Rebooting Electronic Literature Volume 3: Documenting Pre-Web Born Digital Media

Social Media Content for Megan Heyward's "of day, of night"

As with the previous Live Stream Traversals the Electronic Literature Lab had hosted, the undergraduate researchers used notes from Dene Grigar's research on hand to feed content into the social media conversations. They also took photographs, mixing in prepared research on the work and its criticism with observations, comments, and interactions with other participants. While Heyward performed the Traversal, Grigar moderated the live YouTube Chat and later the Question and Answer session documented in the videos on this page. 
 

Twitter 

The Electronic Literature Lab used their Twitter account to post promotional content regarding the event.


Heyward tweets a promotion for the Live Stream Traversal of of day, of night, live on YouTube from 12pm-1pm. She explains that the interactive narrative was exhibited in 2001 and published by Eastgate Systems, Inc. in 2004, but is currently unplayable on modern devices.

Holly Slocum reminds viewers of the Live Stream Traversal of of day, of night the following afternoon.


The Electronic Literature Lab introduces of day, of night as an "experimental multimedia and hypertextual work" created by Australian artist Megan Heyward, combining "moving image, game and interactive aesthetics."


The Electronic Literature Lab summarizes of day, of night, explaining that objects are examined to induce dreaming. A direct quote from the work is also shared: "Each object has a history, which I imagine in my head. I turn each one over in my hands, to try and conjure up a fragment."


The Electronic Literature Lab reveals that Heyward had undertaken most of the production of the work, which contains 63 Director files, 31 video files, and 132 sound files.


The Electronic Literature Lab invites viewers to the Q/A session of Heyward's of day, of night  Live Stream Traversal.


The Electronic Literature Lab shares that Director was used by artists for its richness, affordances, simple interface, and incorporation of eight sound channels (as opposed to two, which most programs offered as of 2019.)


The Electronic Literature Lab shares a photo of the Q/A session of Heyward's Live Stream Traversal the day before, expressing excitement over the opportunity to have Heyward share her work.


Heyward tweets a video of the live stream traversal of of day, of night by the Electronic Literature Lab.


The Electronic Literature Lab shares that Heyward is interested in the types of narrative that can be told with machines.


The Electronic Literature Lab reveals that of day, of night refers to the dichotomy of the dream and waking state, as Heyward was experimenting with the balance of non-linear text and clear narrative.


The Electronic Literature Lab explains that of day, of night was created for CD-ROM, and built with Macromedia Director 6.0.


The Electronic Literature Lab posts that the plot of of day, of night involves a woman who has lost the ability to dream, who completes a series of creative tasks in order to revive her lost ability.


The Electronic Literature Lab posts an image of the map offered in of day, of night, which offers the user new areas to explore as they progress through the work.


The Electronic Literature Lab highlights Sophea Lerner as the sound designer, David Claringbold as the musician, Chris Caines for additional video compositing, and advanced Lingo programming by Sohail Dahdal.


The Electronic Literature Lab posts that Heyward experimented with HyperCard in the 1990s, but switched over to Director because it allowed for greater interactivity and multimedia (the work itself contains 63 Director files.)


The Electronic Literature Lab shares that of day, of night was developed for the CD-ROM, and used Macromedia Director 6.0 as the authoring program.


Heyward posts an image of the lampshade computer she is rehearsing the Live Stream Traversal on within the Electronic Literature Lab.


Nicholas Schiller posts a shout-out to Greg Philbrook for finding a way to capture the computer screen directly during the Traversal, rather than using cameras, which improved overall video quality.


Nicholas Schiller asks a question via Twitter for a term that describes linked non-linear video, suggesting "hyper-cinema."


Nicholas Schiller posts that Heyward is exploring ways computers can tell stories through text, music, foley art, and video.


Nicholas Schiller points out that Heyward includes photos of physical items in the work, the sound and foley providing them with texture.


Nicholas Schiller describes the whispered voices in of day, of night as "very evocative of the dream state."


In addition to the exhibition period from 2001-2004 and its publishing by Eastgate Systems, Inc., Nicholas Schiller also highlights its inclusion in electronic literature exhibitions in 2012 and 2013.


Nicholas Schiller comments that the linearity of Macromedia Director's timeline makes creating non-linear works an interesting process.


Holly Slocum posts an image of Heyward taking members of the Electronic Literature Lab through her work of day, of night.
 

Instagram

The Electronic Literature Lab posted Instagram stories to their account to share promotional content regarding the event.


The Electronic Literature Lab posts a promotion for the Live Stream Traversal of Heyward's of day, of night in Instagram.


The Electronic Lab invites viewers to join the Live Stream Traversal of of day, of night.


The Electronic Literature Lab contextualizes of day, of night as an experimental interactive narrative, hypertext, and electronic literature work by Australian artist Megan Heyward.


The Electronic Literature Lab posts that Heyward is credited for the majority of the work's production, who was involved in the writing, production, Director authoring, and more.


The Electronic Literature Lab reveals that Heyward's goal was to experiment with non-linear text while maintaining a linear narrative.


The Electronic Literature Lab summarizes of day, of night as involving a woman who has lost the ability to dream. She must revive this ability by undergoing a series of creative tasks.


The Electronic Literature Lab announces the live Q/A following the Live Stream Traversal of Heyward's of day, of night.


The Electronic Literature Lab promotes the Live Stream Traversal event for Heyward's of day, of night.


The Electronic Literature Lab posts a promotion for Heyward's of day, of night Live Stream Traversal.
 

YouTube Chat

During the Traversal, remote participants and ELL staff had a conversation in YouTube's live stream chat channel. This was preserved and the following six images contain a transcript of that chat conversation.

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