For this of you who could not read my proposal, my project idea is to analyze the use of fonts in House of Leaves and investigate how each of the different fonts correlates to its respective narrator. Without the use of fonts, House of Leaves would be an entirely different piece of literature and Danielewski uses various fonts in an artistic, yet purposeful fashion. After some beginning research, I have two theories on the purpose of these fonts:
(1) Danielewski delegated fonts to each narrator and the history of the font can be derived to say something about that specific character
(2) All of the fonts come from a shared history and are being used to hide the fact that there is only one narrator(Johnny)
The simple problem I have been running into is identifying some of the fonts in the novel. I and my roommate (computer science major) have successfully identified some of the fonts, and had trouble with some of the others. If anyone disagrees with some of these identifications, please tell me, I could very well be wrong.
In 1991, Apple released True Type, the first program with scalable font. The fonts included in this program were Times New Roman, Helvetica, and Courier. Later, in 1992, TrueType came to Windows 3.1, but this time with Arial replacing Helvetica. Interestingly enough, I am typing in Arial currently with Times and Courier as other options. Helvetica, although it is one of the most common fonts, is curiously not included in the selection. Helvetica is held in much higher regard than the other fonts in concerns of aesthetics.
Interestingly enough, each one of the narrators in House of Leaves uses one of these four fonts. Some may argue that Danielewski made this decision for practical purposes rather than narrative purposes. These four fonts are in fact web friendly fonts and House of Leaves was an internet sensation before it ever hit the bookstores. In fact, it is a very logical presumption that the Danielewski's publishers would have been much more wary to invest in all these different fonts if it were not all the internet buzz that surrounded the story.
Despite this evidence suggesting that the choice of fonts was pragmatic, there is a strong case to the contrary.
Zampano's narrative is written in Times New Roman, a font normally originally created for newspaper columnists. Interestingly enough, Zampano is more of a blind reporter than anything else. Eugene Ionesco once said, "The critic should describe, not prescribe," and this is exactly what Zampano does. His narrative is less of a critique and more a collection of other critiques describing the Navidson record. The descriptions become so plentisome that the reader is often lost in pieces of literature distantly related to The Navidson Record.
Later in the novel, specifically Chapter XI, Zampano's narrative is designed like that of a newspaper columnist. His work is split into columns approximately 4.5 cm wide. This width is common in many newspapers and it again shows that Danielewski had more in mind when desiganting font types.
Johnny uses the font Courier, a font that lacks beauty but is consistently used in computer programming, specifically in Unix. The fact that Johhny uses a more techincal font is appropriate. One can imagine him, a child of the modern age, using his computer to add his own comments onto Zampano's narrative. His narrative seems to reflect the change writing that took place with the advent of computers. While it is clear that some editing and careful word choice were used in Zampano's narrative, from the beginning Johnny's text is sloppy. He uses contractions, flow of consciousness, and very raw language. Johnny is a new age writer whose use of the computer as a writing tool is obvious from the text.
Danielewski assigned Karen with a font that is ubiquitous and beautiful - Helvetica. In the documentary Helvetica, graphic designer Wim Crouvel talks about how he dreaming of making "a typeface suitable for the digitizer." For Crouvel, these typeface had to work for a digitizer, but it also had to be piece of art. Eventually this piece of art would be known as Helvetica. Karen, who is in fact a gorgeous model, uses the font in her narrative.
Throughout the interviews, Karen speaks with mostly artists, writers, and architects. Karen speaks with people who would appreciate the beauty of the font and coincidentally notice her beauty as well. After receiving numerous passes and receiving little relevant information, Karen's transcript ends.
Well there is one difficult variation I am working with. The fourth font I have identified is not Arial, but it appears to be a derivative of Arial. Of its exact history I do not know, but I have found some relevant information. The name of the fourth font is Bookman, a font released in the year 2000. This font is used by the editors. Is this a coincidence? I think not. House of Leaves was released in 2000. Danielewski chose Bookman to make the story look fresh, like it had just been edited by a group of lousy, modern editors. This makes House of Leaves appear more like a legitimate critique with multiple authors, instead of something Danielewski compiled himself.
I plan on expanding on each of these relations between narrators and their respective fonts. Hoepfully I can support one of my two hypotheses by the end of it.
Problems:
Tom's font --> Can't figure out what it is
"I am always suspicious of collective truths..." - Ionesco
Friday, December 7, 2007
Guitarred and Feathered (and edits)
Hey bitches (And Doctor Johns).
Here's the link to my work-in-progress website. There is more content in progress that isn't live yet.
http://alex.benevent.googlepages.com/
Check it out and let me know what you think.
I'm a little disappointed by the limitations of the medium but that's just because I'm stupid and don't know HTML or java or flash or any of that stuff. I had much bigger goals for this project, so I'm just going to have to make it extra weird.
Comments?
EDIT: I've been trying to make some more content that will hopefully endear readers to my protagonist of sorts. Content'll go live when I get off my couch, because my laptop is old and shitty, and won't work right when I try to publish content on my webspace. So check for it later, even if you read through it earlier today and already decided it was shit, then there'll be more shit for you to look at later.
Plus my glass of milk is out here and I'm not done with it yet, and my desktop is in my bedroom, and there's no way I can get there without getting up. I don't know much about architecture, but that's bullshit.
-A
Here's the link to my work-in-progress website. There is more content in progress that isn't live yet.
http://alex.benevent.googlepages.com/
Check it out and let me know what you think.
I'm a little disappointed by the limitations of the medium but that's just because I'm stupid and don't know HTML or java or flash or any of that stuff. I had much bigger goals for this project, so I'm just going to have to make it extra weird.
Comments?
EDIT: I've been trying to make some more content that will hopefully endear readers to my protagonist of sorts. Content'll go live when I get off my couch, because my laptop is old and shitty, and won't work right when I try to publish content on my webspace. So check for it later, even if you read through it earlier today and already decided it was shit, then there'll be more shit for you to look at later.
Plus my glass of milk is out here and I'm not done with it yet, and my desktop is in my bedroom, and there's no way I can get there without getting up. I don't know much about architecture, but that's bullshit.
-A
The Hurtin's on me (Yeah), And I'll never be free (No no no)
This is my trimmed rough draft, it's sort've an essay but not in the same linear sort of format. I decided to just use one example for this post on the blog, leaving the others mentioned for the final draft.
First, it would be easiest to pick a form of media expression that most people would be familiar with-- that of the video game on a major video game platform. To be fair, I chose a game that has the most narrative elemnts in it; a tactical Roleplaying game called "Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions." The story revolves around the main character, Ramza (though players are given the option of picking whatever name they want-- I usually go with "Lance") and the part he plays in a war that takes place between two huge factions within the land of Ivalice (Ee-vuh-leez). Ramza is accompanied by a varied cast of customizable characters, whose jobs can range from Squire, Chemist, Black & White Mage, to Holy Knight, Time Mage, Onion Knight, Monk, and Summoner. These characters do not play a major role in the outcome of the game, merely showing up as the pixelated avatars on the in-game battle sequences. The main players in the game (characters that the player cannot change) are Delita (Ramza's childhood friend), Count Orlando (leader of The Southern Sky Corps), Dycedarg (Ramza's brother and leader of The Northern Sky Corps), Ophelia & Agrias (Adopted Princess and her trustworthy bodyguard), and Mustadio (an engineer in the new Underground Goug City technology). The story is rife with betrayal, love, battle, and politics-- it is just as extensive and requires just as much attention to understand as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
Narrator & Supporting Cast Characterization: FFT: War of the Lions is strong in this aspect regarding the PRIMARY cast of characters. None of the characters that the player spends so much time lovingly leveling up from the beginning of the game have any sort of backgrounds or personality. They are flat and more or less are just ways for you to see all the cool different sorts of jobs you can get within the game and help you beat the crap out of your enemies. Ramza has the most amount of characterization, but I believe that his personality is oversimplified as a benefit for other characters to act as foils. Additionally, while supporting cast characters (such as Delita, Ophelia, and Agrias) will, at many points in the game, have others make references to their past or such-- it is often too vague for me to really get a feel for the character as a whole.
