Hello, here is my hypermedia narrative! Thank you for the link, Will!

My project is a reimagining of a compelling narrative from my father’s experience as a young boy during the Pol Pot dictatorship in Cambodia, which I previously explored in DTC 201. The story centers around a moment when my father and country experienced extreme famine and his friend decided to risk their life to pick corn that was forbidden to them that they sowed the previous year.

In this retelling, I will use the power of visual storytelling to bring the characters and scenery to life through puppet animation in After Effects. The characters will reimagine in Mid-Journey, to bring to life the physical and emotional challenges they face in their quest for survival.

To enhance the immersive experience, I will rely solely on foley and sound effects to convey the story, without the use of words. The sound design will be crafted to evoke the harsh reality of the famine, the desperation of the characters, and the tension of their risky endeavor.

Through this project, I aim to create a visually and aurally compelling narrative that captures the essence of my father’s story and conveys the themes of resilience, survival, and the human spirit.

My final project is going to be an HTML/CSS website that centers around exploring a long-ruined castle filled with eccentric guests. There is a supernatural twist regarding the castle and its inhabitants I don’t want to spoil, but I’m very excited about implementing. 

I plan to give it a gameboy adjacent aesthetic (swampy, muted color palette, pixelated, chiptune music) and give each character a little animated sprite. 

I’ll obviously be incorporating our module about games and hypermedia, but also the module about structures of storytelling- this will definitely mirror episodic structures the most, with hints of the kishotenketsu. Looking forward to you all seeing it!

In Book from the Ground by Bing Xu, the author employs indices as the (nearly) sole means of communicating the narrative. The index of the eye shut and subsequently open is an indication of waking up- it is not wholly abstract, neither a direct representation of its meaning. Much like paw prints are an indication of animal mobility, the visual aids (indexes) employed here rely on the implication of action.

This means that the experience of the story is intuited between indices (excepting Xu’s use of ellipses, which are a symbol. They require cultural context to decipher). The author has, to an extent, consciously obscured the narrative. The content offers little more than a nameless character waking up and going about their day- the obfuscation of this process through index is what makes it entertaining and compelling.

I think this reinforces the idea that subject is arbitrary to storytelling- the way you portray your subject, the medium of it, the unfurling of the narrative, is all that really matters as far as emotional response within the viewer. I already use signs in my stories (everybody does), but this experience has made me far more conscious of them than I ever was. I will definitely think more about the way I’m using signs and differentiate their category and uses.

Here is the link to my hypermedia narrative project.

https://dtcwsuv.org/kbrandon21/Hypermedia%20Narrative/HypermediaNarrative.html

Here is the link to my Hypermedia Narrative:

https://dtc-wsuv.org/abrandon21/hypermedia/Lost.html

Hello! This is my Hyper Media Project

The story

For my project I will be creating a video or slide of images to tell a story in a post apocalyptic world. The main character will be a cyborg with human conscience that has found beauty in art and creativity.

I’m planning on remaking photos on photoshop, after effects, procreate, and premiere pro.

The way ChatGPT kindly described the environment of a post apocalyptic world that is taken over by nature goes as follows:

“In the aftermath of the cataclysmic event that reshaped the world, nature has reclaimed its dominion with unrivaled vigor. Buildings that once stood tall now crumble under the relentless pressure of vines and roots, as vegetation weaves its way through broken windows and creeps up walls. Streets that were once bustling with life are now overgrown with tangled undergrowth, creating an eerie, labyrinthine maze.

Once towering skyscrapers are now reduced to rusted hulks, covered in a thick layer of moss and ivy. The remnants of humanity’s technological achievements stand as mute testimony to the folly of their hubris. Cars lie abandoned, their tires rotted away, covered in a carpet of foliage. The cacophony of modern civilization has been replaced by the gentle rustling of leaves, the chirping of birds, and the distant howls of animals.

Amidst the ruins, nature has reclaimed its rightful place. Trees, once confined to parks and forests, have burst forth from the cracks in the pavement, their branches reaching for the sky. Their gnarled roots have cracked through concrete, breaking apart roads and buildings alike. Lush vegetation now carpets the land, with wildflowers and weeds painting a riot of colors across the landscape.

Animals, once caged in zoos or domesticated as pets, now roam free as nature intended. Deer graze on the overgrown lawns of abandoned suburbs, while wolves and bears prowl the outskirts of crumbling cities. The skies are once again filled with the majestic flight of birds, their songs a symphony of life in this new world.

Rivers and lakes, once dammed and controlled, have burst their banks and returned to their natural courses. Water, once a scarce resource, now flows freely, nurturing the land and giving life to all that has reclaimed it. Fish dart through crystal-clear streams, and frogs croak in chorus in marshy wetlands.

