Digital Storytelling Two Volume Set by Miller, Carolyn Handler;

Short description:

Digital Storytelling: A Creator’s Guide to Interactive Entertainment, 5^th edition, explores current developments in digital media narratives across major genres and platforms, from video games to mobile devices and transmedia storytelling, including the growing influence of AI.

Long description:

Digital Storytelling: A Creator's Guide to Interactive Entertainment 5th edition delves into the fascinating and groundbreaking stories enabled by interactive digital media, examining both fictional and non-fiction narratives. This fifth edition explores monumental developments, particularly the emergence of generative AI, and highlights exciting projects utilizing this technology. Additionally, it covers social media, interactive documentaries, immersive environments, and innovative uses of video games, chatbots, and virtual reality.

Carolyn Handler Miller provides insights into storytelling essentials like character development, plot, structure, dialogue, and emotion, while examining how digital media and interactivity influence these elements. The book also dives into advanced topics, such as narratives using AR, VR, and XR, alongside new forms of immersive media, including large screens, escape rooms, and theme park experiences.

This edition adds a new chapter on podcasting and expands its coverage of immersive media—virtual, augmented, and mixed reality—along with other emerging forms of experiential storytelling. It also examines advances in animatronics and intelligent androids and how they support live narrative experiences.

A chapter on iCinema and iTV looks at storytelling on massive new venues like the Sphere. The book ends with guidance on the evolving career of the Digital Storyteller, including how to enter and thrive in this fast‑changing field.

With numerous case studies, this edition illustrates the creative possibilities of digital storytelling and its applications beyond entertainment, such as education, training, information, and promotion. Interviews with industry leaders further enhance the understanding of this evolving universe, making it a valuable resource for both professionals and enthusiasts.

• Case studies of noteworthy examples of digital storytelling


• A glossary clearly defining new or difficult terms


• Each chapter opens with thought-provoking questions about the chapter’s topic


• Each chapter offers additional resources for up-to-the-minute information on the chapter’s topic


• Each chapter concludes with several creative and engaging exercises for the reader to experiment with the chapter’s topics and to promote the reader’s understanding of the chapter’s contents

“I genuinely appreciated how the book approaches the rapidly evolving landscape of immersive media, and the VR chapter stood out as a highlight in both scope and clarity. It was clear, detailed, and moving -- especially in its recognition that VR is a storytelling medium with the potential for profound human impact.” – Roger Holzberg, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Remagine Well and former VP/Creative Director, Walt Disney Imagineering

“Carolyn Handler Miller has continued to provide an invaluable guide to the complex world of where digital technology meets storytelling.” – Kate Pullinger, Professor of Creative Writing and Digital Media at Bath Spa University

Table of Contents:

PART ONE: NEW TECHNOLOIES, NEW CREATIVE OPPORTUNIES, 1. Storytelling, Old and New, 2. Backwater to Mainstream: The Growth of Digital Entertainment, 3. The Creative Promise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), PART TWO: CREATING STORY-RICH PROJECTS, 4. Interactivity and Its Effects, 5. Old Tools/New Tools, 6. Characters, Dialogue and Emotion, 7. Structure in Digital Storytelling, 8. Your Audience, 9. Social Media and Storytelling, 10. Creating New Projects: The Development Process, PART THREE: HARNASSING DIGITAL STORYTELLING FOR PRAGMATIC GOALS, 11. Using Digital Storytelling to Teach and Train, 12. Using Digital Storytelling for Promotion and Advertising , 13. Using Digital Storytelling to Inform, Part 1: Digital Media: Under the Hood, 1. Video Games: Maximizing Interactivity, 2.     Transmedia Storytelling: Integrating Narratives, 3. Alternate Reality Games (ARGs): Distributed Narratives, 4. The Internet: The Workhorse, 5. Podcasting: A New Form of Digital Storytelling, 6. Mobile Devices and Apps: Little Storytelling Platforms, 7. iCinema and iTV: Interactivity on Traditional Screens, 8. Smart Toys and Robots: Almost Alive, Part 2: Immersive Environments, 9. Immersive Media: An Introduction, 10.  Virtual Reality: Envelopment in a Virtual World, 11.  Augmented Reality: Virtually Painting Over the World, 12.  Mixed Reality: Combining the Virtual and the Real, 13.  Immersion within Physical Spaces, 14.  Immersion with Moving Images, Part 3: Career Considerations, 15.  Working as a Digital Storyteller