Digital Story Telling: Narrative Analysis Report, Semester 1

This report delves into the realm of digital storytelling, examining its role in culture, the evolution of narratives, and the impact of digital platforms. The report begins by highlighting the importance of narratives in shaping cultural values and ethics, and then it discusses the possibilities of storytelling in the digital era. It analyzes the changing landscape of storytelling through examples like social media comics and the TV series Game of Thrones, exploring how digital platforms have transformed the way stories are created, shared, and experienced. The report also includes an analysis of the game Angry Birds, focusing on its narrative structure and interactivity to engage players. Furthermore, the report explores the concept of interactivity in digital narratives, emphasizing how this element creates a sense of participation for the audience. Overall, the report provides a comprehensive overview of the digital storytelling process, with a focus on the interplay between narrative, platform, and interactivity.

Running head: Digital Story Telling
DIGITAL STORY TELLING

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Jan 28
Role of narrative and possibilities in story telling
Narratives play an important role in any culture. This is so because any cultural value or
ethics can be twisted with a popular and powerful narrative. Every culture has its own sets of
dominants narratives those impacts upon the people belonging from a shared culture. For
example, the narrative of Cinderella foregrounds the American culture where it is believed that
hard work can change the life graph of an individual. However, it is also true that sometimes
narratives can be used to stereotype one particular culture. For example, many Hollywood
movies show India as one of the poorest countries in their movies highlighting only the suburban
areas of the country. On the other hand, a change in narrative can help in improving a cultural
outlook towards the rest of the world too.
In this regard, it can be added that story telling is a way of presenting various kinds of
narratives. This story telling process has many possibilities in this era. For example, when a story
is being told, many ideas, values and morals can be injected on the brains of the listeners by
default. This is so because any idea or thought can be presented in the disguise of a story in a
way that the listeners do not feel that they are being forced to witness the new thought or idea.
On the other hand, in the modern era, digital media has become a powerful story telling medium
that impacts the minds of many people simultaneously. For example, an internationally released
movie on menstruation can break the taboo related to menstruation pain practiced in many
corners of the world. Recently, I saw a digital comic series by an Instagram user to depict the
daily lives of people who take the metro to travel. This is a kind of narrative that I experienced
this week apart from many others.
Feb 4
Digital narrative
As mentioned above, the digital story that I experienced this week tells a lot about how
the convention of storytelling has been changed in the digital era. First of all, it is important to
note that in the age of social media, anyone can become story teller and can reach unlimited
people irrespective of what country or culture they belong to. So, this particular comic artist is

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from an Asian country and thus initially it was a little difficult for me to relate to the story that
the artist wanted to tell through his series of digital drawings. This is the difference between the
traditional and the digital story telling because in the digital story telling process, the role or
responsibility of the story teller decreases. In other words, if that story was being told in a story
book then maybe there was more information from the part of the author so that the readers can
perfectly understand the relevance of the story (Cunsolo et al. 2013). On the other hand, digital
story telling made the process of story telling a more personal act where everyone is sharing their
own personal experiences that may or may not have any universal significance. Apart from these
negative aspects, digital story telling has the capability to be a part of community interaction. In
the context of the given example, I noticed that many other people got inspired from that series
of drawing and started posting their own narratives through digital comic series in the comment
section of that post.
Feb 11
Narrative structure
For the narrative analysis, I have chosen the very famous American TV drama series
Game of Thrones that has total of eight seasons among which one season is about to release on
the coming month. This is a perfect example of digital narrative because this show has been
successfully running from almost 10 years now and has international viewers all over the world.
This series shows an elaborate story that is still unfinished. On the other hand, each season
comes with YouTube trailers that give little hints regarding the plot of the upcoming season. This
is something very different from traditional narratives where readers did not get to have a sneak
peak of the plot of the story before reading it. Many characters have individual role to play in the
TV series where some of the artists have become very much famous due to their roles even if
they are not the central characters in the series. As a result, sometimes, the role of some
characters has been extended just because they have been widely appreciated by the audiences.
This shows how constant modifications are being done in the digital story telling settings. In
addition, the role of the audiences have also been increased in the age of digital story telling that
can be understood from the above mentioned example. Another interesting thing to note here is
that the series is based on multiple books written by G. Martin but several things have been

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changed when we compare the series with the books. This has been done in order to match up
with the high level of expectation of the audiences and to present the story in a different way.
Feb 18
Picture essay
On a sunny day, a batch of students leaves their college
campuses and goes back to their homes after a very long time.
While they leave, a new batch arrives at the gate of the
campus. Thus, the life on campus begins with lots of new
faces. Some of them come in groups because they know each
other since school. So, different groups enter the campus with
empty heads.

