WEEK 1

Intro to the unit and XR stories

In the first week of the project, we did not attempt to define a clear story or final outcome. Instead, our discussions focused on identifying shared interests, emotional themes, and possible narrative approaches. This stage was deliberately open-ended, as we wanted to understand what kinds of experiences and relationships we were interested in exploring before committing to a specific direction.

During these discussions, I contributed by sharing film references that explore emotional expression through unconventional narrative structures. One key reference was Everything Everywhere All at Once. Although the film uses the concept of multiple universes, what interested us most was how fragmentation and narrative excess are used to externalise the characters’ internal emotional states, particularly the tension within a family relationship.

Through discussing this film, we began to realise that complex emotional experiences do not always need to be communicated through linear storytelling. Instead, structural disruption and shifts in perspective can be used to allow the audience to feel emotional overload rather than simply understand it intellectually. This idea felt especially relevant when thinking about immersive and experiential forms of storytelling.

At this early stage, these references were not intended to directly inform story content. Rather, they functioned as tools for discussion that helped us think more critically about how narrative can be experienced rather than simply told. We began to question whether immersive media could support emotional and relational storytelling through structure and perspective rather than exposition.

Overall, Week 1 was exploratory in nature. Our aim was not to reach conclusions, but to open up possible narrative directions that could be developed further in later stages of the project.

• Breaking linear narrative
• Narrative fragmentation
• Emotional overload
• Structure as expression
• Experience before understanding