Sandra Rodriguez, PhD (Eyesteel Films, MIT Open Doc Lab)

Compelling Immersive Storytelling & Human Centered Design

MIT Student Center, Room 491

The essence of every experience, in particular in immersive and interactive productions, lies in the ability to peak curiosity, inspire, invite play and yes, tell a story. VR and AR projects have opened up new realms of possibilities in terms of interactive narration. But what makes a VR experience “good”? What makes it stand out? What attracts users (and sponsors)? What are fundamental perceptual mechanics (visual, acoustic, haptic) that ensure a comfortable immersion? And how to ensure a compelling experience?

As VR and AR technologies get pushed to their limits, technical creativity and imagination must work closer than ever to concoct inventive and surprising experiences.

This workshop explores the aesthetics and narrative opportunities of immersive and interactive storytelling. It offers participants a step-by-step exploration of some the fundamentals of immersive/interactive production: Establishing immersive visual languages and grammars; Time, space and transitions; Human-centered design; Storyboarding, scripting, and ingenious UX design; Sound, Movement, as well as new forms of pace and gesture-based storytelling techniques.

Taking inspiration from VR games, journalism, from theatre, magic and the circus, this workshop is opened to unconventional and interdisciplinary thinkers. Participants working on creating a first VR or AR app are invited to test and push their approaches to immersive storytelling.

Marta Ordeiga

Garage Stories: Innovation <> Storytelling Workshop

Hands-on experience workshop that will help you incorporate effective storytelling into your project, either it is a film, a game or even an app; to make sure that you are  not only creating “fun experiments” but compelling and engaging experiences for your “visitors”.

 

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Sandra Rodriguez
Sandra Rodriguez

Sandra Rodriguez PhD, is a creative director as well as a sociologist of new media technology. As a filmmaker, she has directed, written and produced award winning documentary films (long and shorts), broadcasted and exhibited internationally, before pushing creation into the interactive realm. In 2015, she was author and director (episode 05) of the acclaimed interactive webseries Do Not Track, a personalized exploration of data in the new web economy (Brett Gaylor, Upian, ARTE, NFB, BR – Peabody 2016). Today, she heads the Creative Reality Lab at EyeSteelFilm, an Emmy awarded company based in Montreal, where she explores the future of immersive and interactive documentary (VR, webdocs, installations). She has acted as comlumnist, public speaker and consultant on UX design, VR production and interactive media. A Visiting Scholar and a Lecturer at the MIT Open Doc Lab, she also teaches MIT’s first course in Virtual Reality and Immersive Media Production (in partnership with Oculus NextGen – www.hackingvr.mit.edu). She has written a book, articles and papers on new media, impact and networked cultures, and remains fascinated by the platforms tools through which we share our stories.

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Merta Ordeig
Merta Ordeig

Marta is the founder of Garage Stories, where content creators explore endless VR|AR storytelling possibilities. She runs FilmPitch, a film incubator that helps filmmakers design Transmedia Strategies and get funding for their projects, and mentors at Imagine Creativity Center, a program that generates disruptive ideas to solve global challenges.