I don't really understand why I am detailing my meanderings with my theory, so the direction has been a bit chaotic. In an attempt to put words to paper, I am starting with a performative breakdown of the elements and trying to transform it into a detail of how the theory worked in practice.
The Form through the
Formula
The technical, visual
aesthetic, and formal linguistic (semantic/lexical/phonemic) decisions were
informed by the performative function of each element and a counterpoint
between the circular form of the goose's (heroe's) journey, interactive
paradigm, suggestion of indexicality, character arc, and the indexical
allusions of the aesthetic.
The interface changes from a book to an interactive animation at a moment
in the story when the protagonist is out of his element. This is done in order
to generate a disorientation for the audience and identification with the
protagonist through a common experience. In order to be effective, the audience
has to expect the interface to behave like a book. For this reason, several of
the aesthetic decisions in the beginning of the story and the end are made in
an attempt to evoke the presence of a book (my ideas of evoking presence are
based on the “aura” described by Walter Benjamin in “The Work of Art in the Age
of Mechanical Reproduction”, but I do not think the actual artifact needs to be
there to generate a similar sensation).
Examples of illusory imagery
to imply indexicality are in the “book opening” animation, the “vine text”
animation, and the sound of a page turning that accompanies the transitions
between the scenes when the goose is in the human world. The performative
function of the opening imagery, interaction,
and animations associated with the experience of reading a book (i.e. paper texture, shading, and
sound of paper) is to mislead the audience to anticipate the experience to be similar
to reading a story from a book and the dramatic effect when the expectation is
broken.
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Locution
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imagery, interaction,
and animations associated with the experience of reading a book (i.e. foliage, shadow, imagery/sound
of paper)
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Illocution
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suggest that the audience is holding a book
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Perlocution
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suspension of the awareness of
the digital medium
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Primitive
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sound, interaction, and imagery with
shading and dimensionality consistent with an object in the viewer’s space
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Constative
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this is an animation of a book
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Explicit Performative Function
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mislead the audience (i. e.
build an expectation that the experience will be like a book in order to
break the expectation for dramatic effect)
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Cited:
Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction.” Film Theory and Criticism:
Introductory Readings, edited by Braudy, Leo and Cohen, Marshall, New York:
Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