Throughout Narrative and Technology, we as a class have been exploring different expressions of narratives. A narrative is defined as "a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious. " The class has revolved primarily around the narratives in books, despite Dr. Johns' additions of a movie or two and the occasional text-based/old school computer game. Because I lack the creative prowess that allows me to create a neo-modern narrative or perform a dance, symphony, or the like to one of the pieces of work that we've read, I decided that since I play so many video games (and thus have a fairly intimate knowledge of them) that I would compare and contrast the effectiveness of narratives between a major console (PlayStationPortable) game, an MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online RolePlaying Game), two text-based MUDs/MUSHs (Multi-User Dungeon/ Multi-User Shared Hallucination), and several Forum RPGs. Instead of one platform being good and the other bad, each modern media expression has its strengths and weaknesses. The goal of this essay is to explain, after weeks of first-hand experience and research, what those strengths and weaknesses are and then give a (hopefully) accurate ranking of which expression delivers a narrative closest to the novel narrative. To divide and rank these narratives easily, I've created four categories that touch upon the strongest points Dr. Johns has made throughout the course as to what is a narrative. These categories include: Narrator & Supporting Cast Characterization, Story Point of View & Strength of Character Voice, Story Depth, and Player Immersability in the Story.
First, an explanation ofthe reasoning behind each category and how a game ranks within it:
- Narrator & Supporting Cast Characterization: What do we know about the main character? Does this character possess easily recognizeable character traits while still maintaining a complex persona that gives the player a good idea, but not utmost certainty, on how they would react in a given situation? Does the same go for the supporting cast? Does the game contain an identifiable supporting cast that stays with the character throughout the story? To what depth are resources on each character's history avaiable to the player?
- Story Point of View & Strength of Character Voice: It is important to note whether the story is 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person omniscent or 3rd person limited because each method requires different approaches to give us a clearly defined, strongly voiced character. This is not a repeat of the previous category because, while the player can be notified about the history and personality of their character, it is quite another thing for the player to be able to make their character display their traits and history through action or dialogue. Also, the amount of choices involved with how a character can display the strength of their presence is also a factor here.
- Story Depth: Obviously this had to be included in what makes a successful narrative, especially in relation to how a game closes the gap between a modern expression of a narrative and the tried-and-true expression of a narrative through written word on paper. How much does the player know about the plot? Is the entirety of the plot revealed at the beginning of the game or is it slowly revealed as the player progresses through it? Is the plot as complex and interesting as the gameplay or does it take a back-seat to stats, levels, and graphics?
- Player Immersability in the Story: A narrative must be immersive enough for the reader or player if it is to be successful. In simple terms of reading, this immersability can be carried out by having the reader go back and make different choices in the novel (ala Choose Your Own Adventure), make a reader interact with the novel itself (i.e. House of Leaves) or be so complex yet interesting enough to hold the reader's interest that the reader may choose to go back and re-read portions of the narrative or do research on/psychoanalyze what is written. This rule applies the same to video game narratives-- does the reader have resources available to them about the story and then, is the story complex enough that the reader applies their cognitive resources to better understand said story? Is there room for metaphor and other forms of figurative language in the game?
First, it would be easiest to pick a form of media expression that most people would be familiar with-- that of the video game on a major video game platform. To be fair, I chose a game that has the most narrative elemnts in it; a tactical Roleplaying game called "Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions." The story revolves around the main character, Ramza (though players are given the option of picking whatever name they want-- I usually go with "Lance") and the part he plays in a war that takes place between two huge factions within the land of Ivalice (Ee-vuh-leez). Ramza is accompanied by a varied cast of customizable characters, whose jobs can range from Squire, Chemist, Black & White Mage, to Holy Knight, Time Mage, Onion Knight, Monk, and Summoner. These characters do not play a major role in the outcome of the game, merely showing up as the pixelated avatars on the in-game battle sequences. The main players in the game (characters that the player cannot change) are Delita (Ramza's childhood friend), Count Orlando (leader of The Southern Sky Corps), Dycedarg (Ramza's brother and leader of The Northern Sky Corps), Ophelia & Agrias (Adopted Princess and her trustworthy bodyguard), and Mustadio (an engineer in the new Underground Goug City technology). The story is rife with betrayal, love, battle, and politics-- it is just as extensive and requires just as much attention to understand as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Narrator & Supporting Cast Characterization: FFT: War of the Lions is strong in this aspect regarding the PRIMARY cast of characters. None of the characters that the player spends so much time lovingly leveling up from the beginning of the game have any sort of backgrounds or personality. They are flat and more or less are just ways for you to see all the cool different sorts of jobs you can get within the game and help you beat the crap out of your enemies. Ramza has the most amount of characterization, but I believe that his personality is oversimplified as a benefit for other characters to act as foils. Additionally, while supporting cast characters (such as Delita, Ophelia, and Agrias) will, at many points in the game, have others make references to their past or such-- it is often too vague for me to really get a feel for the character as a whole.I have to make further comments about History in FFT: WotL specifically because there is a section (under "Chronicles") that allows for a more in-depth look at the history of the main characters in the story. The backgrounds are well-written and give me a good understanding of the character. However, I would have liked to have seen these resources utilized more fully in the gameinstead of being buried beneath a bunch of ambiguously titled sub-menus in order for me to find these histories. If these histories were missing (an indeed, the player could go through the entire game without even knowing about the availability of these resources) a lot of the in-game references would prove extremely confusing-- especially to the player who cares about knowing the characters and their personalities to their utmost extent.
Story Point of View & Strength of Character Voice: This game gets a little confusing regarding point of view. The game is 3rd person limited, yet sometimes expands to 3rd person omniscient before diminishing back to its diminished form. I suppose the reason why the game runs this way is because things are not actually happening in "real time," this is a story that is being conveyed by the offspring of Olan Durai (a somewhat minor character), a man by the name of Alazlam J.D. This is actually interesting because it explains why Ramza does not have much of a voice in the game-- if the game is trying to be accurate as an intimate telling of history opposed to history in the making, it is most likely that the player would not see all the thoughts and feelings of Ramza.
That being said, though, the story still does lack a strong presence for Ramza. Often-times I will feel that he is overshadowed by Delita (a non-playable character that is extremely important to the story), Dycedarg, Zalbag, or even Agrias which is a shame because this game focuses squarely on Ramza and the choices he makes in the War. When Ramza is paired with a weaker-willed character (there aren't many until late in the game) that is when he really shines but I feel that the inconsistency here between the beginning of the game and nearly abrupt change toward the end is too much of a mistake in the narrative to overlook.
