Redrafting and Revising

So I wrote my first script over ten pages the other day.

What an experience that has been.

Me after writing 3 lines of dialogue Source

I'm not exactly the most talented writer in the world, nor am I the most passionate. Don't get me wrong I love telling stories but when it comes down to it? Well... I'm just not that excited about stuff like that.

I can take a script and imagine the snot out of it on how it should look and be shot. When it comes down to what the characters are saying and feeling? fugheddaboutit.

I guess it's not so much he fact that I don't like the stories in movies it's just not what I've been created and brought into film to do... I like to visualize how I can portray the characters dialogue.

I can quite literally operate off of minimum sleep and never feel tired when I'm working beside or with a camera. When it comes to writing? Snoozeville...

I'm not alone though Michael Jordan was the same way! During the 1992 Summer Olympics as team captain of the USA men's team he famously got approximately one hour of sleep each night but also managed to play some of the best basketball games of his life. Why? Because he was doing something he was passionate about.

So where does this phenomena come from? I dunno... Psychologists noticed it or so I overheard from a friend taking Sports Psychology as an elective at Humber College. He feels the same way about playing bass (that is he can play for hours and never feel exhausted).

Interesting lives some people lead I guess, but to sum up the two weeks of working on my final, fiction, interactive narrative would be. Awesome to write the story, difficult to makeup dialogue with the characters, and fun to work and re-work it so it was something that was better than the first draft.

You can link and like but don't lick.

this post is in response to the dec. 7 web 2.0 digital storytelling class

Hey you know what I like? And by like I don't mean "like" like Facebook like?

For the record not this like.

I like the fact that Home Hardware give you the ability to "upvote" their products on reddit or "pin" their products on pinterest. I don't know anyone that will ever use these features (although I think there may be a case for pinners to use it) I find it awesome that a site like Home Hardware has these features. It's all about linking yourself into web2.0 I guess. 

I started watching the marblehornets video series too. 

 There's probably a few of you that are thinking w/e and a few of you that laugh, but I personally seem set myself up in a mood that causes me to get really stressed and nervous about these kind of videos. 

Well to avoid this blog from turning into a greatest hits theme collection of Korbyn's youtube videos I'll talk about using people. 

Dan Brown of youtube channel "pogobat" fame started a project a couple years ago letting his youtube subscribers control his life. It didn't work out too well.  He became kinda depressed and eventually quit and reformated his program, but what was cool is he continued telling the story of his life throughout the difficulties and eventually continued on making regular videos. 

And he's just one of the many stories of fame and fortune that YouTube stars have created for themselves. Although I really feel like I need to mention Allie from hyperboleandahalf fame. Her stories are frickin hilarious.

Oh boy Non-Narrative...

this post is in regards to my October 24th class on non-narrative stories
Hey non-narrative stories how you doing? Oh, you're not making any sense again? That's cool... You're just gonna tell me a story that doesn't make much sense and I'm not sure how it relates to your life? That's fine... No, I wasn't doing anything important, just watching Gangnam Style again for the 13th time. Yes, I know it was popular a month ago. Yes, I know that Thrift Store is 'in' right now. Yes, I know that you're telling me things about your life that doesn't make any sense.

Okay fine, two can play at this game.

Hey check it out I make movies.
Here's something I made.

This is a cat.

Here's another cat.

How about another video?

Yeah, non-narrative story this is my non-narrative story. Deal with it. It's a story it's just not narrative. It's a story about my day there's just no narrative elements to it!

Also in class I was theorizing that Dziga Vertov's Man With a Movie Camera was experimenting with montage stuff similar to Eisenstein's works. Well I was wrong. Vertov and Eisenstein kinda hated each other and thought each other were morons...  Also, during the Communist reign in Russia all 'forms' or 'genres' of film were banned as the government viewed them as not driving the point of communism across (it should be noted that Stalin was a film buff and loved collecting certain kinds of films).

So because of that we get to see the greatness of Vertov and Eisenstein, they were forced to make films that didn't fit a mold. Heh, they were kind of like hipsters with their ideas of not fitting the mold, however these guys were faced with death if they didn't follow the orders of the government whereas modern hipsters just kinda get made fun of if they fit a certain stereotype.


I should define a hipster... Here it is... from this source here
1.      a person who is hip.

2.

hepcat.

3.

a person, especially during the 1950s, characterized by aparticularly strong sense of alienation from most establishedsocial activities and relationships.

The Resurrection of the Point and Click Puzzler.

This post is in regards to the October 17, 2012 class in digital storytelling

Hey so we talked about tablet computing in class today! You know what that means! I'm gonna talk about all the cool things I think about tablet computing!

