THE GRANDFATHER PARADOX an Original, Interactive-Narrative Screenplay

THE GRANDFATHER PARADOX An Original, Interactive-Narrative Screenplay

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Renée Crown University Honors Program at Syracuse University

Jennifer Skulski

Candidate for Bachelor of Science Degree and Renée Crown University Honors Spring 2020

Honors Thesis in Television, Radio & Film

Thesis Advisor: Evan Smith, Professor

Thesis Reader: Karen Hall, Assistant Director

Honors Director: Dr. Danielle Smith, Director

Abstract

The Grandfather Paradox is a multi-story, interactive screenplay. The story follows the Harrison family consisting of Lora, a single mother, her 14-year-old son Jimmy, and his Grandpa who is beginning to have some memory issues. I was inspired to write a script about memory loss from experiencing my Nana suffer from dementia for the past five years. This story takes place in a dystopian world in which everyone’s memories are connected to technological servers. In order for one to ensure they have access to their memories, they must ascribe to memory insurance companies to protect and store their memories for them. After Grandpa’s memory server becomes compromised, Jimmy puts his computer science skills to the test as an attempt to decode his Grandpa’s memory files. This script is an interactive, choose-your-own adventure piece of writing in which there are two decision points which break off to form four different and unique paths the reader can select and explore. Writing a script of this kind was a challenge to craft a cohesive puzzle, but the final product allows for the readers to enjoy discovering the correlation between choices and outcomes.

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Executive Summary

When I began to imagine what I wanted my final project here as an undergraduate student at Syracuse University to be, I knew I wanted to create something unique. This Honors

Thesis would be a representation and culmination of everything I have learned and accomplished over my past four years. While I have concentrated my studies in Newhouse to be in screenwriting, I wanted to push my creativity further with this thesis by attempting to write in a style I have never written in before. I wanted my screenplay to become more than just a piece of writing, but rather an interactive experience. I have always been fascinated by the various ways media has and will continue to evolve to become increasingly engaging. I believe interactive media is only on the rise and thus I am glad to have had this experience in crafting an interactive, choose-your-own adventure type of script.

The Grandfather Paradox is a short interactive journey with the Harrison family. Jimmy is a 14-year-old boy who loves technology and programming. He lives with his mother Lora who is a single mom attempting to keep up with Jimmy, her work schedule, as well as Grandpa who is beginning to have some memory issues. At its core, this story is an exploration of family, memory, and youth. The interactive nature of this story allows for the readers to live within

Jimmy’s world and attempt to save and preserve Grandpa’s memories at all costs. The story consists of two decision points each branching out with two different choices. Depending upon which option the reader selects, there are four unique story paths to explore. As in life, every decision one makes has a direct affect or consequence and thus the reader is held accountable for their choices in their journey to preserve Grandpa’s memories.

The story takes place in a world in which one’s memories are directly connected and stored within technological servers. In order to continue to have access to your memories, you must pay for a memory insurance provider. The more money you have, the more reliable of an insurance company you can get, thus granting you increased protection. As with most things, some insurance companies are less trustworthy than others, creating constant problems and scams for the characters within the story.

An important part of having memories stored upon servers is the aspect of being able to relive one’s own memories. With the help of Memory Machines, one can be hooked up to a bed with a headset and virtually experience their memories of the past. In their reality, their physical body lays limp on the machine but through their virtual memory servers, they can explore any memory they wish. There are however consequences to remaining on one’s server for too long, including a permanent hook-up in which one becomes indefinitely trapped in their virtual memories which will fade completely over time.

A further issue within the world of my story is the presence of Hackers. In a world that relies so heavily upon technology and using servers to store valuable data, Hackers exist who shut down people’s memory servers until they receive payment. However, not all hacking is necessarily bad as other hacking groups have been known to attempt to help those who are down on their luck and experiencing memory scams.

The Harrison family with Lora as the sole source of income is barely getting by and just trying to make ends meet. They do not have the greatest insurance provider and begin to notice Grandpa having issues with his memory. When an agent from their insurance company shows up at their door demanding payment, Grandpa’s memories are on the line. Two paths

diverge. One explores the scamming nature of corrupt memory insurance companies. The other explores the side of hacking.

