I'll be working on the group project with Kelly and Brian. Although I missed class last week, I did email Kelly to see what we had due for this week, as she and I had already discussed working together on the group project. She let me know that we had set up the groups, and that she and Brian had discussed using the Center for History and New Media archives to do a project involving our remembrances of 9/11. I think this is a great idea, and have been considering what I would want to include from my personal experiences, as well as exploring some of the media available on the archives to see what would fit in best.
When 9/11 happened, I was living in Arlington, at the River House Apartments-- about as close as you could get to the Pentagon without actually living at the Pentagon. My 9th floor apartment overlooked the Pentagon, in fact. I found some photos that I took from the roof of my building and from my window on 9/11 that I think could be useful for this project, so I'd also like to include those. Some sort of a slideshow with text of our memories accompanying a set of images might be a good way to approach this project.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
What is a narrative?
I think the broadest definition that can be applied to narrative is that it is a story, imagined or not, long or short, told for the purpose of entertainment or enlightenment. Is that definition too restrictive for today's more modern or technology-based creative writing?
What does a narrative need, at the very least? I think at the least, it needs to be engaging. It should have some sort of basic plot, characters, a general structure that can be followed and makes sense, perhaps even cause and effect. Poems generally aren't narratives, although they do often tell a story, and for me it is because they don't have these things.
Defining narrative within terms that accept and include things like hypertext literature is not easy because these forms of literature resist interpretation or grouping into genres-- and many of them tend to be less structured or more visual than we would consider a classic story format to contain.
A narrative doesn't have to be something independent of the reader, I don't think-- hearing a narrative doesn't have to be a passive act--and I think things like MMORPGs should count as narratives. Are they perhaps a more dynamic narrative, where the actions of the characters/readers cause the narrative to change as it is being created? I think so. The interactive nature of online materials suggests that this process should be dynamic and the word narrative alone implies a static, unchanging sort of story.
So to define online media and games in terms of narratives, I think we need to change the definition of narrative to fit within the online framework. Or, better yet, create a new framework to define this new media by.
What does a narrative need, at the very least? I think at the least, it needs to be engaging. It should have some sort of basic plot, characters, a general structure that can be followed and makes sense, perhaps even cause and effect. Poems generally aren't narratives, although they do often tell a story, and for me it is because they don't have these things.
Defining narrative within terms that accept and include things like hypertext literature is not easy because these forms of literature resist interpretation or grouping into genres-- and many of them tend to be less structured or more visual than we would consider a classic story format to contain.
A narrative doesn't have to be something independent of the reader, I don't think-- hearing a narrative doesn't have to be a passive act--and I think things like MMORPGs should count as narratives. Are they perhaps a more dynamic narrative, where the actions of the characters/readers cause the narrative to change as it is being created? I think so. The interactive nature of online materials suggests that this process should be dynamic and the word narrative alone implies a static, unchanging sort of story.
So to define online media and games in terms of narratives, I think we need to change the definition of narrative to fit within the online framework. Or, better yet, create a new framework to define this new media by.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Remix project response
The current remix project show was very interesting. I was very impressed both by the effort most of my classmates put into their projects, and the amount of creativity showcased. Many of the ideas shown were fresh takes on old concepts, and they really worked.
One of the most interesting remix projects involved Kelly Kries' Alice in Wonderland images. Alice in Wonderland is my favorite childhood book; my parents taught me to read at an early age because I wouldn't stop badgering them to read it to me. Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland examines the fantastical and the bizarre, turning concepts to the side and requesting you interpret them in a new light. That's what Kelly has done with her project.
The pictures were especially interesting. The flowers inserted throughout the image of the raging river were suggestive of the rose gardens Alice runs into, both in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. The images taken as a whole, with the fragmented thoughts and sentences parsed throughout them, remind me of what Alice's mind could look like; confused, somewhat frightened, as she's being carried along by the tide of raging madness that is Wonderland.
I am also appreciative of the amount of work put into reworking the pictures, being something of a dunce with Photoshop.
One of the most interesting remix projects involved Kelly Kries' Alice in Wonderland images. Alice in Wonderland is my favorite childhood book; my parents taught me to read at an early age because I wouldn't stop badgering them to read it to me. Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland examines the fantastical and the bizarre, turning concepts to the side and requesting you interpret them in a new light. That's what Kelly has done with her project.
The pictures were especially interesting. The flowers inserted throughout the image of the raging river were suggestive of the rose gardens Alice runs into, both in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. The images taken as a whole, with the fragmented thoughts and sentences parsed throughout them, remind me of what Alice's mind could look like; confused, somewhat frightened, as she's being carried along by the tide of raging madness that is Wonderland.
I am also appreciative of the amount of work put into reworking the pictures, being something of a dunce with Photoshop.
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