I think the radio show went as good as it could have gone, overall. Since this is an online class, it made sense that my group’s schedules really did not match up. We realized that with the scheduling difficulties, it made the most sense to just edit together our own episode and then create a cohesive theme and idea across all three episodes. I wish we had gotten the chance to record as a group, just since that would have been more fun, but I had a pretty good time by myself as well! I’ve never edited a show with multiple audios before, and I wish I had the ability to do that with this project. I talked a little bit about it in my daily summary, but the overall editing was not that difficult for me. I used a backing track generated from Frank Sinatra’s Days of Wine and Roses via AIVA, and that was about the most challenging part.
Category Archives: Other
Extra, Extra!
For this assignment, I decided to primarily focus on the shootout scene from The Terminator, while also including some references to the nightclub fight. I used a newspaper template on Canva in order to format everything, and then typed directly into the document. I changed several of the fonts to make it more newspaper-esque, as it seemed like the template was initially meant to be used as an announcement and not a legitimate newspaper. I included photos of TechNoir and the Terminator, as well. The picture of the Terminator took some time to find, as I wanted a photo that looked like it could have been sourced from a security camera or something similar. I included the actual LAPD phone number, as well as some other small details that I researched. I enjoyed making this, especially having to write as though I was a reporter! I think the fake quotes I included were a lot of fun, too.
Have I Been Doing What I Set Out to Do?
I think the biggest thing that I neglected to mention when writing about my goals at the beginning of the semester was time management and being able to parse out work throughout the week. I think this caught up to me quite quickly, but it’s been tough for me to get in to a flow and find a good work schedule. Looking to the rest of the semester, I hope to set aside dedicated “ds106 time” where I’ll actually work through the week instead of doing everything on Thursday and Friday. I think some of this shows in my Weekly Summaries, which I alway feel end up rushed and not the best representation of my work.
Going along with this, I’m also going to work to better organize the work for the week, as I feel like I have a tendency to let some things slip between the cracks. For the last few weeks I’ve gone through and pre-made all the posts for each assignment and properly tagged them before actually starting on the work, which has been helpful.
Looking at my actual goals, I do think that I’ve learned how to tell stories in different ways. I’ve really never used photography or audio before, and we’ve worked with both of those. The tech noir theme has been difficult on occasion, as I feel like its hard to engage with without being stereotypical or basic. However, I’ve enjoyed the character building and creative writing involved and this again fits with my previous goal of wanting to engage with new storytelling methods.
So to summarize:
- Set specific work times and WORK.
- Organize the week and engage with material in different ways.
- Continue to be creative and try new things!
Imagine I’m There Live
I was unfortunately in rehearsals every evening this week, so I was unable to join in to the live airing of Limetown on ds106 Radio. I heard from my roommate what was played on Monday night, and I took the time to listen to the first two episodes on my own time- I really enjoyed it! I listen to a lot of podcasts, both fiction and non-fiction, so this was a fun middle-ground for me. While I know this was the intention, I was so surprised by how much Limetown felt like an investigative journalism podcast. The narrator has the perfect voice for it, and it makes it even more offputting for me.
I wish I was able to participate in the Discord discussion as this episode was airing on the radio, as I think this is an experience that is meant to be shared. I was certainly creeped out, and I would have loved to talk/freak out about the guy banging his head on the doorway with others!
They Did WHAT on the Moon?
I thought that Moon Graffiti was really interesting, and again, I love audio dramas! What I thought was really neat about this episode was the combonation of historical events like Nixon’s speech paired with the hypothetical conversations between Armstrong and Aldrin. I think this grounded the episode and created a really eerie sense of place. It reminded me of the idea of the Uncanny Valley, like maybe I was actually listening to a non-fiction podcast that was recounting the tragic moon landing.
Something that I appreciated was not only the sound design within the dialogue, like the sound of mechanized breathing and the static of a 1960s TV, but the background ambiance. I had to pause the episode at one point, and I was shocked by how quiet everything around me actually was. I wasn’t processing the whiny, almost siren-like noise that was occuring beneath the whole episode. I’d be curious to listen to more of The Truth Podcast’s episodes to see if this was a common theme or if this was something that was meant to be emitted by the moon.
My Opinions on Design (Because You Asked)
A lesson in hyperlinks indeed! As someone who participates in Wikipedia deep dives, I really enjoyed reading “A Kid’s Guide to Graphic Design by Iconic Designer Chip Kidd.” Not paying any attention to my own design here and just slapping the hyperlink as the name of the article, but that is what it is!
While I make no great claims about my design abilities, I do like to think about design more than the average bear. Working in the theatre means I’m constantly considering how to reach the middle point between what I need and what the audience will see as “good” or “polished.” Not only that, but everything that is on stage needs to be put there with both the considerations of the play and of the audience, which can lead to interesting challenges. I appreciated the article discussing graphic design as “problem solving,” as I feel the same about theatrical design.
The article about movie posters accompanied by the video of the creation of the Stranger Things logo made me think about book covers, which is something I spend more time looking at. Like movie posters, book covers are subject to trends- we’ve seen an increase in drawn/illustrated covers recently. This is not something that I connect with, and personally hope goes away soon. I don’t feel like I’ve felt that uncomfortable or alienated by other designs before. I suppose they must be popular or else cover designers wouldn’t keep making them and authors wouldn’t request them, but irrationally I wish they would just change this retroactivley.
