This week I started putting together the script for my short film “Analog”. The plot for “Analog” will follow a rogue activist who stumbles across a camcorder that contains fragments of a family’s life that took place 100 years before the AI regime. As they piece together these forgotten moments of humanity, the protagonist becomes a target of the State, hunted for the very truth they are trying to preserve. Their journey forces them to confront what it means to be human in a world designed to erase humanity’s past.
In addition to fleshing out a script for my short film, I went through various audio clips that would aid in building out the story, tested different AI generated voices I could use for characters, and found some AI generated tech noir themed scenes I could use to help build the setting of my film.
This is my new pet Sarkastodon. He is sort of like a prehistoric hyena. His name literally translates to “flesh-tearing tooth”. He will eat any large animal (or human) and needs 200+ pounds of raw meat per day. He is my personal bodyguard.
4/11: National Pet Day
For national pet day, my dog Max (the chocolate lab) is hanging out with his long-distance girlfriend Lola (my sister’s dog) today and is seen here snooping around her cage. Lola only comes over on special occasions, so Max is actually really excited despite the glum look on his face which I believe he is giving me for interrupting his private time with Lola.
This week I created a trailer for my upcoming final project titled Analog (2143).
In creating my trailer, I first had a friend film a few scenes of me using an iPhone while I walked into an attic and opened a box with an old camcorder. I directed her to incorporate a few interesting shot perspectives which I thought would look cool. After shooting these clips I had to brainstorm the rest of the script for my trailer and sought to incorporate some interesting cyberpunk script elements such as AI ruling the world. I used a basic editing app called InShot on my iPhone to edit the clips together and then transitioned to Canva to find some free stock videos of a dystopian city for the intro, a patrol robot overlooking the city, and then some red evil-looking AI pixel cloud.
After putting the clips together, I searched for a robotic AI generated voice I could use to give a warning announcement around using prohibited analog devices in order to capture an oppressive tone which would make the camcorder discovery feel like a rebellion in motion.
I wanted to add some more voiceovers but reached a max limit of one recording and figured the one voiceover would suffice for a short trailer. This gave the trailer a more minimal-teaser style essence to it.
I then found an eerie sounding synth audio available on Canva that I used for the beginning of the trailer to set the mood. For the discovery scene, I found a more hopeful synthwave track on Canva to transition and end with. Looking back at it, maybe I should have kept the eerie sounding synth throughout the video to continue building tension.
Overall, the trailer isn’t as great as I’d like it to be. I wish I had incorporated more sound effects into it and had figured out how to incorporate some more narration or maybe some captions into the trailer to convey more of the storyline I drew up for it. This project was fun though! I’m looking forward to incorporating some of the elements that I either rushed or completely missed while I start working on this final project.
Hearing our group’s podcast played live on the DGST radio was both nerve-wracking and rewarding. It made me more aware of how important sound design, pacing, and transitions are in shaping how a narrated story is received. I think our podcast came together well overall and I really love Rylie’s take on the cryptic Frank Sinatra themed soundtrack that we used. I do wish we had used one of the commercials I made or at least a real person’s voice for some of our commercials that we used instead of a robotic one—I think it would’ve sounded more natural and relatable. I also think it would’ve been cool to have more of a dialogue with the rest of my group during each story to make the podcast seem more conversational but unfortunately none of our schedules lined up to make it happen.
The live interviews with team members from other groups added a fun, real-time energy and it was cool to learn about others’ creative processes around designing their podcast, writing the script, and why they made the choices they did. I thought the variety of commercials groups used were really creative and entertaining—some were genuinely funny. One podcast that stood out used Dr. Oblivion’s voice with added sass and personality, which I thought was a clever and memorable choice. I thought the script and dialogue between the two hosts was well-written and really showcased the personality you would hear in a group podcast, even if the hosts/voices were robotic or AI generated.
To improve the live radio experience, smoother transitions between shows and clearer introductions for each segment would help the audience follow along more easily. Having more interactive features on the radio station would provide a more engaging experience for listeners as well to be able to follow along and add input rather than having to chat on Discord.
Overall, I had a great experience, and it made me want to look into the UMW student-led radio station and see what kind of conversations they are having and the creativity going into that. (I used to pass by the room in the Woodard business building by Vocelli’s but never knew how/when/if they operated)
Our group/podcast Days of Crime and Roses includes Rylie, Rebecca, and myself. We put together a discord chat 2 weeks ago to communicate our strategy of recording and editing our podcast. This week we each wrote and recorded one 5-7 minute episode about a crime that our character committed. Rylie worked on an introductory background track while Rebecca worked on putting together all of our recordings seamlessly into a cohesive podcast which included a couple commercials — one commercial including a cognitive enhancement substance from my story called “NeuroFlux”. Overall, I am excited with the direction we took for the podcast although, it would have been nice to have met in-person and bounced some creative ideas off of each other in the same room and use some professional recording equipment but none of our schedules worked out with distance, work and school schedules.