The main goal of reading this story is to attempt to preserve Grandpa’s failing memories through the character Jimmy. This is a relatable experience near to my heart as my Nana currently suffers from dementia and I’ve had to watch as her memories have faded over the past few years. I’m sure many of those who may read this story share in the experience of watching and caring for a loved one going through Alzheimer’s, Dementia, or any other type of memory issue. This story explores these experiences in a unique and alternate world in which memories act as files within a server instead of electrical and chemical signals within one’s brain. My hope is that the various paths of this story will allow readers to contemplate the power and importance of family and memory.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my amazing Thesis Advisor, Professor Evan Smith for assisting me, challenging me, and encouraging me all throughout this process. Thank you for agreeing to be my Thesis Advisor three semesters ago and working with me ever since. Thank you for always being as honest as possible in telling me when ideas and story points were not working and needed to be changed or strengthened. Thank you for dealing with all my emails and reading all my outlines and beat sheets prior to even seeing a draft. Thank you for working with me even when I was away from campus in the SULA program last semester, and still being willing to discuss my project’s progress over the phone. Thank you for all of your ideas and advice along the way on how to structure and think about a project with multiple story branches to it. This project would not be what it is today without your help and guidance.

I would like to thank the Honors department for guiding and assisting me throughout my time at Syracuse University. Specifically, I’d like to thank Karen Hall and Kate Hanson for their help as they were always available to answer all my questions along the way. Thank you for challenging me and setting up a realistic timeline to help seniors like me stay on track for completing their projects. Thank you for all your email reminders and various check-in points along the way in which material had to be submitted in order to ensure progress was being made. The Honors Program made the daunting task of completing a thesis project more manageable so thank you for all your work and support throughout this endeavor.

I also would like to thank my boyfriend, Luke Krentz for helping me create the website which hosts my script. This interactive site makes the story more accessible and easier to read than having readers manually flip through pages in order to follow along. With this website, users simply click on the option they wish to experience at the decision points and then the website links them to the next corresponding page. Thank you so much Luke for lending your computer science skills to my project to create an engaging and interactive website for my script.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………. iii Executive Summary ……………………………………………………………………. iv Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………. vii

Introduction ………….……………………………………………………………………. 1

Influences ……………………………………………………………………………….. 3 My Nana ……………………………………………………………………. 3 Bandersnatch ……………………………………………………………………. 4 The Grandfather Paradox ……………………………………………. . 5 “Kick the Can” ……………………………………………………………………. 6

World Building ..….……………………………………………………………………. 7 The World ……………………………………………………………………. 7 The Story ……………………………………………………………………. 8 Answered Questions ………………………………………………………… 9 Terms ……………………………………………………………………………….. 11

Outline of Story Paths …………………………………………………………………. 13

My Experience with Interactive Storytelling …………………………………. 17

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LOGLINE:

In a world where one’s memories are stored within technological servers, a young boy seeks to preserve his Grandfather’s failing mind by any means necessary.

INTRODUCTION

My objective was to write a script for a choose-your-own-adventure sci-fi short film. The premise of the story follows Jimmy (14), a young boy obsessed with technology and his close companion, his Grandfather. As his Grandpa develops the universe’s form of Alzheimer’s, it’s quite literally a race against the clock for him and Jimmy to make lasting memories while preserving his Grandfather’s existing ones. Ultimately, Jimmy must navigate the world’s technological memory system in order to explore his Grandfather’s past and ensure his memories are preserved and accessible to him in the present.

The choose-your-own-adventure design presents itself throughout the story by posing actions that Jimmy can do which will directly affect him and his Grandfather’s future. The selected actions in turn affect his Grandfather’s memory condition.

The story involves, references, and demonstrates what is known as the “Grandfather

Paradox,” a paradox expressing the inconsistencies of “time travel” as changing the past could affect one’s ability to time travel in the first place. The aspect of time travel introduced in my version of this story is through the idea of reliving the past through accessing one’s memory server. While one cannot directly change their past, the access to relive one’s past relies heavily upon the insurance server to which they subscribe. The Paradox of the story exists in the issue of choosing to preserve Grandpa’s past or risk losing Grandpa’s memories.