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They attend their respective classes. Some of them become teachers’
favorites while some become reason of their headaches. But as they
start sharing the same canteen, classrooms and sometimes common
friends, gradually the unknown faces start to become familiar.
Initially, Americans get friendly with Americans and Chinese with
Chinese students.
From being study classmates to being study buddies, the group of
mates starts to include more and more fellow learners.

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Then the time comes for the campus gatherings, concerts and exhibitions
and suddenly the cultural boundaries become broader. Now, they are all
comfortable with each other.
As they get to know each other and become best of friends, they enter
the senior most college years.

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Feb 25
Digital platforms
Life on college campus is one of the integral parts of every college student that gives
them enumerable memories and moments. These memories are what remain at the end. Students
learn as per their learning capabilities. Teachers repeat their lessons with each coming batch of
students while students experience a totally new experience. Some of the students excel in their
academic performances while some of them realize that they have chosen wrong fields of study
for themselves. However, one thing that remains intact is the essence of friendship,
companionship and interactions. After the last day in campus, students scatter here and there and
start their careers. Not all of them keep in touch but if destiny allows them to meet once again,
they greet each other with a smile, a smile that announces ‘I remember you’.
Mar 4
Game analysis
Graduation day!!! The unknown faces blur into a whole and they
graduate as the one promising each other to be in touch forever.

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For the game analysis, I have chosen one of the most popular games of this age namely
the Angry Birds. Despite the fact that this game deals with a very simple graphics and a non
complex series of challenges as compared to other highly tough and competitive games, this
game has become one of the most addictive game of all times so much so that movies have been
made on the basis of this game. The interesting element of this game is that the game tells a story
that precedes a step further with each step or challenge. Moreover, the game has a plot where a
bunch of birds try to rescue their eggs from some evil green pigs that have come in their lands to
rule. Many sequels have been made of this game having the same plot but different settings. One
of the most significant gamification elements can be found in the making of this game that is the
element of attachment. The game makes attachments with the game players because the game
has a story that seems to be interesting for the players to unfold. Through the portrayal of a story,
the game has become successful in connecting with the gamers in a way that they become a part
of the game itself. This sense of attachment helps in keeping the fan base of games like Angry
Birds.
Mat 11
Digital narrative interactivity
Interactivity is one of the most essential parts of digital story telling or digital narrative.
This is something different from analogue stories where the interaction between the story writer
and the readers is limited. However, many post modern narratives have successfully showed the
attribute of interactivity through their stories but still this is different from the interaction
between the artificial intelligence and users. However, this is not synonymous with the
interactive video games only. This is so because there is a whole lot different world of interactive
system that can be used as software to give an interactive approach to the digital narratives.
Generative web series is one of the examples of interactivity in digital narrative. In this field,
Tour-Reservoir happens to be the first web series that shows interactivity. This website platform
gives opportunities to the audiences to actively visit some digital Medias such as TV, music
video, radio and so on. In addition, the website gives chance to the users to select their favorite
music, topics or actors that they choose to listen to watch from the wide variety of options. This
creates an environment where the virtual world and the real world merge together through the

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quality of interactivity (Gachago & Sykes, 2017). The effect of this interactive design lies in the
fact that the users start believing that they are a part of the narrative because they can modify the
contents of the digital media as per their own choice.

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Reference list
Cunsolo Willox, A., Harper, S. L., Edge, V. L., ‘My Word’: Storytelling and Digital Media Lab,
& Rigolet Inuit Community Government. (2013). Storytelling in a digital age: digital
storytelling as an emerging narrative method for preserving and promoting indigenous
oral wisdom. Qualitative Research, 13(2), 127-147. Retrieved on: 20th March, 2019,
From:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ashlee_Cunsolo/publication/236007711_Storytellin
g_in_a_Digital_Age_Digital_Storytelling_as_an_Emerging_Narrative_Method_for_Pres
erving_and_Promoting_Indigenous_Oral_Wisdom/links/02e7e5218897360638000000/
Storytelling-in-a-Digital-Age-Digital-Storytelling-as-an-Emerging-Narrative-Method-for-
Preserving-and-Promoting-Indigenous-Oral-Wisdom.pdf
Gachago, D., & Sykes, P. (2017). Navigating ethical boundaries when adopting digital
storytelling in higher education. In Digital storytelling in higher education 11(2), 91-106.
Retrieved on: 20th March, 2019, From:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniela_Gachago/publication/318130412_Navigati
ng_Ethical_Boundaries_When_Adopting_Digital_Storytelling_in_Higher_Education/
links/59bb71dba6fdcca8e55e1081/Navigating-Ethical-Boundaries-When-Adopting-
Digital-Storytelling-in-Higher-Education.pdf