gretel Interactive Hansel and Gretel Interactive is an experiment into the development of interactive storytelling. The concept of "what if" is added to this classic children's fairy tale. "What if the woodcutter changed livilihood when things got tough?" "What if Gretel befriended the witch?" This proved that "what if" could be added to more sophisticated and complex storytelling. Circa 11-98 BACK