Hi my name is Alex. I do study in the Master's program at the HTW Berlin, University of Applied Sciences. This semester I take the course called »Didaktics of Media« - yes with a _k_ as its idea is based on the German way of didactics.

In a learning diary I'll try to brainstorm, take notes and do a lot of reflection. Feel free to join the conversation and comment on the posts I create. I'll write at least once a week. For all other notes I'll use the great Evernote.

First, I'll introduce the subject I want to deal with in the next four months. Let's start with the real content!

My subject

Beside the general topic, i.e. Didaktics and Media, I want to deal with two more subjects whereas I focus them alternately. These are:

• Film / Video 2.0, incl. (Transmedia) Storytelling
• Typography (side topic)

The idea is to practically apply the methods and techniques I learnt when dealing with media didaktics in general. This why I hope it becomes more hands-on.

Film / Video 2.0 & Transmedia Storytelling

On Monday evening (10.10.2011, 8pm) I had the pleasure to have an online session with Christian Henner-Fehr (@kulturmanager) using Adobe Connect. The session is part of the @evideohtw course I'm taking being called »Film/Video 2.0« - curated by @acwagner. It was closed (non-public) session, so here's a summary of it.

Summary of the online session

A story

He started explaining what a story (German: Geschichte) is in general. Acccording to Artistotle a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. It follows certain rules.

According to Henner-Fehr, it's not something trivial you do in a daily routine. Good examples are the Greek mythology and the narration pattern »heroe's journey« (German: Heldenreise).

Heroe's journey

It comprises of:

1. The Call to Adventure (German: Ruf des Abenteuers)
2. Departure into the Unknown (German: Aufbruch ins Unbekannte)
3. The Road of Trials (German: Weg der Prüfungen)
4. The Treasure (German: Der Schatz)
5. The Return (German: Die Rückkehr)

The steps can be divided furthermore. But this is ok to get a general overview. So, we know what a story is! But what is storytelling then?

Storytelling

Storytelling is not the same as a story, because:

• storytelling conveys knowledge,
• and pursues a certain target.

The old-fashioned storytelling sticks to one medium. That's ok. But when we deal with transmedia storytelling diverse media merge and "crash" with each other.

Well, that's storytelling. Something, i.e. a story, which follows a quite linear script and finalizes at the point the creator wants it to do so.

Storybuilding

In contrast to telling a story there's also the term »Storybuilding« which describes the action of creating a story while doing. It doesn't have a determined ending. Instead the story's contributors build it like a building would've been built - step by step not sure where it might end (in contrast to a real world building, of course!).

Intertextuality

Henner-Fehr also mentioned the term »Intertextuality«. I can't quite remember what that was all about. But it has to with the fact that single text is always in (inter)connection with other parts of text - no matter if they're written in the same document or elsewhere. Correct me if I'm wrong!

My expectations

I expect to learn about efficient learning and dealing with unknown topics. I wanna know how I become an expert, a.k.a. a person who can talk about a subject confidently in class or in the "real world" (in front of clients, business partners or at conferences).

My learning goals

After those four months I want to be capable of talking about modern ways of (transmedia) storytelling in the Film & Video 2.0 context. I especially want to use the knowledge for my Master Thesis which I'm going to write in about one year.

Time spent:

• 4h, incl. 1h online session,
• and 1h assembling and translating all the notes into this blog post.

Updates:

[added slides of Christian Henner-Fehr about Transmedia Storytelling, 11:30]