Story Depth: This is what makes FFT: WotL such a fun game-- there is so much depth to this 
plot it's easy to become lost in the politics and love traingles, the implicit statements of relationships and actions and the like. Because the game is not Ramza-centric, many layers of the game are obscured from the player to a large degree with the information slowly revealing itself as the game goes on. The story of the War of the Lions and the different complex politics involved (especially between military powers and religious ones) makes this seem like the TRUE focus of the game, even though I feel the gameplay itself is fantastic. If someone were to write a form of meta-fiction following the entirety of this game, they could easily exceed the length of House of Leaves.
plot it's easy to become lost in the politics and love traingles, the implicit statements of relationships and actions and the like. Because the game is not Ramza-centric, many layers of the game are obscured from the player to a large degree with the information slowly revealing itself as the game goes on. The story of the War of the Lions and the different complex politics involved (especially between military powers and religious ones) makes this seem like the TRUE focus of the game, even though I feel the gameplay itself is fantastic. If someone were to write a form of meta-fiction following the entirety of this game, they could easily exceed the length of House of Leaves.Player Immersability in the Story: This game is the epitome of platform RPGs. The player is given a character who will act a certain way throughout the story (with a small degree of choice on the player's part) with the only game-effecting editable attributes being that of name, date of birth, job selection, and gear. That's it. I don't feel like I could possibly be Ramza in this game; sad considering that most first person shooters and 2nd person novels pull this off better. Even when I change Ramza's name to "Lance," just having other characters say the name in cutscenes does not make me feel like a blonde, purple-armor wearing fighter for peace.
That being said, the story and characters make the game complex enough that I do want to (and have) played the game over and over just to see if I've missed something in the story or some small characterization of the cast. I see plenty of room for allegorical connections, as well as time that could be spent analyzing other parts of FFT history or literary novels that may connect with the game.
I would post more but I fear that I may have posted too much already though I feel this is sufficient enough for Adam to see where I am going with my essay.
Final Project
Thanks to genius also known as Nik i discovered how to make my final incorporate the essence of this class. check out www.nandtfinalproject.blogspot.com for the rough draft of my project. Adam tell me what you think in class please.
I just want to express myself through the art of dance!
If you couldn't guess, I'm a big Dane Cook fan...
The following is a very rough draft of my paper. I have no time to do it tomorrow, so I decided to write it tonight and find some time between studying to brush it up a lot. Dancing as a Narrative
I've been trying to upload the video of me dancing on here but it won't upload at all. Does anyone have a good idea of how to go about this?
The following is a very rough draft of my paper. I have no time to do it tomorrow, so I decided to write it tonight and find some time between studying to brush it up a lot. Dancing as a Narrative
I've been trying to upload the video of me dancing on here but it won't upload at all. Does anyone have a good idea of how to go about this?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
U.S.S. Tonoro
Well, I thought it would be a good idea to post an update (and a sort-of rough draft) on what my final project is about. As I posted before, I am working on a meta-fiction set in the Alien universe. The story begins with an introduction from the book's author, Dr. Evan Andrews. Dr. Andrews is one of the seven medical officers aboard the United Systems Military (U.S.M.) Medical Research Vessel Auriga.
The Auriga is on the last legs of its journey to home base (Earth). The ship had to make a stop at the planet known as Arcturus, where the wreck of the U.S.S. Tonoro (which vanished nearly 170 years earlier) was discovered. The Auriga was instructed to pick up "criminal evidence" found on the Tonoro to take back to home base for further investigation. On the trip home, Dr. Andrews, a follower of the U.S.S. Tonoro conspiracy, decides to take a peek at the "evidence." There, he discovers the truth behind what happened to the U.S.C.S.S. Nostromo, the colony on LV-426, the prisoners on Fiorina 161, the U.S.S. Sulaco and her sister ship the U.S.S. Tonoro.
The book Dr. Andrews writes is based on the evidece found on the wreck of the Tonoro which include data found in the Tonoro's computer (videos, radio transmissions), data from the Tonoro's and the Sulaco's flight data recorders, classified files from Weyland-Yutani, and the diary of U.S.C.M. private Alicia Hendrick.
After the introduction, the story picks up 10 years after the events ofAlien 3, now through the eyes of Alicia Hendrick. Hendrick brings the reader up to speed on what has occured in the past 10 years. Lieutenant Ellen Ripley (U.S.C.S.S. Nostromo) is dead, the prison on Fiorina 161 is sealed, and prisoner Morse is re-assigned to another facility. Network Comcon lost contact with the U.S.S. Sulaco shortly after Ripley's EEV crashed on Fiorina 161. A search party was sent out by the U.S.C.M. to find the Sulaco, but after three weeks of searching, they gave up and the Sulaco is presumed lost.
After the Weyland-Yutani vessel Patna dropped off prisoner Morse on the planet of Denobola, the ship heads back to LV-426 (a.k.a. Acheron) in the hopes that the derelict ship the Nostromo investigated 57 years earlier survived the explosion of the Atmosphere Processing Station. They find the ship severely damaged. To their dismay, the chamber where all of the alien eggs were stored collaped and was inaccessible. The eggs are presumed crushed and the Patna returned to the Core Systems. For the next 10 years, Weyland-Yutani experiences financial problems. Their problems escalate after prisoner Morse published his book in which he tells the story of Ellen Ripley and how she died to save humanity from the alien species. In his book, Morse revealed that Weyland-Yutani had planned to use the alien for their bio-weapons division. Rumors began to spread about the destruction of the colony on LV-426 (known as Hadley's Hope). The rumors quickly turned into a full-blown conspiracy after classified information from Weyland-Yutani leaked out concerning the Nostromo and the Sulaco.
Shares of Weyland-Yutani continued to plummet over the years. Then, 10 years after Fiorina 161, the wreck of the Sulaco is discovered by a Weyland-Yutani deep-space probe. The ship is orbiting the planet of Gamma Serpentis when she is discovered ("how she got there is anyone's guess.").
Weyland-Yutani asks the U.S.C.M. to help them retrieve the ship. At first, the U.S.C.M. refuses to help on the basis that "the company has given [the marines] enough headaches already. It is unlikely that the ship is repairable based on the information provided by its computer prior to her disappearance." Weyland eventually managed to convince the U.S.C.M. to cooperate after Weyland promises them to assist in any repairs the ship might need (though they do not mention that the ship's orbit is decaying and towing the vessel back home will be difficult, if not impossible).
