Screen writing Research Network Conference 2024
“Conversation Beyond Script”
September 11-14, 2024
Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Alex Munt, Kath Dooley
‘Scripting’ Virtual reality: Expanding writing practices to account for the centrality of the VR user.
The University of South Australia, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
This presentation builds upon two core concepts derived from recent research in screenwriting: ‘scripting,’ (understood here as an expanded notion of screen ‘writing’) and improvisation. In the context of this presentation, these terms are broadened to encompass the spatialized storytelling of Virtual Reality (VR), incorporating processes associated with game design and user experience design.
Maras’ exploration of ‘scripting’ practices goes beyond the confines of the page-bound manuscript, presenting a more dynamic conceptual framework for the creative screenwriting process (2009). This framework has been further developed, considering visual aids, sketches, models (Munt 2012), and ‘underwriting’ (Dooley 2017), which incorporates multimodal forms of writer-generated material in the creative development of screen ideas. Regarding improvisation, filmmaker and theorist Millard conceptualizes screenwriting as a practice akin to composing for the screen through processes of ‘organizational improvisation,’ drawing inspiration from jazz music and photography (2014, 182). Millard’s ‘Manifesto for Sustainable Screenwriting’ has provided inspiration for low-budget and practice-based research in production realms.
The principles articulated by Maras, Millard, and others are further explored and extended in imaginative ways in this presentation with reference to emerging models of story design, prototyping practices, and other approaches adopted by VR writers. The presenters cite case studies as evidence of a reconsideration of conceptualization and development processes, acknowledging the unique sense of presence and embodiment that VR engenders. This expansion pushes the boundaries of scripting practices into the immersive realm, where scripting has undergone spatialization. It provides a future-focused approach to screenwriting today, in the realm of VR, in what is a rapidly changing technological and cultural landscape.
Associate Professor Alex Munt is a screenwriter and director. He is based in the School of Communication, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. His films have screened at the Sydney Film Festival, SXSW and been distributed worldwide. His research interests include independent film, artists’ moving image, VR and spatialised media.
Associate Professor Kath Dooley is a practitioner/academic based at the University of South Australia. Her work as writer/director has screened the Busan International Short Film Festival and FIVARS, Toronto. She is author of Cinematic Virtual Reality- A Critical Study of 21st Century Approaches and Practices (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). Her research interests include screen production methodology for traditional and immersive media, screenwriting, women’s screen practice, and diversity in the screen industries.