The Art of Speed: The Ludification of Cinematic Television – The Case of 24

This paper is a theoretically informed reading of the television series 24, which we argue to be a prominent and instructive example of ludification, ie. the use of game design elements in non-game contexts with a special emphasis on 'ludifying' story objects and story structures residing in the threshold between (non-linear) games and (linear) stories. The analysis of 24 focuses on how a fictional character increasingly transforms into avatar, notably by becoming the very physical personification of the abstract notion (and sensation) of 'speed'. We argue that there is a close connection between this 'applied dromology' and the 'levelled' actions of Jack Bauer as well as the various methods with which he tackles and deploys speed. In conjunction, we discuss how Fox' television series alters the architecture of narrative into a ludified system obsessed with modes of representing speed and controlling territories of aggression and danger.