My idea to make this script an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure short film stems from the idea that, every action or decision one makes drastically effects the outcome of their future and the future of others. This script is a way to actively engage the reader and audience by giving them decisions to explore how their chosen actions will ultimately affect their story experience by having alternate timelines written to correspond with various decisions.

In regard to the entertainment industry, streaming services have been on the rise and many people are now consuming media through the internet. I believe the concept of creating more choose-your-own-adventure type of stories is one that can be taken to new and interesting levels in the future. This method of storytelling has so much potential to create more interactive media. In the most recent and currently best example of interactive storytelling, Netflix released Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch in December of 2018 to much acclaim and intrigue. With the recent release of Bandersnatch, there is definitely potential to tap into this innovative and progressive method of delivering stories and entertainment. This is why I personally wanted to create this type of story as I was eager to try out this new and timely form of storytelling for myself.

In order for this script and the selected decisions to read effectively and easily, I also created an interactive website with the help of my computer programming friend, Luke Krentz.

This site links the reader to the corresponding pages that continue their story depending upon their choices. The interactive text can be accessed at: https://lekrensta.github.io/The-

Grandfather-Paradox.

INFLUENCES

My Nana, Mary Jasensky

My Nana was a major influence for writing a story like this because I’ve watched how dementia has affected her over the last five years. Following the death of my Grandfather, my

Nana needed extra care and attention as her mind was starting to falter. Without my

Grandfather around to care for her, my family made the very difficult decision to move her into an assisted living center that would be able to provide her the extra level of attention she required. This decision was very difficult for my family and took much convincing to get my

Nana willing enough to leave her home behind and move into a nursing home.

It’s been difficult to watch my Nana struggle throughout her diagnosis with dementia.

Just last year my family had to transfer her to the memory care center of the nursing home where she would receive additional services as simple tasks such as getting dressed and going to the bathroom became too difficult for her to accomplish on her own. She’s more subdued in her new state of mind without much knowledge about what is happening around her. Days are just days to her. We always visit her and take her to our family gatherings for holidays and birthdays, but in her reality, she does not process what day it is or why we’re celebrating. This is a hard thing to watch a loved one go through as we all know it will only get worse over time.

However, when we do visit her and her daughters discuss events of the past and fond memories growing up, it is evident that my Nana does remember some of those fond memories. She’ll even share a bit of the story on what might have happened that given day.

While she does not talk all too much, it is small sentiments like this that are rather heartwarming to hear as she briefly reminisces.

Through crafting my story, I wanted to capture the idea of re-living the past and reflecting on the fond memories that still are a solid foundation within one’s mind who is suffering from memory related illnesses. I wanted to express the importance of a family trying their best to take care of their elderly family member in every way possible by being patient and still including them in their daily lives.

Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch

In December of 2018, Netflix released the interactive Black Mirror story, Bandersnatch. I was very excited to experience this concept come to life as I have thought about creating an interactive movie with various storylines and decision points for quite a while now and was interested to see if the idea would ever come to fruition. With the release of Bandersnatch, the chose-your-own-adventure type of film finally became accessible to a large audience through

Netflix. I found this film to be incredibly engaging in its storyline about a character struggling with his mental health while also attempting to live out his dream of making video games. The film effectively guided the user through the interactive experience in the first few minutes of the film by having the user decide between miniscule options such as cereal flavors and music choices. These decision points were relatively insignificant to the storyline as a whole but acted as a way to introduce the user to the interface of selecting between two options which would change the film’s given path.

I was quite impressed with how Bandersnatch presented its materials and the overall interactive experience. I enjoyed selecting the options I was most interested in viewing and then going back to explore all the various paths I had yet encountered. I believe this is the

5 ultimate attraction to interactive material- the ability to experience the story multiple times in multiple ways. The opportunity to explore the world and the storyline more than once through different paths is a very enticing aspect for a creative mind, such as myself.