TADA! Source

I own an iPad second generation. I've owned it for about 18 months and while I may be typing this blog entry from my laptop I really truly would have no qualms typing it from my iPad. It's just when it comes to being fast, and linking things and adding images, well... It's actually not all that much slower. 

So why did I buy a laptop when I already had an iPad and it did everything I needed it to? Well... I needed to edit videos and photos and create certain graphics and the like. Unfortunately a tablet doesn't have the kind of power to do that. Yet. 

Now that Microsoft has released their new tablets with Windows 8 and the iPad has gone mini to compete with the range of Android tablets all the major tech giants have blurred the lines between their mobile phone offerings and computer operating systems.

If we made it any smaller you guys would
hate it and think it's dumb.
- EAT YOUR WORDS STEVE JOBS. Source

Which brings us to the great things about tablets. The stories. I predict we will have a rising surge in popularity of games like The Secret of Monkey Island, King's Quest, Museum Madness, and Pajama Sam. These games were popular in the late 80s and early 90s and usually involved puzzles being solved through clicking characters on a game screen. A perfect way to utilize a tablet. Those games were awesome but were beaten out by first person shooters and graphics-heavy games. They were great stories and intriguing puzzlers but unfortunately flash and excitement eclipsed their awesome nature.

I literally spent dozens of hours playing this level when
I was younger because I didn't know how to save my game! Source

Creating Some Characters

This post is in response to Oct. 10, 2012 class

In class we were given ten minutes to create a character and the friends and family affiliated with the character. Well, after looking at my notes I noticed that I kind of like the nameless character that I made up a few months ago. I have decided to name him Paul. 

His name was Paul.
 Source

Some things to know about Paul. 

• He makes a living doing odd jobs mostly for old people in Elmira, Ontario 
• He has a few friends from high school and university days 
• Has a BA in Philosophy
• Interested in listening to stories told by other people
• lives by himself but spends most of his time with his girlfriend
• He's 25

His family is kinda antagonistic to him

• Father worked for Uniroyal his whole life. He's extremely nice but not the wisest person in the world
• His mother is timid but passively aggressive
• His sister constantly hassles Paul about his life but lives at home, is 28 and is a failed writer
• His brother is 23 is almost finished university and wants to become a pilot

I dunno what I could do with these characters but I feel like it could be the makings of a television show centralized around a small Ontario town. There would shenanigans between kids and mennonites I suppose. And there would be some standard coffee shop philosophy banter. Maybe CBC would like to pick it up as the next Corner Gas? 

Batman Is Awesome... Kay?

This post is in relation to the first class we had in Digital Storytelling class on September 5. 

I remember the first Digital Storytelling class I had.... we ranted about terrible stories in movies. Somebody mentioned that the first Nolanverse Batman movie sucked at character development....

Dear Batman Begins Hater,

You know what? You're wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Bruce Wayne learns a lot in that first movie, in fact if you didn't notice his first development comes within the first twenty minutes of the movie. 

We first witness Bruce Wayne angry with the criminal underworld so he becomes one to understand them. He winds up in a Bhutanese prison and due to his anger beats the crap out of prisoners that he's pissed off. Ra's Al Ghul meets him there and convinces him to utilize his anger more usefully by joining the 'League of Shadows' (character development point #1). 

As Bruce trains with the League he becomes more adept at fighting and observing his surroundings. He also learns to confront his fear of bats. When Bruce finds out that the League intends to simply eradicate the population of Gotham City Bruce decides that their way is not the right way to avenge his father (character development point #2). 

Bruce comes back home to Gotham City. Bruce and Alfred develop the Batman persona after deciding to renovate the cave into a headquarters and arms himself with gadgets from Lucius Fox. Bruce now has begun to personalities. Batman and Playboy Billionaire Bruce Wayne. (character development point #3)

Yup, that's right. By the time "Batman" even shows up in the movie Christian Bale's character Bruce Wayne has already developed at three distinct and separate points. Yes, he may be confused and sad at points in the movie but much like a real person Bruce Wayne does not manage to change his entire character. He lost both his parents, he will always be sad; they're no longer with him. 

Obviously I have to put a Batman Picture....
oh here's the link

Encountering Phil and Trying Something Simple

This post is in relation to my October 3rd class where we 

delved deeper into digital storytelling formats.

These are my thoughts....

Just as a note I am totally using an idea that is used every Friday by my favourite blogger, Bike Snob NYC. 

You are travelling across a city named Toronto. Within Toronto there are many people. You are on your way to your friend Milos' party located in the office he rents along the Danforth in Greektown. As you are walking down Danforth you can already taste the fresh tzatziki and warm pita bread that you know will be there. All of a sudden you are stopped by a homeless person named Phil. Phil tells you "You may not pass unless you answer my questions." Seeing no way around Phil and not wanting to push the crazy old man aside you figure a few questions wouldn't hurt. You tell him "All right fine, but I'm running late for a party! Can't I just give you money instead?" 

