Diagrammatic Narrative Slides

I present my Diagrammatic writing based upon an interaction between me, my sister, and a moth. Enjoy!

tommy o

Short Journey

I wanted a lot more panels, but then I didn’t want to need more panels to tell the story. The story is a very simple journey from one place to another. I kept the idea as spare as possible in order to tell it as clearly as I was able to. The shots are sequenced close-wide-close-wide-close. I also included a hand in each of the close shots in the hope of bringing the viewer into the story with a first person perspective. The wide shots are from a standing perspective for that same reason. Developing this short sequence pattern was done to allow the viewer to create a link of moving through a routine which might make the narrative readable as intended. The concept of a 5 shot story is abstract to me by its nature. So, I used the idea of motion that we carry through our daily lives to suggest both physical and temporal progression: moving through a door, crossing a street, starting a car, walking between visually receding buildings, traversing web space.

Did you make the leaps?

What could I have done differently?

Movies vs. books is a debate that rages on for everything. Generally, stories tend to be better in their original book form. For me personally, I enjoyed reading Paper Towns more than I did watching the movie. However, some could argue that the Harry Potter movies are even better than the books (which, in my humble opinion, they are). In the case of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, whether you prefer the written version or the film adaptation really depends on the individual. Both versions take significant liberties with the story. The book spends more time building up the world, while the film cuts out the whole middle part of the story. There could be a number of reasons for this, but one possibility is that it didn’t fit with the vision of The Twilight Zone. Also, since the main character dies early on, the film might have felt it was pointless to waste time on his journey back home. Personally, I think the movie did a great job of illustrating the beginning of part three of the story. While they kept the foundation of the character’s actions, they changed the pace and emphasis of each scene. Overall, I prefer the film version of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the superior version.

Brayden Sathrum

2/21/23

DTC 354

Link:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQSUPz6t5ienz0h5z2z6HszfMgknGmOaGYt1AHgq2Fwfs-qsLnxZRRaexCKosCWyNeBsKz30Dx0C-_L/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=60000 

Artist Statement:

This piece revolves around the relationship between my sister and I and the way it changed over time. My sister and I communicated frequently over text, so all the dialogue came from our real conversations. I created simple diagrams to communicate our backgrounds and relationship in a way that couldn’t be expressed in text. If I expand this to be my final project, I’d add more depth with extra conversations and make it a blend of images, video, and text.

I had never read the short story or seen the film for An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, but both were shocking to say the least. I watched the film episode first with my friends and roommates while we ate dinner and to be completely honest, it was very slow. That is something any type of video adaptation does that is slightly annoying for me, personally. I can always read the book, manga, comic faster than the film, anime, or tv episode can portray it. If they do not do it quickly, succinctly, or well then it can become a slog. That is one of the differences between the two. Another is in the film he only had a wife not a child, in fact we do not even know the main character’s first name or motivations, or why he was even being hanged. In the short story we do, which was interesting, as well as his general thoughts and feelings towards situations instead of having to rely on his actor to portray his feelings as best he can.

Events of the story were also rearranged differently in the film version. In that sense I think the show did well, however the pacing was so sluggish it was hard to care. I can appreciate slow narratives, but the antiquated colorless show made it even more so. The editing was pretty good, the snap and death took me by quite a surprise even though I was expecting it right at the end when he ran at his wife for too long. The shot composition was okay as well, the different shots for him drowning and pulling himself out of the river seemed advanced. I would say both versions do good for the story in different aspects, like getting to know more in writing but the music and gunshots adds more tension in the show. All in all, an interesting concept!

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” by Ambrose Pierce, follows the tale of a man that is about to be hanged but miraculously escapes death, or so he thinks. I thought both the short story and the film were well-done and accentuated different aspects of the plot. The written version includes many added details that help us get into the mind of the main character. An example of this is when he is drowning after the rope breaks. There is a lengthy paragraph dedicated to his thoughts and feelings as he tries to free himself and get to the surface. Adding these little moments gives us a better sense of who he is and what he’s feeling in these intense sequences. While in the film we witness this event unfold, we have no idea what he’s thinking and therefore lose that perspective.

