Interactive cinema is an exciting new market that could fundamentally change the way consumers experience traditional cinematic storytelling. Interactive Cinema (IC) does this by involving the player in making decisions during the narrative that impact the path the story takes, resulting in different gameplay experiences for different people. By focusing on user choice in the context of a crafted story, a player feels connected and important in a way that is anything but passive. This sense of “connection” creates an immersion in a story and puts the emphasis of the story on the player.
Active participation
It’s important to note that in IC, we can’t use the word “spectator” anymore, instead we have to borrow the term “player” from the video game. The word viewer implies a passive experience, and this is the antithesis of the interactive cinematic experience. Bringing together user interaction with crafted storytelling by combining the best aspects of movies and video games is breaking new ground. The mission is to create an immersive and compelling universe unlike anything currently playing in theaters.
RealChoices
Interactive cinema is also fundamentally different from playing a video game. In fact, IC is not a game at all. Playing a game in a classical sense involves the perspective of “winning” and “losing”, something that doesn’t exist in IC. In this new medium, a player’s choice can change how the narrative progresses, but it would not result in a “give up” situation. For example, if a character dies as a result of a player’s action or decision, the plot must adapt and move on from that character’s death. Having a save/load system is unnecessary in this new medium and could be detrimental to the player experience. Unlike in a video game where the choice may be between choosing a shotgun and a sniper rifle, these choices really do matter, and this is what creates the drama.
Narrative Unit Gameplay
There is another important distinction between IC and classically designed video games. In IC, all gameplay and user interaction must be in service of the plot. Any gameplay mechanics used (jumping, shooting, character leveling, etc.) are not used unless critical to advancing the narrative. This is often in contrast to most video games where gameplay is king. We see this all the time in most modern video games when twenty minutes of gameplay are interspersed with 20 second cutscenes. In video games, cut scenes simply give the player a sense of context in which they are playing; the plot becomes mere texture for the game. This couldn’t be more different in IC. Interactive cinema demands that the story take center stage and that any gaming devices used be made solely to support the storytelling.
entertainment = fun?
The idea of interactive storytelling also contradicts one of the main design characteristics of video games: video games are supposed to be fun. This is interesting to me because we don’t expect “fun” in a lot of our movies. I’m not sure I ever had fun watching The Silence of the Lambs, but I absolutely enjoyed watching that movie. A story is usually depressing, horrible, uplifting, or any number of adjectives, but there is no requirement that the movie be described as funny. IC is the same way. By removing the requirement to be fun, interactive cinema will be able to address a broader range of human emotions than video games.
