The DNA of Storytelling Deepening Engagement
Receptive Cinema
TM
Deepening Audience Engagement Consistently
We are an innovative storytelling consultancy that takes a holistic approach to cinematic storytelling by fusing the science of storytelling (cognition, emotion, and physiology) with the art of storytelling.
This enables us to create compelling stories that optimise attention and engagement consistently. For example, we apply a DNA model of storytelling Story Fusion™ to resolve filmmakers' narrative blind spots that reduce story comprehension, attention, and engagement.
Our expertise in the science of storytelling enables us to create innovative, compelling and engaging stories for movies, television episodic drama, and strategic communications - powerful emotional messages that motivate people to act.
Our storytelling techniques add significant value to scripts and storyboards to reduce the risk of re-shooting scenes, project delays, and increased production costs. We work with creative teams such as screenwriters, filmmakers, editors and storytellers.
Our Work
2020
Frank Conference
Gainesville, Florida, USA
A communications conference that drives positive social, institutional and behavioural change.
Frank 2020 Plenary Talk: How Fear & Suspense Can Advance Social Change. The talk presents a scientific model of storytelling that can assist storytellers to create powerful emotional messages that optimise attention, and engagement consistently and motivate people to act.
2019
Story-Fusion
TM
DNA of Storytelling
Story-Fusion™ is a creative manual process that fuses science with the art of storytelling to resolve filmmakers’ narrative blind spots that significantly reduce story comprehension, attention, and engagement. Story-Fusion™ is also a unique framework that measures emotion, suspense attention and engagement.
2019
Future Media Convergence
Institute (FMCI), Beijing, China
We developed a 3- year research study (using our expertise in the science of storytelling) for the FMCI, (a subsidiary of Xinhuanet (China News Agency), to shape 21st-century cinematic storytelling across digital devices
2018
Finalist: Ingenuity International Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition, University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China
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Consonance is a biofeedback interactive movie experience where the viewer changes the narrative direction via their emotions and physiological responses. This seamless interactive movie experience enables the viewer to set specific parameters before watching the movie such as high suspense. Viewer’s facial expressions and eye-tracking determine the viewer’s emotional state at any time and select the most appropriate narrative trajectories that meet the viewer’s expectations, thereby optimising audience attention and engagement consistently
Shaping Personalised Digital Storytelling
for 21st Century Audiences
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CONSONANCE
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TM
2017
Rabobank, Netherlands
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Using a scientific model of storytelling to create powerful messages to motivate people to act and advance social change
Case Study
Rabobank invited us to do a critical analysis of their 1-minute promotional video Growing a Better World Together (see link), that promotes ideas on how to resolve world hunger and encourage healthy eating. Our task was to critically analyse the video and propose specific shots from their library of videos to optimise audience attention and engagement consistently and create a powerful message that motivates people to act. (See Rabobank PDF for analysis)
2017
Electrodermal (EDA) Model of Audience Experience
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By further developing a 4-year Ph.D. research project we were able to develop a scientific model of audience experience based on measuring electrical changes in viewers' skin (EDA). The EDA model of audience experience comprises three layers: the rhythm of suspense, the rhythm of emotion and rhythm of engagement.
