Part II: Revelations
In INTE 5340, Digital Storytelling and Learning Course, at the University of Colorado-Denver, I have been exposed to so many new concepts, ideas, and thoughts on the future and the concept of storytelling--a real hero's adventure, if you will.
One of my favorite digital expeditions has been the introduction to the Signs From the Near Future site. One of the class assignments was to create our own “sign of the near future”, and to help guide us the instructor provided a few resources, one of which being the blog and Tumblr site, Signs From The Near Future. I was astounded by the wealth of “signs” available, the quality, and the creativity and futuristic insight they provided. In fact, to this day I still am not 100% sure that all the pictures are only creations, and wonder if people have really found such signs. This is one of my favorite topics because I enjoy thinking about the future, as I believe in doing so will hopefully prepare me for it.
As with most classes, the Digital Stories Course, involves a discussion. However what is slightly new to me is the concept of reading scholarly articles, or even websites, and discussing them, sometimes line by line, paragraph by paragraph with my classmates. I like this process because it allows me to share with others my own thought process as I was reading and the insight it provided me, that will hopefully be beneficial for someone else. One of my best hypothes.is discussions I’ve had has been based on the “Multimodal Literacies: Imagining Lives Through Korean Dramas” article by Grace MyHyun Kim and Delila Omerbašić. I enjoyed this article because it brought a whole new world to me, and it was interesting to see how others were aware of this world, sought out this world because of the article, and how it influenced their perception of digital realities. For instance, one classmate noted:
John_Foyle
Wind
Feb 9
multiple ways in which people use digital tools and platforms to project their values, de-sires, and fantasies onto a character.
As I watched part of one of these online Kdramas I immediately noticed that the comments had very little to do with the actual show, and more to do with the appearance of the actor on the screen. Comments on how cute the boy was or how ugly the girl was seemed to stand out. It reminded me of listening to my little sister and her friends when we were kids and they would watch "The Big Valley" just to talk about how cute "Heath," played by Lee Majors, was. I do not know if they realized it was a "Western Drama," they just knew Heath was cute, and that was the vibe I got off the "Boys Over Flowers" comments.
As you can see from the comment, my fellow classmate did not only just read what the author was talking about, they sought it out, and found connections in their past experience. It reminds me of what its means to a be a 21st century citizen--you’re expected to seek further, to expand your understanding. The comment that was the most enlightening to me was:
John_Foyle
Wind
Feb 9
These representations may chal-lenge the fixed boundaries of identity assumed off line
Perhaps it is because I have almost always felt like I fit in, but the need for these intense "online only" identities and relationships seem a little strange to me. It is as if people are now doing across the Internet what we used to do in the neighborhood and at school. Were there really so many people that were disenfranchised before, or have people just found a new way to socialize? Are these relationships of more value than those we build in face to face interactions? do they have more staying power? Are the relationships as deep?
Another student further intrigued by this concept, replied with the possibility of doing formal research on the effect of long-distance relationships in the digital age and the validity of their ability to form meaningful connections:
barbeecasa
Wind
Feb 10
Some interesting questions you posed about binary relationships. This would be an interesting topic to research for the INTE 6720 course. Here is an interesting article that concludes long distance relationships can form stronger bonds than face to face. While the focus is on knowing someone prior to a distance setting it may be reasonable to extrapolate this to relationships established in cyberspace.https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130718101232.htm
My classmates, prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they actively participate in the digital age, use the tools to their advantage, and have the ability to transform, remix, and create concepts into digital realities. One of my favorite creations from my classmates has been Dialogue 01 - ANTH 101 - Alana, Courtney, Robyn video. I absolutely love the story about 6 hours a day to get water, and the hook. This is my favorite because it demonstrates how much richness is lost if we don't have discussions and dialogue, off the computer, just face to face. And I would have never known about Matt Damieon's video! Very informative show. Story starts at 5:55 in their discussion.
To compete with my ever-so talented classmates, I have created my own creations often pushing me to my creative limits, honing my technical skills, and exposing me to more digital typographies then I knew before. Here are my creations:
Challenges: Explain 10 ways to do one thing. Suggestion: Produce a video or a podcast on 10 inventive ways to do an everyday thing.
For this challenge I thought of something that everyone does, every day, and challenged myself on 10 ways to do it. That’s when I thought of brushing one’s teeth. I used my son for this video because he has pretty pearly whites, and what great way to get him to brush his teeth before bed.
I used: my iPhone to record the scene, iMovie to edit and add the captions, and “Master Blaster” by Stevie Wonder for the background song.
Challenge 2: Create an archetype radio commercial for an idea or concept from the course. Use voice, music, and sound effects. Suggestions: Create a commercial from the future, advertising a fictitious product or event.
For this challenge I looked into the site “Signs from the Near Future” to get ideas on commercials. Most signs were not about commercially-viable products, so it was a little difficult. Then I saw a sign about having a AR shopping experience while waiting for the subway. So my commercial was about my company or store providing this shopping experience for those waiting for public transportation, I stated it was only available in certain metro areas as a way to make it sound more credible. It was interesting trying to have a great “radio” voice, which is actually a little different from just speaking or from announcing.
I used: iMovie to create the video version of the ad, and I got the music from YouTube free music archive.
Assignment: Design your own superhero, give them a backstory.
For this assignment I had the hardest time finding a site, that was free, that I could create a realistic superhero image. Most sites had more cartoonish looking characters that you could customize. I ended up finding Avachara, which allowed me to change the character’s look and their clothes. The only problem was the “looks” were limited to realistic features, and the clothes were limited to realistic outfits, i.e. they didn’t have a cap or other superhero-type gear, just a shirt and bottom. My superhero was called NNeala, which is Igbo for “Mother” and “land”. And She super power is controlling all earth elements, She creates earthquakes, can move mountains and rocks. And can heal, and she uses her sword of love to bewitch anyone into only feeling the joy of love.. I know very girly, and a little cheesy. What can I say, I’m no Marvel writer.
I used: https://avachara.com/avatar/ and Google Translate to create the name
Assignment: Create a gif on a transmedia franchise, and find a way to connect it to this course.
For this assignment, it was a little difficult thinking of a transmedia franchise. The top answer that came to me was to use a celebrity, because many people follow celebrities, their lives, remix their work, identify themselves as part of a celebrities world and more. I wanted to use Beyonce (in reference to her BeeHive followers) but I couldn’t get the image to “gif”. So I chose one of their randomize selections, what populated was Martin Garrix’s music video titled “Animals”. Then I “giffed” a scene where the animals turn their heads to see someone holding a clock-like device over their head. At the top I inserted text that said “The future is here”, and then to draw the connection to the class I inserted multiple people that look like they’re watching the scene too, and next to them are thought bubbles with Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, and then over one I put in the thought-bubble “I should put this on INTE 5340 Slack” which was also in reference to the concept of “transmedia”.
I used: gifs.com
How did I challenge myself?
Just sitting down long enough to write this blog, and do all 6 assignments in a week, as well as trying to follow-up on comments, is the biggest challenge I had all week. But seriously time management in the digital age has become harder for me not easier. The more “creating” you do the more you realize how everything doesn’t play along very well and, and how long it takes to create, convert, transform, load, and download. But soon I will overcome y challenges with time and be victorious against time.
Read the next sequel to learn more about this digital story telling and learning adventure.
