Digital Narrative Blogs

The most important factor of a website is the idea. Without a good, solid, functioning idea... there is nothing to work from. No where to go. New technological advances have changed websites over the years but the bottom line remains; the concept needs to work. With all of this in mind and as the ease of sharing digitally continues there is an open range for new narrative concepts. There once was a time when people went to website to simply view, learn, and be impacted. However, now people want to participate, viewers want their voices heard and want to interact with the narrative. It is the age of technology and viewers want access to this new idea. Even if I think about the last handful of websites I’ve visited, they have all given me the option to interact. It is almost impossible to find a website that doesn’t at least offer the viewer the option to comment or write a statement to someone.

A perfect example of this new age of digital and distributed narratives is “PostSecret.” An idea so simple but allows each and every person the opportunity to interact and get involved. “PostSecret” is pretty straight forward... it’s a website for posting secrets. Fits the name perfectly. The concept itself is in fact much deeper and the authors’ goal is to help many people. An online (and free) therapist, if you will. Participants post deep, dark secrets to the website that others can relate with, it’s a sort of comforting mechanism that lets people know that they are not alone. There is some fancy pants art involved and the “secrets” are displayed creatively on a postcard shaped object.

The author of the “PostSecret” provides the frame and the viewers create the actual website. Without the author there would be no narrative; without the participants there would be no narrative. The two work together to make the narrative what it is. This website has been so effective and helped so many people that there have been books published and even the creation of “PostSecret Live.” The story being told is one of hope. Although participants post about embarrassing, horrible, dangerous, and upsetting secrets it is inspiring to know that they came to terms with it and had the strength to post it. Acknowledging the secret is the hardest part but it is encouraging to know that other people may be going through the same thing that you are. Which is why the narrative works. People visit the site because they want to feel comfort and fee normal. People post on the site because they want the heavy burden of having this secret to be released. The author provides the option for all this to happen with the framework. Giving the ability for participants to express themselves in a judge-free and safe environment.

Personally, I think this narrative does an excellent job. The concept is simple but I am still drawn into the secrets and want to experience the site. Aesthetically this site works for me. There is not much complexity and much of the framework is left for the participants to fill. The black background does not compete with the secrets and keeps the focus on what’s important—the posts. Emotionally I find this site overwhelming. We all have our secrets and I respect those who have the courage to face them; I am not that brave. I can only imagine how great it feels to post a secret... to finally lift a rock that’s been holding you down. It must be a great accomplishment too knowing that you have the possibility of helping others as well. There are also some secrets that are less deep and humorous. The combination of impact and humor work well because you never know what to expect. Intellectually this concept is great. I am always in awe of those authors who come up with small idea and turn it into something amazing. Most of the credit, however, goes to the participants who make the website visually stimulating and emotionally impacting. That is what keeps viewers coming back and posting. Each participant has their own story to tell and their own way to write it, which is interesting. Those differences is what makes reading the secrets so great.

Analysis of your animated world

There are certain things that a viewer aspects when they watch an animation that they know the story to. They expect to see some traditional to what they know as well as a new spin to the piece. Without a new spin, there would be no interest in viewing the animation in the first place. Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry has always been known for being eerie and slightly disturbing. This animation feature Poe’s well-known poem “Tell Tale Heart.” This poem, like many other works, is about a man who thinks he is “sane” but his murderous actions make the viewer believe otherwise. Obviously when creating a spooky animation there are techniques and details that cannot be forgotten to lose the suspenseful feeling. The trick is using different camera angles, movement, rhythm, and perspective to make the animation interesting to the viewer and not appear as something they have see in the past.

When animating a Poe poem certain details must not be forgotten. First, and most obvious, a lot of black will be needed. Followed by a creepy old setting, and it always helps to have a narrator with an eerie voice. All of these techniques feed into the animation as a whole. The animator of “Tell Tale Heart” grasped this and portrayed it excellently. The backgrounds were perfect and featured a lot of black and shadowing. In many cases most of the background would be black with a slight lighter area just to make out the difference. Shadow figures were used to promote the sense of fear and suspense. All of details that he used helped create the atmosphere that Poe intended.

The animator uses scenes to progress the story forward. A lot of the poem is told through the narrator’s description of the old man. He jumps from detail to detail about how the old man lives his life and bothers him. Scenes allow the viewer to watch what the narrator is saying. Each different idea allows for a new scene. The story has a few different locations, all of which need to be different scenes. The poem takes us through the house of the old man with the narrator. This requires different backgrounds, lighting aspects, transitions, etc. The popular transition of choice was a fade to black and pan or tilt off screen to the next scene. This allows for story continuation and does not leave the viewer hanging. A constant story motion is what can be seen.