This is where the story starts, with the salvage team waking up from stasis as the Tonoro approaches Gamma Serpentis. Once the Tonoro rendezvous with the Sulaco, the story is mostly radio communications between "Search Squad One" and Lieutenant Charles Gorman (Lieutenant William Gorman's brother) on the Tonoro. The search squad finds 5 of the Sulaco's decks scarred from the fire that erupted on board. It is determined by the party that the fire started in the cryogenic compartment and worked its way to the dropship hanger. There, the fire caused the fuel in the dropship to explode, destroying the craft as well as most of the equipment in the hanger. The fire moved its way up through the ship until it reached the reactor room. The computer scrammed the reactor and cut power to the ship's life support systems. The fire continued to burn until all of the oxygen in the ship was burned. The search squad found the ship still had some power in her emergency systems as well as some oxygen left in her tanks. With the help of the atmosphere scrubbers, the team managed to make the air in the ship breathable. For the next three days (it was calculated the Sulaco had 4 days to live before she entered the planet's atmosphere and crashed), the team retrieved everything from the Sulaco's computer and searched for any evidence of the alien that was rumored to have been on board the Sulaco when she jettisoned her cryo tubes. With only 12 hours before the Sulaco crashed, private Aaron Johnson goes missing. The party finds him unconscious in one of the ship's cargo holds which, surprisingly, was not damaged by the fire. What cought their attention was the egg lying next to him, which was empty. Johnson is carried back to the Tonoro (he later regains consciousness in the ship's infirmary) and the team discovers the dead face-hugger, which they also take back to the Tonoro for further analysis.
The team seal the Sulaco for the last time and stay in the area to watch the Sulaco crash into the planet. The Tonoro heads back to Earth. As the team is about to return to their cryo tubes, Hendrick notices that Johnson has not returned from the mess-hall. The crew find him dead in the mess-hall, with a hole in his chest. From there on, the story is centered around the team's attempt to catch and destroy the alien which is killing them off, one by one.
The story ends (as a sort of epilogue) with Dr. Andrews, now 20 years after he examined the "evidence" the Auriga was taking back to Earth. Here, he notes the destruction of the U.S.M. Auriga (from Alien Resurrection) and the discovery of the Tonoro's missing EEV....
....and the alien frozen inside.
What do you guys think? I still have a number of things I need to work out.
Most of the dialog from the "hunting for the alien" section will be taken from Alicia's diary and videos found in the Tonoro's computer.
The "searching the Sulaco" section will include radio transmissions between the search party and the Tonoro, as well as communications between the Tonoro and Network.
Dr. Andrews will be adding footnotes to the story, since more in known about what happened aboard the Tonoro at this time then what the ship's crew knew as they searched for the alien.
Oh yeah, I made a cover page for the story. I posted it earlier in a comment, but I figured I'd post it again (don't ask why). I plan to include pictures with several of the pages.
Any suggestions on anything I should change?
The Auriga is on the last legs of its journey to home base (Earth). The ship had to make a stop at the planet known as Arcturus, where the wreck of the U.S.S. Tonoro (which vanished nearly 170 years earlier) was discovered. The Auriga was instructed to pick up "criminal evidence" found on the Tonoro to take back to home base for further investigation. On the trip home, Dr. Andrews, a follower of the U.S.S. Tonoro conspiracy, decides to take a peek at the "evidence." There, he discovers the truth behind what happened to the U.S.C.S.S. Nostromo, the colony on LV-426, the prisoners on Fiorina 161, the U.S.S. Sulaco and her sister ship the U.S.S. Tonoro.
The book Dr. Andrews writes is based on the evidece found on the wreck of the Tonoro which include data found in the Tonoro's computer (videos, radio transmissions), data from the Tonoro's and the Sulaco's flight data recorders, classified files from Weyland-Yutani, and the diary of U.S.C.M. private Alicia Hendrick.
After the introduction, the story picks up 10 years after the events ofAlien 3, now through the eyes of Alicia Hendrick. Hendrick brings the reader up to speed on what has occured in the past 10 years. Lieutenant Ellen Ripley (U.S.C.S.S. Nostromo) is dead, the prison on Fiorina 161 is sealed, and prisoner Morse is re-assigned to another facility. Network Comcon lost contact with the U.S.S. Sulaco shortly after Ripley's EEV crashed on Fiorina 161. A search party was sent out by the U.S.C.M. to find the Sulaco, but after three weeks of searching, they gave up and the Sulaco is presumed lost.
After the Weyland-Yutani vessel Patna dropped off prisoner Morse on the planet of Denobola, the ship heads back to LV-426 (a.k.a. Acheron) in the hopes that the derelict ship the Nostromo investigated 57 years earlier survived the explosion of the Atmosphere Processing Station. They find the ship severely damaged. To their dismay, the chamber where all of the alien eggs were stored collaped and was inaccessible. The eggs are presumed crushed and the Patna returned to the Core Systems. For the next 10 years, Weyland-Yutani experiences financial problems. Their problems escalate after prisoner Morse published his book in which he tells the story of Ellen Ripley and how she died to save humanity from the alien species. In his book, Morse revealed that Weyland-Yutani had planned to use the alien for their bio-weapons division. Rumors began to spread about the destruction of the colony on LV-426 (known as Hadley's Hope). The rumors quickly turned into a full-blown conspiracy after classified information from Weyland-Yutani leaked out concerning the Nostromo and the Sulaco.
Shares of Weyland-Yutani continued to plummet over the years. Then, 10 years after Fiorina 161, the wreck of the Sulaco is discovered by a Weyland-Yutani deep-space probe. The ship is orbiting the planet of Gamma Serpentis when she is discovered ("how she got there is anyone's guess.").
Weyland-Yutani asks the U.S.C.M. to help them retrieve the ship. At first, the U.S.C.M. refuses to help on the basis that "the company has given [the marines] enough headaches already. It is unlikely that the ship is repairable based on the information provided by its computer prior to her disappearance." Weyland eventually managed to convince the U.S.C.M. to cooperate after Weyland promises them to assist in any repairs the ship might need (though they do not mention that the ship's orbit is decaying and towing the vessel back home will be difficult, if not impossible).
This is where the story starts, with the salvage team waking up from stasis as the Tonoro approaches Gamma Serpentis. Once the Tonoro rendezvous with the Sulaco, the story is mostly radio communications between "Search Squad One" and Lieutenant Charles Gorman (Lieutenant William Gorman's brother) on the Tonoro. The search squad finds 5 of the Sulaco's decks scarred from the fire that erupted on board. It is determined by the party that the fire started in the cryogenic compartment and worked its way to the dropship hanger. There, the fire caused the fuel in the dropship to explode, destroying the craft as well as most of the equipment in the hanger. The fire moved its way up through the ship until it reached the reactor room. The computer scrammed the reactor and cut power to the ship's life support systems. The fire continued to burn until all of the oxygen in the ship was burned. The search squad found the ship still had some power in her emergency systems as well as some oxygen left in her tanks. With the help of the atmosphere scrubbers, the team managed to make the air in the ship breathable. For the next three days (it was calculated the Sulaco had 4 days to live before she entered the planet's atmosphere and crashed), the team retrieved everything from the Sulaco's computer and searched for any evidence of the alien that was rumored to have been on board the Sulaco when she jettisoned her cryo tubes. With only 12 hours before the Sulaco crashed, private Aaron Johnson goes missing. The party finds him unconscious in one of the ship's cargo holds which, surprisingly, was not damaged by the fire. What cought their attention was the egg lying next to him, which was empty. Johnson is carried back to the Tonoro (he later regains consciousness in the ship's infirmary) and the team discovers the dead face-hugger, which they also take back to the Tonoro for further analysis.
