It’s been an interesting journey so far. Memories of the Meld launch events in Manchester and Leeds are replaced by humans collaborating in Sandbox to produce new forms of digital narrative springs into focus.
The idea of melding the skills of interactive designers and computer programmers with the skills of journalists and writers from radio, TV, print and on-line is a simple one. Journalists tell stories, games designers can sort the programming to add a layer of interactivity to stories delivered on new platforms like PSP’s, PC’s and mobile phones. So where’s the rub?
Journalists and games designers are different. Both have a fundamentally different rasion d’etre. They are from entirely different working worlds.
Use the word ’story’ to a journlaist and it’s laden with meanings beyond the simple flow of narrative. News values of relevance, proximity, timeliness are all part of the definition. Values of factual accuracy and clarity are equal determinants. The word ‘Story’ is different for interactive designers. It’s associated with characters, action and imagination. It’s about creating a landscape where things can happen. It’s about the journey, not its end.
Conversely, ‘interactive’. means something to a computer programmer and something else to a journalist.
On the face of it - this alone should make for an interesting week. Add to this the prospect of working together to start new interactive projects to pitch at commissioning editors from Haymarket, Sky and Johnston Press and thins go beyond interesting and into the domain of ‘cutting edge’ and associated clichés.
Paul
