Category: Introductions

Joeseph Hall Introduction

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jhall23

Joeseph Hall Avatar

I enjoy Cartoons and Videogames, I find they can be a less judgemental view of the modern world and can help highlight troubling events. But I am here at WSU to gain a better understanding of Videogame Design. I think Videogames can be the natural evolution of storytelling, allowing the user to explore and interact with a narrative on their own terms. Some popular games tell very compelling stories but what I love are the open unguided games, worlds where you find and make your own stories, the best examples of these in my opinion would be Minecraft and Rimworld. The first being a semi-fantasy open sandbox world and the other being a colony survival game set in the far future with an AI driven event system. Out of the box both of the games are great, each having earned over $100 Million, but the real value comes from the player made modifications available for them. The mods are encouraged by the developers and have even become features of the primary games’ themselves. The ability for people to add new content constantly evolves what the games are able to give the user. I want to create games that allow people to explore their own stories.

Gunner’s Intro

gkipp23

Hello DTC 354! My name is Gunner- I’m a junior, DTC major, and creative writing minor. I vastly prefer fiction to non-fiction, but I’m not usually picky about mediums of storytelling. I tend to love anything fantasy, horror, or comedy.

I think what most captures me about stories varies with each medium, but is consistently stylistic innovation and emotional catharsis. Seeing artists approach a story with architectural precision is always satisfying for me, especially when the story beats are rigidly calibrated to break my heart by the end.

Some formative pieces of media have been Ursula Leguin’s ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ (Really cool, shockingly romantic, atmospheric sci-fi deconstruction of gender. Ideally this book would be discussed in the same breath as Dune), The Royal Tenenbaums (Warm, hilarious, informed my love of symmetry and Owen Wilson in cowboy hats), and Bloodborne (An authentic recreation of London). Some miscellaneous recent favorites are Memories of Murder, Celeste, and anything Hayao Miyazaki has ever touched. And Aftersun, if you feel like crying a lot. I’ll round this out with SAGA and Chainsaw Man, both serialized graphic novels that juggle dozens of charming, homicidal, deeply scarred characters.

I write short fiction occasionally, but largely stick to consuming and thinking about stories all day. I’ve loved reading everybody’s introductions and am very excited for this class and discussing stories with all of you!

Week 1 Blog Post: Self-Introduction

Caleb

Hello there!

It’s very nice to be learning with you all. My name is Caleb and I’m pursuing a major in DTC with a double minor in business and film studies. I am a transfer student from Clark College, but I took about a 6 month break between Clark and WSU Vancouver to work and gather some income. I live in a coffee shop that my parents started themselves nearly 12 years ago.

Regarding storytelling, I’ve noticed that my interests fall in line with a lot of others in this class. I primarily enjoy sci-fi, fantasy, psychological thrillers, and comedic stories whether it be on paper or on screen. From the works of Jordan Peele, James Cameron, JJ Abrams, and Christian Nolan to J.R.R Tolkien, Timothy Zhan, and Octavia E. Butler. These people have created some of the coolest stories I’ve ever seen/read. An interest that I’ve found over the past few years is that of storytelling through images. An increasingly notable author and artist by the name of Simon Stålenhag, who has published various art books with his “kitchen sink sci-fi” aesthetic, are now some of my favorite books that I own. While only his first two books do this, I enjoy his simplistic writing that leaves the audience to place the pieces together themselves of what story his artwork is conveying. His later works follow a linear storyline which is no less intriguing.

Video games are another platform of storytelling I engage with. The genres I play are pretty much identical to the films and novels I read. If a game has an interesting story that can hook me in with a trailer or clip, I’m sold. I think of God of War, The Last of Us, Halo Reach, Red Dead Redemption (1 and 2), and Spiritfarer just to name of few. I believe that video games are just as important of a storytelling platform as both books and film, especially in our current time.

I’m extremely stoked to read, hear, and watch the stories this class creates and hopefully gain some new skills myself in the process of becoming a better digital storyteller. Thank you!

-Caleb

Self-Introduction

Brayden

Hi everyone!

My name is Brayden. I am a DTC major who is graduating this semester! I am taking this class because I love storytelling and thought that this would be an enjoyable elective. My favorite genres are horror, thriller, fantasy, and some sci-fi, but I enjoy dabbling in everything. I love character studies and stories that focus more on internal struggles. While I prefer these elements, if the story is well-written and holds my attention, I’ll gladly give it a chance.

Some of my favorite mediums for storytelling are books, films, and video games. I love exploring the different ways in which these three platforms can tell an impactful story. When creating my own stories, I prefer writing darker pieces that explore the mindsets of the characters and how it affects their current situation.

I’m excited to explore digital storytelling and see what creative projects I can create within our future projects. I’m also looking forward to seeing what everyone else creates!

Introduction

snarith20

Hello DTC 354 class!

My name is Sotheara (sew-tear-rah), or Sothe (sew-tea) for short. I am a senior and am retaking this class. The last time I took this class I got covid really bad. I have taken a few screenwriting courses at Portland Community College prior to transferring to WSU. I enjoy the story-building and character development aspect of the story-writing process– the things you don’t see. I have a certificate in Multimedia from PCC, so my interest in media crosses many different platforms/genres so it’s hard to pick. But what I will say is I enjoy the short format and stories that don’t have a lot of dialog but relies on character movement/body language and the environment to create a subjective story for the viewer to interrupt. I look forward to that aspect in our upcoming class projects.