After watching and exploring the various decision points of Bandersnatch, I was further inspired to try my hand at crafting an interactive story. From understanding how this Netflix show took on the challenge, I began brainstorming how I could realistically complete an outline for a multi-branch storyline as well. From here, my idea took flight which eventually evolved into my completed thesis, The Grandfather Paradox.

The Grandfather Paradox

Putting my thesis title aside, the Grandfather Paradox is essentially a thought experiment when it comes to thinking about the logistics of time travel. This paradox introduces the mind boggling nature of time traveling through having one consider if time travel was possible and one went back in time and killed their Grandfather, then that person’s time travel would not be possible in the future because they wouldn’t exist in order to travel through time to begin with. In the early stages of storyboarding, I wanted my script to involve traveling through time where the paths would represent Jimmy’s alternative timelines. I eventually came to think about the project as having Jimmy travel through memories instead.

The paradox represented throughout my story delves into the idea of how strongly lived memories make up a given person. If one loses access to their memories, do they lose the essence of who they are as a person? This is obviously a difficult question to contemplate as millions of people every day around the world watch as their loved ones go through memory

6 related issues whether due to brain injuries or diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia. Through my script, readers can explore the challenges of stored memories as they follow the Harrison family’s journey through preserving Grandpa’s past.

The Twilight Zone (S03E21) “Kick the Can”

The Twilight Zone was always a popular show to depict unexpected worlds in a scientific or fantastic way in order to produce intriguing and thought-provoking outcomes. Early on in my process of creating this project, my Thesis Advisor recommended I watch an episode called

“Kick the Can.” This episode involved an elderly man, Charles attempting to convince the rest of his friends at his retirement home that the secret of youth lies in continuing to act young. While some think he has gone mad, others end up joining in on Charles’ fun one night. The residents who join Charles in playing the game “Kick the Can” late at night are depicted to be children once again. The residents who missed their chance at youth, beg to join the game, but are ultimately too late.

This episode conveys the essence of being young at heart and the attempt of the elderly to capture and hold onto their youthfulness. This is an important and powerful theme I wished to also convey within my script, The Grandfather Paradox. Depicting an admiration for one’s childhood and a desire to relive one’s youth can be a tricky aspect to effectively encapsulate. I used this episode for inspiration on how to depict such as thing. In my story, I used the idea of a virtual memory system as a way to depict a yearning for the past as characters use technology to relive and experience their youthful memories in the present.

WORLD BUILDING

THE WORLD:

This fictional futuristic dystopian universe involves a place in which the existence of an individual’s memories depends upon the technological insurance server to which they are uploaded and protected. One’s level of income drastically effects one’s level of coverage in protecting their memories. Those with lesser insurance servers often experience memory failure caused by server crashes, viruses, and being more susceptible to Hackers. Thus, the world offers an interesting level of hierarchy based upon the extent of protection one has over their memories as the wealthy have greater control over protecting their past.

A continuous issue within this world involves people’s greed to manipulate the memory servers in an individual’s favor. Hackers exist everywhere, paid illegally to access an individual’s memory files stored in their server and encrypt these files. The effects of these hack attempts can range from a successful encryption, causing immediate memory loss to a gradual deletion of one’s memories.

The reliving of one’s memories typically occurs when one visits their memory insurance company or another facility where they can be hooked up to Memory Machines. While connected to these machines, one can select the exact timeframe of their past they wish to relive and experience it again in an alternative “server” world. Their body in the physical world remains in a resting position while the connection occurs, leaving them vulnerable in reality.

While taking this actual trip down Memory Lane can be an enjoyable experience, there are consequences to staying connected to the server for too long and such a mistake can even

8 cause a person to be permanently trapped in the server world until all their memories fade to nothing.

THE STORY:

The story follows Jimmy Harrison (14) and his Grandfather on a journey through this fictional world by bringing these characters into risky situations when it comes to hacking into memory files. Jimmy has a very close relationship to his Grandfather and becomes quite upset as he watches his Grandfather’s mind deteriorate as his memory files start becoming obsolete.

