THE GRANDFATHER PARADOX An Original, Interactive-Narrative Screenplay

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Renée Crown University Honors Program at

Syracuse University

Jennifer Skulski

Candidate for Bachelor of Science Degree and Renée Crown University Honors

Spring 2020

Honors Thesis in Television, Radio & Film

Thesis Advisor: Evan Smith, Professor Thesis Reader: Karen Hall, Assistant Director Honors Director: Dr. Danielle Smith, Director

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© Jennifer Skulski - April 2020

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Abstract

The Grandfather Paradox is a multi-story, interactive screenplay. The story follows the Harrison family consisting of Lora, a single mother, her 14-year-old son Jimmy, and his Grandpa who is beginning to have some memory issues. I was inspired to write a script about memory loss from experiencing my Nana suffer from dementia for the past five years. This story takes place in a dystopian world in which everyone’s memories are connected to technological servers. In order for one to ensure they have access to their memories, they must ascribe to memory insurance companies to protect and store their memories for them. After Grandpa’s memory server becomes compromised, Jimmy puts his computer science skills to the test as an attempt to decode his Grandpa’s memory files. This script is an interactive, choose-your-own adventure piece of writing in which there are two decision points which break off to form four different and unique paths the reader can select and explore. Writing a script of this kind was a challenge to craft a cohesive puzzle, but the final product allows for the readers to enjoy discovering the correlation between choices and outcomes.

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Executive Summary

When I began to imagine what I wanted my final project here as an undergraduate

student at Syracuse University to be, I knew I wanted to create something unique. This Honors

Thesis would be a representation and culmination of everything I have learned and

accomplished over my past four years. While I have concentrated my studies in Newhouse to

be in screenwriting, I wanted to push my creativity further with this thesis by attempting to

write in a style I have never written in before. I wanted my screenplay to become more than

just a piece of writing, but rather an interactive experience. I have always been fascinated by

the various ways media has and will continue to evolve to become increasingly engaging. I

believe interactive media is only on the rise and thus I am glad to have had this experience in

crafting an interactive, choose-your-own adventure type of script.

The Grandfather Paradox is a short interactive journey with the Harrison family. Jimmy

is a 14-year-old boy who loves technology and programming. He lives with his mother Lora who

is a single mom attempting to keep up with Jimmy, her work schedule, as well as Grandpa who

is beginning to have some memory issues. At its core, this story is an exploration of family,

memory, and youth. The interactive nature of this story allows for the readers to live within

Jimmy’s world and attempt to save and preserve Grandpa’s memories at all costs. The story

consists of two decision points each branching out with two different choices. Depending upon

which option the reader selects, there are four unique story paths to explore. As in life, every

decision one makes has a direct affect or consequence and thus the reader is held accountable

for their choices in their journey to preserve Grandpa’s memories.

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The story takes place in a world in which one’s memories are directly connected and

stored within technological servers. In order to continue to have access to your memories, you

must pay for a memory insurance provider. The more money you have, the more reliable of an

insurance company you can get, thus granting you increased protection. As with most things,

some insurance companies are less trustworthy than others, creating constant problems and

scams for the characters within the story.

An important part of having memories stored upon servers is the aspect of being able to

relive one’s own memories. With the help of Memory Machines, one can be hooked up to a bed

with a headset and virtually experience their memories of the past. In their reality, their

physical body lays limp on the machine but through their virtual memory servers, they can

explore any memory they wish. There are however consequences to remaining on one’s server

for too long, including a permanent hook-up in which one becomes indefinitely trapped in their

virtual memories which will fade completely over time.

A further issue within the world of my story is the presence of Hackers. In a world that

relies so heavily upon technology and using servers to store valuable data, Hackers exist who

shut down people’s memory servers until they receive payment. However, not all hacking is

necessarily bad as other hacking groups have been known to attempt to help those who are

down on their luck and experiencing memory scams.

The Harrison family with Lora as the sole source of income is barely getting by and just

trying to make ends meet. They do not have the greatest insurance provider and begin to

notice Grandpa having issues with his memory. When an agent from their insurance company

shows up at their door demanding payment, Grandpa’s memories are on the line. Two paths

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diverge. One explores the scamming nature of corrupt memory insurance companies. The other

explores the side of hacking.