I love my Kindle because it fits right in my pocket, and gives me access to a whole library of books wherever I go at the fraction of the cost of hardcovers. It keeps me entertained without the mindless scrolling and pulls me into fascinating stories that let me escape into someone else’s world. I love how it helps me expand my vocabulary, as I discover new words and ideas as I read. With its no-glare screen, I can enjoy it anywhere—whether I’m outside in the sun, on the train, or curled up inside. It’s the best way to relax, recharge, and keep my brain sharp.
3/26 “Cabinet Face” =]
I found this face in the kitchen on the cabinet and actually had to rotate the photo to make it work.
While brainstorming ideas for our podcast theme, Rylie suggested a more scrapbook/collage look. I took the idea and put my own spin on it, going to Canva looking for an old newspaper graphic for the background. I found a graphic that fit the idea, and I adjusted its transparency and lighting to be more subtle. I then browsed through the Spotify crime podcast genre to gain some inspiration. I noticed many of the titles in the genre to be very bold and easily visible, so I took a bright yellow empty caution tape graphic (which fits the crime theme) and put our title in it. To finish things off, I found a scrapbooked rose graphic and added some elements to it like the blood dripping off the petals to give a more eerie vibe. The poster is something that is not too busy but easily captures the elements of vintage and crime.
This is the cover of a song by Frank Ocean called “Biking”
Ocean uses the metaphor of biking to represent his journey through life’s different chapters and compares holding onto the handlebars of a bike similar to holding onto hope, finding balance by continuing to keep going and “biking on”
We are a third of the way through this Digital Storytelling course and it’s time to reflect on the journey that we only just began a little over a month ago. The goals that I set for myself going into this class seemed fairly reasonable and optimistic: develop a new personal creative passion and learn a few new skillsets that will make me a higher valued asset in a future career. Seemed simple enough, although maybe too broad.
Discipline is something that I am always looking to improve. Although I have been able to apply discipline in other areas of my life such as exercising, waking up early, limiting social media, doing a daily sudoku, and reading more, creativity is something that I feel needs more discipline and care in order to become good at. A new specific goal I’d like to set for myself in this class is starting weekly assignments earlier than the day it’s due. Sometimes I feel like I work better creatively when I put pressure on myself, sometimes that means I start later. I’m not sure where I developed this mindset, but I’d like to reprogram that and focus more on taking time to make a little progress on assignments every day rather than feeling rushed to complete something in one sitting. Rather than reviewing the weekly assignment and waiting the whole week for inspiration to strike, I will begin working on assignments a little bit every day.
I’ve enjoyed the creative projects we have worked on so far. My favorite activities so far were when we were assigned with creating a Sound Effect Story and doing a PhotoBlitzer! My favorite lesson was reading articles and watching videos about the art of editing. I feel as though I haven’t been able to find a way to really connect with my assignments so far which is why I feel as if they could all have been done better instead of being done a rushed sort of way. I think I will enjoy the output of my work more as I tune my creative discipline going into the next weekly units.
This is my scene analysis after the large-scale massacre in Black Mirror’s “Hated in the Nation” epsisode.
I’ve always loved Black Mirror for it’s original thought-provoking episodes and intense story-telling nature focused on exaggerating modern day issues and technological advancements. It was cool to be able to analyze scenes from a show I remember watching years before this assignment and peice together specific reasons for why I love the story telling of these episodes so much.
I enjoy watching youtube videos of people breaking down scenes from movies and shows on my own so it was cool to try and replicate a category of content in a way that I am already used to seeing done regularly. Although I started to record a voiceover unpacking everything that was going on in each scene, I realized that I wasn’t as fluent in analyzing a show right off the dome and that it would be better for me to try writing a little script with key points in it. After finishing this assignemnt with only a handful of scenes covered and an audio of 2 minutes, I wished that I could have written something up about this show instead to unpack more and give the show the credit it deserves.
I ended up using an editing app on my iPhone to piece my analysis together after struggling with Microsoft’s editing platform on my laptop. YouTube instantly blocked my video for copyright so I posted to Vimeo instead.
This assignment gave me another reason to rewatch the entire Black Mirror series, especially after going through some personal life expereinces over the years that have gave me new perspectieves on heavy topics like this show touches on. I look forward to reading deeper into the episodes as I watch them back and pay closer attention to the editing and cinematography of each one.