The team seal the Sulaco for the last time and stay in the area to watch the Sulaco crash into the planet. The Tonoro heads back to Earth. As the team is about to return to their cryo tubes, Hendrick notices that Johnson has not returned from the mess-hall. The crew find him dead in the mess-hall, with a hole in his chest. From there on, the story is centered around the team's attempt to catch and destroy the alien which is killing them off, one by one.
The story ends (as a sort of epilogue) with Dr. Andrews, now 20 years after he examined the "evidence" the Auriga was taking back to Earth. Here, he notes the destruction of the U.S.M. Auriga (from Alien Resurrection) and the discovery of the Tonoro's missing EEV....
....and the alien frozen inside.
What do you guys think? I still have a number of things I need to work out.
Most of the dialog from the "hunting for the alien" section will be taken from Alicia's diary and videos found in the Tonoro's computer.
The "searching the Sulaco" section will include radio transmissions between the search party and the Tonoro, as well as communications between the Tonoro and Network.
Dr. Andrews will be adding footnotes to the story, since more in known about what happened aboard the Tonoro at this time then what the ship's crew knew as they searched for the alien.
Oh yeah, I made a cover page for the story. I posted it earlier in a comment, but I figured I'd post it again (don't ask why). I plan to include pictures with several of the pages.
Any suggestions on anything I should change?
No Class Today
Hi Everyone,
I just had a root canal, and I decided there's no way I'm making it through all of my classes today, so everyone gets a day off. So just work on your midterm projects instead, and we'll wrap up House of Leaves on Friday. Post any questions you have about your projects.
I just had a root canal, and I decided there's no way I'm making it through all of my classes today, so everyone gets a day off. So just work on your midterm projects instead, and we'll wrap up House of Leaves on Friday. Post any questions you have about your projects.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Final Proposal
It has taken me a while to figure out what I should do for this last project. House of Leaves has always been my main focus. Since I did more of a research project for the midterm I will try (emphasis on try) to make more of a creative project. So, the idea I came up with is separated into two parts. The first part i will talk about the impact that text, font, positioning, and so on has on the way we read a book. Each chapter in House of Leaves has its own unique style which makes the reader take different approaches to understanding the chapter. The second part of the project is where my creative side is going to come in. I will write up a short story, about what, I don't know yet. But the point of this short story is to show how different ways of putting text on a page changes the way we read books. So, I will have the same story printed out twice. One copy of the story will be in standard format, while the other copy will be similar to HOL. I am also thinking about putting footnotes in as well, but that could be pushing it. This idea still needs to be cleaned up a bit so if anyone has any imput let me know.
After Much Anticipation.
So my final project idea is………………
A paper on the media and Women…now before you count me off..the rest will hopefully make more sense. It is my opinion that the female narrative in the 21st century has been written out and planned for us ( women) by other entities than ourselves. I love to take picture and looks at things and through my love of observation I believe I have noticed a ploy by the various media outlets to build women into a very specific pattern of existence. To me the female narrative has been toyed with in such a way that now we( women) are almost forced to by into the desires of (______i haven’t decided who yet…_____) thus building our lives and writing our narrative built on false pretenses.
So my narrative thus far, until my “awakening”(lol) has not been written really, by what I want and feel naturally, but what I am taught to want and feel by society. Please Please help me focus this idea more…
A paper on the media and Women…now before you count me off..the rest will hopefully make more sense. It is my opinion that the female narrative in the 21st century has been written out and planned for us ( women) by other entities than ourselves. I love to take picture and looks at things and through my love of observation I believe I have noticed a ploy by the various media outlets to build women into a very specific pattern of existence. To me the female narrative has been toyed with in such a way that now we( women) are almost forced to by into the desires of (______i haven’t decided who yet…_____) thus building our lives and writing our narrative built on false pretenses.
So my narrative thus far, until my “awakening”(lol) has not been written really, by what I want and feel naturally, but what I am taught to want and feel by society. Please Please help me focus this idea more…
Sunday, December 2, 2007
To My Esteemed Peers, Friends, and Mentors
I have about 12 days left here in Pittsburgh before I go back home and this semester ends. That means that I probably won't see many of you (in a class setting... or maybe even at all) again. No more Goodfellas Wannabe, Ears-N-Dew, Firefly Fanatic, Inappropriate Siesta-time Student, and the masses of faces whose matching names I will never find (like Waldo). Most students would declare this a god-send, but I don't. I like this class for the people in it, for better or for worse.
So, while this note is small in comparison to others I've made, let anyone who reads it not be confused:
It's not the size
of the post
but wha
t you g
et out
of it.
.......
.....
get
it
?
In any case, I just wanted to say that I've had a great time in this class and that has somewhat to do with my peers. You guys rock out loud (even when you don't speak like Emily or... his name's Zack, right?) and it's been a real pleasure.
So, while this note is small in comparison to others I've made, let anyone who reads it not be confused:
It's not the size
of the post
but wha
t you g
et out
of it.
.......
.....
get
it
?
In any case, I just wanted to say that I've had a great time in this class and that has somewhat to do with my peers. You guys rock out loud (even when you don't speak like Emily or... his name's Zack, right?) and it's been a real pleasure.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Okay, fuuuuuck.
Ummmmm. So, it's Saturday. I'm at the library. I NEVER go to the library.
I am having a meltdown along the lines of the one I had at this time last year. Generally it starts around the time when I look at my schedule up until the end of the semester and realize I have no time and a shitload of work.
That being said, I don't know what I'm doing for this project. For one of my classes I have two projects due (this upcoming Friday and then the second is due on the Tuesday of finals week). Since they both come before the due date of this one, I am tending to focus completely on them. I am scrapping most of my ideas for the final project in this class and I decided to make it an interactive project (interactive standing in for "What do you guys think I should do?")
Ummm, I am planning to do something with the Poe album, but I don't know what. Annnd, my computer won't download the copy of the CD off of the internet (Adam, could you bring yours on Monday?). Anyways, what do you think is an interesting idea for something to do in conjunction with the album? Because, I am at a loss.
This is "Oh shit, I'm fucked" mode. And, it doesn't help that I am at the library on a Saturday night.
I am having a meltdown along the lines of the one I had at this time last year. Generally it starts around the time when I look at my schedule up until the end of the semester and realize I have no time and a shitload of work.
That being said, I don't know what I'm doing for this project. For one of my classes I have two projects due (this upcoming Friday and then the second is due on the Tuesday of finals week). Since they both come before the due date of this one, I am tending to focus completely on them. I am scrapping most of my ideas for the final project in this class and I decided to make it an interactive project (interactive standing in for "What do you guys think I should do?")
Ummm, I am planning to do something with the Poe album, but I don't know what. Annnd, my computer won't download the copy of the CD off of the internet (Adam, could you bring yours on Monday?). Anyways, what do you think is an interesting idea for something to do in conjunction with the album? Because, I am at a loss.
This is "Oh shit, I'm fucked" mode. And, it doesn't help that I am at the library on a Saturday night.
Scratches: Part two
Here's my revised game plan for the final. I'm going to play Scratches, writing once as Michael Arthate (the main character), second in the footnotes by myself (a humble game-player), except fictionalized and enhanced. I'm playing the game, but it's drawing me in like Zampano and Johnny were drawn to Navidson's story. The footnotes will describe my "real life" as I progress through the game. A third level, which we'll call "the editor" is the actual me. It will contain all that academic, analytical stuff about the game from a real world PoV. In other words, the first level will be set in England with Michael Arthate. The second level will be in Pittsburgh, with Mike Kobily, the third level will be omnipresent and anonymous.