The main goal of reading this story is to attempt to preserve Grandpa’s failing memories

through the character Jimmy. This is a relatable experience near to my heart as my Nana

currently suffers from dementia and I’ve had to watch as her memories have faded over the

past few years. I’m sure many of those who may read this story share in the experience of

watching and caring for a loved one going through Alzheimer’s, Dementia, or any other type of

memory issue. This story explores these experiences in a unique and alternate world in which

memories act as files within a server instead of electrical and chemical signals within one’s

brain. My hope is that the various paths of this story will allow readers to contemplate the

power and importance of family and memory.

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Acknowledgements I would like to thank my amazing Thesis Advisor, Professor Evan Smith for assisting me,

challenging me, and encouraging me all throughout this process. Thank you for agreeing to be

my Thesis Advisor three semesters ago and working with me ever since. Thank you for always

being as honest as possible in telling me when ideas and story points were not working and

needed to be changed or strengthened. Thank you for dealing with all my emails and reading all

my outlines and beat sheets prior to even seeing a draft. Thank you for working with me even

when I was away from campus in the SULA program last semester, and still being willing to

discuss my project’s progress over the phone. Thank you for all of your ideas and advice along

the way on how to structure and think about a project with multiple story branches to it. This

project would not be what it is today without your help and guidance.

I would like to thank the Honors department for guiding and assisting me throughout my time

at Syracuse University. Specifically, I’d like to thank Karen Hall and Kate Hanson for their help as

they were always available to answer all my questions along the way. Thank you for challenging

me and setting up a realistic timeline to help seniors like me stay on track for completing their

projects. Thank you for all your email reminders and various check-in points along the way in

which material had to be submitted in order to ensure progress was being made. The Honors

Program made the daunting task of completing a thesis project more manageable so thank you

for all your work and support throughout this endeavor.

I also would like to thank my boyfriend, Luke Krentz for helping me create the website which

hosts my script. This interactive site makes the story more accessible and easier to read than

having readers manually flip through pages in order to follow along. With this website, users

simply click on the option they wish to experience at the decision points and then the website

links them to the next corresponding page. Thank you so much Luke for lending your computer

science skills to my project to create an engaging and interactive website for my script.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………. iii Executive Summary ……………………………………………………………………. iv Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………. vii

Introduction ………….……………………………………………………………………. 1

Influences ……………………………………………………………………………….. 3

My Nana ……………………………………………………………………. 3 Bandersnatch ……………………………………………………………………. 4 The Grandfather Paradox ……………………………………………. . 5 “Kick the Can” ……………………………………………………………………. 6

World Building ..….……………………………………………………………………. 7 The World ……………………………………………………………………. 7 The Story ……………………………………………………………………. 8 Answered Questions ………………………………………………………… 9 Terms ……………………………………………………………………………….. 11

Outline of Story Paths …………………………………………………………………. 13

My Experience with Interactive Storytelling …………………………………. 17

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LOGLINE:

In a world where one’s memories are stored within technological servers, a young boy seeks to

preserve his Grandfather’s failing mind by any means necessary.

INTRODUCTION

My objective was to write a script for a choose-your-own-adventure sci-fi short film. The

premise of the story follows Jimmy (14), a young boy obsessed with technology and his close

companion, his Grandfather. As his Grandpa develops the universe’s form of Alzheimer’s, it’s

quite literally a race against the clock for him and Jimmy to make lasting memories while

preserving his Grandfather’s existing ones. Ultimately, Jimmy must navigate the world’s

technological memory system in order to explore his Grandfather’s past and ensure his

memories are preserved and accessible to him in the present.

The choose-your-own-adventure design presents itself throughout the story by posing

actions that Jimmy can do which will directly affect him and his Grandfather’s future. The

selected actions in turn affect his Grandfather’s memory condition.

The story involves, references, and demonstrates what is known as the “Grandfather

Paradox,” a paradox expressing the inconsistencies of “time travel” as changing the past could

affect one’s ability to time travel in the first place. The aspect of time travel introduced in my

version of this story is through the idea of reliving the past through accessing one’s memory

server. While one cannot directly change their past, the access to relive one’s past relies heavily

upon the insurance server to which they subscribe. The Paradox of the story exists in the issue

of choosing to preserve Grandpa’s past or risk losing Grandpa’s memories.