There is quite a combination of different techniques used in this animation; some more complex then others. The camera angles used tend to be mostly stationary with a lot of pans and tilts. The movement was timed to the change of the scene and a fade to black. The palette is black, white, and dark colors. Not much color is even used, only for some accents in background and character.

Most of the animation uses blacks, grays, and whites. There is a rhythmic element to this animation and as the poem progresses different things change with it. The narrator becomes more frantic so the scenes change fast as well as faster movement within the scenes. The perspective is from the narrator’s point of view. We see what the narrator is talking about when he speaks it. His voice is perfect and emphasizes his true insanity. The entire animation is a great example of a hyperbole and really pulls on our idea of an insane murderer. He believes that he is sane and doesn’t understand why what he did (murdering the old man) was wrong.

The animator was able to use a great palette of color and good scene transition to draw me in and keep me interested. I have heard this poem many times before and seen many different animations/movies on it. Despite already knowing the ending I still found myself interested to the piece. This animator had a very precise vision with the unusual look of his characters and various decrepit locations throughout the mans house. All the background elements worked perfectly and he needed very few characters to tell the actual story. 

The few characters that there were often displayed by the use of black shadowy figures deep within the background. As they approached they kept there black shapes which gives the viewer an even greater sense of suspense. I also enjoy the timeless element that this animation has. It was created in 1953 but the techniques and details are so important and essential that they still are the back bone for animation today. 

Interactive Narratives

Narratives can be told in many different ways. There are different medium that can be used to tell a story and bring life to a certain topic. In this technological day and age Interactive Narratives seem to be the best way to depict these messages to the masses. They are interesting, creative, and allow the viewer to be involved with the media. If the viewer is interested and has fun, chances are they will want to visit the site again and tell others about it, as well.

One piece I reviewed from the bornmagazine website was “Like Wings Abandoned from Future Score.” This narrative provided a perfect cove for the video that narrated the poem by Paul Gibbons. The video itself was very interesting and the cinematography was good and the speed of cuts worked well with the message of the piece. I would consider this interactive narrative a success because the video worked hand in hand with site. The technologies used in the site were simple yet got the point across. The site related directly to the video shown because it discusses icicles, so the site has dripping icicles as navigation devices. By relating the media to the interactive narrative there is a link that entices the viewer the continue on with their viewing. I believe I will be able to relate the media of my site to the overall design of my site to make it visually interesting to the viewer. The artistic merit and techniques were not too complex. Black and white was used and a clearly readable font. These are all techniques that I find very workable and use myself. This site is not very complex and uses very little technology. There are not rollovers and navigation is done through clickable water droplets with words to allow easy navigation. I liked the functionality of this site and how the use of a simple idea taken from the media could relate so perfectly.

From the interactivenarratives site I found much more complex interactive narratives that required much more skill and advanced technological knowledge to create. Instead of having the media form do most of the narrating, the complexity of website provided a lot of the storytelling. One particular site that did this was “The Dragon Children.” While very interested and clearly out of my skill range I did not love what the site was doing as an interactive narrative. Navigating was done with a lot of flash work that was slightly confusing and hard to work with. While very modern and fresh, I found it to be a little too much for the topic. The use of bright colors and animation was a fun artistic technique but there was so much going on it was hard to focus on the message of the actual media. I found myself playing around more with the website then actually caring what the website was trying to get across. Blame my short attention span when it comes to bright moving colors. The images used are spectacular however, very crisp and visually stimulating. This narrative would be nothing without them.

Overall I hope to use techniques from both interactive narratives when designing my own. I want to keep things simple yet let the viewer have fun navigating through my site. It is very important to me, however, that the overall message of my narrative does not get lost. 

Omg, I can't draw

True or false.. Animating depends primarily on drawing ability? This statement is of course false. While being able to draw is a handy skill to have it is not the most important part of animation. There are many different components necessary to creating an animation. Examples of this would be story, characters, etc. As long as there is a good story behind an animation it does not matter how complex or simple the animation may be. In many was a simple drawing may carry the story better then complicated drawing. When drawings are simple the viewer can easily distinguish what is going on in the scene and pay more attention to the story.