My implicit thesis will change from "Can we invoke raw emotions like fear though video games" to "HOW can we..." to "How DO we...". From the angle of the first level, I'll show how the game's story progresses. From the second level, I'll dramatize the effects that it has on the players of the game. From the third level, I'll analyze the narrative elements and explain why I had "Mike Kobily" do what he did.
My implicit thesis will change from "Can we invoke raw emotions like fear though video games" to "HOW can we..." to "How DO we...". From the angle of the first level, I'll show how the game's story progresses. From the second level, I'll dramatize the effects that it has on the players of the game. From the third level, I'll analyze the narrative elements and explain why I had "Mike Kobily" do what he did.
final project proposal take 2
After doing some thinking here is what I could possibly narrow my final project down to:
1.I could make up a dance using one of the songs by Poe. (I could string different songs of her together but 1. I don’t have a music cutter 2. I don’t know how to cut music and 3. I don’t have the time haha). I would then video tape myself dancing and then write a short essay component on what I’m trying to display in each movement. I really like the songs ‘Hey Pretty’ (unmixed versions – sorry Adam, but when you played it in class the other day, I was already making up a dance to it), ‘Haunted’ and ‘Walk the Walk’ (it won’t be anything like the dance I talk about below, haha). However, if I do this project, I will be unable to add the lights and costume effect to the dance (a big downer).
2.I searched numerous times for a dance that is solely based on HoL or for that matter any dance that is danced to one of Poe’s songs. The only thing I could find was some dance studios attempted performance to her song ‘Walk the Walk’. The overall affect if not pretty and I refuse to do my project on that piece. Thus, writing a report on whether the dancers are accurately displaying what the singer is trying to express is kind of out of the question for that piece.
On the other hand, there are two different dances that I know of that I could connect to with HoL. It will definitely be a stretch though. To the naked eye, one of the dances tells a story of a breakup between a boy and girl. The other one tells a story between a girl persuading the boy to come into her world (through a frame). I could relate this to HoL by talking about Navidson and Delial.
I’m kinda leaning more towards actually making up a dance since I know I am a better dancer than a writer (also because making up a dance will be my stress reliever, and I need a lot of those in life right now).
PS. Biosystems and Signals is a class based off of wave forms and how to combine different wave forms together in different domains. However, in our class, we just look at waves developed in the body by nerve cells. So yes, in a roundabout way, it is teaching us how to make a monster in the future, but then again so do the rest of my BioE classes.
1.I could make up a dance using one of the songs by Poe. (I could string different songs of her together but 1. I don’t have a music cutter 2. I don’t know how to cut music and 3. I don’t have the time haha). I would then video tape myself dancing and then write a short essay component on what I’m trying to display in each movement. I really like the songs ‘Hey Pretty’ (unmixed versions – sorry Adam, but when you played it in class the other day, I was already making up a dance to it), ‘Haunted’ and ‘Walk the Walk’ (it won’t be anything like the dance I talk about below, haha). However, if I do this project, I will be unable to add the lights and costume effect to the dance (a big downer).
2.I searched numerous times for a dance that is solely based on HoL or for that matter any dance that is danced to one of Poe’s songs. The only thing I could find was some dance studios attempted performance to her song ‘Walk the Walk’. The overall affect if not pretty and I refuse to do my project on that piece. Thus, writing a report on whether the dancers are accurately displaying what the singer is trying to express is kind of out of the question for that piece.
On the other hand, there are two different dances that I know of that I could connect to with HoL. It will definitely be a stretch though. To the naked eye, one of the dances tells a story of a breakup between a boy and girl. The other one tells a story between a girl persuading the boy to come into her world (through a frame). I could relate this to HoL by talking about Navidson and Delial.
I’m kinda leaning more towards actually making up a dance since I know I am a better dancer than a writer (also because making up a dance will be my stress reliever, and I need a lot of those in life right now).
PS. Biosystems and Signals is a class based off of wave forms and how to combine different wave forms together in different domains. However, in our class, we just look at waves developed in the body by nerve cells. So yes, in a roundabout way, it is teaching us how to make a monster in the future, but then again so do the rest of my BioE classes.
I'm Caught Up, and a Question
First: I've commented on everyone's project proposals, I think. If I somehow missed one, let me know. They all sound promising, although some are a little vague still.
Second: If you haven't done a proposal yet, do one ASAP. Passing is good, and correlates with doing a final project, which correlates with proposing one.
Third: I'm pretty happy with the work everyone is doing on the blog now, now that you're actually having conversations, and saying all kinds of things that I wouldn't have thought of (take Lance's "Horrible Post" as a great example). It took a while to get to that point, though. So I have a question for all of you: is there anything I could do next semester to get the blog working at that level sooner? E.g., do I need to learn to shut up, or do I need to post more prompts, or is it something that just takes time? What do you think?
Second: If you haven't done a proposal yet, do one ASAP. Passing is good, and correlates with doing a final project, which correlates with proposing one.
Third: I'm pretty happy with the work everyone is doing on the blog now, now that you're actually having conversations, and saying all kinds of things that I wouldn't have thought of (take Lance's "Horrible Post" as a great example). It took a while to get to that point, though. So I have a question for all of you: is there anything I could do next semester to get the blog working at that level sooner? E.g., do I need to learn to shut up, or do I need to post more prompts, or is it something that just takes time? What do you think?
Friday, November 30, 2007
Final Project Proposal
Sorry for being so late with the post, but i seem to have come down with the flu or whatever it is that has been going around. For my final project I have been thinking a lot about how to extend my CYOA midterm project, but i have come to the realization that i have exhausted it to the point that it would not provide any type of intellectual statement, which I am assuming is important for this project. An idea that I have been playing around with is the important of narrative voice itself; mainly how it is presented to the audience and what this does with the interpretation of the work. Also, I'm interested in how narrative voice can affect the audience itself. An example is the eerie structure in House of Leaves and how its altering of reality in the story actually temporarily alters the reader's sense of reality if you are exposed to it for a long, uninterrupted period of time. (This is kind of like how you feel like shooting something after watching Die Hard movies.) I plan on analyzing this topic for various types of media such as music and how it can put the listener into different moods. Also comic books, movies, and the books that we have been exposed to during the course. This seems like a broad topic to just analyze narrative voice so if there are any suggestions, feel free to let me know. Have a good weekend.
"Mind Numbing, Overstimulating Depth"
This is a brief overview of what my midterm project was.
My midterm project is a CYOA designed to show how the thinning of the line between reality and manufactured alternate realities creates interesting new ways to interact. Originally a formal essay on simulation, I took many of the main points of my argument and used the decisions of a skilled programmer/developer to show the increasing importance of manufactured alternate realities in our world today and some of the possible consequences (although extreme) of this shift in today’s society.
I presented a lot of interesting scenarios and topics in the midterm but there are moments, though, when my best ideas could be pushed a little bit further. For my final project I intend to do this by incorporating actual references and researching more on VR in an attempt to ground some of my examples. The key plan for my final is depth; mind numbing, overstimulating depth. (As much depth as a CYOA can afford).