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My idea to make this script an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure short film stems

from the idea that, every action or decision one makes drastically effects the outcome of their

future and the future of others. This script is a way to actively engage the reader and audience

by giving them decisions to explore how their chosen actions will ultimately affect their story

experience by having alternate timelines written to correspond with various decisions.

In regard to the entertainment industry, streaming services have been on the rise and

many people are now consuming media through the internet. I believe the concept of creating

more choose-your-own-adventure type of stories is one that can be taken to new and

interesting levels in the future. This method of storytelling has so much potential to create

more interactive media. In the most recent and currently best example of interactive

storytelling, Netflix released Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch in December of 2018 to much acclaim

and intrigue. With the recent release of Bandersnatch, there is definitely potential to tap into

this innovative and progressive method of delivering stories and entertainment. This is why I

personally wanted to create this type of story as I was eager to try out this new and timely form

of storytelling for myself.

In order for this script and the selected decisions to read effectively and easily, I also

created an interactive website with the help of my computer programming friend, Luke Krentz.

This site links the reader to the corresponding pages that continue their story depending upon

their choices. The interactive text can be accessed at: https://lekrensta.github.io/The-

Grandfather-Paradox.

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INFLUENCES

My Nana, Mary Jasensky

My Nana was a major influence for writing a story like this because I’ve watched how

dementia has affected her over the last five years. Following the death of my Grandfather, my

Nana needed extra care and attention as her mind was starting to falter. Without my

Grandfather around to care for her, my family made the very difficult decision to move her into

an assisted living center that would be able to provide her the extra level of attention she

required. This decision was very difficult for my family and took much convincing to get my

Nana willing enough to leave her home behind and move into a nursing home.

It’s been difficult to watch my Nana struggle throughout her diagnosis with dementia.

Just last year my family had to transfer her to the memory care center of the nursing home

where she would receive additional services as simple tasks such as getting dressed and going

to the bathroom became too difficult for her to accomplish on her own. She’s more subdued in

her new state of mind without much knowledge about what is happening around her. Days are

just days to her. We always visit her and take her to our family gatherings for holidays and

birthdays, but in her reality, she does not process what day it is or why we’re celebrating. This is

a hard thing to watch a loved one go through as we all know it will only get worse over time.

However, when we do visit her and her daughters discuss events of the past and fond

memories growing up, it is evident that my Nana does remember some of those fond

memories. She’ll even share a bit of the story on what might have happened that given day.

While she does not talk all too much, it is small sentiments like this that are rather

heartwarming to hear as she briefly reminisces.

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Through crafting my story, I wanted to capture the idea of re-living the past and

reflecting on the fond memories that still are a solid foundation within one’s mind who is

suffering from memory related illnesses. I wanted to express the importance of a family trying

their best to take care of their elderly family member in every way possible by being patient

and still including them in their daily lives.

Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch

In December of 2018, Netflix released the interactive Black Mirror story, Bandersnatch. I

was very excited to experience this concept come to life as I have thought about creating an

interactive movie with various storylines and decision points for quite a while now and was

interested to see if the idea would ever come to fruition. With the release of Bandersnatch, the

chose-your-own-adventure type of film finally became accessible to a large audience through

Netflix. I found this film to be incredibly engaging in its storyline about a character struggling

with his mental health while also attempting to live out his dream of making video games. The

film effectively guided the user through the interactive experience in the first few minutes of

the film by having the user decide between miniscule options such as cereal flavors and music

choices. These decision points were relatively insignificant to the storyline as a whole but acted

as a way to introduce the user to the interface of selecting between two options which would

change the film’s given path.

I was quite impressed with how Bandersnatch presented its materials and the overall

interactive experience. I enjoyed selecting the options I was most interested in viewing and

then going back to explore all the various paths I had yet encountered. I believe this is the

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ultimate attraction to interactive material- the ability to experience the story multiple times in

multiple ways. The opportunity to explore the world and the storyline more than once through

different paths is a very enticing aspect for a creative mind, such as myself.

