If you’re interested…

Some people have voiced interest in reading more about Michael’s story, so I’d like to post the book that my cousin Ron (Michael’s son) wrote entitled Constructing a Collective Memory of the Holocaust: A Life History of Two Brothers’ Survival. It’s available on Amazon, and is a good read. If you have other questions or just want to know more, feel free to contact me.

 

Pass 4 Michael’s Story

Finally…here is Pass 4! It has 707 words (not counting screentips used to let you know where the “hidden” interactions are), down from the original Pass 1 1721 words… which means approximately 59% of the words have been replaced by sounds and images.

It’s similar to Pass 3, except there are a few additional screens. For interactivity, I added an interactive map which you can use to see various parts of the story. Within those parts, there are additional links; some link to content within the file and some link to external content that will open in your internet browser.  Not all links are obvious, so use your mouse to explore each screen before clicking the ‘next’ action button. Please wait until the entire screen has loaded/played (all sounds/images) before clicking on links or exploring images.

NOTE: Some of the external links have rather graphic language and images.

Since I do not have streaming capability, to see this presentation, follow the following steps:

Here is the file: michael’s story pass 4.pps

1. Right-click on the file and select “Save target as…”
2. Save the file to your desktop. Please allow plenty of save time as the file is approximately 39MB.
3. Open the file using Microsoft Power Point.
4. Select “Slide Show” view.

Enjoy!

 

Assignment 6 - Video Game Narrative

A Dog’s Life: Help Fido Get Home

The hero of the game is Fido. Fido is a dog. The player plays as Fido-in a first person perspective, and can play as either a small (Chihuahua), medium (West Highland Terrier), or large (Golden Retriever) dog. Playing each type of dog has different advantages and disadvantages within the game. For example, the small dog would have an easier time hiding from the dogcatcher, but the large dog could see further ahead since it is taller.

Fido’s owner went on vacation and while there, Fido wandered away and got lost. Unfortunately for him, his owner had to go home, so now Fido is all alone. Fido must figure out how to get home while avoiding children that want to adopt him, the dogcatcher, and cars. He will encounter other issues along the way, such as hunger, fatigue, illness, other animals, changing weather, and natural barricades (such as a river).

The player will see the world through Fido’s eyes. Everything will be primarily in shades of grey (since dogs are color-blind) and at eye-level to the dog, which means when looking at people, unless the player aims the dog’s eyes up, the dog will primarily see at the level of people’s calves and knees (depending on the size of the dog chosen by the player). Completion of each level takes the dog closer to home. The player will need to play several levels to successfully get the dog back to his owner (for example, the woods around the campground where the vacation occurred, the big city where the owner lives, and the neighborhood where the owner lives).

During gameplay, the Fido character has a certain health line and a food line. Fido must not run out of food or he will get ill and not be able to travel as quickly. These bars will show in the top right corner of the screen at all times. If Fido gets hungry, he will either need to scrounge for food or find a friendly face who will feed him. He also will need to find shelter to survive the changing weather; for example, if it’s a cold night, he’ll need indoor shelter, but if it’s warm, he could sleep under a park bench. If Fido doesn’t get enough sleep, his health will decline as well.

The game can be played in two different ways:

1. a “timed” version, where you have a certain about of time to complete each level. Time will be measured in “days” within the game.
2. a “free-play” version, where you can roam and play the game as you desire, with no time limits to complete any of the levels.

In either play mode, there are hidden treasures along the way, things like dog treats, maps, shortcuts, and friendly pet owners who will help Fido find his way home. If Fido gets captured, either by a child or by the dogcatcher, keep on the alert for opportunities to escape.

The end of the game results in Fido successfully finding his way home to his owner.

 

Pass 3

Here is Pass 3! It has 628 words, down from the original Pass 1 1721 words… which means approximately 64% of the words have been replaced by sounds and images. The structure has changed, instead of “him” and being written mostly in the past, the story now refers to “you” and is set in present tense. I used MS Power Point for this pass, as it allowed sounds and images to be used the way I wanted to use them. After some stumbling blocks, I finally figured out how to properly embed the sounds so they play as part of the presentation.

