Ulmer,+Jesse+MSA

Loyer, Erik. “Chroma.” Rpt. in The Electronic Literature Collection, Vol 2, 2008. [] //Chroma// is an episodic interactive narrative that tells the story of a team of researchers who discover the existence of a “natural cyberspace,” an area of abstract analog space located somewhere in the human brain. //Chroma// poses questions of identity, particularly race and ethnicity, and problematizes the notion of self-representation in digital spaces. -Dramatic multiple-perspective first person POV expressed in journal form -Thoughtful interrogation of self-representation in digital space -Text scripts of oral narrative available to read on demand -User-friendly linear or non-linear narrative options presented on every screen -Dramatic episodic narrative structure -Playful, animated, interactive text -Interactive motion graphics that invite users to play with different visual configurations -Some pages offer opportunties for video-game like play -High-quality performance of reflective first-person voice narration -Dystopic synthesized/electronic music that integrates fragments of spoken dialogue -Tightly choreographed music, interactive motion graphics/text, and voice narration -Basic visual palette—mostly primary colors—that reinforce a sense of abstract space At first it seems as if the user is casted in a relatively passive mode. After clicking on a chapter, animated visual representations appear on the screen and a single voice begins speaking in a voice-over narration, creating a strong cinematic experience. But movements of the mouse quickly reveal an element of playful visual interactivity with motion graphics and text. While the voice narration unfolds, users are invited to click and move the mouse in various directions that manipulate abstract visual elements. The user can also choose, however, to not engage with interactive elements. The story will unfold in a pre-determined way whether or not the user chooses to interact with the screen. The skillful integration of voice, music, and visuals create a highly immersive experience, and in this sense, //Chroma// feels like watching a film in a theater. Navigation and orientation within the story-world is user-friendly and easily accessible through a menu in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen that is always accessible. This menu also allows users to read the text version of the narration, which is curiously presented in scrollable poetic form. Users are allowed to jump to any particular chapter or episode of the narrative; a feature that enables users to construct a full, comprehensive understanding of the story. There is never a sense of a path not taken or narrative thread obscured from view as in some iterations of hypertext literature. This structure also allows the reader to make important connections between the multiple first-person journal entries that offer non-linear perspectives on the same basic situation. //Chroma// asks important questions about the construction of identity in digital space. If we are to devote much of our humanly existence to inhabiting virtual, electronically-generated worlds, how will we represent ourselves in that space? What elements of our identity will we include and exclude? How will we represent our bodies with all of their socially problematic visual cues? Will the creative freedom of self-representation ameliorate racial and ethnic misunderstandings or will it perpetuate or reinforce them? The use of voice-over narration without visual representation of characters reinforces the sense of disembodied selves communicating in abstract space. However, we are never presented with a dialogue, suggesting that digital worlds potentially enable social integration but also in some ways create states of isolationist self-absorption. The choreographed sound and interactive visuals create a delightful synaesthetic experience. Interactive, real-time animations convey the thoughts and feelings of characters in ways that are intimate and compelling.
 * Media Specific Analysis (MSA)**
 * Jesse Ulmer**
 * Overview**
 * Textual Features**
 * Media Features**
 * Reading Experience**
 * Analysis/Interpretation**

However, this piece is rather difficult to categorize as literature given that the audio and visual modes are clearly privileged over text as the primary means of narration. The text version of the narration feels like an afterthought, but at the same time some of the text is relayed through real-time animation and interactivity, which offers perhaps some compensation.

One of the interesting features of this piece is that it is unfinished, which marks a major upsetting of readerly expectation given that it is presented in a fairly traditional narrative format. However, its unfinished state is a result of the high production costs and the exhaustion of grant funds used to create it. The high-production value of //Chroma// is apparent from the very beginning of the piece, and although it is enjoyable and immersive, it was ultimately generated at the cost of not finishing the work. This fact points to the high production costs of creating technologically sophisticated forms of digital literature (the high production costs of this piece provide yet another connection to film as a medium of expression that can be quite expensive).

The narrative integrates elements of both science fiction and fantasy, genres that lend themselves well to immersive story-telling. Yet, the story-world at times feels like a thinly veiled allegory about our relationship to the computer and the internet, and although the mythic overtones initially draw us in, the somewhat clichéd edenic tropes of pre-lapsairan and post-lapsarian existence, or perhaps our existence in a world envisioned by Platonism, feel a bit unoriginal and tired at times, though they are at the same time given new life when situated within the framwork of identity and virtual space. In the final analysis, //Chroma// reals the potential of high-production digital storytelling to simultaneously delight the senses and pose serious social questions.