After watching and exploring the various decision points of Bandersnatch, I was further

inspired to try my hand at crafting an interactive story. From understanding how this Netflix

show took on the challenge, I began brainstorming how I could realistically complete an outline

for a multi-branch storyline as well. From here, my idea took flight which eventually evolved

into my completed thesis, The Grandfather Paradox.

The Grandfather Paradox

Putting my thesis title aside, the Grandfather Paradox is essentially a thought

experiment when it comes to thinking about the logistics of time travel. This paradox

introduces the mind boggling nature of time traveling through having one consider if time

travel was possible and one went back in time and killed their Grandfather, then that person’s

time travel would not be possible in the future because they wouldn’t exist in order to travel

through time to begin with. In the early stages of storyboarding, I wanted my script to involve

traveling through time where the paths would represent Jimmy’s alternative timelines. I

eventually came to think about the project as having Jimmy travel through memories instead.

The paradox represented throughout my story delves into the idea of how strongly lived

memories make up a given person. If one loses access to their memories, do they lose the

essence of who they are as a person? This is obviously a difficult question to contemplate as

millions of people every day around the world watch as their loved ones go through memory

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related issues whether due to brain injuries or diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia. Through

my script, readers can explore the challenges of stored memories as they follow the Harrison

family’s journey through preserving Grandpa’s past.

The Twilight Zone (S03E21) “Kick the Can”

The Twilight Zone was always a popular show to depict unexpected worlds in a scientific

or fantastic way in order to produce intriguing and thought-provoking outcomes. Early on in my

process of creating this project, my Thesis Advisor recommended I watch an episode called

“Kick the Can.” This episode involved an elderly man, Charles attempting to convince the rest of

his friends at his retirement home that the secret of youth lies in continuing to act young. While

some think he has gone mad, others end up joining in on Charles’ fun one night. The residents

who join Charles in playing the game “Kick the Can” late at night are depicted to be children

once again. The residents who missed their chance at youth, beg to join the game, but are

ultimately too late.

This episode conveys the essence of being young at heart and the attempt of the elderly

to capture and hold onto their youthfulness. This is an important and powerful theme I wished

to also convey within my script, The Grandfather Paradox. Depicting an admiration for one’s

childhood and a desire to relive one’s youth can be a tricky aspect to effectively encapsulate. I

used this episode for inspiration on how to depict such as thing. In my story, I used the idea of a

virtual memory system as a way to depict a yearning for the past as characters use technology

to relive and experience their youthful memories in the present.

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WORLD BUILDING

THE WORLD:

This fictional futuristic dystopian universe involves a place in which the existence of an

individual’s memories depends upon the technological insurance server to which they are

uploaded and protected. One’s level of income drastically effects one’s level of coverage in

protecting their memories. Those with lesser insurance servers often experience memory

failure caused by server crashes, viruses, and being more susceptible to Hackers. Thus, the

world offers an interesting level of hierarchy based upon the extent of protection one has over

their memories as the wealthy have greater control over protecting their past.

A continuous issue within this world involves people’s greed to manipulate the memory

servers in an individual’s favor. Hackers exist everywhere, paid illegally to access an individual’s

memory files stored in their server and encrypt these files. The effects of these hack attempts

can range from a successful encryption, causing immediate memory loss to a gradual deletion

of one’s memories.

The reliving of one’s memories typically occurs when one visits their memory insurance

company or another facility where they can be hooked up to Memory Machines. While

connected to these machines, one can select the exact timeframe of their past they wish to

relive and experience it again in an alternative “server” world. Their body in the physical world

remains in a resting position while the connection occurs, leaving them vulnerable in reality.

While taking this actual trip down Memory Lane can be an enjoyable experience, there are

consequences to staying connected to the server for too long and such a mistake can even

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cause a person to be permanently trapped in the server world until all their memories fade to

nothing.

THE STORY:

The story follows Jimmy Harrison (14) and his Grandfather on a journey through this

fictional world by bringing these characters into risky situations when it comes to hacking into

memory files. Jimmy has a very close relationship to his Grandfather and becomes quite upset

as he watches his Grandfather’s mind deteriorate as his memory files start becoming obsolete.