Since I do not have streaming capability, to see this presentation, follow the following steps:

Here is the file: michaels-story-pass-3.ppt

1. Right-click on the file and select “Save target as…”
2. Save the file to your desktop. Please allow plenty of save time as the file is approximately 39MB.
3. Open the file using Microsoft Power Point.
4. Select “Slide Show” view.

Enjoy!

 

Assignment 4: First Person Flickr!

Mirror Mirror, you WILL go on the wall!

This image is of my father and me hanging a mirror in my living room. This was the first thing I finally actually put onto a wall in my home. The conflict was that the mirror was very difficult to actually end up placing on the wall in the location and positioning that I wanted. First we had difficulty finding the wall studs. One of the studs wasn’t in the right place so we had to use a drywall anchor, but the drywall was soft and difficult to get the anchor to hold. It was a battle, my stubbornness and my dad’s determination vs. the wall. I selected this image because of what this day meant to me. Up to that point, I still felt like the house was like an apartment, just a temporary living space, but once I had the mirror up, I finally felt like I wanted to settle in and actually live there.

 

One Man Out of Six Million–Michael’s Story PASS 2

OK… this was trickier than I thought it might be. First, sitting and looking at holocaust images for hours on end is a bit trying… and secondly, trying to figure out where to work them into the story and be able to pull text was difficult. But I finally got it…and I really like how it turned out, I think.

I managed to take it from approximately 1721 words down to 1193, which cuts approximately 31%, and I incorporated 12 images. I also figured out a way while still taking text out, to redo some of the existing text to make it a bit more sensory and descriptive. I also tried to bring more focus to the promise that Michael made to his father to try to survive, and make it even clearer how important his tailoring skills ended up being in the camps. Thanks Dad and Ron for the feedback! :) 

I’m definitely looking forward to working on the next pass with more images, plus sound and video.

Michael’s Story–PASS 2

 

Hrm…

It’s kind of tough to begin working on Pass 2 of my story when I don’t have a grade for Pass 1 yet. Or for the proposal. I wish I wasn’t so tied to grades, but I guess that was so drilled into me through high school and college that it’s a part of how I think.

 

Assignment 3: Brunerian Film Analysis - The Princess Bride in terms of Particularity

To say that the film “The Princess Bride” is a fairy tale to begin with will automatically make one jump to the following conclusions:

• It will begin with “Once upon a time…”
• There will be a definite hero or heroine.
• There will be a definite villain or beast.
• There will be royalty or a castle in the story.
• There will be a good vs. evil theme.
• There will be magic.
• There will be a problem.
• There will be a solution.
• It will end with “…and they lived happily ever after.”

But a note on the DVD box for the film reads, “Not just your basic, average, everyday, ordinary, run-of-the-mill, ho-hum fairy tale.” My understanding of the definition given by Bruner of particularity is “that which is unique in an otherwise generic story.” This comment on the box led me to believe that this film would be a good one to review for this feature of narrative.

This movie is based on William Goldman’s novel of the same name. The story begins as a book read by a grandfather to his ill grandson. The grandson is more interested in his video games, until the grandfather assures him that the book has much more to deliver than a simpering love story, including but not limited to fencing, fighting, torture, death, true love, giants, and pirates. The Princess Bride tells the story of a stable boy-turned-pirate Westley and his journey to rescue his true love Buttercup away from the evil prince whom she had agreed to marry five years after learning of what she had believed to be news of Westley’s death. With help from the prince’s disgruntled former employee Miracle Max, out-for-revenge swordsman Inigo Montoya, and a giant, Buttercup and Westley are reunited.

As we can see from the synopsis, all of the expected elements of a generic fairy tale appear to exist. Although the story is framed by the grandfather and grandson, the story that the grandfather reads begins with “Once upon a time…” The definite heroine in the story is Buttercup. The definite hero is Westley. The definite villain is the prince, but the three kidnappers are somewhat villains too, at least for a while. There is royalty and a castle. There is a strong good vs. evil theme. Magic is used to bring Westley back to life. The problem is that Buttercup and Westley have been separated. The solution gets them back together. And the story ends with “…and they lived happily ever after.”

