Digital Publications

I don't usually post personal comments to this blog but I felt compelled to write something after seeing a number of Apple iPad demo videos lately, such as the one on this page.

It looks like the entire publishing universe is moving in the direction of 'digital fiction' at the moment and because of this the concept of enhancing reading experiences with digital media is becoming not only acceptable but considered 'leading-edge'. Publishers are wiring themselves into every possible digital avenue to offer electronic versions of their works, from simple epub documents through iphone and ipad magazines to collaborations with games designers. It's all good, but as someone who has believed in the exciting potential of all of this since the mid 1990s and experimented with fiction and new media online since 2000, I can't help but find myself with mixed feelings about it.

The previously mentioned ipad video demonstration I think highlights my main frustration with what seems to be going on here. Elements of media are not so much being mixed together - blended into something new - but rather being superimposed ontop of one another. There is still a distinct seperation even though each media type might appear on the same canvas. Looking closely at the iPad video reveals nothing more than a simple play-and-pause video sequence (okay, so it has blockbuster-film style graphics but how many thousands of times have we seen this stuff; slow motion blowing hair and Panic-Room-style whooshing around) overlaid with text-boxes, not too unlike hundreds of polished Flash design agency sites.

Does this change, mutuate, enhance or do anything at all to the reading experience or the way the text has been written?

A few years ago it was common to see comments across the web suggesting "new types of authors" but it's only recently that I have started to see comments on the flip-side of this starting to pop up. For example - "we're about to discover a whole new way of reading." My question is - are we? Is it a "new way of reading" or just another way of sticking the same old media side-by-side so it's all on one plate rather than seperately digestable?

See comments posted to the New York Times article. Some interesting responses to the whole concept of mixed media magazines.

I don't want to linger on this particular iPad video response, or to start rattling on about the many digital authors who've been harping on about the potential of digital fiction for years - I do generally think the move that publishers of all kinds are (slugglishly until recently) making into the digital area is - overall - good (even if eBooks are dull). But I couldn't help but stifle a laugh seeing the "behind-the-scenes" interviews of this production with its film effects crew standing against green-screen with barely-dressed Poser-like models in the background wearing thick black-rimmed glasses and talking about how they're "doing amazing new things" with publications - like nobody thought of it before they did.

As one of the New York Times reader comments states: "isn't an "all-digital magazine" just a website?"

Consensus Trance II in Realtime 3D - Development Screenshots

Subscribers can now sign in to see screenshots of our latest project which is being developed in game-like 3D - http://www.dreamingmethods.com/?idno=227

Resource Pack #1 now available

We have now released our first Resource Pack which is available to buy via Paypal for £19 ($29).

Featuring the Flash source code of Capped, The Rut and Floppy, this digital download pack reveals how Dreaming Methods projects are assembled and contains a 9 page hints and tips document 'Dream Building' - highly useful for anyone wanting to produce similarly atmospheric and complex digital fiction.

The Capped source code includes all of the original graphics files, compressed Flash video sequences and raw prose originally written for the piece, plus additional 3D renders and artwork of the alien machines that appear in the work. There are also 7 bonus source files - from an imaginary ocean to the basics of an atmospheric, mouse-responsive interface.

The graphics, material and source code in the Pack can be freely used or adapted for use in your own creations.

Click here to take a look

Facelift

We've given Dreaming Methods a little bit of a clean-up - the site now looks somewhat tidier and more modern, we hope you like it. We've added drop-down menus to find what you're looking for quicker - and, if you're already subscribed, feel free to sign in to the new Subscribers' Area for some exclusive goodies.

New projects are underway - Impossible Journal, WaterDreamer and a Resource Pack which reveals the Flash source code to some of our routines (a small fee will apply to download.)

Radio Interview Feature

This month Andy Campbell was interviewed by Zuzana Husarova. The final recording which includes atmospheric music was fantastically mixed by Zuzana and will be featured on Slovakian arts radio at http://www.tlis.sk/

The interview will also be available in the future on the Dreaming Methods website, shortly to be relaunched with a new project and an all-new subscribers-only area.

Jawbone TV Feature

Dreaming Methods is featured as the lead article on Jawbone TV.

"In a space cluttered with useless information and mindless entertainment so easily accessible, Dreaming Methods has created a world where the user has to work to find the story and to find the meaning of that dream’s story... It’s the closest one can come to living inside of a painting - or someone else’s mind."

Updates for June 2009

Consensus Trance Part #1

The first sequence of chapters of Dreaming Methods' latest digital fiction project are now online to experience - with future chapters to follow. Told through a series of semi-interactive scenes and video sequences where narrative fragments have to be "found" in order to progress through the story, Consensus Trance begins with a protagonist who has just returned from a school rejunion where strangely none of his old friends remember the same things he does.

Note that if you were a beta-tester for this project on the initial limited mailout, the project now contains an additional chapter, revised writing and extra effects.

Launch the work now