When the insurance company representative comes to declare Grandpa’s memory

server payment as late, the Harrison family, struggling financially to make ends meet, must

decide how to act. The ensuing alternative storylines deal with Grandpa’s failing memory and

the challenge of preserving his current mind and restoring the memories he lost along the way.

Jimmy is determined to go to great lengths to do what he can for his Grandfather in order to

preserve his current memories before those files become unstable or obsolete. Nothing is out

of the question when it comes to helping his Grandfather, including hacking.

Without having much money to offer his Grandfather, Jimmy knows seeking out a

certified hacker is out of the question. The young boy believes he has what it takes to hack the

system on his own in order to restore his Grandfather to a more youthful state of mind by

stabilizing his memory files.

The story has four different paths leading to three alternative endings. Each story plays

out as to be around a 30-minute short film. The first outcome of the story includes Grandpa’s

memories being restored, allowing him to go into the server world and relive his favorite events

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from his past. The second outcome involves Grandpa purposefully staying on the server too

long, causing him to become permanently hooked up to the server world as he decides to leave

the physical world and Jimmy behind forever. Finally, the last option involves the complete loss

of Grandpa’s memories from the past two decades as he becomes unable to recognize his own

grandson, Jimmy.

ANSWERED QUESTIONS/ LOGISTICS OF STORY:

Why? Why were the memory servers created?

The memory servers were created as a part of a new technological industry that would play

upon people’s desire to relive their past and capture their youth. There are many layers to

this industry as financial status equates to better insurance for protecting one’s memories.

Different memory storing businesses have different levels of service. If one’s memory

insurance company goes out of business, they are at risk of losing their stored memories

completely.

How do the memory servers work?

At birth, a chip is injected into one’s head and their memories automatically begin getting

stored to a server of the parent’s choice. The memoires are constantly fed to the server as if

connected through Bluetooth-type measures. If memory problems occur, one can connect

to a Memory Machine to properly sync one’s memories once again.

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How are people hooked up to the memory servers?

People can get hooked up to their memory servers to relive their memories by visiting

physical locations with numerous cubicles that have Memory Machines. They lay down, put

the headset on, and comfortably relive their past in a regulated environment. Those with

excess money, can purchase their own headsets that allow them to relive their memories

from the comfort of their own homes as well.

How long can the memory hook-up be?

The hook-ups to the Memory Machines can last as long as twenty minutes. Anything

longer than that has been deemed dangerous to one’s health by the server companies.

If one is connected for extended periods of time, they are at risk of a permanent hook-

up. When one accesses their memories, they set specific timers in the physical world in

order to alert them out of the server and back to reality.

How does everything work and look physically? What is the difference between Jimmy on the

server and physical Jimmy in the real-world?

When someone accesses their memories, they are physically lying down while hooked up to

the Memory Machines in the real-world but mentally are reliving the past. Their physical

body is incapacitated until they exit their server, thus leaving themselves vulnerable in the

real-world.

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What is the role of the Hackers?

Hackers are people who illegally use remote technology to access memory servers

either for personal reasons such as preserving their own memories or for cynical

reasons such as using one’s memories against them for blackmail. Once a Hacker has

access to one’s memories they can encrypt or even delete that person’s files for their

personal or financial gain. Certain memory insurance providers are better than others

at protecting against Hack Attacks.

TERMS:

Permanent Hook-up:

A Permanent Hook-up is when one stays in the system reliving their memories for too

long and cannot be pulled back into reality. A warning signal will ding in the memory world

while timers are set in the physical world. If one is not pulled back into reality in time, they

become trapped within the server. While trapped, they do have access to the entire system and

can explore through the memory server as they please. However, they cannot return to reality

as their physical body is left in a coma. Furthermore, as a consequence within the server world,

they will begin losing touch of reality since they’ll have no new incoming memories and over

time their memories within the server will completely fade. Thus, while a permanent hook-up

may seem desirable, the enjoyment of one’s past memories can only be experienced vividly for

a short amount of time.

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Ransomware:

Ransomware is a type of malware in which the attacker is able to install malicious

software that blocks access to a user’s computer or files. These files are typically blocked with

an encryption and the attacker demands money or ransom of some kind in order to decrypt the

files as a type of malicious black mail. In the terms of this story, ransomware attacks are

performed by Hackers who encrypt people’s memory files, causing the victim to have no

recollection of certain events unless they pay a certain price to have the attack decrypted and

reversed. Individuals who are overdue on their payments to their memory insurance companies

may not be fully protected against such malicious attacks and are thus are more susceptible to

hackings.