When the insurance company representative comes to declare Grandpa’s memory server payment as late, the Harrison family, struggling financially to make ends meet, must decide how to act. The ensuing alternative storylines deal with Grandpa’s failing memory and the challenge of preserving his current mind and restoring the memories he lost along the way.

Jimmy is determined to go to great lengths to do what he can for his Grandfather in order to preserve his current memories before those files become unstable or obsolete. Nothing is out of the question when it comes to helping his Grandfather, including hacking.

Without having much money to offer his Grandfather, Jimmy knows seeking out a certified hacker is out of the question. The young boy believes he has what it takes to hack the system on his own in order to restore his Grandfather to a more youthful state of mind by stabilizing his memory files.

The story has four different paths leading to three alternative endings. Each story plays out as to be around a 30-minute short film. The first outcome of the story includes Grandpa’s memories being restored, allowing him to go into the server world and relive his favorite events

9 from his past. The second outcome involves Grandpa purposefully staying on the server too long, causing him to become permanently hooked up to the server world as he decides to leave the physical world and Jimmy behind forever. Finally, the last option involves the complete loss of Grandpa’s memories from the past two decades as he becomes unable to recognize his own grandson, Jimmy.

ANSWERED QUESTIONS/ LOGISTICS OF STORY:

Why? Why were the memory servers created?

The memory servers were created as a part of a new technological industry that would play

upon people’s desire to relive their past and capture their youth. There are many layers to

this industry as financial status equates to better insurance for protecting one’s memories.

Different memory storing businesses have different levels of service. If one’s memory

insurance company goes out of business, they are at risk of losing their stored memories

completely.

How do the memory servers work?

At birth, a chip is injected into one’s head and their memories automatically begin getting

stored to a server of the parent’s choice. The memoires are constantly fed to the server as if

connected through Bluetooth-type measures. If memory problems occur, one can connect

to a Memory Machine to properly sync one’s memories once again.

How are people hooked up to the memory servers?

People can get hooked up to their memory servers to relive their memories by visiting

physical locations with numerous cubicles that have Memory Machines. They lay down, put

the headset on, and comfortably relive their past in a regulated environment. Those with

excess money, can purchase their own headsets that allow them to relive their memories

from the comfort of their own homes as well.

How long can the memory hook-up be?

The hook-ups to the Memory Machines can last as long as twenty minutes. Anything

longer than that has been deemed dangerous to one’s health by the server companies.

If one is connected for extended periods of time, they are at risk of a permanent hook-

up. When one accesses their memories, they set specific timers in the physical world in

order to alert them out of the server and back to reality.

How does everything work and look physically? What is the difference between Jimmy on the server and physical Jimmy in the real-world?

When someone accesses their memories, they are physically lying down while hooked up to

the Memory Machines in the real-world but mentally are reliving the past. Their physical

body is incapacitated until they exit their server, thus leaving themselves vulnerable in the

real-world.

What is the role of the Hackers?

Hackers are people who illegally use remote technology to access memory servers

either for personal reasons such as preserving their own memories or for cynical

reasons such as using one’s memories against them for blackmail. Once a Hacker has

access to one’s memories they can encrypt or even delete that person’s files for their

personal or financial gain. Certain memory insurance providers are better than others

at protecting against Hack Attacks.

TERMS:

Permanent Hook-up:

A Permanent Hook-up is when one stays in the system reliving their memories for too long and cannot be pulled back into reality. A warning signal will ding in the memory world while timers are set in the physical world. If one is not pulled back into reality in time, they become trapped within the server. While trapped, they do have access to the entire system and can explore through the memory server as they please. However, they cannot return to reality as their physical body is left in a coma. Furthermore, as a consequence within the server world, they will begin losing touch of reality since they’ll have no new incoming memories and over time their memories within the server will completely fade. Thus, while a permanent hook-up may seem desirable, the enjoyment of one’s past memories can only be experienced vividly for a short amount of time.