The seasons have reasserted their rhythm, with winter bringing a blanket of snow that transforms the landscape into a glistening wonderland, and spring bursting forth with a riot of colors as flowers bloom and trees bud anew. Summer brings warmth and abundance, with fruits and vegetables growing wild in the untamed fields, while autumn paints the world in shades of gold and crimson as leaves fall to the ground.

Yet, amidst the breathtaking beauty of nature’s resurgence, there is also a sense of melancholy. The remnants of human civilization, now reduced to ruins, stand as a haunting reminder of the folly of humanity’s past mistakes. Nature has reclaimed what was once taken from it, serving as a poignant testament to the impermanence of human existence and the resilience of the natural world.

In this post-apocalyptic world, survival has taken on a primal meaning. The struggle for food, shelter, and resources is a daily challenge as humans must adapt to this new environment or risk being swallowed by the wilderness. Communities have formed around natural resources, with humans living in harmony with nature, relying on traditional skills and knowledge to thrive.

But amidst the challenges, there is also a renewed reverence for the natural world. Humans have learned to live in harmony with nature, respecting its power and beauty. They have come to understand that they are but one part of a larger ecosystem, and they strive to live in balance with the land and its creatures.

The post-apocalyptic world being overtaken by nature is a paradoxical place. It is simultaneously awe-inspiring and humbling, a stark reminder of the impermanence of human civilization and the enduring power of the natural world. It is a world where the ruins of the past serve as a reminder of the mistakes of humanity, but also as a source of inspiration for a new, harmonious way of living with and respecting nature.”

I plan to use this as aide to come up with my story environment details.

Moods

For my final project I was thinking about creating a story through diagrammatic, visual, or cinematic because I feel more passionate about those sort of formats over the hypertextual style.

I’m think I want to tell a story with just images, videos and audio but I’m not sure what story I will be telling yet so that will be brainstormed through out today’s class.

Back Home

Here is my Hypermedia Narrative.

For my final project, I plan to further develop my Hypermedia Narrative which subsequently was also what my idea was for the Video/Audio Narrative project that I was not able to accomplish due to time restraints. With that being said, the basic idea of my story for the final project is a story about a father and son who go camping and the boy ends up getting lost. I will be telling this story using Twine which will allow me to allow the viewer to see the story unfold from both the father’s and the son’s perspectives. As events happen in the story there will be a variation of it from the father’s side and the boy’s side. The user will be able to interact with the story by deciding which point of view they would like to read the story. They have the option of switching back and forth between the son’s perspective and the father’s perspective as each thing happens or they can choose to just view the story from their perspective and read through it that way. Additionally, I want to include images throughout the story to help set the scene and put the reader in the mindset of the characters as we have seen done in some of the examples we looked at a few weeks ago. My goal with this is to get the readers immersed in the story in hopes that they can connect themselves to the story and the emotions felt by the characters.

For my final project, I will be combining what we learned in the visual narrative modules and the hypertext and hypermedia module. The story will be presented through HTML and told through images that are accompanied by some text. Adding text will help make sure that the story is accurately understood. 

For my story, I will be using the classical Aristotelian three-part structure. The story is about a sheep herding dog who one day finds that his sheep have mysteriously disappeared. The dog, being the sheep’s protector, takes it upon himself to figure out what happened to his sheep. He begins to investigate by interviewing all of the other animals on the farm and begins to try and piece together the story in order to find his sheep and bring them home. 

To create this story I will start by using Adobe Illustrator to draw all of the images. I am going to be drawing my own images on Illustrator in order to ensure that every aspect of the images down to the smallest details, like the facial expressions of the animals, are exactly how I want them to be in order to get the story across correctly. Once I finish drawing I will be using HTML to put all the images in order and add text under them. I might also add some sound effects of background noise on the farm, like farm animal sounds, in order to help immerse the reader into the story.

Here is my hypermedia project.

Troller

I still have to clean up the CSS.

Hey class,

Here is the link for The Slumbering Beast.

I hope you enjoy! If you have any suggestions for improvement feel free to comment.

Thanks,

-Caleb

https://dtc-wsuv.org/dtc354-luers/bschutte-escape.html

For my final project, I plan to utilize hypermedia and visual narrative for my story. The central idea of my story would revolve around the regrets that a person has that weighs them down, but will show the process of how one comes to terms to that past. However, I am not set on that story as I also want to expand more on the twine story I made for the Hypermedia project. I want to utilize twine or skrollr for this project. I have used the skrollr for DTC 355 and I do like how the scroller dictates the viewer experience. Majority of the story would utilize illustrations and small animations I make with text attached. I will add short audio to help with the immersion of the story.