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OUTLINE OF STORY PATHS

MULTI-STORYLINE OUTLINE:

• There are two decision points where the viewer will select between two options

• These decisions will ultimately lead to one of three different story outcomes

• Altogether, there are four different story combinations (ACF, ADG, BDG, and BEH)

Starting Point (Beats 1, 2, & 3)

Decision 1: A or B?

A (Beats 4 & 5) B (Beats 4 & 5)

Decision 2.1: C or D? Decision 2.2: D or E?

C (Beats 6, 7, & 8) D (Beats 6, 7, & 8) E (Beats 6, 7, & 8)

Outcome F (Beat 9) Outcome G (Beat 9) Outcome H (Beat 9)

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BEAT SHEET & PAGE NUMBERS:

Starting Point/ Introduction

(Pg. 1-5)

1.) A representative from Lockdown Insurance comes to the Harrison family’s door with a

notice demanding payment for Grandpa’s memory server, causing Lora Harrison, the

mother, much morning stress.

2.) Meanwhile, Grandpa forgets to use a tray while cooking breakfast causing bacon

grease to catch on fire in the oven, leading Lora to rush into the kitchen while dealing

with the Insurance Agent.

3.) Jimmy observes the situation from the kitchen and runs upstairs to break his

electronic piggy bank.

Decision 1: A or B? Server or Breakfast?

(Pg. 6)

Should Jimmy use his money to help pay for Grandpa’s Server (A) or does he use it to take

Grandpa out for breakfast? (B)

A (Paying for Server)

(Pg. 7-16)

4A.) Jimmy helps pay for Grandpa’s

monthly server insurance fee, and the

collector happily accepts the payment and

leaves.

B (Paying for Breakfast)

(Pg. 18-30)

4B.) Jimmy helps treat his Grandpa to

breakfast at their local diner where the news

plays stories involving recent Hacking scams

and tips on how to prevent them from

happening.

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5A.) The following day the Harrisons make a

trip to Lockdown Insurance, but are shocked

to find the building abandoned with

bankruptcy notices posted on the outside, as

Jimmy’s payment becomes victim of a last-

minute bankruptcy scam.

5B.) Without Jimmy’s money helping pay

for the server on time, Grandpa’s server

becomes susceptible to Hackers and gets

threatened with Ransomware.

Decision 2.1: C or D? Discuss or Hack?

(Pg. 17)

Should Jimmy discuss his hacking plan with

his mom (C) or should he decide to hack into

Grandpa’s server manually to attempt to

save his memories without telling her? (D)

Decision 2.2: D or E? Hack or Negotiate?

(Pg. 31)

Should Jimmy hack into Grandpa’s server

manually to attempt to save his memories

(D) or should he attempt to negotiate with

the Hacker behind the Ransomware? (E)

C (Discuss with Mom)

(Pg. 32-40)

6C.) Jimmy discusses

potential hacking options

with his Mom who shuts him

down as she holds pamphlets

for Nursing Homes in her

hands.

7C.) Lora sends Grandpa to

the only Nursing Home they

can afford, and upon his

arrival Grandpa puts up a

fight about being there.

D (Hack Manually)

2.1 Intro: (Pg. 46-48)

2.2 Intro: (Pg. 49)

Option D: (Pg. 50-55)

6D.) Jimmy takes Grandpa to

his middle school to hook-up

both of them to Memory

Machines in order to

manually overwrite

Grandpa’s corrupt memory

files.

E (Negotiate with Hacker)

(Pg. 59-66)

6E.) Jimmy answers to the

Ransomware message in an

attempt to negotiate with

the Hacker.

7E.) The Hacker requests an

excessive amount of money

to decrypt Grandpa’s

memory files, which Jimmy is

unable to come up with.

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8C.) Jimmy visits Grandpa

during Bingo time where

Grandpa is vocal about not

enjoying himself, so Jimmy

helps him relax by hooking

him up to some of his

memories.

