The Korsakow System
NEH Vectors Institute 7.23.09
Labyrinth Research Initiative
USC School of Cinematic ArtsInteractive Media Division
“A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end... but not necessarily in that order.”
-Jean-Luc Godard
Interactive narrative provides an opportunity to think about storytelling along multiple axes
(i.e., we are not shackled to a three-act structure)
Kinder-Manovich Debate
Lev Manovich: database is the opposite of narrative“[new media], are the new battlefield for the competition between database and narrative.”
Marsha Kinder: all narrative is database narrative“virtually all stories – like language itself – derive from combinations of narrative elements within a given set of parameters, which is very much in keeping with the way databases function.”
Ludology vs. Narratology
Ludology: interactivity is the opposite of narrative; we should not impose the critical apparatus of linear-based narratology on games; we need new models for thinking about game mechanics, social dynamics of gaming, etc.
Narratology: both narrative and interactivity take many forms; even traditional linear narrative has elements of (emotional, cognitive) interactivity; narrative can be emergent, algorithmic, dynamic, etc.
Narration vs. Narrative
Designing narratives in an interactive structure means releasing a degree of control into the hands of two seemingly unreliable entities:
1. the user
2. the computer
What’s the problem?
Releasing authorial control goes against cherished beliefs about artistic production: creativity, originality, authenticity, authority, etc.
Ian Flitman, Hackney Girl (generative / random)
http://www.blipstation.com
Andrea Flamini: Melodrama 8(generative / ambient)
Lev Manovich & Andreas Kratky: Soft Cinema (2005) (generative / algorithmic)
Barbara Lattanzi, HF Critical Mass
http://www.wildernesspuppets.net
Subservient Chicken | Burger King | Crispin, Porter & Bogusky
The Subservient Presidenthttp://iml.usc.edu/remix/subservientpresident
http://www.davisanddavis.org/askarnold
Georgia-Pacific, Innocent Escapes (2005) - Fallon
Dexter | Icetruck.tv (2007)http://icetruck.tv
Bob Dylan, His Greatest Songs (2007)http://www.dylanmessaging.com
Greg Roach, Virtual Cinema X-Files Game (Fox Interactive 1998)
Greg Roach, Virtual Cinema
“artificial intuition”
Chris Hales, Cause and Effect (2003)
combines interactive cinema with live theater
http://www.koti.org/tomtom/causeandeffect
Morten Schjodt, Switching (2003)
Michael Lew, Office Voodoo (2003)
http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~lew/research/voodoo
Pia Tikka, Obsession (2006) http://www.enactivecinema.net
Michael Mateas & Andrew Stern, Façade (2005)
http://www.interactivestory.net
emotional, interactive character behavior and drama-managed plot
Korsakow System
Florian ThalhoferUniversity of the Arts, Berlin
Mediamatic Amsterdam
Korsakow workshops
Korsakow 5 (2009)
Florian Thalhofer, 13terStock (2005)
http://13stock.thalhofers.com
Florian Thalhofer, Love Story (2003)http://www.lovestoryproject.com
snu
SNU
Smallest Narrative Unit
(determine granularity of project)
snu
Personal ad
Keywords describe a SNU and express preferences for other SNUs
I am a man / woman ISO man / woman
I am a cat / dog person ISO a cat / dog person
I am a smoker / nonsmoker ISO a smoker / nonsmoker
woman
woman
“I am a woman in search of other women”
woman
woman<woman>
“I am a woman in search of other women”
“I am a woman in search of other women”
dogcat>
dogcat>
“I am a dog person in search of dog or cat people”
“I am a dog person in search of dog or cat people”
(random = lack of agency)
“I am a dog person in search of dog or cat people”
man<woman>smoker>
man<woman>smoker>
“I am a man in search of women who smoke”
woman<man>cat>
nonsmoker>
woman<man>cat>
nonsmoker>
“I am a woman in search of men who like cats and don’t smoke”
nonsmoker
“I don’t smoke and I am in search of others who don’t smoke”
nonsmoker
“I don’t smoke and I am in search of others who don’t smoke”
nonsmoker<cat>
“I’m a non-smoker and I am in search of someone who likes cats”
nonsmoker<cat>
“I’m a non-smoker and I am in search of someone who likes cats”
nonsmoker<cat>
“I’m a non-smoker and I am in search of someone who likes cats”
(lack of narrative motivation)
Korsakow authoring tool
3 link interface
Many link interface + subtitles
preview text
Positive/Negative linking
No Exit
No gateway movie
Multiple lifetimes
woman
“I am a woman in search of other women”
Women
woman
“I am a woman in search of other women”
Women
gateway SNU movie rating = low
woman
“I am a woman in search of other women”
Women
number of lifes = 1
womanman-
“I am a woman in search of other women only”
Women
killer keyword -
woman<man>
Gateway SNU:“I am a woman in search of a man”
Women
Men
woman<man>
Gateway SNU:“I am a woman in search of a man”
Women
Men
gateway SNU movie rating = 1
Gateway SNUs + movie rating
Gateway movie(low rating)
Shared keywords
No movie ratings
Interactive sweet spot
Functional relation (click left, go left; type an “a,” see an “a”)
Interesting relation(non-trivial, reflective, algorithmic response)
No relation(lack of agency: random results to user input)
Download Korsakow Software http://www.korsakow.com/ksy