Process 4: Game Theory
Essays and themes in this section cover our approach to creating Internet Theatre for our clients, using a convergent media case study as an example.
Rule 9. The over-arcing theme.
Sometimes, the theme of one’s work becomes apparent over the course of experimentation, or improvisation. Balance that, against: Can this somehow represent something which is greater as a whole, than as the sum of its parts?
Rule 8. Make it beautiful, but more importantly, make it plausible.
Can we make it look as beautiful as possible, without making it too beautiful?
Rule 7. Never underestimate the players.
Visit the links to the content, backwards and forwards. Is security important? How easily can they find you, and what would this do to the effect of the story you’re trying to tell?
Rule 6. Create a world around that.
With a fictitious character, there are so many questions surrounding that character and their world. What did they just do?
Rule 5. Revisit the backstory (and do it often).
If you were to provide an account of what happened later, and try to account for their motives, what would these be? For the overarcing theme of a film to resonate as the end credits roll, the director’s vision should appear to illustrate a principle beyond the simple summary of its parts. If a mystery […]
Rule 4. How do players learn the rules?
Sometimes there is a rule book. And sometimes there isn’t. In the latter case, the creators and the players will still need to agree upon some fundamentals. It is important that everyone first agree that they are playing a game. Sometimes, int he case of a reality based game, the rule book is part of […]
Rule 3. Devise the backstory.
Any creative property has a backstory; namely, the part that is interesting to the audience because it suggests the overarcing theme and humanity of the story. It is the history, and it also suggests that there will be a future after the entertainment is supposedly over. It enriches the story line and invites the audience […]
Rule 2. Create a plausible reality basis.
Namely, where there exists fact, there also exists “red herrings”… On television and in film, much of what we take for granted is removed for reasons of engaging the viewer’s focus, and helping to present the director’s vision in a single arc with minimal distraction. With an on-demand, or interactive basis for a web puzzle, […]
Rule 1. Observe how people play.
As we unroll new pieces, we observe how others are playing, and ask: • How did they play last week? • What are they saying? • What do they expect? • How do we best stay out of their way? • What story are we telling? • What’s the bigger, over-arcing picture…a cohesive, or underlying […]
First things first… Where's my reward?
On ALIAS, Jack Bristow is SD-6’s principal Game Theorist. He consults in the hour of need when a strategy is possibly at risk of being undermined by hasty evaluation of the odds, or when a chief decision maker is potentially likely to underestimate the movements of the players. The science of game theory is as […]