Articles of Interest

Since the writing of the Third Edition of Digital Storytelling, a number of interesting articles have been published relating to topics in the book. Here is a summary of these articles, along with links to the articles themselves.

Chapter 1

Defining “story”

Almost all of us enjoy telling stories, and on any given day, we hear so many stories – from other people or from the media -- that we hardly realize what these forms of narratives actually consist of. This extremely familiarity is one of the reasons that makes defining “story” or “storytelling” is extremely difficult. However, Steve Denning, a specialist in business leadership, has done a good job of doing this on his website: http://www.stevedenning.com/

Chapter 2

General material about new developments:

  1. Baby Shoes, Never Worn discusses the power of short videos and why they have become so popular. The author, Andrew Delaney, is director of creative content at Getty Images. http://desktopmag.com.au/
  2. Clicking Our Way to Distraction, by James McGrath Morris, is one writer’s opinions about the pros and cons of ebooks: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/
  3. An increasing amount of interest is being shown in using digital storytelling for journalistic purposes, as is demonstrated by this press release: U.S. Department of State and National Geographic Society Launch Fulbright-National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship: http://www.newsroomamerica.com/.
  4. Learning how to produce projects for New Media is becoming increasingly important in the academic world, as is evidenced by the brand new Interactive Media Building at the prestigious USC School of Cinematic Arts: http://tfm.usc.edu/  

Material about Technological Developments

  1. 3D printing has recently become available not only to professionals but also to the consumer market. But will it ever be a component of Digital Storytelling?  One experiment, which involved creating a 3D dollhouse and making a 3D model of a real cat, hints at the possibilities: http://www.shellypalmer.com/2014/01/ces-2014-3d-printing/
  2. Google Glass is receiving a great deal of attention these days, some of it peculiar. For example, a woman wearing Google Glass was pulled over by an officer who thought she was driving recklessly. The charges were later dropped: http://www.theverge.com/
  3. Tech expert Nick DeMartino writes about his own experiences wearing Google Glass: http://www.nickdemartino.net/
  4. Google Glass is just one example of the growing field of wearable technology. Another somewhat bizarre new type of wearable technology is the “smart bra,” which can measure stress: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

Chapter 3

  1. A New Convergent Device: Amazon's Fire TV - This tiny black box is designed for home theaters. It can be used both as a gaming device and as a tool to stream TV, and is operated by voice search: http://www.nydailynews.com/

Chapter 8

What Do Children Perceive as a “Screen”?

Warren Buckleitner, editor of Children’s Technology Review, believes that children’s perception of a “screen” is quite different and more expansive than that of their parents’ or grandparents’. He says “…for a child growing up today, screens can be something you stand on, paint with water, get inside, or control by jumping around. A screen might provide the opportunity to grab a new friend's hand, and get them to poke an alligator in the mouth. Rather than approach the issue with fear, we need to show the children that we have the courage to explore the possibilities. The video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/.

Chapter 9

  1. Cyberbullying

    Social Media, in the form of cyberbullying, has the power to cause people to commit suicide, as the following items illustrate:

  2. Interview with Bernie Su (executive producer, co-creator, head writer and director of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries). This interview is from Written By, the magazine of the Writers Guild of America: http://www.wga.org/
  3. Social TV is on the rise in Australia, as well as in most developed countries. Incorporated into this article is a fairly good definition of social TV: http://www.nielsen.com/au/en/insights/news/2014/social-tv-on-the-rise.html
  4. Facebook is supposedly working on adding a “sympathize” button, for situations in which “like” is not appropriate. These situations could include the death of a pet or the news that one has been fired: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
  5. Sonic the Hedgehog undergoing a transmedia transformation: In a new branch of the Sonic storyworld, Sonic and his pals are not only becoming teenagers but are also sharing plot points and locales on new games and on a TV series: http://www.kentucky.com/
  6. The transmedia storytelling approach is being applied to Spider-Man Universe: This article from The Wrap includes an interview with transmedia expert Jeff Gomez and illustrates how a highly commercial property can employ a transmedia approach: http://www.thewrap.com/
  7. Transmedia in the field of fine art: Although we are more familiar with the use of transmedia in the media world, some fine artists are also finding merit it this approach. The Japanese artist Patrick Nagatani has created two massive works called Excavations and The Race. They are both based on the work of a fictional archeologist and are composed of paintings, a novel, pseudo field notes and maps. These works are discussed in an article in the Santa Fe New Mexican: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/

