Transcoding:
Transcoding is to translate something
into another format. In less broad terms, it's the process of
taking stylistic concepts in one genre and using them in another
genre (45). Along side the mixing of
genres are the two layers that make up a transcoded product. The
first layer, the computer layer, supports the web site side of
Rashomon Café as a new media object. The second layer,
the culture layer, supports the story, plot, and the user's perspective.
Although these two layers are different, they both have significant
influence on each other. Rashomon Café has characteristics
that are familiar even though most people have never seen a similar
web presentation. The most prevalent transcoded genre in Rashomon
Café is the interactive narrative (the Choose Your Own
Adventure story). In either genres, or story-telling formats,
the reader decides where, what the main character will do, and
how they will complete the story. The control by proxy allows
the readers of the story to act as the author, writing their own
version of Rashomon Café.
 |
The computer layer of this transcoded
media object is the digitization of the printed word format of
the interactive narrative. Although the book and the web site
are very different, the basic story-telling process is the same.
The difference lies in the medium, more specifically, the web
site is doing what the book does but without paper, pages, or
the printed word. The web site is a digital, non-sequential version
of a book.
The second layer, the culture layer,
is very similar in both genres. The story and plot could be the
same if produced in either genre. In contrast, the users perspective
may differ depending on witch genre they choose. For example,
if a user decides to read Rashomon Café in a book format
(if there was a book produced) the story would lack the animation
and audio cues that make the online version more lifelike. Moreover,
the lifelike traits that come with multimedia presentations may
change the user's perspective, and this change may ultimately
affect the outcome of the story. If the effects of the online
presentation (photographs of the main characters, or music that
sets a certain tone) sway the user to make a decision they would
otherwise not make if they were reading a strictly text book,
then the user's perspective could be considered different.
|