My midterm project is a CYOA designed to show how the thinning of the line between reality and manufactured alternate realities creates interesting new ways to interact. Originally a formal essay on simulation, I took many of the main points of my argument and used the decisions of a skilled programmer/developer to show the increasing importance of manufactured alternate realities in our world today and some of the possible consequences (although extreme) of this shift in today’s society.
I presented a lot of interesting scenarios and topics in the midterm but there are moments, though, when my best ideas could be pushed a little bit further. For my final project I intend to do this by incorporating actual references and researching more on VR in an attempt to ground some of my examples. The key plan for my final is depth; mind numbing, overstimulating depth. (As much depth as a CYOA can afford).
Fonts
Don Quixote was quite a layered and complicated narrative, arguably just as layered as House of Leaves. Both of these works have a few narrators and a few major storylines that are taking place at different times.
The main difference is that House of Leaves tells all of its stories simultaneously by the use of technology. This would never have been a possibility without the use of different fonts. Imagine if Johnny, Zampano, Navidson, and the editors all shared the same font. House of Leaves would cease being a challenging read and instantly become an incomprehensible one. The use of these different fonts of would not have been possible until printing technology was developed that made the printing cost effective.
I know we have talked about these ideas before in class, but for my final project I want to analyze the different fonts in House of Leaves. I hypothesize that the history of these fonts actually correlate in some way, thus providing another piece of evidence that all of the stories were actually written by Johnny.
Believe it or not, every font has a history. A perfect, yet exaggerated, version of this is the movie Helvetica. Graphic designers and many other people involved in the creation of the font were interviewed. This movie also explores the importance of fonts and their impact on the reader.
I don't know if this is feasible, but I definitely want to explore the use of different fonts in the book. I feel that Johnny is always trying to hide himself throughout the book and I believe he uses font to some extent to accomplish this.
The main difference is that House of Leaves tells all of its stories simultaneously by the use of technology. This would never have been a possibility without the use of different fonts. Imagine if Johnny, Zampano, Navidson, and the editors all shared the same font. House of Leaves would cease being a challenging read and instantly become an incomprehensible one. The use of these different fonts of would not have been possible until printing technology was developed that made the printing cost effective.
I know we have talked about these ideas before in class, but for my final project I want to analyze the different fonts in House of Leaves. I hypothesize that the history of these fonts actually correlate in some way, thus providing another piece of evidence that all of the stories were actually written by Johnny.
Believe it or not, every font has a history. A perfect, yet exaggerated, version of this is the movie Helvetica. Graphic designers and many other people involved in the creation of the font were interviewed. This movie also explores the importance of fonts and their impact on the reader.
I don't know if this is feasible, but I definitely want to explore the use of different fonts in the book. I feel that Johnny is always trying to hide himself throughout the book and I believe he uses font to some extent to accomplish this.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Final Project...Maybe: Meta-Fiction?
Well, I guess this is kind of a proposal....
After thinking it through a bit, I am considering creating a meta-fiction based on the Alien universe (see previous blog entry).
What I have in mind is a sort of House of Leaves layout, with a narrator reading and commenting on a book/article/etc. that he or she discovers. I spent some time thinking (as well as researching the "accepted" Alien universe), and came up with a possible project.
Going along the lines of HOL, the narrator is a medical officer stationed aboard the U.S.M. Auriga. The story takes place shortly after the Auriga had completed her trials (prior to the events of Alien Resurrection). The story begins with the Auriga returning to Earth after it made a small detour to Arcturus. Military officials on Arcturus had discovered the wreck of the long-believed-to-be-lost U.S.S. Maverick. They find secret files belonging to Weyland-Yutani hidden within the ship's hull. The Auriga was to take the files back to home base.
Our curious medical officer decides to take a peek at the files. There, he/she discovers the diary of a U.S.C.M. private named Alicia Hendrick who had been stationed aboard the Maverick. The officer discovers, through the files and the diary, that Weyland-Yutani had secretly organized two seperate "research" missions, the first to LV-426, the second (which the Maverick took part in) was to investigate the remains of her sister ship, the U.S.S. Sulaco. Here, only the diary provides information as to what happened to the Maverick and the Sulaco.
This story is losely based on a small question that popped into my head after watching Alien 3, "what if the alien queen (from Aliens) had left more than one egg aboard the Sulaco?"
The first egg hatched and resulted in Alien 3. This is the story of the second egg...
I'm still not sure if I want to do this in a House of Leaves style.
What do you guys think?
After thinking it through a bit, I am considering creating a meta-fiction based on the Alien universe (see previous blog entry).
What I have in mind is a sort of House of Leaves layout, with a narrator reading and commenting on a book/article/etc. that he or she discovers. I spent some time thinking (as well as researching the "accepted" Alien universe), and came up with a possible project.
Going along the lines of HOL, the narrator is a medical officer stationed aboard the U.S.M. Auriga. The story takes place shortly after the Auriga had completed her trials (prior to the events of Alien Resurrection). The story begins with the Auriga returning to Earth after it made a small detour to Arcturus. Military officials on Arcturus had discovered the wreck of the long-believed-to-be-lost U.S.S. Maverick. They find secret files belonging to Weyland-Yutani hidden within the ship's hull. The Auriga was to take the files back to home base.
Our curious medical officer decides to take a peek at the files. There, he/she discovers the diary of a U.S.C.M. private named Alicia Hendrick who had been stationed aboard the Maverick. The officer discovers, through the files and the diary, that Weyland-Yutani had secretly organized two seperate "research" missions, the first to LV-426, the second (which the Maverick took part in) was to investigate the remains of her sister ship, the U.S.S. Sulaco. Here, only the diary provides information as to what happened to the Maverick and the Sulaco.
This story is losely based on a small question that popped into my head after watching Alien 3, "what if the alien queen (from Aliens) had left more than one egg aboard the Sulaco?"
The first egg hatched and resulted in Alien 3. This is the story of the second egg...
I'm still not sure if I want to do this in a House of Leaves style.
What do you guys think?
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
final project..ahhh....
Boy, do I need help. The only time that I had to brainstorm for my final project is during Biosystems and signals today when my professor lost me talking about using the Laplace transform to change into the complex frequency domain. During that hour I started choreographing a dance routine in head. I started dancing when I was three and it has been one of my passions ever since. Thus, this idea is so far freaking fetched and I should probably stop while I’m ahead. However, I’m really hoping that someone out there will give me some advice that will make this project work in some round about way.
I was thinking about writing a paper on dancing and how it allows for the dancer to tell a narrative through their expression and movements. There are certain moves that are consistently done to expresses the type of mood the dance is suppose to display. Moreover, the music and type of lighting also adds to the mood of the dance.
The best possible way I could come up with to display this method is by having the reader watch a certain dance (or multiple and compare) on the internet (i.e. youtube) and then write a paper how the movements in that dance(s) write a story and share the expression of the dancer. I guess I could upload one/some of my dances but I don’t know how to do that.
So… raise your hand if you think this idea is far fetched (I’m raising mine). However, I’m really hoping you guys will throw some ideas my way and I can hopefully develop this idea thoroughly so it work out for a final project. Maybe, if I’m lucky, I will have another class that I can daydream in and possibly think of another final project. As of now, though, this is all I have… help, lol.