Chapter 12

Using Digital Storytelling to Teach and Train

What a Difference a Year Makes: a study by Alison Bryant on children and eBook reading: http://store.digitalbookworld.com/

Chapter 13

Using Digital Storytelling for Promotion and Advertising

  1. Faberge's Big Egg Hunt which began in London, moved to New York City in 2014: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/
  2. Easy to Assemble article and first episode of a branded website made by actress Illeana Douglas in conjunction with IKEA:
  3. Digital Dilemmas: Digital Storytelling: an article about digital storytelling and marketing from Marketing Magazine: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/ and http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk
  4. Social media & storytelling - A great mix: an article about how to employ social media for marketing: http://www.exchange4media.com/
  5. Some Sponsors Compose Olympians' Tweets: an article revealing that Olympic athletes do no necessary write their own tweets, but that their sponsors write the tweets for them: http://www.exchange4media.com/
  6. The Power of Digital Storytelling: an article about how non-profit organizations can harness digital storytelling techniques: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Chapter 14

Using Digital Storytelling to Inform

  1. Documentaries Expanding from TV to Digital Media: PBS is expanding its POV documentary series into digital media and has received a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to help fund this initiative: http://www.broadwayworld.com/
  2. Innovative interactive documentary: The Hollow is a new interactive documentary about a community in an impoverished area of Appalachia, and tells its story with rich graphics and an innovative interface and a sensitive use of audio (note that you need to use Google Chrome to see it): http://hollowdocumentary.com
  3. Tweeting Sharks: In Australia, sharks that have been tagged can send out Tweets alerting swimmers, surf boarders and boaters of the presence of sharks near popular beaches and bays, a system that is far more immediate than alerts published in newspapers or broadcast over traditional media: http://arstechnica.com/
  4. Facebook Paper: Facebook Paper is a new way to receive news on Facebook: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
  5. Fulbright - National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship: The US State Department and National Geographic are offering Fulbright scholarships to digital storytellers who have significant social or environmental stories to tell: http://us.fulbrightonline.org/

Chapter 15

Video Games

  1. What Are Game Designers?: An attempt to define what game designers do. From TechCrunch, by Tadgh Kelly http://techcrunch.com/
  2. ‘Gamification’: The Way to Revive Reality TV: An article from Variety exploring the possibility that reality TV may be a good vehicle for gamification: http://variety.com/2014/
  3. The Console as Concierge: An article from the New York Times reviewing the new game consoles: http://www.nytimes.com/2013
  4. The healing power of video games: How teens fighting cancer found playing games to be good therapy: http://www.polygon.com/
  5. The Ultimate Playground: USC has just opened a new high tech building devoted to digital media: http://tfm.usc.edu/
  6. Project Morpheus: Sony announces its virtual-reality headset for PlayStation 4: With its new VR headset for home use, PlayStation plans to “push the boundaries of play,” according to Sony’s president of worldwide studios, Shuhei Yoshida: http://venturebeat.com/
  7. A shark attack convinced me that Sony’s Project Morpheus makes virtual reality work: An article about the ultra-immersive quality of Sony’s VR headset, Project Morpheus:
    http://venturebeat.com/
  8. 30 Years Later, One Man Is Still Trying To Fix Video Games: Game Designer Chris Crawford’s Pessimistic View of the Game Industry: http://kotaku.com/
  9. Cardinal Quest: How I Made $60,000 From My Indi Game: One person’s story of making a moderately successful indie game: http://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/
  10. Mind games: Why NeuroGaming is the future: An article about what NeuroGaming is (controlling games with our minds and bodies) and how close we are to achieving that: http://www.vg247.com/
  11. Diggers Find Atari’s Legendary 'E.T.' Games in Landfill: An article by Juan Carlos Llorca about what has been called the worst video game of all time, and why, and its rediscovery in a landfill in New Mexico: http://www.santafenewmexican.com:

Chapter 16

The Internet

  1. The Web at 25 in the U.S.: a Pew Research Report: This report states that the Internet, at 25, “has been a plus for society and an especially good thing for individual users.” http://www.pewinternet.org/
  2. The Walt Disney Company to Acquire Maker Studios, the Leading Network of Online Video Content: Story describes what Disney has to gain from this acquisition of the successful producer of short videos: http://www.marketwatch.com/
  3. Yahoo Makes New Push Into Video Content: From the online edition of the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/

Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Mobile Devices and Apps

  1. Interview with Michael Ehrenberg, Former Apple App Store Marketing Manager and iOS consultant written by Thomas Wallis, about how to get your app noticed at the app store and achieving success with your app, with a particular emphasis on games: http://www.videogamesintelligence.com/
  2. The Best Tablets for Kids, by Shelley Palmer – a review of the major tablets on the market and how to select the one most appropriate for a particular child: http://www.shellypalmer.com/
  3. Texting While Talking: The dangers of texting while driving have been well publicized, but what about texting while walking? This elegantly animated Japanese video points them out: http://www.youtube.com/
  4. Police add texting to crisis negotiation arsenal: Story by Carolyn Thompson about how text messaging is being used in crisis situations: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/

Chapter 18

Alternate Reality Games

  1. Ingress, a new ARG by Google, its website: http://www.ingress.com/
  2. A review of Ingress: http://www.argn.com/

Chapter 19

Interactive Television

  1. The BBC brings its Connected Red Button to Samsung and Sony Smart TVs: Article about how Red Button services are now available on a range of smart TVs: http://thenextweb.com/media/
  2. Smart TV Unleashed: Engagement through Cognition: A whitepaper about the evolution of smart TV: http://www.parksassociates.com/

Chapter 20

Smart Toys and Life-like Robots

  1. Physical ToyS With Digital CounterpartS: article about producing physical counterparts for use in games: http://www.nytimes.com/2013
  2. The Phantom 2 Vision Photo Drone From DJI: article by Kit Eaton of the New York Times about how drones can now be used by consumers for photography: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/
  3. Google Puts Money on Robots, Using the Man behind Android: the news about Amazon potentially using androids to delivery packages and what it could mean for the future: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/

Chapter 21

Interactive Cinema

  1. Creating an Interactive Experience in the Movie Theater, article by Chad Elkins posted on The Second Screen: http://the2ndscreen.tv/
  2. This game is a movie: 'New Cinema' explores the altered future of film: Artists and directors conspire in the space between film and video games, article by Joshua Kopstein: http://www.theverge.com/2013

Chapter 22

Immersive Environments

  1. The VIRTUALLY free-range chickens: Researchers develop technology to fool battery birds into thinking they are roaming free in a field – Virtual reality for chickens: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
  2. Fall 2013 Digital Dome Student Interviews, interviews with students at IAIA who have worked with FullDome and what they have learned: http://www.myiaiaonline.com/digitaldome/2013/12/03/fall-2013-digital-dome-student-interviews/
  3. If You Like Immersion, You'll Love This Reality: article from New York Times about Google acquiring Oculus Rift: http://www.nytimes.com/2014

Chapter 23

Electronic Kiosks

  1. Statistics on kiosks; strategies: http://www.elotouch.com/
  2. Examples of kiosks in museums, including the kiosk for Michelangelo's David in the Galleria Dell Academia in Florence:http://wiki.fluidproject.org/

Chapter 24

Working as a Digital Storyteller

  1. An increasing amount of interest is being shown in using digital storytelling for journalistic purposes, as is demonstrated by this press release: U.S. Department of State and National Geographic Society Launch Fulbright-National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship: http://www.newsroomamerica.com/.
  2. Articles on Video Game High School, a breakaway Web hit – insights from its creator:
  3. The Ultimate Playground: USC has just opened a new high tech building devoted to digital media: http://tfm.usc.edu/spring-2014
  4. Seven truths about indie game development by Sarah Woodrow, for Gamasutra: http://gamasutra.com/blogs

Chapter 25

Creating Your Own Showcase New

Finishing a Game by Derek Yu, about the importance of completing your projects: http://makegames.tumblr.com/