Artist's Depiction and of course the link 

Phil begins to get angry and responds by saying, "NO! None shall pass unless they answer my questions!" You notice multiple people passing by but decide not to say anything more because not going to the party because you got hospitalized by a homeless man was far worse than being fifteen minutes late to the party because a homeless man asked you some questions.

Alas, "getting shanked" is not a marketing term used by this movie's creators to describe someone who is watching the movie... here's the link

"Let's begin..."

"Who was the 16th president of the United States?"

A) Abe Lincoln

B) James Madison 

C) George Bush

D) George Washington

"That wasn't so bad" you thought to yourself then you ask Phil "What's the next question?" Phil responds.

"What's my favourite brand of soap?"

A) Palmolive Original
B) Irish Spring Original
C) Pears
D) Dawn Green Apple


disclaimer: This is not charactertistic of homeless people nor do I assume this is what would actually happen in an interaction with a homeless person. Homelessness is a complicated and interesting matter and can be learned about here, here, and here. 

My Reaction to the Introduction to Digital Storytelling with the Audience becoming the User of the Story

Post is in relation to September 26th's class which covered our introduction to digital storytelling

I consider myself a pretty typical YouTube user. I watch my fair share of viral videos, I subscribe to a dozen or so YouTube personalities (partnered channels), and I even manage to contribute a few videos of my own every once in a while so much so that YouTube gave me the ability to monetize my account.

But you know what's really cool about the whole monetization thing? They give you a whole plethora of tips. One major tip YouTube gives is engaging the audience by asking questions and asking for responses via comments or "response videos".

Sounds similar to something I learned in class... One of the keys to utilizing the internet as a digital storytelling platform is to bring the audience into the story, which brings me to the question I have to ask myself, "What am I doing to engage the audience and bring them into a story not just as an interactive audience but rather as a user of the story itself?"

This blog definitely isn't an interactive storytelling medium but rather a journal open for the world to see my thoughts in relation to my storytelling class. There's even a specific blogger that encourages his audience to become part of the blogger's daily stories Maybe I could kick it up a notch....

COMMENT BELOW AND TELL ME WHAT TO TALK ABOUT or SEND ME A LETTER OR FUNNY PICTURE AND I'LL PUT IT UP ON MY NEXT POST.

I'm tired of being like this girl except more techno-manlike....
YAY DIGITAL STORYTELLING

image link

Short Films: Where Are They Now!?

Where exactly do short films make money? I dunno... We covered them in class today though. It got me thinking of my favourite short film... Consent. (watch it before you continue)

How far does the rabbit hole go?

Despite the bad joke, I feel that this little piece can demonstrate easily what Steven (our instructor) was getting at. One clear problem, the mastery of a plot is pretty simple here and the 'timelock' drama producer is brought in by the lawyers. Add some hilarious tongue-in-cheek writing as well as a zinger of a twist ending and you got yourself a well paced great short film. Consent also manages to go beyond the six minutes of viewing time and enter into the viewer's imagination. When watching this with a group the amount of potential conversation can lead people into all sorts of interesting places.

Note: for those of you against this sort of 'crass' material you can leave a comment as to why it's inappropriate. Just remember, 50 Shades of Grey exists and I've seen people reading it in Public. Our society has gone beyond being shy and private about sex. DEAL WITH IT. 

Let's start a conversation instead.

Learning About Storytelling

We learned about story telling today. We learned about "Freytag's Pyramid", a story should have a beginning middle and end with specific events in between. I found it interesting that using this formula I could create very simple stories while having much substance. Our teacher gave us a small example of a guy (I named him Clark) going to get chips for a party. I began to obsess over such a simple story and decided to add in details and events into Clark's life. Weird, I know, but I figured it would be an excellent start to writing stories.

Meet Clark. He lives in a house. In this house are some of Clark's closest friends. Clark's kinda uptight, he likes things to go his way. Clark is always worried about being on time and when he makes things they have to be perfect. Clark's housemates rarely let him cook dinner because what Clark ends up making usually gets burnt and then Clark locks himself in his room for days. Clark's housemates hate when Clark worries. 

I decided that I'd give Clark and his housemates some specific features to help set the story's introduction. From here I can now tell any number of stories about Clark and his housemates. I can do dramas, comedies, romances... All involving Clark and his housemates.

I'm beginning to understand storytelling now... What's behind that door? What is in store for those women who are going to "Work Abroad in Singapore"?