4D Fiction

At ARGFest 2010, the Artifact Creation 101 workshop gave a hands-on experience creating memorable and relevant story items, “artifacts”. There is great benefit to expanding a story into the real world for the audience through physical props and artifacts.

The “Rule of Thirds” dates back as far as the 18th century, defined as a guideline to help artists compose esthetically pleasing art, composed in such a way as to best keep the eye flowing naturally from one point of interest to another. It’s also applicable as a guideline for effective storytelling.

Tupperware. In the woods. Who wouldn’t want to find that? Well if you do, you’re probably a geocacher, or else you’d make a good one. What’s great about geocaching is its flexibility to be used as a story-telling tool, incorporating real-world tasks and rewarding players.

The ARG ‘formula’ is getting so saturated with copycat conventions that it’s like walking into a book store and having to skip the genres we don’t like, heading straight to our favourite aisles. But even in the midst of all the noise, occasionally one book may stand out, a best-seller perhaps, and we curiously dive in.

It’s prompting nostalgic retro-flashbacks to the 80′s, all this hype for the upcoming film Tron: Legacy – a sequel to the classic cult sci-fi adventure from 1982 Tron. But the new face of Tron presented by 21st century technology and special effects has the fan-base in a tizzy.

Celebrities are a hot target for ransoms and blackmail. So is it any surprise that Seth Green of Idle Hands and Austin Powers fame has now had to likewise suffer a life-altering, catastrophic tragedy?