Anthony E Zuiker, the creator of hit TV series CSI is back with a mixed modal creation – the world’s first digi-novel. What is a digi-novel? In this series, readers of the novels are provided with with codes in the books to unlock videos online at the level26.com website. These videos are professionally made, and fill the gaps in the book. They are aptly called cyber-bridges, which serve to form a bridge between written text and filmic text.
This is clearly a prime example of mixed modality. Mixed modality refers to a whole product made of different kinds of resources. An example is the comic strip, which at the lowest level is a combination of graphics and words. The advent of the diginovel can signal a change in our reading habits – as we are more exposed to “rich” sources of entertainment such as films which not only has moving images but also sound, we seem to have become greedy and want more. Some people stop reading, because it seems better to watch a 120-minute film than spend much more than that reading a novel. The lack of vivid imagination also makes reading less desirable to certain groups of people. While I am not claiming that mixed modal productions like the Level 26 series can encourage people to read more, this certainly is something new. Consider this: I could spent a paragraph (or more) describing in vivid details how a particular room looks, or I could show you a picture. Each mode of presentation has its limitations, of course, but when it comes to a thriller, I would opine that the visual is often much more effective than the verbal.
Screenshot of the Level26.com website
Don’t I always claim that certain books are written for the film instead of pure literary pleasure? Now this series is taking that a step further. It is written for the film and the film is written for it. It’s a joint process of creation where one will supplement and complement the other. Zuiker is first a screenwriter; his combined venture with Duane Swierzynski (for, presumably literary expertise) renders this series different from other thriller novels on the market. Of course, all these dependent on the reader having access to high-speed internet.
One disconcerting, if not eerie, factor about a digi-novel is that it gives characters a face, a body, and voice. When we read a pure novel, we can only imagine how a character looks – e.g. shimmery bling-bling Edward Cullen – through the description of the author. However, with videos to show you exactly how the character looks, you’re forced to embrace that particular look, despite any prior imagination about him or her. (Cue: applause or rotten eggs for casting manager)
So far, I have only read the first book Dark Origins. The second book is slated to be released sometime in October this year. Since I read the eBook version on my laptop, I was able to constantly access the videos when I needed to. Throughout the entire book, I felt like a voyeur. There are scenes that are privy only to a voyeur (e.g. a no total nudity sex scene), and there is the bloody and gory. Some of the videos are disturbing, even by my standard. I think there’s issue of watching it online, compared to watching it on TV or at the cinema. Sometimes in the online realm real and fiction tends to meld. The last thing I want to see is a snuff film on Youtube. This book and its videos are not for the squeamish, clearly.
All in all, I would recommend reading this book. Singaporeans with a library account can go to the NLB Digital Library to download this book for 21 days.
