Digital technology easily remediates the narrative arts of all other media (radio, movies, tv, fiction), but it also introduces new possibilities that may challenge our very notions of narrative – that a story needs a beginning, middle and end, for example. Which of the above digital texts engage you most and why? Discuss how we can approach new digital works that present stories in unfamiliar and challenging ways. What are your thoughts/experiences of how the digital, hyperlinks and the web are changing the art of storytelling. 

This was my first time reading a digital work and I was not entirely convinced it would be something I would want to try again. That being said, I found CityFish to be the most engaging out of the stories I read, it seemed to be the most linear which made it the easiest to digest and understand. I also liked that because the story was not based on hyperlinks, I could go back and re-read previous paragraphs. I think this was the most important factor for me; when reading digital texts, the story often jumps around (literally) and the ability to easily re-read is so important to gaining a better understanding of the author’s message. When I read My boyfriend came back from the war and How to Rob a Bank, I felt like I didn’t not understand what was going on, or even that I had missed parts of the story. 

I thought this was fun to make.

twine-template

Lightning in a Bottle

Digital technology easily remediates the narrative arts of all other media (radio, movies, tv, fiction), but it also introduces new possibilities that may challenge our very notions of narrative – that a story needs a beginning, middle and end, for example. Which of the above digital texts engage you most and why? Discuss how we can approach new digital works that present stories in unfamiliar and challenging ways. What are your thoughts/experiences of how the digital, hyperlinks and the web are changing the art of storytelling.

How to rob a bank was the most engaging narrative for me. Not only was it somewhat relatable but it had the most story development from a mundane position leading to a climatic outcome, in my opinion. I enjoyed seeing the transition of common, day-to-day googling and first-person perspective phone interactions into a deliberate choice to rob a bank. Then, not only was it a firsthand witnessing account of the thought process behind the robbery, but also a crash course on how they did it. That followed by the glorification and “underdog” story on how the robberies were completely justified struck a chord with me. It was an entertaining story arc in a palatable, interactive format through and through.

I believe that digital, hyperlinks and the web are making a shift towards storytelling that sufficiently meets our current-day audience. The world of novels and cinematic storytelling is becoming bloated and even repetitive in some instances. Storytelling from an interactive stance is exactly what some people require to remain engaged and absorb key story elements in a meaningful way, whether it be through relatability, involvement, or just keeping up with the story.

This is a defense of the remix intended to enlighten as to its pervasiveness and inevitable/infinite nature. The progression of society necessitates the remix– it drives human culture throughout history. Music is a medium where the remix has garnished the most disdain and criticism, but why are we not as critical about “stealing” when it comes to film? Directors, like musicians, copy shots and themes from their favorite movies almost identically at times (i.e. Tarantino’s Kill Bill, Lucas’ Star Wars). How many different Batman movie versions have been made? Painters, authors, poets, inventors all remix as well.  Anyone who does anything new and breaks conventions will encounter criticism. Writing was once scoffed at. We can bask in the aura of authenticity and appreciate subsequent remixes simultaneously.

I tried to make this video a remix in itself. I used Adobe After effects to manipulate text, images, and sound. I remixed many original sounds found online and examples from popular media. I added visual and sound effects to add uniqueness. In keeping with the idea of the remix as a democratizing force I used many sound effects from “freesound.org”. This is an open-source community that records sounds and allows you to download for free. Myself and many others regularly use this resource to remix personal videos, songs, projects, etc. The ease of access to these sound files accelerates the proliferation of varied artistic mosaics throughout the internet. Hopefully, the multimodal aspect of the video excites the senses somewhat, tickling the viewer’s brain into thinking in slightly different ways. The importance of the remix is to help imagine what is possible, to avoid stagnation, and to maximize human potential.  

credits

remix intro – missy elliot (remixed by me)
the beatles – “i wanna hold your hand” and (ogan dalka remix)
stephen foster – “beautiful dreamer” (delay remix by me)
star wars opening theme
random sound effects – freesound.org
mac startup noise

MOSAIC PROBE _I learned on Youtube Video_

Mosaic Probe Project – TikTok

Mosaic Project: Internet Anonymity

Mosaic Project Coady

I posted this to Slack when I finally figured it out. I’m really proud of the smallest code I took out to make the smallest line, on the right side of the picture, to make this “Glitch”

In my opinion, “With Those We Love Alive, by Porpentine” was the most fascinating of the four readings. Its changing nature piqued my curiosity instantanely. I appreciate how this digital text begins since it allows you to choose specific components to make the experience more unique to each individual. My favorite aspect of the narrative is that there is no clearly defined ending.Despite the fact that this is a linear tale, there are several outcomes that take us down divergent routes. The tale has a definite beginning, but the reader controls the course through specified actions.

The way the tale progresses may be a bit confusing for some if they are not into the notion of multiple paths, but I personally loved it a lot, even though it was fascinating to go back and experience a new finish for the story.

When we look at this technique of narrative telling, we can see how the medium has evolved. Since we were meant to read a linear sorty as it was placed on a book in the past, but now that we have digital media software to tell stories, the possibilities become nearly unlimited, with only the author’s creativity being the limit to what may be said or produced.

Digital technology easily remediates the narrative arts of all other media (radio, movies, tv, fiction), but it also introduces new possibilities that may challenge our very notions of narrative – that a story needs a beginning, middle and end, for example. Which of the above digital texts engage you most and why? Discuss how we can approach new digital works that present stories in unfamiliar and challenging ways. What are your thoughts/experiences of how the digital, hyperlinks and the web are changing the art of storytelling. 

The first story that I read was “how to rob a bank”. I liked how Alan Bigelow had took the time to take multiple screen shots and make it feel that you were the one in control, like when you use your phone. I thought the story was easy to understand. A family struggling and had to do something desperate to help themselves survive and make sure that their daughter is taken care of. It was a well put together way of telling the story. Something that I have never seen before. The way the hyperlinks were connected through out the story were nice and smooth. There was no confusion on how the story flowed, even though you couldn’t see some of the slides the way the journal was written to the daughter was detailed. They painted a picture in your head, giving the reader

I also read “With those we love alive” by Porpentine and I loved the Twine! While starting to read it reminded me of a book when I was growing up that gave you options to pick different paths to take in the book. And depending on the path, you could either finish it correctly or hit road blocks on the way. I do believe though that Twine could be a challenge for some people. Some people just want to read a book from start to finish and other’s would, mostly book worms I’m assuming, would enjoy the different roads they can take in stories.