Thursday, September 18, 204
4:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Bishop Center Commons, Lower Level, Merlin D. Bishop Center
Storytelling continues to play an important role in the success of many video games, from multimillion dollar console titles to addicting mobile apps. And in recent years the new title of “narrative designer” has emerged. But what is this role and how is it distinct from that of a traditional fiction writer? In this presentation we’ll examine the main differences, and delve into the responsibilities, tools and critical skills of a narrative designer: the person who bridges the gap between story and gameplay.
UConn alumnus and former Daily Campus cartoonist Evan Skolnick has accumulated 25 years of story and game development experience at world-class entertainment companies such as Marvel, Activision and Lucasfilm. His published video game credits include Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Guitar Hero III, Over the Hedge, Spider-Man 3, Spy Muppets, and many others. Skolnick has spoken on the subject of video game storytelling at various conferences such as the Game Developers Conference (GDC) and San Diego Comic-Con, and is the author of Random House's upcoming book Video Game Storytelling: What Every Developer Needs to Know about Narrative Techniques.
Free and open to the public, the Digital Directions speaker series is sponsored by the Digital Media & Design Department of the School of Fine Arts, University of Connecticut. Look for upcoming talks in November and December.
For more information, contact: Digital Media & Design at clarissa.ceglio@uconn.edu