I was thinking about writing a paper on dancing and how it allows for the dancer to tell a narrative through their expression and movements. There are certain moves that are consistently done to expresses the type of mood the dance is suppose to display. Moreover, the music and type of lighting also adds to the mood of the dance.
The best possible way I could come up with to display this method is by having the reader watch a certain dance (or multiple and compare) on the internet (i.e. youtube) and then write a paper how the movements in that dance(s) write a story and share the expression of the dancer. I guess I could upload one/some of my dances but I don’t know how to do that.
So… raise your hand if you think this idea is far fetched (I’m raising mine). However, I’m really hoping you guys will throw some ideas my way and I can hopefully develop this idea thoroughly so it work out for a final project. Maybe, if I’m lucky, I will have another class that I can daydream in and possibly think of another final project. As of now, though, this is all I have… help, lol.
*SIGH* What should I do?
Well, I am sitting here in front of my computer and I have no idea what to do for my final project.
THIS IS NOT A PROPOSAL!
...at least, not yet.
I'm just trying to get my thoughts together.
I honestly cannot make up my mind as to what I should do as my final project. I am bouncing back and forth between a few ideas, but most of them are rediculous and would only be for my personal enjoyment......or just something to do to kill time.
After the miserable disaster of my midterm, I have been thinking about writting another Chose Your Own Adventure. However, I have also been thinking about taking these ideas and just writting normal books out of them, basically saying "screw alternative endings!" I have some ideas for this, which include:
1.) You are an FBI agent helping the NTSB to catch a sabotour who is re-creating train accidents (those that were the result of railroad neglect) in an effort to expose the crimes committed by the [insert fictional railroad name here]. I got this idea after watching some videos on YouTube as well as reading Parallel Lies by Ridley Pearson and watching the NUMB3RS episode "Sabotage."
2.) This next idea is roughly on the same lines as #1, but instead of trains, I was thinking about airplanes. The reason for this is because I've spent WAY too much time watching Air Crash Investigations and researching a number of other airplane accidents. I now have a long list of things that can go wrong on an airplane and it is scaring me!
Airplanes: one million parts, all made by the lowest bidder.
3.) Who has seen Dante's Peak? This next idea is something that has been at the back of my head for some time. I'm not really sure if I'm actually going to write ANYTHING about volcanoes, but it's an idea and I might as well share it.
The narrator of this story is a volcanologist working for the USGS. This story is supposed to take place a number of years in the future. It takes place in 2028, seven years after the eruption of Mount Rainier, which devastated the city of Tacoma and parts of Seattle. The narrator, named Eric, is still haunted by the eruption of Mount Rainer (he made a poor decision which resulted in the deaths of 2,000 people, including his friend Brandon). Eric is sent by the USGS to Puebla, Mexico to study unusual seismic activity around Popocatepetl*.
*Just a little more about myself, for about 7 years of my life I lived in the shadow of this volcano. I remember that several times volcanic activity picked up and caused quite a few scares. Popocatepetl is probably where my fascination with volcanoes began.
Still not sure if I actually want to put this idea down on paper.
4.) I am a big fan of the Alien franchise and for a while I've been thinking about possibly making a sort of fan-fiction based on the franchise. This is a very rough idea in that it is only a small thought in the back of my head. The only thing I am certain of is that the USS Sulaco will be involved (for those who have never seen any of the Alien movies, it's the ship from the second movie) as well as LV-426.
5.) Another thing I'm a big geek about is tornadoes. The narrator of this story is a genderless storm chaser working for NOAA's National Weather Service. A tornado outbreak in the summer of 2009 - similar to the "Super Outbreak" of 1974 - results in the meteorologists scrambling to intercept tornadoes in an effort to gather more information. This is on the same lines as the movie Twister and what real storm chasers continue to attempt every year when tornado season arrives in tornado alley.
Most of these ideas I'm acutally thinking about just making normal stories out of them (forget CYOA), but I'm still not sure. Numbers 3 and 5 will most likely by CYOAs, but the others are probably going to be just normal stories.
I CAN'T MAKE UP MY MIND!!!
The last idea I had was to completely redo my midterm project, but that is probably going to be a pain.
THIS IS NOT A PROPOSAL!
...at least, not yet.
I'm just trying to get my thoughts together.
I honestly cannot make up my mind as to what I should do as my final project. I am bouncing back and forth between a few ideas, but most of them are rediculous and would only be for my personal enjoyment......or just something to do to kill time.
After the miserable disaster of my midterm, I have been thinking about writting another Chose Your Own Adventure. However, I have also been thinking about taking these ideas and just writting normal books out of them, basically saying "screw alternative endings!" I have some ideas for this, which include:
1.) You are an FBI agent helping the NTSB to catch a sabotour who is re-creating train accidents (those that were the result of railroad neglect) in an effort to expose the crimes committed by the [insert fictional railroad name here]. I got this idea after watching some videos on YouTube as well as reading Parallel Lies by Ridley Pearson and watching the NUMB3RS episode "Sabotage."
2.) This next idea is roughly on the same lines as #1, but instead of trains, I was thinking about airplanes. The reason for this is because I've spent WAY too much time watching Air Crash Investigations and researching a number of other airplane accidents. I now have a long list of things that can go wrong on an airplane and it is scaring me!
Airplanes: one million parts, all made by the lowest bidder.
3.) Who has seen Dante's Peak? This next idea is something that has been at the back of my head for some time. I'm not really sure if I'm actually going to write ANYTHING about volcanoes, but it's an idea and I might as well share it.
The narrator of this story is a volcanologist working for the USGS. This story is supposed to take place a number of years in the future. It takes place in 2028, seven years after the eruption of Mount Rainier, which devastated the city of Tacoma and parts of Seattle. The narrator, named Eric, is still haunted by the eruption of Mount Rainer (he made a poor decision which resulted in the deaths of 2,000 people, including his friend Brandon). Eric is sent by the USGS to Puebla, Mexico to study unusual seismic activity around Popocatepetl*.
*Just a little more about myself, for about 7 years of my life I lived in the shadow of this volcano. I remember that several times volcanic activity picked up and caused quite a few scares. Popocatepetl is probably where my fascination with volcanoes began.
Still not sure if I actually want to put this idea down on paper.
4.) I am a big fan of the Alien franchise and for a while I've been thinking about possibly making a sort of fan-fiction based on the franchise. This is a very rough idea in that it is only a small thought in the back of my head. The only thing I am certain of is that the USS Sulaco will be involved (for those who have never seen any of the Alien movies, it's the ship from the second movie) as well as LV-426.
5.) Another thing I'm a big geek about is tornadoes. The narrator of this story is a genderless storm chaser working for NOAA's National Weather Service. A tornado outbreak in the summer of 2009 - similar to the "Super Outbreak" of 1974 - results in the meteorologists scrambling to intercept tornadoes in an effort to gather more information. This is on the same lines as the movie Twister and what real storm chasers continue to attempt every year when tornado season arrives in tornado alley.
Most of these ideas I'm acutally thinking about just making normal stories out of them (forget CYOA), but I'm still not sure. Numbers 3 and 5 will most likely by CYOAs, but the others are probably going to be just normal stories.
I CAN'T MAKE UP MY MIND!!!
The last idea I had was to completely redo my midterm project, but that is probably going to be a pain.
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