Idea #1: Runa Starr is one of the greatest mercenaries in her rebellion called the Claws. Working solo is how she rolls without anyone holding her back. But this preference gets challenged when her boss assigns her with a random group of people she’s never met on a mission to steal top secret files from a high security government building in Celeste City. This ragtag group with clashing personalities must somehow get over their differences to get the job done.
Idea #2: Runa Starr can take down almost any foe, steal the most guarded treasures, and spy on anyone without leaving a single trace behind, but when her boss sends her on her wildest mission yet she thinks she might’ve finally met her match. She must win a silly game show that requires answering the most bizarre questions. Not only that, but the show is team vs team and her boss unknowingly paired her up with the rebellion member that she absolutely hates working with. Hopefully she can overcome this obstacle and still complete the mission.
Preference: Since Runa is a very headstrong and strategic character I think it would be funny to have her work with a more laidback and nonchalant guy character who intentionally makes mistakes as a way to tease her, but he secretly has everything under control because he cares about completing the mission too. For either idea I would prefer doing a more lighthearted and fun approach to their storytelling.
Sound is all a part of life. Even with your eyes closed your brain can easily recognize the sound of bacon as it hits a sizzling pan, heels clicking against tile floor, or even splats of rain against a window. This is how so many creators are able to use audio to bring their stories to life without even adding the visuals of a video. So lets test it out and see if you can visualize what I am doing in my room right now with only audio as a clue!
Even without being in the room with me you can use the audio to easily imagine the scene. I am literally listening to music right now while the racing clicks of my keyboard subtly play over the muffled snores of my sleeping dog below me. And that’s the power of SOUND! Amazing right! Film, radio, and even audio books use sound effects like this to help tell a story. Even with all our world’s advances in technology like music apps with instant queue we still have radio . . . why? Well Jad Abumrad explains it pretty well in a RadioLab video, its all about connection. That feeling a viewer gets when they feel like the speaker is talking directly to them. Kind of like a parasocial relationship that makes people feel included and engaged. Its one of the same reasons podcasts thrive so well in current day with apps like Spotify getting over 32 million listeners.
Here are two other good examples of how audio is used in storytelling. The first is Moon Graffiti, on the Truth Podcast they use sound effects to help narrate the story of what if Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin crashed instead of being able to land on the moon. They use radio static, electrical beeping, button clicking, loud explosion sounds, etc to all help their viewer visualize the scene effortlessly. They are capable of making you feel like you’re in the room with the Mission Control team tracking the spacecraft itself. Even in this other example from the ds106 radio, they played the story of Limetown about journalist Lia trying to solve the mystery of what happened to the hundreds of people who disappeared in Limetown. The storytelling and voice acting is done amazingly well and I highly recommend listening to at least the first episode to try it out. But what stands out the most is how they used sound to set the atmosphere and mood for certain scenes. From the how voices start quiet then slowly get louder to portray someone getting closer or the sounds of crickets to show that they’re outdoors at night. Even the shift in the voice actors’ tone helps to show fear which drives the storytelling for many scenes. In other cases besides story, creators are able to use sound effects to make an impact. Radio bumpers are a good example of this. They are only a quick announcement lasting a few seconds reminding their viewers what radio station they are on in between songs, but they can still be entertaining with the use of audio editing.
Radio Bumper
Here is one I created myself inspired by the assignment bank for the ds106radio. Since this radio station is used by a college class I wanted to keep that theme by making mine based on a wild college party. For my audio editing I used Audacity and added rave music found from TikTok. The voice acting is Ai generated from Canva where I wrote out his script and spent like 30 minutes searching for the closest voice I could find that matched similar to young laidback guy. Lastly, I added the effect of party people cheering while he was making his announcement. Originally the cheers triggering early was a mistake in editing, but I kept it because in real life situations young college students would probably interrupt him with their cheering while partying anyway so it made it more realistic.
A day in the life of Runa as she finishes another mission with her rebellion.
