April 17, 2009
Elon University Professor Ken Calhoun Speaks to Students about the Flavors of Interactive Media
By Ashley Dischinger
Elon University Professor Ken Calhoun educated students during class on how to extend their reach in journalism through the use of interactive media. Calhoun, a professor of new media with an extensive background in the professional field, advised students on the many ways to tell a story through interactive media.
‘Writing is where all of this starts’
“Writing skills are the foundation for this endeavor, and I think that’s absolutely, totally, completely true,” Calhoun said. “Writing is where all of this starts, it’s how we communicate in our most basic format.”
Calhoun believes that interactive media provides journalists with the tools to enrich communication beyond just words.
“Interactive media is allowing us to communicate in other ways, all informed by our writing… but can be used to tell stories in different ways to reach wider audiences,” he explained.
Adding a conversational element to traditional media
One important concept associated with interactive media is that of conversation. Unlike primitive forms of journalism, interactive media incorporate new technology that allows for choice. Calhoun compared the concept to “the earliest, non-digital form of interactivity”: the choose your own ending book.
Using the ‘three flavors of interactive media’
Calhoun discussed what he refers to as the “three flavors of interactive media,” which include storytelling, responsive visuals and conversation. He believes that each of these elements is key for journalists to create more career options, more communication options and to generate more “immersive, media-rich work.”
“The idea is that you are bringing people deeper into the narrative,” Calhoun said. “Multimedia is supposed to do that because it allows you to use sound, images, time… all those tools that try to make the experience more immersive… it invites the audience to help craft their experience.”
Click below to listen to Calhoun talk about the strategies of storytelling through interactive media:
Calhoun elaborated on the advantages of interactive storytelling methods that allow the audience to navigate through the story rather than be limited to a linear presentation of information. In this way, the experience is no longer passive but instead calls for active participation.
Allowing viewers to navigate themselves through the story
He demonstrated this theory by showing several Web sites that require the active participation of viewers to complete the experience. Interactive narratives through the posting of YouTube videos are some of the most commonly used media experiences through which viewers can navigate themselves.
Other examples include stories that can be told spatially, such as on the Second Story Interactive Studios Web site; interactive maps, such as the elaborate Monticello Web site that allows viewers to virtually explore all aspects of the plantation; and Late Fragment, a project that recently debuted at the Toronto Film Festival and demonstrates how different storytelling muscles will be exercised.
Improving the way audiences experience a story
The above are just a sample of the many storytelling media that are continually being developed and improved on a daily basis. The combination of formats and new storytelling strategies is producing unprecedented ways in which audiences can experience a story.
“The point is there are interactive media opportunities out there to tell stories, to create conversations, to use responsive visuals in ways that you have to… start getting your head around,” Calhoun said. “The bottom line is see the media that’s available to you, fit it to your intentions of the story… and make it so that you’re telling the story in the most effective way possible.”
Calhoun will be teaching classes to graduate students in Elon’s new Master of Arts in Interactive Media program in summer 2009. This one-year, full-time program will allow students to learn both the theory and production of interactive media content. For more information about the program, visit the Web site, read the iMedia blog, follow the program on Twitter or check out the latest information on its Facebook page.
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