Hi, I was reading a discussion from a few years ago and came across a post about the best form of media for storytelling. Here is the post:
“It is hard to select the best storytelling from the other mediums. Although novels have the luxury of utilizing the readers imagination above all else. I feel as though that cheapens the experience. The author can translate his narrative and describe his vision to the best of his ability but the consumer will perceive it differently. How can you convey the best story if it no longer becomes your story once it is passed to the reader?
So as a matter of a Tv series or Film, it will be a difficult consideration. I adore film, the ability that a picture will contain a thousand words and is able to translate and fill your senses (sound and sight) with exactly what the creator desired is something I adore. However, the fact that we live in a predominantly capitalist-fueled world and money is the greatest motivator and instigator, means that more films and tv shows (much like novels and video games) are driven to some degree by the pursuit of wealth. I think that although novels and film cater to this tainting factor less that tv shows or video games, novels have been excluded due to the reasons stated earlier.
I think that games are capable of conveying the best storytelling but are currently unable to. Other mediums ask that you only look, but do not touch. Games offer the interactivity. The only other interactive experience may be in live theatre (actors can react or change based on audience reactions such as laughter causing actors to pause for that laughter, etc. Or if it is improv, actually involve the audience via suggestions and such). I have complete faith that ultimately as the industry pushes forward, the storytelling in video games will only get better. In the meanwhile, it is so utterly restricted by consumer demands and technology that it does not even come close.”
I was wondering what this sub thinks of this. I like how books allow different people to obtain different meanings and feelings based on their experiences and imagination, does that dampen its ability as a storytelling medium because of it? I also feel something being interactive doesn’t make it inherently “better” as well. It can be more “fun” but doesn’t necessarily make it a better way to convey a story.
To make it clear, I don’t think any form of media is “less than”. They are all different ways to convey a story and I don’t think the medium inherently makes that any worse. It’s just this discussion made me think about some aspects of it that I never thought about before in a different way.
by RobbyLG
8 Comments
Books are great 🤗
Media is great, all of it 🤗
The commercialization of entertainment is 😭
The idea that drawing upon the reader’s perception and perspective somehow cheapens the experience is insane. Doubly so because they praise interactivity in the next paragraph.
All forms of storytelling have merit. They work best for different kinds of stories, and that makes that variety so special, IMHO.
I think all forms of storytelling are equal, it just depends on what kind of story it is. A romance wouldn’t work well as a videogame, and something that’s all action would make for a sub par book. Meanwhile if you want to tell a more detailed story, film doesn’t work, and for a shorter story tv shows won’t work.
Even if a TV director or writer manages to get his vision across as perfectly as possible, people will still take away different things from it because that is very much informed by the audience’s cultural background, life experience, and general knowledge of the medium. This goes for all media.
As for games, I’ve seldom met a game that I would consider a *perfect* use of the medium. Interactivity is most of the time more performative than anything else, or otherwise a hindrance to the storytelling. And counter to your argument that narrative game design will get better with time, I’m sure that some might say game narratives peaked back in the days of OG interactive digital fiction like A Mind Forever Voyaging back in the 80s lol. (Not that I necessarily agree with that. As long as there’s the chance every decade or so for a narrative like Disco Elysium, one cannot say the medium has peaked.)
I think the whole discussion is bullshit.
“The author can translate his narrative and describe his vision to the best of his ability but the consumer will perceive it differently. How can you convey the best story if it no longer becomes your story once it is passed to the reader?”
Oh my.
“So as a matter of a Tv series or Film, it will be a difficult consideration. I adore film, the ability that a picture will contain a thousand words and is able to translate and fill your senses (sound and sight) with exactly what the creator desired is something I adore.”
Reading a good book takes me there with everything, sounds only I hear, a movie only I’m able to see. There is no good media, people experience input quite differently. I’m a book guy, others like audio, video etc.
> it no longer becomes your story once it is passed to the reader
That’s a feature, not a bug.
It isn’t about the best form for storytelling but the best form for the story you are trying to tell. TV is best for narratives that are as much about what you see as the themes of the story itself. Film is best for exploring one particular idea. Books are for narratives that require alot of information. Videogames are best for stories about causality and exploration.
That being said, if there were unlimited resources that could be pooled into creating a single narrative, videogames have the highest potential to develop that narrative, but that is an unbelievable amount of resources.
>I like how books allow different people to obtain different meanings and feelings based on their experiences and imagination, does that dampen its ability as a storytelling medium because of it?
This isn’t exactly true. The text of a book is its text, regardless of what experience or ability a given reader might bring to it. People might not agree on their interpretation of a book, but any interpretation worth listening to is one that is found in the text.
And additionally, this is really not a characteristic of experience that is unique to books. Experience of all art is colored by your own experience. The facets of any film or painting or song or video game that resonate best or evoke the most from the person experiencing them will vary from person to person.
Games are slightly different than books, music, movies, and most visual art because they actually do allow for players to alter the shape of what is being experienced. As I mentioned, the text of a book *is* the text. If you and I read *Heart of Darkness*, then we both read the same words. When we talk about our experience of the book, we are talking about the same object which is static and can be compared as such. However, if you and I play *Bioshock*, the actual things we saw and did in the game will not be the same. And because of that, we are technically talking about two different things when we discuss our “experience” of the game.
Depending on your point of view, you might actually find that this actually makes it far more difficult and complicated to talk about games.