This post was interesting and fun because it was inspired by two people so I combined the ideas together. The first was the Sound Effects Story where the directions said to tell a story without words and the second inspiration was Elizabeth Byrd who gave the instructions to hum a song stuck in your head for her assignment called Humming Away. For mine I edited audio using Audacity and I added a twist to mine by making my character Runa hum a song that she is listening to in her headphones while she is walking through a battle completely unbothered. The humming is upbeat but there is still a slight tone of sadness showing that she is aware of the violence happening around her. The humming audio is from TikTok, and for added sound effects I used angry mob yelling, boot steps on sidewalk, gun shots and also laser gun sounds because in a futuristic city I am sure they would also have futuristic guns. To portray movement I used the boot step sounds and also stopped the gun shots sound effects midway of the audio as a way to show that she passed them and when she makes it to the end she stops humming before she leaves to signify that she doesn’t need to drown out the noise anymore. Also the title of my post is called The Eye of the Hurricane because Runa is calmly walking and humming along while fighting is happening around her, and the eye of a hurricane is known as the moment of calmness during the storm.
You can’t choose your family nor control their actions as things easily go from bad to worse in seconds. Being a kid while hearing your family fight can be unbearable so I dare you to spend a few seconds under the roof of a dysfunctional home. Beware that the sounds chosen may be slightly triggering if you’ve been in this child’s position before.
So how do you feel? Stressed? Overwhelmed? Those are the first words that come to mind after listening each time for me. For this post I got my inspiration from the assignment called Auditory Hell where the directions said for you to create your worst sound ever. For me, I hated family drama growing up so I tried to replicate the sounds using Audacity. I used the sound of adults arguing, a baby crying from hearing all the loud noise, a fire alarm blaring because no one is paying attention to the food burning in the kitchen, and a dog barking as a reaction to all the high energy of the drama around him. My original audio clip was supposed to be longer but I found the sound upsetting and thought the short version still proved my point about how stressfully overwhelming a dysfunctional home can be.
Welcome to Celeste Cit- HEY! WATCH WHERE YA GOING!
Listen come here. I’m gonna give you a little tip. This bustling city ain’t for the weak so you better toughen up or get eaten alive. If you see anything, no you didn’t. Its none of your business so stay out of it. The cops come snooping around like starving hounds on the prowl every now and then so it might be in your best interest to avoid ’em unless you wanna be interviewed every time to see what you know. Any secrets about the rebellion and what not. Oh, speaking of the rebellion, their name’s the Claws. They do underground work tryin to overthrow the government and their members are scattered all across the city. Trust, you do not wanna get in their way. Especially that smug brat they call the Shadow, she may look young but I witnessed her easily take down three cops with my own eyes. Aye don’t give me that look, there’s nothing to fear. They’re good folk on an actual righteous mission to save people like you and me while those rich pigs in the government try to keep us beneath their boots. But that’s all for now. So once again, welcome to Celeste City. And good luck . . . you’re gonna need it.
The Inspiration
This post was inspired by Create a Place from the assignment bank which gave the directions of using sound to create a place. For mine I chose to bring Celeste City to life since that is where my character Runa Starr aka the Shadow lives. I used Audacity for my audio editing. Since it is a cyberpunk themed city I thought it would be cool to make it based off of New York city so I used audio sound effects from the city like sirens, people talking, car alarms, and the sound of footsteps are also included to portray walking on the sidewalk. Lastly, I added in spaceship sound affects in the background because in a futuristic city I am sure they would have highly advanced technology like aircrafts. My script above was originally supposed to be included in the audio with an Ai generated New York accent voice, but none of the free voice generators sounded realistic enough and the other apps like Canva required payment for using long scripts for voice acting. So instead I just made the script readable while the Celeste City sounds play in the background.
For this Daily Create I was supposed to think of a mini golf course design. Since water is considered a hazard in golf I thought it would be funny to have a hard course that is entirely water. I used Canva to design it by getting an image of a kid waterpark playground and I edited in a illustration of a girl playing golf and across the other side of the pirate ship there is the flag with the hole.
Friendly Dino
For this Daily Create I was supposed to follow along with a tutorial to draw a dinosaur. Creating him wasn’t as simple as I imagined it would be but I think he came out looking like a friendly cartoon character. His legs, arms, and tail took me multiple attempts but at least in the end he’s still recognizable as a dinosaur.
Ol’ Timey Poem
For this Daily Create I was supposed to create a poem using the anti-spam word, “starve ye.” For mine the first thought that popped in my head when I saw the word was how people talked in the past, so I made my poem similar to a person from the past making an announcement by using the words, “Hear ye, Hear ye.”
