Three short presentations from Gary Hustwit, Brendan Dawes and Jim Coudal
Coudal talks about the importance of involving the user/viewer in the journey of the narrative. Another parallel to this idea is teaching kids to learn.
An example of this is layer tennis. Two players exchange photoshop files, continuously modifying the file between themselves. A third person will often commentate. There really are no rules - save for a time limit. The audience is able to watch the process and see the development of the photoshop file develop in a totally fresh and enexpected way.
Hustwit talks about the idea of Elipses… An example is the direct cinema movement whose goal was to put the viewer inside the picture. You view the film and take as much from it as you are able.
What is great is what is left out. No narrator, no captions - just like in real life. As a filmmaker, Hustwit sometimes wants viewers to be confused. It encourages the audience to try to figure out what is going on and makes the viewing experience a much more personal one.
Another interesting technique is Making it a Game. Giving you puzzles to solve and extra layers to explore. For example, he always includes a dog in his films!
Dawes talks about creating Psycho studio in flash in 1998! Allows you to recut the shower scene (after all, what did hitchcock know?) Allowed user involvement that was not possible before. "Weird shit" resulted.
Desire lines are an interesting example of how the human brain works. Paths trodden into the ground over time create strange patterns. Traffic calming measures in Brighton removed elements from the road - including curbs. Perceived elements of danger result in more careful drivers.
Dawes starts all his digital projects with a sketch. A recent project uses sketching as an interface, forcing users to doodle to discover content. By putting in some effort, you get some results. As users play, they uncover more and more content through an entirely self-created interface.
"If you don't go out in the woods, nothing will ever happen & your life will never begin…". -Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Q&A:
Design for yourself - hopefully other people will like it.
Involving users in the process of design can help shape the result in a positive way.
The process of making a product can involve a lot of hurdles. Instead of following the path of least resistance or talking yourself out of something, use the problems to inspire unusual solutions. A bit more work can turn something good into something great.
Brendaw Dawes awoke in an empty train carraige to find some litter strewn on the seat next to him. One piece of paper said PTO. After a moment of hesitation, he turned the sheet over to read "Pleas Take These Swans". The litter was in fact a pair of origami swans! He said the best thing about the experience was the small amount of work he had to do to reveal the message. That extra involvement turned a good experience into a great one.
-blogged live from my iPhone
Tags: digital, Experience, game, Interaction, Narrative, sxsw, User