Ransomware:

Ransomware is a type of malware in which the attacker is able to install malicious software that blocks access to a user’s computer or files. These files are typically blocked with an encryption and the attacker demands money or ransom of some kind in order to decrypt the files as a type of malicious black mail. In the terms of this story, ransomware attacks are performed by Hackers who encrypt people’s memory files, causing the victim to have no recollection of certain events unless they pay a certain price to have the attack decrypted and reversed. Individuals who are overdue on their payments to their memory insurance companies may not be fully protected against such malicious attacks and are thus are more susceptible to hackings.

OUTLINE OF STORY PATHS

MULTI-STORYLINE OUTLINE: • There are two decision points where the viewer will select between two options • These decisions will ultimately lead to one of three different story outcomes • Altogether, there are four different story combinations (ACF, ADG, BDG, and BEH)

Starting Point (Beats 1, 2, & 3) Decision 1: A or B? A (Beats 4 & 5) B (Beats 4 & 5) Decision 2.1: C or D? Decision 2.2: D or E? C (Beats 6, 7, & 8) D (Beats 6, 7, & 8) E (Beats 6, 7, & 8) Outcome F (Beat 9) Outcome G (Beat 9) Outcome H (Beat 9)

BEAT SHEET & PAGE NUMBERS:

Starting Point/ Introduction (Pg. 1-5)

1.) A representative from Lockdown Insurance comes to the Harrison family’s door with a notice demanding payment for Grandpa’s memory server, causing Lora Harrison, the mother, much morning stress.

2.) Meanwhile, Grandpa forgets to use a tray while cooking breakfast causing bacon grease to catch on fire in the oven, leading Lora to rush into the kitchen while dealing with the Insurance Agent.

3.) Jimmy observes the situation from the kitchen and runs upstairs to break his electronic piggy bank.

Decision 1: A or B? Server or Breakfast? (Pg. 6)

Should Jimmy use his money to help pay for Grandpa’s Server (A) or does he use it to take Grandpa out for breakfast? (B)

A (Paying for Server) B (Paying for Breakfast) (Pg. 7-16) (Pg. 18-30) 4B.) Jimmy helps treat his Grandpa to 4A.) Jimmy helps pay for Grandpa’s breakfast at their local diner where the news monthly server insurance fee, and the plays stories involving recent Hacking scams collector happily accepts the payment and and tips on how to prevent them from leaves. happening.

5A.) The following day the Harrisons make a 5B.) Without Jimmy’s money helping pay trip to Lockdown Insurance, but are shocked for the server on time, Grandpa’s server to find the building abandoned with becomes susceptible to Hackers and gets bankruptcy notices posted on the outside, as threatened with Ransomware. Jimmy’s payment becomes victim of a last- minute bankruptcy scam. Decision 2.1: C or D? Discuss or Hack? Decision 2.2: D or E? Hack or Negotiate? (Pg. 17) (Pg. 31)

Should Jimmy discuss his hacking plan with Should Jimmy hack into Grandpa’s server his mom (C) or should he decide to hack into manually to attempt to save his memories Grandpa’s server manually to attempt to (D) or should he attempt to negotiate with save his memories without telling her? (D) the Hacker behind the Ransomware? (E)

C (Discuss with Mom) D (Hack Manually) E (Negotiate with Hacker) (Pg. 32-40) 2.1 Intro: (Pg. 46-48) (Pg. 59-66) 2.2 Intro: (Pg. 49) 6C.) Jimmy discusses 6E.) Jimmy answers to the Option D: (Pg. 50-55) potential hacking options Ransomware message in an with his Mom who shuts him 6D.) Jimmy takes Grandpa to attempt to negotiate with down as she holds pamphlets his middle school to hook-up the Hacker. for Nursing Homes in her both of them to Memory hands. Machines in order to 7E.) The Hacker requests an manually overwrite excessive amount of money 7C.) Lora sends Grandpa to Grandpa’s corrupt memory to decrypt Grandpa’s the only Nursing Home they files. memory files, which Jimmy is can afford, and upon his unable to come up with. arrival Grandpa puts up a fight about being there.

