From Spectator to Storyteller: FMV Interactive Narratives in Media Production Classrooms

Petro Katerynych

ABSTRACT:
This study examines the pedagogical value of interactive full-motion video (FMV) narratives in media production education, where cinematic storytelling and interactive game mechanics converge to develop students’ creative, technical, and collaborative competencies. Five exemplary titles – Late Shift, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Her Story, Telling Lies, and The Complex – were integrated into a semester-long interdisciplinary course at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (n = 55). A mixed-methods design combined Likert-scale questionnaires (α = 0.81) with open-ended reflections to assess engagement, learning outcomes, and collaborative dynamics. Mean item scores ranged from 4.3 to 4.6 on a 5-point scale, indicating strong positive reception across all dimensions. Perceived enjoyment of FMV-based learning correlated positively with students’ willingness to undertake future interactive projects (r = .72, p < .01). Drawing on these findings, the study articulates the Collaborative Agency in Narrative Design (CAND) framework – a heuristic lens conceptualising learning effectiveness as emerging from the interplay of disciplinary integration, creative autonomy, and narrative ownership. The results extend scholarship on game-based learning and position FMV narratives as a pedagogical bridge between cinematic storytelling and computational thinking in higher education.

KEY WORDS:
audience agency, digital games, full-motion video, game-based learning, interactive film, interactive storytelling, interdisciplinary collaboration, media production education, narrative design.

DOI:
10.34135/actaludologica.2026-9-1.86-103

HOW TO CITE:
Katerynych, P. (2026). From spectator to storyteller: FMV interactive narratives in media production classrooms. Acta Ludologica, 9(1), 86-103. http://doi.org/10.34135/actaludologica.2026-9-1.86-103

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