Storytelling through New Media

Posted on: March 13, 2009

By Daniel Ravner

And so, mankind continues to be entertained by the art of storytelling. The classic story of Romeo and Juliet still provides emotional identification for people today through modern versions like that of Kate and Jack from Titanic. Today, the stories people once heard around the campfires are told in a different way, through the use of new media. These stories have been adapted to the modern society’s values, idols, social standards, language, and media. As videos on the web and mobile came to life and society came in contact with this new kind of storytelling, effective storytelling delivery encountered with new obstacles.

Here’s some food for thought about video content creation for mobile platforms and internet-based series in the world of new media.

1.  The Camera: Size matters. And thus, the small size of new media screens has its own demands: close-ups. Since people react best to facial expressions, close-up shots are the strong shots used for web videos, often watched on mobile players. So here’s my two-cents, shoot important scenes in tight medium and CU shots so you have higher quality to work from while editing (The Guild).
2.  Sound: So your ordinary files will need to be converted, or actually compressed, into Flash files in order to be featured on the web and mobile players. This process looses much of the sound’s high and low sound waves, thus sometimes causing the human voice to be softer when played on the site than during the editing process and magnifying the background noise. So how do we solve this? I recommend uploading a video file that was exported with a louder voice level than you would usually choose when editing. The sound of the film below was pleasant to listen to in the editing room, however too soft when converted and uploaded onto YouTube.
3. Editing: In life, there are second chances. In the live world of new media, you only get one chance. Therefore, it is crucial to examine the final cut on the screen size of a new media player, since this is the actual size that your content will be featured on.
4. Quality: Overall, the user will enjoy the same experience if you upload a 20MB file or a 40MB file, the difference plays in when you have the High Definition option. These days, most sites offer the option of viewing a clip in HD or low quality, since more people are beginning to watch online videos through their television sets. Thus, high quality clips have a longer shelf life (Life From the Inside).
5. Cast: The more the merrier? Well, not in this case. Though it is technically possible to create an internet series with 30 actors, it is not advisable. On the one hand, so many actors create a jumbled up story-line that would discourage new viewers from getting into the program halfway. And, on the other hand, the low new media budgets do not provide actors with enough incentive to participate. Not to mention, the less actors you have, the less schedule conflicts you’ll have as well. Here’s an interview with the creator of Something to be Desired, who talks about this issue.
6. Popular culture: New media content started from UGC, with reality TV in the background. This led to the first wave of successful internet series, with an intentional unpolished look and feel. Other elements apt for new media are webcam shots, parodies, pseudo-news, and chroma key backgrounds. Thus, low budgets are not obstacles in storytelling and humor remains the absolute dominant genre in new media, since it can thrive within any production value. Check out the power viewers gave to “the nerd,” in the popular Clark and Michael.
7. Format: Most webisodes are 4-6 minutes (longer than UGC, shorter than the viewer’s patience), with each season usually being comprised of 6-12 episodes.
8. New Media: Incorporating new media into every possible aspect of your story will increase its exposure. Thus, if you’re telling a story using new media, use new media to enhance it, by opening a blog for your characters, starting a forum on the story’s subject, creating a profile for your character on Facebook (Donnie Hoyle from You Suck at Photoshop), expanding your story onto other sites through treasure hunts, or ARG, building a social network (wordpress has a widget), and letting the audience affect your plotline. Something as small as adding foreign language subtitles through the caption feature, can render your creation accessible to millions of more potential viewers.
9. Goals: Consumers of digital storytelling won’t expect traditional media production values, but they will compare some elements with their general viewing. If you don’t live up to your initial promise of the number of episodes per month, release date, tension level in the plot, and humor, your viewers have an easy exit, and they will leave.
10. Marketing and Expectations: Aim high, with your feet on the ground. It is important to have reasonable expectations with the amount of views you can achieve. If possible, cooperate with video sites and portals, since being on the editor’s picks increases exposure. Spread the first episodes around the web, RSS your episodes, email your bloggers, entertain your journalists by giving them a heads up about your show, speak of your work highly and anonymously in relevant forums, and get a celebrity to make a guest appearance and link your video to it.

In other words, the most important aspect of new media storytelling is a good story. Everything else is simply a proper translation for the digital screens.