8C.) Jimmy visits Grandpa 7D.) While in Grandpa’s 8E.) Jimmy leaves the files during Bingo time where server, Jimmy realizes encrypted on Grandpa’s Grandpa is vocal about not Grandpa’s memory files are server but begins studying enjoying himself, so Jimmy encrypted and they must decryption to learn more helps him relax by hooking figure out a cypher using his about Grandpa’s corrupted him up to some of his coded files. files. memories. 8D.) Jimmy pulls off the decryption and exits Grandpa’s server just as time runs out, restoring Grandpa’s memories.

Outcome F Outcome G Outcome H (Pg. 41-45) (Pg. 56-58) (Pg. 67-69)

9F.) Grandpa turns off the 9G.) Grandpa’s memory files 9H.) Grandpa’s most recent timer Jimmy set for him on are preserved and Jimmy memory files are lost due to the Memory Machine to holds his hand in the physical the ransomware as Jimmy purposefully have a world as Grandpa enters his fails his mission, making his Permanent Hook-up in order memory server once more to Grandfather unable to to escape the Nursing Home relive the day Lora was born. recognize him. and spend time with his late wife within his memories, despite the consequences.

Four Possible Story Paths:

A – C – F (31-Page Story) B – D – G (30-Page Story) A – D – G (29-Page Story) B – E – H (31-Page Story)

My Experience with Interactive Storytelling

While I have spoken at lengths about my inspiration for crafting the story as well as explaining my outlining process for the world I have created, I will now discuss the challenges and overall experience I have had with creating my first interactive screenplay. Overall, I am glad I challenged myself with this project and had the chance of creating a multi-path storyline.

As for my experience, once I began drafting the introductory pages of the script, I came across an issue involving perspective. As I am familiar with writing linear stories with an omniscient narrator, I realized early on I was falling into such habits. When I came to the first decision point, the question is aimed at what Jimmy should do. The whole point of my screenplay was to follow Jimmy as an extension of the reader since he would be the character that completes an action at these decision points. When I initially came to this first decision, I realized I wrote the beginning pages mainly through the perspective of the mother, Lora, and her stressful morning. Asking on the subsequent page what Jimmy should do seemed irrelevant or confusing to the storyline’s progression.

After this initial realization, I rewrote much of the beginning pages in order to focus on telling the story through the eyes of Jimmy’s character. With this perspective change, the reader can naturally envision themselves as Jimmy, thus making the decision points more relevant and engaging. In continuing my writing of an interactive story, I began to think of it more and more as a video game of sorts. After all, video games are interactive media which typically follow a hero avatar with an objective as the player controls its actions. In my story,

Jimmy represents the hero whose objective is to save his Grandpa’s memories. The outcome of this story or “game” is ultimately in the hands of the reader or “player.”

While continuing my draft with the structure of video games and Jimmy’s perspective in mind, I ran into more challenges when two paths intersected. In order to control the complexity and number of diverging paths I was creating, I developed a branching system in which branch

A and branch B both had the opportunity to lead to the same path which became branch D.

Once I began writing branch D, I realized that the first scenes had to initially be unique according to the path the reader just came from before. The main portion of branch D could only begin once Jimmy and Grandpa were in the same location with the same tools and information in both scenarios. Thus, I had to create “Option D From Decision 2.1” and “Option

D From Decision 2.2” in order to act as prologues to the real Option D.

The creative process of outlining and writing this multi-path script had its challenges but was also very rewarding once pieces of the story began clicking together to become what it is today. I am proud of how it has evolved over the three semesters I have worked on it. It has gone through many different stages over this time. I initially thought of this project as a comedy in which Jimmy would explore alternate realities with his Grandfather, but over time my ideas became more fixated in science fiction and drama over comedy. I mainly write comedic stories as I love comedy sketches and sitcoms, so writing a more serious story which depended upon emotion and memories was an added challenge. I’m glad to have gone through the process of crafting this complex story and trying to fit the puzzle pieces of the various branches together to form one cohesive storyline. The outlining process was the step which took the greatest amount of time but was without a doubt the most important. After having gone through the extensive thought-process of how to create multiple paths, decision points, and outcomes from one story, I am excited to experiment with writing more interactive screenplays in the future.