Digital-Immersive Technologies in Script Development (PhD project)

Communicating complex sustainability issues is a key challenge of our time (Moser 2016; Schrader 2022). In the context of global crises and social transformations, we need innovative narratives to effectively address a broad audience (Goodbody & Johns-Putra 2019; James 2015). This project explores how virtual production, an immersive digital technology in film production, can challenge and potentially overcome traditional processes and structures of script development (Macdonald 2013; Batty et al. 2018). The aim is to develop narrative approaches that support social change in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations 2015) and contribute to the activation of so-called "social tipping points" (Otto et al. 2020). Such narrative approaches can provide impetus to initiate sustainable patterns of thought and action in society and promote long-term change.

Research questions

1. What impact does the use of virtual production have on the creative and collaborative process during script development?
2. To what extent does virtual production change the integration and representation of complex sustainability issues compared to traditional methods?
3. How do screenwriters interact in the experimental environment created by virtual production and what narrative innovations arise as a result?

Methodology

The work is based on grounded theory (Corbin & Strauss 2015) and combines various qualitative methods. The focus is on collaborative script development, which is carried out in simulated writers' room scenarios within a virtual production environment. Virtual production is used for prototyping, in which narrative scenarios are visualised in real time. The resulting group discussions and interviews are analysed using conversation and content analysis. Finally, in order to determine the specific effect of virtual production, a comparative analysis is carried out that compares the creative process of script development with and without the use of immersive technologies.

Steps taken so far

The current work comprises a comparative analysis of films and screenplays that deal with sustainability issues. Qualitative coding methods (Creswell & Creswell 2023) are combined with theoretical approaches of screenplay analysis (Macdonald 2013). The subject of the study includes films such as Woman at War (2018), Parasite (2019), Don't Look Up (2021) and Strange World (2022), which are analysed with regard to their narrative structures and normative positioning on topics such as resource scarcity, social inequality and climate change. The aim of the work is to develop a theoretical scale that classifies films according to the extent to which they can potentially inform, educate or emotionally connect viewers to sustainability issues. The analysis should contribute to a deeper understanding of how sustainability is narratively constructed and communicated in contemporary cinema.

Aim

The project provides a methodological and theoretical contribution to the integration of sustainability issues into the screenwriting process (McGreavy & Lindenfeld 2014). Taking into account the multi-level perspective (Geels 2011), it analyses how virtual production as a niche innovation can challenge established structures in the film and screenplay industry and provide sustainable impetus for long-term socio-technical change. The results of the project should find practical application in the film industry in order to promote innovative, sustainable and socially relevant narratives (Conor 2011; Bilandzic & Kalch 2021). There are also starting points for educational institutions to train creative and sustainability-conscious skills.

Literature

Batty et al (2018). Script development as a 'wicked problem'. Journal of Screenwriting, 9(2), 153-174.

Bilandzic, H., & Kalch, A. (2021). Fictional Narratives for Environmental Sustainability Communication. In F. Weder, L. Krainer, & M. Karmasin (Eds.), The Sustainability Communication Reader (pp. 123-142). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.

Conor, B. E. (2011). Screenwriting as Creative Labour: Pedagogies, Practices and Livelihoods in the New Cultural Economy. University of London.

Corbin, J. M., & Strauss, A. L. (2015). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (Fourth edition). SAGE.

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2023). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (Sixth edition, international student edition). Sage.

Geels, F. W. (2011). The multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions: Responses to seven criticisms. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 1(1), 24-40.

Goodbody, A., & Johns-Putra, A. (Eds.). (2019). Cli-Fi: A companion. Peter Lang.

James, E. (2015). The storyworld accord: Econarratology and postcolonial narratives. University of Nebraska Press.

Kadner, N. (2019). The Virtual Production Field Guide (No. 1; The Virtual Production Field Guide, p. 98). Epic Games.

Kavakli, M., & Cremona, C. (2022). The Virtual Production Studio Concept - An Emerging Game Changer in Filmmaking. 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR), 29-37.

McGreavy, B., & Lindenfeld, L. (2014). Entertaining our way to engagement? Climate change films and sustainable development values. International Journal of Sustainable Development, 17(2), 123.

Macdonald, I. W. (2013). Screenwriting poetics and the screen idea. Palgrave Macmillan.

Moser, S. C. (2016). Reflections on climate change communication research and practice in the second decade of the 21st century: What more is there to say? WIREs Climate Change, 7(3), 345-369.

Otto, I. M. et al. (2020). Social tipping dynamics for stabilising Earth's climate by 2050. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(5), 2354-2365.

Schrader, C., Mohn, C. C., & www.klimafakten.de. (2022). Talking about climate. oekom Verlag.

United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. sdgs.un.org/2030agenda