With that said, the movie has its own elements that provide a unique take on the story. The imagery and sounds largely tell the tale as there is little to no dialogue. I think these add to the tension, particularly when he is fleeing and you can hear the guns and cannons going off around him. You never know if he is actually going to make it and pairing this unknown with the loud sounds of gunfire elevates the suspense. The film also gives us sympathy for the man through its music and camera angles. Even though we don’t know what he’s thinking, the camera focuses on him enough for us to see his emotions. I thought the song that was used several times also played a role in making him feel more human and allowed us to grieve over his circumstances. Overall, I enjoyed both versions of this story and it was interesting to see what aspects each medium chose to focus on.

Here ya go!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQmTpmO-jp8hkCQu1hTKwn70vFIVobVDziLoPV4e_eG-O3bJ80ymTSkGOpx7k9Oiizi781GrJhznq2R/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=60000

The short film adaptation of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge delivered the story very faithfully to the original. In both, the scene is set in a highly detailed manner. Subject to subject transitions provide the reader/viewer a well-established sense of the space in which the plot begins. In the story, these are written. In the film, these take the form of long opening shots. Starting wide and narrowing in, they take the scene from large and open to right on the man about to be hanged.

The largest difference between film and story comes in the second section of Bierce’s original. This background section is omitted from the film entirely, which is a suitable translation. In it, we get a flashback to our main character relaxing with his wife and talking with a soldier about the Yankees repairing the railroads nearby. This is fitting because it leaves the short film to be about a particular moment, opening it up to more imaginative viewing. If the background scene were to be included, it would take away the mystery enveloping the scene. It would also feel much less like an episode of The Twilight Zone. 

The final section of the story is similar to the first in its presentation. Sticking much more to the source material, we get slow shots at first, but as the man realizes his situation of being hanged and drowned, the shots speed up with his panic. And like the original, the realization that he’s been in a dream-like flash before his eyes comes suddenly.

diagrammatic narrative

Hello all! Here is my diagrammatic narrative. Hope you like it!

Sammy

Here is my Diagrammatic Narrative.

Hello! Here is my Diagrammatic Narrative!

Thank you and have a good day!

Hi class! Here is my Diagrammatic Story. Hope you like it and I’ll see you tomorrow 🙂

I tell the FICTIONAL story of my dog finding the front door open and going on a walk to the park. I use Scene to Scene transitions to tell the story of his choices taking him to the park and home. It shows him in new locations and the reader assumes that he traveled from one location to the next. I don’t need to show him traveling because the reader’s closure bridges that narrative gap for me.

tommy o

Often I am surprised by what elements remain in a film adapted from prose. With Bierce’s “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge,” I found that the central point of the story persisted without discernible dialog, and without exposition of the main character’s motivation for any crime because the deeper motivation was more important to the tale. I enjoyed this illustration in film because it speaks to what can be left out of a story with visual components. For instance, a viewer from the United States knows at least a little about the American Civil War so showing soldiers in Union Uniforms and the main character at a plantation gives that viewer what they need in order to imagine the setting as placed in that time.

As for pacing, the longer opening shots of the film with wide views along with the almost procedural introduction of a rope for hanging was used to slowly build tension toward an expected execution. When the rope breaks the film relies on disorienting angled shots and the pace of shots increases to support the feelings of panic. In the short story this part of the work where Peyton Farquhar falls from the bridge uses a lot of action language to build that panic. It begins with an almost deceptive slowness but with a staccato-like punctuation, “From this state he was awakened–ages later, it seemed to him–by the pain of sharp pressure upon his throat,”  and transitions to action language, “…Keen, poignant agonies… shoot through his neck… streams of pulsating fire…” Both of these approaches, in film and writing, yield the same basic story for the viewer/reader.

As the story moves on with Peyton’s journey home what remains left in the film at the end is intriguing. Peyton rushes toward his welcoming wife only to be pulled back to the moment of his death. This is important to me because the essential elements of the story in a basic form are: the main character faces death; he escapes death through a trick of fate; he runs toward the only thing of importance in his mind, those he loves; only to find that he has inescapably lost it all in one final moment. Though the film leaves out Peyton’s folly the point of loss strongly remains. Visually, Payton’s pulling back choking and the cuts to an ordered and almost serene view of him hanging as the soldiers disperse reinforces the feeling of suddenness of violence that the text gives, as well as the quiet finality as it was originally written, “He springs forward with extended arms. As he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like a shock of a cannon–then all is darkness and silence!
Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of Owl Creek Bridge.” This inclusion seems at least as important as what was left out of the film. It’s the crux of the story. I’m interested to read what you all find most important.