Media Arts and Interactive Film

Media Arts is the collective term for using various media to create a “story” in a very broad sense. It can be linear or nonlinear, narrative or nonnarrative, but it usually has a message to tell - such as an advertisement for chewing gum or a video memoir of a relative.

The particular theory of media arts I am going to explore in this post is interactive film. A recent example of this would be the Netflix Black Mirror: Bandersnatch from 2018, in which the viewer controlled some of the actions of the main character.

The Pros of this form of media arts are:

• Can create a more immersive experience for the viewer
• Versatility - could be used to tell a variety of stories
• Engagement - the viewer is more engaged with the story than a traditional film
• Options for medium - it could be done live-action or animated for a different experience

The Cons of this form of media arts are:

• Takes longer to create - with multiple choices, more scenes need to be created to account for each choice/ending
• More expensive (due to the increase in scenes)
• Limited choices - if the choices are too few, viewers may feel less engaged by picking a choice they wouldn’t make 
• Requires more creative energy - essentially, one is creating multiple stories combined into one

Media Arts can also be used on a blog such as this one - as I progress more into this blog, I intend to include more forms of media. Videos, audio files, interactive pictures - various forms of combined media to make a more engaging experience for any of my readers.