The document summarizes and analyzes several interactive narratives: Killing Kennedy uses parallax scrolling and multimedia to tell the parallel stories of John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald. It focuses equally on both men but views Kennedy's death as a tragedy. The Carp and the Seagull is an interactive short film that tells a story through two interconnected dimensions. Users can control the timing and actions to influence the narrative. The Wilderness Downtown uses Google Maps and images to transport viewers back to their childhood neighborhood. Users can enter their address and direct animated birds to personalize the experience. Icarus retells the myth of Icarus' fall from the sun using parallax scrolling animation

1. Analysis of Interactive Narratives
Adriana Morales | Feb 14, 2014 | COMM.4780

2. Killing Kennedy (kennedyandoswald.com)
Killing Kennedy is a linear narrative that is
divided into six chapters. Each chapter equally
focuses on the lives of John F. Kennedy and
Lee Oswald. The story tends to favor Kennedy
and views his death as tragedy but humanizes
Oswald rather than vilifying him.
Parallax scrolling is a used story telling medium
to show juxtaposition. When the user scrolls
down the page is split in half. The effect is used
to show similarities, parallelism, and symmetry
in the men’s lives. For instance, both were
drafted into the military but pursued different
paths and held conflicting ideologies.
As a multimedia narrative, Killing Kennedy uses
videos, soundbites, and clips to further bring
the story to life. Viewers are able to branch
outside the main narrative by clicking on icons
that reveal more information. Throughout the
experience, music is used to enforce the
melancholic, somber mood.
Although, Killing Kennedy is a beautifully
rendered story, it forces the reader to view the
two men’s lives as two lines converging at joint,
in other words fate. Viewers should be allowed
to view each men’s lives separately rather than
as a single story.

3. Killing Kennedy (kennedyandoswald.com)
Example of parallax scrolling splitting the screen in half.

4. Killing Kennedy (kennedyandoswald.com)
Killing Kennedy allows readers to branch outside the story by viewing photos,
soundbites, and clips from events.

5. Evan Boehm, a director at Nexus Interactive Arts,
recently published an interactive short film titled
“The Carp and the Seagull.” The short film is a
user driven narrative that tells the story through
the prism of two connected dimensions. In
summary, the film is about a man’s fall from grace
after he refuses to heed a spirit’s advice. The
story takes place in two prisms: one is the natural
world and the other the spirit world.
Although Boehm controls and designs the film’s
environments and general story line, he does not
control an authoritarian space. The user controls
the events, timing, and actions of the narrative
through their computer. The actions of the user
unravel the story and affect the fate of the film’s
characters. This interactive narrative is a looking
glass that shines light on the consequences and
effects of an individual’s actions on a situation.
Boehm’s film is an original project, but it the lack
of visual cues and direction creates a confusing
experience. The project could be improved by
providing the user with tooltips that explain what
to do when they get stuck.
The Carp and the Seagull (thecarpandtheseagull.thecreatorsproject.com)

6. The Carp and the Seagull (thecarpandtheseagull.thecreatorsproject.com)
Users can rotate the horizontal axis of the film and view two different dimensions

7. The Carp and the Seagull (thecarpandtheseagull.thecreatorsproject.com)
Scene from Chapter 3, the orange colors are used to transcendence.

8. The Wilderness Downtown (thewildernessdowntown.com)
The Wilderness Downtown is an interactive film
that uses Google Maps and digital imagery to
transport the viewer back to the town where he
grew up. The film features a young child
running through the streets of the his
neighborhood trying to find his way back home
while a map of the area spins in the
background and birds fly around him. The
narrative uses the song to tell the story.
The film’s interactivity immerses the viewer in
the film by allowing him to enter the address of
the neighborhood they grew up in. By allowing
the viewer to enter his address the film
becomes personal because images of home
are shown throughout the film. Additionally,
the author uses animated birds to symbolize
both the passage of the time, childhood
freedom and paradise. The viewer can use the
mouse to direct the motion of the birds. As
well, the viewer is able to write a letter to his
younger self. This interactivity allows the viewer
to not only reconnect with his childhood but to
return to his essence, the place where he grew
up.
The narrative does not allow the viewer to
change explore their childhood him on their
own. It would be better if they could.

9. The Wilderness Downtown (thewildernessdowntown.com)
Screenshots from different parts of the film. At the end, users can write a letter.

10. Icarus (tc02.net/Icarus/index.html)
Icarus is an online comic that retells
the Greek myth of Icarus’ fall from the
sun. The comic uses parallax scrolling
to animate Icarus’ flight and fall from
grace. The comic does not faithfully
follow the original myth, but instead
tells the story of Icarus enduring a
personal war against him. Unsatisfied
with his current existence, Icarus
challenges himself to reach the sun
but pushes himself beyond his limits.
The effects from parallax scrolling
allow the viewer to visually see his
descent back to the earth.
Icarus uses visual imagery and is
limiting. The story could be improved
by incorporating sound into the
scenes where Icarus is falling that the
viewer is further immersed in the
story.