One example of simple technique can be seen in the animation, “Bendito Machine.” In this animation the drawing is very simple. The characters are black blob like figures and the color comes from the background. Along with the characters, the other elements in the animation were also simple. Mainly just squares, circles, etc. All black, as well. This animation is a perfect example of simple technique being carried by a story. There is no narration and the characters the story. Because the characters carry the story the brain has to really pay attention to what is happening. While the story is not that complex, it requires some thought. Yes, the characters are simple but there is still a lot that goes into an animation with simple technique. The story is told through film techniques.

Film techniques can be used to make up for the lack of detail to keep the viewer interested. Some of these techniques include; close up, wide, and medium shots, pans, changing screens, etc. These can be seen through to use of tweens. Tweens refer to the animation between key frames. Tweens are helpful because they cut out the in-between parts of an animation that the viewer might not need to see. This saves time and allows the story to flow more smoothly and rapidly. Through the use of different shot variations it helps the viewer know what to focus on and adds more interest.

While color is always great to see in an animation or drawing it is not a necessity. Many great flash animation are done in black and white; especially those that use simple techniques. Black and white works best with simple animation because most time the drawings are done with just lines so there is no use for color. Another great part about using black and white is the ability to use color as a metaphor. You can add color to one aspect of the story to draw attention or meaning to it, which makes a point to the viewer that it is an important aspect to the story.

Along with me, there are plenty other animators that cannot draw. No worries though, because there are other techniques that will make up for my lack of drawing abilities. 

Authenticity, Gadgets, and Nostalgia

After reading the article “The Personal is Historical” by Bruce Sterling I can relate to much of what he is saying. What happens in the beginning of your life has tremendous influence on your future. The way you are raised, where you grow up, how much money you have, family influence, etc. Everything has an impact. Sterling tells about how his father made the switch from engineering to farming. His father believed that authenticity had to do with the land, cattle, and crops (26). Sterling too had experience working on farms and he understood the authenticity of farming. He was able to use his background in the design world as well.

Design is about creating new, genuine, real pieces of work that please consumers and viewers. To do this successfully the designer needs to use techniques that they have learned throughout their life. In Sterling’s case this meant going back to the basics. For example, when he was creating a light he went to the simplest technical aspect and built the entire structure from there. Focusing on the internal components allowed Sterling to create an innovative and fictional light that pleased the client.

Our job as consumers is to consume. When products are made, our job is to buy them and enjoy them, and then consequently buy more. It is a never-ending circle. Sterling hits upon the fact that our society is obsessed with gadgets. From a design point of view this is a great thing. Take the iPod/iPhone/iPad for example. Apple products last for numerous years (for the most part) yet consumers will buy a newer model simply because we are gadget obsessed. We need the BEST item available on the market as soon as possible. This leaves designers constantly tweaking and improving upon products.

From my prospective I consider authenticity to be found in nature. My favorite design elements include using black, whites, and neutral colors. I believe in simplicity and proper design tools. One gadget that has always intrigued me has been the iPod. It started off very simple with one purpose, playing music. It has slowly evolved to being one of the most useful gadgets of modern times. Now it is touch screen with many more options then just playing music. It also started in just one color and is now offered in many colors. The authenticity of the product remains through all the advancements however because they continue to be true to the original. As long as the iPod has the ability to play music, it will always be connected to its roots and true purpose. Apple has been most popular company during my lifetime and made many achievchiments in the computer and music device industry. The iPod has practically wiped out the use of CD’s and forever changed the music industry. A product such as this required much imagination and huge risks. The culture that I have been surrounded by is run by technology and the iPod is the perfect example of technological advancements.

Whenever I am driving and I see younger children riding their bikes I cannot help but think about when that was me. What I find ironic is how when that was me on the bike, I always wanted to be driving. It is funny how life works out sometimes. Learning how to a ride a bike is an essential element to any childhood and is a great bonding time with the person that taught you. I will never forget the amount of times my dad “wouldn’t let me go” and somehow I would always end up in a bush. Yet, every time I would actually believe he wouldn’t. It was stupidity; it was knowing that without him letting go, I wouldn’t be able to do it alone. This bike riding strategy can also relate to designing. Without taking risks you have nothing to move forward from. Risk taking and devotion are two essential elements when focusing on design.

The image above is a bike similar to when I stopped using training wheels. One of the biggest accomplishments of my childhood. My dad still tells me how happy I was with my "big girl bike."