But “The Princess Bride” goes beyond the expected elements and has many instances of particularities throughout the film. Although in general this film appears to be a “boy-gets-girl” type of narrative, there are many other stories that are also occurring throughout the film. There’s a “bully-gets-his-comeuppance” storyline, a “good guy is actually bad guy” storyline, and the frame story of the ill grandson and his storytelling grandfather. The fact that there are multiple narratives occurring within the story is the first example of particularity for this film. By having multiple stories taking place at the same time, one is drawn into all of the stories.

One of the particularities of the film is the requirement that the multiple stories must intersect in order for each of them to reach their conclusions. The first example of this is the “bully-gets-his-comeuppance” storyline. Inigo Montoya is a swordsman out to avenge his father’s death. All he knows was that his father was killed by a “six-fingered man”. The six-fingered man turns out to be the Prince’s Count, and through his involvement in the “boy-gets-girl” storyline, Inigo has his opportunity to exact the revenge he has so been seeking. Another example of this particularity as a requirement in the film is shown in the scene with Miracle Max and his wife. If Max had not previously had issues with the Prince, his wife wouldn’t have been able to convince him to bring Westley back from “mostly dead” and the “boy-gets-girl” storyline could not have concluded in the appropriate fairy-tale ending.

Another particularity evident in the film is the idea of a character appearing to be a “good guy” but actually being a villain, and of a villain who is in actuality is a “good guy”. The former is seen first in the Prince’s character. In Buttercup’s eyes, he has saved her from the kidnapping, and sent Westley messages in order for him to return to claim her before her forced wedding. In reality, however, the Prince has Westley locked up and being tortured. The prince is also responsible for her kidnapping, as he wants to start a war between two countries, but Buttercup is not aware of this aspect of his character. On the other hand, her love Westley, a stable boy from her youth, has supposedly been killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts. When the Dread Pirate Roberts kidnaps her from the three kidnappers, she believes that he is evil and had killed her true love. However, at one point, she pushes him down a gorge and he shouts the same three words that Westley had always said to her, and she realizes that the pirate is actually Westley. This part of the story shows the latter idea of this particularity in the film. Another showing of this idea is in the change in the swordsman and giant characters. Although in the beginning they are villains, they dynamically become involved in the plot to get Westley back together with Buttercup and end up being “good guys” in the end.

I believe that all of the uses of particularity throughout this film absolutely enhance the narrative of the film. Without the multiple storylines, this story would be a relatively generic fairy tale, and may not hold the attention of its viewers. Without those multiple storylines intersecting at various points throughout the film, the viewer might not understand how each story really impacted the others. As it is, however, “The Princess Bride” is everything a fairy tale should be, and more.

 

Bruner Film Analysis…thoughts

Hrm… The Princess Bride, in terms of particularities…

Well, let’s see… it starts out as a “run-of-the-mill” fairy tale, but then stands out as it combines elements of action, romance, friendship, thievery… thus going beyond the realm of a generic fairy tale.

In fact, in each major piece of the story, there’s additional particularities that stand out and make the film a new type of fairy tale. Ok. I think that’ll give me enough to write about… We shall see.

 

Story-Pass 1

OK, so here it is. I changed some things from my original plan… for example, instead of staying in the same time frame the entire time, I used flashback and flash-forward techniques. I also had to cut much of the story, since there was just TOO much story to recreate in this time frame. I had a lot of difficulty getting all the information written in the correct tenses, especially when talking about a lot of events happening in and around the same time. But I definitely can see where I may go with this story as I add multimedia elements. It may vary some from where I thought I’d go, when I wrote my original proposal… partially based on the way I wrote the story, and partially based on the content (images, audio/video) that I will have access to. But here it is. 

One Man out of 6,000,000+, Michael’s Story