Experiential Storytelling
In an 1896 essay, architect Louis Sullivan wrote, “Whether it be the sweeping eagle in his flight, or the open apple-blossom, the toiling work-horse, the blithe swan, the branching oak, the winding stream at its base, the drifting clouds, over all the coursing sun, form ever follows function, and this is the law.” From this assertion arose the adage “form follows function.” In other words, the shape a creation takes should come primarily from the purpose it serves.
The adage applies to other art forms outside of architecture, including the immersive experience. With immersion, the possibilities are endless, but the shape it takes should come primarily from what you want your participants to feel. Choose-your-own-adventure stories focus on building a reader’s sense of agency, a feeling that their choices have significant effects on the outcome of the narrative. Escape rooms, particularly those with time constraints, foster a sense of urgency to motivate problem-solving and enhance the participants’ satisfaction when they solve a puzzle correctly.
The emotional goal of immersive theater can be more nebulous. In some immersive plays, the events play out around the participants in 360 degrees, but the participants’ presence doesn’t alter the course of the story. In other immersive experiences, participation determines which of a range of outcomes will take place at each presentation. Some immersive theatrical pieces seek to make their audiences feel powerful, while others seek to make their audiences feel sad, contemplative, joyful, wistful, or another strong emotion. What matters is that the design, or architecture, of the immersive experience serves its ultimate emotional goal.
Take, for example, one of the most compelling immersive experiences I’ve ever taken part in: Just Fix It Productions’ “The Willows.” In it, audience members were cast in the story as acquaintances of the late Jonathan Willows, invited to dinner by his eccentric surviving family members. I won’t spoil the ending (in case you decide to partake in the VR version of the experience), but suffice it to say that the evening rapidly goes off the rails. In that experience, my actions didn’t really affect the ending. There was essentially only one ending to be had. Yet the way the story played out around me and the other participants held us in awe for two hours. It was, in a word, transporting. The best immersive storytellers start with a single question and build from there: what do I want the participants to feel?
The open-endedness of this design approach makes it difficult to offer concrete advice on how to create an effective immersive experience. Still, there are some techniques that transcend delivery mode and other variables:
Involve as many of the audience’s senses as possible.
Gain a clear understanding of the audience’s role in the story. Even if they are simply “observers” to the narrative, their role as observers should be crucial and visible. There should be no arbitrary delineation between the audience and the narrative.
Engage the audience’s minds and bodies. Immersive storytelling often involves physicality in a way that other kinds of storytelling might not.
Plan for variation. Immersive storytelling is not as linear and repeatable as non-immersive. The story should be affected not only by the presence of an audience but by the presence of a particular audience. This responsiveness and changeability separates immersive storytelling from its more traditional counterpart.
Foster a sense of connection. Build in opportunities for the audience to create a rapport with the story. In immersive theater, that could mean encouraging actors to engage attendees in personal conversations. In VR, that could mean creating functionality that allows players to change their surroundings permanently and “leave their mark.” Immersive storytelling is uniquely personal, and it is at its most effective when a participant can come away from the experience knowing that no other participant has experienced the story exactly the same way they did.
As technology and industries improve their offerings and broaden the ever-expanding universe of immersive possibility, what do you want to feel as a participant? Or, if you’re up to the challenge, what do you want to make others feel?