7D.) While in Grandpa’s

server, Jimmy realizes

Grandpa’s memory files are

encrypted and they must

figure out a cypher using his

coded files.

8D.) Jimmy pulls off the

decryption and exits

Grandpa’s server just as time

runs out, restoring Grandpa’s

memories.

8E.) Jimmy leaves the files

encrypted on Grandpa’s

server but begins studying

decryption to learn more

about Grandpa’s corrupted

files.

Outcome F

(Pg. 41-45)

9F.) Grandpa turns off the

timer Jimmy set for him on

the Memory Machine to

purposefully have a

Permanent Hook-up in order

to escape the Nursing Home

and spend time with his late

wife within his memories,

despite the consequences.

Outcome G

(Pg. 56-58)

9G.) Grandpa’s memory files

are preserved and Jimmy

holds his hand in the physical

world as Grandpa enters his

memory server once more to

relive the day Lora was born.

Outcome H

(Pg. 67-69)

9H.) Grandpa’s most recent

memory files are lost due to

the ransomware as Jimmy

fails his mission, making his

Grandfather unable to

recognize him.

Four Possible Story Paths: A – C – F (31-Page Story) B – D – G (30-Page Story) A – D – G (29-Page Story) B – E – H (31-Page Story)

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My Experience with Interactive Storytelling

While I have spoken at lengths about my inspiration for crafting the story as well as

explaining my outlining process for the world I have created, I will now discuss the challenges

and overall experience I have had with creating my first interactive screenplay. Overall, I am

glad I challenged myself with this project and had the chance of creating a multi-path storyline.

As for my experience, once I began drafting the introductory pages of the script, I came

across an issue involving perspective. As I am familiar with writing linear stories with an

omniscient narrator, I realized early on I was falling into such habits. When I came to the first

decision point, the question is aimed at what Jimmy should do. The whole point of my

screenplay was to follow Jimmy as an extension of the reader since he would be the character

that completes an action at these decision points. When I initially came to this first decision, I

realized I wrote the beginning pages mainly through the perspective of the mother, Lora, and

her stressful morning. Asking on the subsequent page what Jimmy should do seemed irrelevant

or confusing to the storyline’s progression.

After this initial realization, I rewrote much of the beginning pages in order to focus on

telling the story through the eyes of Jimmy’s character. With this perspective change, the

reader can naturally envision themselves as Jimmy, thus making the decision points more

relevant and engaging. In continuing my writing of an interactive story, I began to think of it

more and more as a video game of sorts. After all, video games are interactive media which

typically follow a hero avatar with an objective as the player controls its actions. In my story,

Jimmy represents the hero whose objective is to save his Grandpa’s memories. The outcome of

this story or “game” is ultimately in the hands of the reader or “player.”

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While continuing my draft with the structure of video games and Jimmy’s perspective in

mind, I ran into more challenges when two paths intersected. In order to control the complexity

and number of diverging paths I was creating, I developed a branching system in which branch

A and branch B both had the opportunity to lead to the same path which became branch D.

Once I began writing branch D, I realized that the first scenes had to initially be unique

according to the path the reader just came from before. The main portion of branch D could

only begin once Jimmy and Grandpa were in the same location with the same tools and

information in both scenarios. Thus, I had to create “Option D From Decision 2.1” and “Option

D From Decision 2.2” in order to act as prologues to the real Option D.

The creative process of outlining and writing this multi-path script had its challenges but

was also very rewarding once pieces of the story began clicking together to become what it is

today. I am proud of how it has evolved over the three semesters I have worked on it. It has

gone through many different stages over this time. I initially thought of this project as a comedy

in which Jimmy would explore alternate realities with his Grandfather, but over time my ideas

became more fixated in science fiction and drama over comedy. I mainly write comedic stories

as I love comedy sketches and sitcoms, so writing a more serious story which depended upon

emotion and memories was an added challenge. I’m glad to have gone through the process of

crafting this complex story and trying to fit the puzzle pieces of the various branches together

to form one cohesive storyline. The outlining process was the step which took the greatest

amount of time but was without a doubt the most important. After having gone through the

extensive thought-process of how to create multiple paths, decision points, and outcomes from

one story, I am excited to experiment with writing more interactive screenplays in the future.