“How The BizNest Paves the Way for Immersive Narrative” by Weston
Conference:
Type:
Entry Number: 68
Title:
- How The BizNest Paves the Way for Immersive Narrative
Presenter(s)/Author(s):
Abstract:
This case study will show how the world’s first 360VR sitcom, The BizNest, paves the way not just for immersive comedy, but for immersive storytelling generally. It will provide guidance for how to think about telling stories in XR (extended reality), techniques for how to bring immersive stories to life, and new conventions that creatives working in immersive disciplines can apply to their work. Eve Weston (writer/director) will walk the audience through the various processes used and will provide illustrative examples from The BizNest, which is the subject of a devoted chapter in Handbook of Research on the Global Impacts and Roles of Immersive Media [Weston 2020] and won the DreamlandXR Best Project for Television award at CES 2020. The BizNest, an immersive workplace comedy, has developed a new approach for telling stories in a 360- degree environment, one that is poised to have as much effect on storytelling in immersive media as the invention of multi-cam did on storytelling for TV.
References:
Peter Adams. 2016. Report: VR delivers big on engagement, emotional response. Retrieved from https://www.marketingdive.com/news/report-vr-delivers-big-on- engagement-emotional-response/430113/
Jeremy Bailenson. 2018. Experience on demand: what virtual reality is, how it works, and what it can do. W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY. William F. Fry. 1994. The biology of humor. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 7 (2), 111–126.
Michael Moskowitz. 2020. Is the content you are watching ‘digitally nutritious’ for your brain? Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/90505301/is-the-content- your-watching-digitally-nutritious-for-your-brain
Julia Troche and Eve Weston. Forthcoming. Virtual Reality Storytelling: Pedagogy and Applications. In Proceedings of the Ancient Egypt – New Technology Conference, edited by Rita Lucarelli, Josh Roberson, and Steve Vinson. Brill: Harvard
Egyptological Series. Jaak Panksepp. 1993. Neurochemical control of moods and emotions: Amino acids to neuropeptides.In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 87–107). New York: Guilford.
Eve Weston. 2020. Case Study of ‘The BizNest’: The World’s First Immersive Sitcom. In Handbook of Research on the Global Impacts and Roles of Immersive Media, edited by Jacki Morie and Kate McCallum. IGI, Hershey, PA, 176-199.
Eve Weston. 2020. POV in XR: How We Experience, Discuss, and Create the Virtual World. In Handbook of Research on the Global Impacts and Roles of Immersive Media, edited by Jacki Morie and Kate McCallum. IGI, Hershey, PA, 264-283.
Keyword(s):
- Choose Your Own Attention
- Simul-Story
- Path-Mapping
- Three Foot Rule
- storytelling
- Immersive
- narrative
- Drama
- Comedy
Acknowledgements:
This work benefited from the generosity of the Phase Two coworking space in Culver City, California (www.phasetwospace.com), with special thanks to Peter Pastewka, Dan Pastewka, and Lilly Nguyen. The BizNest includes music provided by Joseph Miller and ALIBI Music Library. The theme song is composed by Bryan Blaskie. The show would not have been possible without the talents of the cast and crew: Rachel Shanblatt, Anna Dufault Miller, Lloyd Ahlquist, Ellie Araiza, Gillian Bellinger, Amy Bury, Tommy Dickie, Becky Flaum, Joey Greer, Landon Kirksey, Chad Reinhart, Atul Singh, Ravi “Andrew” Ghai, Cori Snelson, Benny Spiewak, Nadeya Ward, Sabrina Hyman, Jeffrey Blatt, Elaine Chu, Igor Kogan, Isabelle von Lockner and Susan Weston.
