Screen play : audiovisual narrative & viewer interaction

Abstract: How does the viewer, interact, with the on-screen narratives of film, television and computer? What new forms of interaction can be realised with the emerging narratives of CD-ROM and Internet?This study considers screen play in terms of the game the viewer plays with audiovisual narrative, and how the viewer negotiates with a story to interpret, revise and reconstruct new stories of their own.Aspects of game and narrative theories, cognitive psychology and phenomenology, as well as recent research in the fields of cinema, television and computer studies, are incorporated within a screen play theory, which positions the viewer both as player and storyteller. Thus, screen play can be defined as a fusion of the external screen narrative and the internal and individual scenario.In addressing the divide between player and game ?, the mystic gulf, between viewer and narrative ? a re-assessment of early film theory plays an important part in coming to terms with the fin du siècle playground represented by the cinematographe a century ago, and the digital IT playground of the present, and an emergent narrative, in whatever form it may take.