This week was character week and I had a lot of fun making creations from the assignment bank based on my character. Also I am a lot more comfortable using Canva now and I feel like I understand its features better unlike the first time I used it. My favorite activity this week was definitely Photoblitz. I enjoyed coming up with fun ideas for all the photo prompts. Lastly, for the reflection of design thoughts I was partially already familiar with a lot of what was explained because I’ve taken prior art classes which explained the principles of design plenty of times.
Daily Creates
The Daily Creates this week were fairly simple. I completed 3 and only 2 of them had prompts that actually required creating something myself. But I still put in the effort and explained the inspiration behind each one shown in my post called Inside My Creative Mind.
Assignment Bank
For character week I put a lot of work into each post about Runa Starr. In For Wanted Dead or Alive I created a wanted poster of Runa from when she was younger because she works in the rebellion so I am sure there would be plenty of posters around the city trying to capture her. For Tattoos Hold Hidden Messages I drew 3 tattoo designs for Runa that she would probably have on her body. Lastly, for Level Up I created a RPG game card for Runa showcasing her stats as if she was a game character.
PhotoBlitz
Ready, Set, Photoblitz was a fun and fast paced activity that I loved doing. My photos were silly but I think the inspiration behind them were all well thought out. I had to take 7 pictures in only a matter of minutes and it was surprisingly not as simple as I originally thought, but I would definitely do it again one day with a group of friends to see what everyone takes pictures of with the fun prompts.
Design Thoughts
This week I went over the thought process that goes into designs. In my post The Art of Design I explained how certain color schemes can have an affect on portraying a mood for settings and aesthetics. I also did a quick analysis of the design principles used on making a movie’s poster.
What is art? Don’t worry I will give you a second to think about it. No matter your response there isn’t a correct answer to what art is. But there is plenty principles of design from color, shapes, proportion, etc so lets take a closer look at ways we can make our creations better.
Graphic Design
You might look at a poster and think Wow! That movie looks interesting or see a book cover and instantly wanna see what it’s about. Well it catches your attention for a reason and that’s all due to the amount of thought put into the design. One of the most famous graphic designers, Chip Kidd, was able to break down the basics of design for literal children in his book called Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design. Inside he explains concepts in simple ways that are easily understandable for children and adults. But what stood out to me the most was his explanation on how everything that is not made by nature is designed by someone else. So if you stop and take a look around yourself right now, literally everything started out as an idea that someone put time and effort into while creating it. Amazing right! So much more goes into designs than people know. Think about it this way. Colors that contrast or blend well can look appealing to the eyes. Jagged shapes can put people on edge compared to round shapes that have more of a soothing effect. Even proportions like making something smaller can make it look cuter. Well lets dive even deeper into how design can portray an aesthetic and even provoke feeling from the viewer.
Movie posters are a great example of how design principles are used. In the video above James Verdesto explains very well how design is used in marketing to communicate a message. A lot of movie posters tend to follow a trend of using the same elements in their designs like specific color schemes depending on genre. Perfect examples are how the color yellow is used to catch the eye and how black and white tends to to be used for action movies to portray the masculinity of the protagonist while adding a pop of color usually with the color red to draw attention with the intensity. Here is another example.
In this movie poster of Blade Runner 2049 we can see many cyberpunk elements being used for its aesthetic. The background shows a bleak, cold city that has advance aircraft flying around showing that its based on a high-tech dystopian world. The color palette used of dull orange and blue nicely contrast with each other while emphasizing the characters in front wearing dark clothes. I also want to point out the designer’s decision to use fiery orange and red for the big bold font of the title that easily draws your eyes to it. It is such a visually appealing poster that its hard not to appreciate the amount of work put into its design. The movie itself utilizes many more elements of cyberpunk design in its setting like using color grading to set the grim mood or how bold neon lights are used for symbolism and contrast.
In general, whether its a movie poster, book cover, painting, etc everything uses the principles of design in it. So next time you’re admiring something as simple as your favorite singer’s new album cover I highly recommend you stop and appreciate the thought put into the color scheme, font, shapes, proportions and more because the art of design is more fascinating when every detail holds a meaning.
20 minutes to take 7 photos! Sounds easy right? Trust me, it’s a lot more chaotic than you think, but that’s all part of the fun. Photoblitz is a fun 20 minute activity where you are given 7 prompts and then you have to race to take all the photos in time. I will admit I easily got lost in the creative process and went over the time limit by a few minutes. Oops! But I had lots of fun and my pictures came out great even if my ideas were a little silly.
