Lesson 04: Immersive Storytelling… putting it all together

In this session, we’ll take a step back and think more deeply about how immersive storytelling works by looking at several different types of stories. We’ll look more deeply at how immersive storytelling affects people and the particular ethics that come with this new form of storytelling.

Learning Outcomes
    • Explain unique qualities and considerations of immersive storytelling

    • Analyze immersive stories

    • Evaluate ethics of immersive storytelling

Lesson Outline

Deconstruct a 360 piece (Maybe Clouds Over Sidra) – structure, who is the viewer in the piece (character, fly on the wall, reporter, etc)

Attention in 360 – points of interest, leading the gaze of the viewer, breaking immersion

FOMO, how long to leave footage on screen

Transition from shot to shot (jumping location, jumping time)

Sound: ambient, narration, foreign language

Text: to direct attention, form information

Ethics

In-class Exercise/Activity for Small Groups

Create a shot list for your piece. 

Students should think through and write down their hypothesis for how they want to tell their 360 story. 

Take into account:

What are the first things they want the audience to see and hear? 

What comes after? 

How do they establish place, character and context? 

What order do they want to tell the story in? 

How does the story end? 

This exercise can be done in an extended think, pair, share format. Students write for 15 minutes on their own (or in their production teams); then they pair up with another group and discuss their shot lists with others for 15-20 minutes; then a few students share back how they are planning their shoots and edits back to the whole class.

Discussion Topics

How many scenes should a story have?

What’s important to have in each scene?

End of lesson feedback

3-2-1 (3 takeaways, 2 questions, 1 thing they enjoyed)