ABSTRACT
Nonlinearity is a broadly used term that can be applied to many aspects of the media-making process-the story, the production and postproduction process, and, finally, the distribution medium. A traditional narrative story (linear) might be shot on film (linear), edited digitally (nonlinear), and distributed first theatrically (linear) and then on DVD (nonlinear). The goal of a video game might be to fight off all the dragons until you can capture the magic chalice (linear), using computer-animated (nonlinear process) video sequences (linear) that can be experienced in a different order every time you play (nonlinear) and distributed online (nonlinear).