Prompt #1: A Toy in Action
For this prompt I needed to show toys doing something active so I wanted to make stuffed animals look like they were watching videos together like a human. So I put the gorilla and camel in front of a laptop with them staring at the screen. This was actually my favorite picture I took because the idea was so funny.
Prompt #2: Show Us Some Food
For the second prompt I needed to take a picture of food, and since my sister was already making hot chocolate I just took a picture of her cup. I tried to put it in sunlight so the purple and pink sugar on top of the whipped cream would stand out more.
Prompt #3: Camera at Floor Level
For the third prompt I had to take a picture from floor level, so I took a picture of my dog because I liked the idea of making him look really big from the floor angle. Getting him to stay still was the hardest part because seeing me on the floor automatically makes him assume I am down there to play with him.
Prompt #4: Glasses Bring the World into Focus
For the fourth prompt I was supposed to show how glasses help many people see, so I chose to take the picture through the lens of a pair of glasses. I made the picture focus be on a painting I made because glasses allow people see the beauty of the world.
Prompt 5#: Turn Food into a Face
For prompt I had to turn food into the shape of a face then take a picture. I used the cereal Fruit Loops to make my face on a wooden table. Originally I had another circle around the face, but it looked messy so I went back to keeping a simple design for it.
Prompt #6: Doors Can Have A Lot of Character
For this prompt I was supposed to show how doors can have character based on their style, so I took a picture of the basement door’s doorknob because it is one of the old traditional ones that has a giant keyhole. Personally these types of doorknobs remind me of faces because the two screws are like eyes, the knob is like a nose, and the keyhole is like a mouth so it was the perfect choice to photograph.
Prompt #7: Forced Perspective
For this prompt I needed to take a picture that made something look big, but I decided to do my own funny take on it by taking a picture of a miniature version of a big corgi stuffed animal, so it shows both perspectives of tiny and big side by side.
Times Up!
Took me 24 minutes to take all my picture prompts, so I went over the limit by 4 minutes but I think it was worth it. If you found this idea interesting then I highly recommend rushing over to Photoblitz and seeing if you can beat my record of 24 minutes for your 7 photos.
Mercenary in a cyberpunk world! Runa Starr is the perfect character for a RPG. She’s got the swiftness of a viper with the venom to match. Along with her ability to easily outsmart foes makes every fight an easy win. So if Runa had her own game card I believe her top stats would be definitely be skill, stealth, charisma, and confidence!
Skill
Trained since the age of 12 for close combat, Runa can disarm a man with a blade in seconds. Even at a distance, she’s prepared for every bullet to strike her target. But her marksmanship isn’t what makes her dangerous. Runa’s savvy mind strategizes and counters on the spot making her one of the most fearsome mercenaries of her generation.
Stealth
She isn’t called The Shadow for nothing. Spying from rooftops, creeping behind guarded doors, or hiding in plain sight, Runa can do it all without leaving a single trail . . . unless she wants to be found because sometimes playing the distraction is more fun.
Charisma
Runa has a certain alluring energy that catches the attention of the room right when she talks. Whether it’s her attractive charm, her mesmerizing beauty, her smooth velvety voice, or- Well let’s just say it’s a combination of all that leaves people begging for a second of her time.
Confidence
Stats maxed out for a reason! Runa is bold and unapologetic so don’t get in her way, especially when it comes down to her strategic schemes. She’s isn’t afraid to take risk even if it means gambling her life, but yet her intuition is always right. Or maybe her confidence just makes her luck come off that way. No one will ever know.
The Inspiration
This idea came from the assignment bank post called Personal Trading Card. The instructions were to create a card based on a character, so I chose to create one for Runa Starr using the website called Remixer. For the art I tried my best to find a futuristic mercenary themed picture from the website Pinterest. I wanted to keep the purple and black color scheme so I used it for the whole card’s design. Then when it came down to choosing Runa’s stats I made sure to pick words that matched her character perfectly. Skill, stealth, and charisma were easy choices, but for the last one of confidence I wanted to make a little joke by exaggerating a bit to emphasize her personality so I put the stats as maxed out.
Skill
Stealth
Charisma 
Confidence