We’re all (hopefully) by now familiar with the them of this year’s SL10B Community Celebration: Looking Forward, Looking Back.
Well, the ideals of the theme aren’t restricted to just SL10BCC.
In December 2012, as part of festivities which took place around the world to mark the Dickens Bicentenary Year, the folk at Storyfests SL organised The Dickens Project. This was a 13-day celebration of Dickens’ work, primarily focused on A Christmas Carol, but which included selections from other novels and short stories.
During the 13 days of the event, some 20 hours of readings and performances took place, featuring an international cast in a purpose-built themed environment in Second Life which not only reproduced the world of Dickens’ novels, but which provided a number of levels of interaction for visitors and audiences, allowing them to immerse themselves in the environment and discover more about Dickens, his life and works, and the era in which he lived.
The concept provided a further means of demonstrating the interactive, immersive possibilities virtual environments have for storytelling and discovery on a global level.
Now, as a part of a broader project, Judith Cullen (Caledonia Skytower in SL), one of the prime movers behind The Dickens Project, has put together a short video looking back at the project before looking towards the possible future expansion of the concept of immersive storytelling.
It’s a fascinating insight, both from a historical standpoint looking back at the Project itself, and the potential for future developments with the overall theme.
Related Links
- The Dickens Project – Storyfests SL
- EXPLORING POTENTIAL … Looking for the Next Step in Immersive Storytelling – Judy Cullen
- The Dickens Project in this blog
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 