The article about movie posters accompanied by the video of the creation of the Stranger Things logo made me think about book covers, which is something I spend more time looking at. Like movie posters, book covers are subject to trends- we’ve seen an increase in drawn/illustrated covers recently. This is not something that I connect with, and personally hope goes away soon. I don’t feel like I’ve felt that uncomfortable or alienated by other designs before. I suppose they must be popular or else cover designers wouldn’t keep making them and authors wouldn’t request them, but irrationally I wish they would just change this retroactivley.
While I can’t say that I didn’t learn anything from the readings and videos, its hard to identify one particular fact. I feel like a lot of the reading affirmed things that I subconciously already knew. However, I think putting language to these subconsious feelings is important as it allows us, as designers, to target them.
Does this Guy have a Monacle?
In the blog posts about Technopoly, I appreciated that the author mentioned that Neil Postman was “a prophet … one who warns.” This was a sentiment that I was trying to reflect in my film review of Black Mirror season 2, episode 1, but I wasn’t able to say it as concisely.
Black Mirror S2E1 – Dr. Oblivion’s Reccomendations
As part of the viewing of tech noir, I watched Black Mirror season 2, episode 1 entitled “Be Right Back.” I haven’t watched Black Mirror before, so instead of choosing an episode that I thoight was interesting, I chose a random episode to review. The short description on the episode reads, “after learning about a new service that lets people stay in touch with the deceased, a lonley, greiving Martha reconnects with her late lover.”
What struck me initially about this episode was how closely it already follows our own society. Ashe, the aformentioned “late lover,” seems to be hooked to his cell phone. Martha tells him multiple times to put it away, especially while the two are in the car.
Ashe dies in a car accident, which is heavily implied to be the result of distracted driving. Martha attempts to process his death, only for one of her friends to sign her up for a service that filters all of Ashe’s online activity through a program that will allow her to “talk to him” again. I’m struck by how human this action seems while also feeling so alien. Martha’s friend was only trying to take care of her, but just prevented Martha from being able to process Ashe’s death. Even during the times where Martha is afraid of the program, which will be referred to as “not-Ashe,” she manages to overcome the fear to keep some semblance of her partner alive. Even when not-Ashe is just a text bubble on her computer, her desire to talk to him surpasses her need to interact with the real people in her life.
Eventually, not-Ashe is upgraded to be something/someone she can talk to in a phone call, and then into a “living” being. Only a few hours after not-Ashe is delivered and setup in her house, Martha initiates sex with him. Whether she was looking for connection or just trying to satisfy a desire with something close to her partner, the decision is interesting. On a larger scale, the presence of intimacy with future tech is something that many are interested in, and the inclusion of that in this episode was appropriately uncomfortable. Not-Ashe had to download porn in order to understand how to have sex with Martha, and while this was offputting to her, she did not stop.
This episode was aired in 2013, long before AI chatbots flooded social media. However, the similarity of not-Ashe to the various celebrities you can now “talk to” on Instagram is interesting. I wonder if it will be possible to take these chatbots to a further level, and how that may effect us. At the end of the episode, Martha is overcome by how close and also how far not-Ashe is from the man she lost. She walks him to a cliff and encourages him to jump off. The episode doesn’t have to address what would happen if she killed not-Ashe, who is decidedly not-human, as he pleads for his life at her suggestion. As we continue towards the future predicted by this episode of Black Mirror, it will be hard to ignore the legislation that comes out of it.
Transcription: Well, the review is not bad, mentioning some key points of the episode’s plot and themes. The comparison between the episode’s concept and AI chatbots is interesting, showing a connection to real-world technology. However, consider tightening up your writing to make it more concise and to the point. Also, maybe dial back a bit on your detailed opinions regarding Martha’s choices. We get it. You find it uncomfortable. Keep refining your analysis and keep an eye on how technology in Black Mirror reflects our own society’s trajectory.
Me in Collage Form Except I’m not Me
I had so much fun developing my course character, Bethany Smith (aka a gangster named “Smithy”). As such, I opted to participate in one of the visual assignments but collage Bethany instead of myself. I used Pinterest’s Collage Maker, and had so much fun developing this character further!
Timelapse of my collage creation
“My name is Bethany, its great to meet you!”
Bethany Smith was born in Agusta, Maine on June 6, 1996. She had a good childhood, full of family dinners and stellar report cards. She surprised everyone by not applying to any colleges, and moving to Chicago with her high school sweetheart, Colin. They married soon after, but her picture perfect life seemed to end there. Colin died on a hunting trip or a ski accident or during a hiking trip with his best friend two years after they were married. She surprised everyone even more when she started working at the same funeral home that “took care of Colin.” Bethany never struck anyone as the type who would work somewhere so morbid, but she seems to love it! It gives her plenty of time to read her books (romance, especially anything with vampires or monsters) and her bosses are pretty lax on the cell phone policy. If you ever ask her for advice, she’ll tell you that “the kindness I to others show, that kindness comes to me.”
Bethany has always been unassuming, but it has only become worse since Colin died. She keeps her mousy brown hair cut above her shoulders (she hates when its in her eyes). She’s 5’5″ with a slim build and dark brown eyes. She tends to favor jeans and pants, and can rarely be found in a t-shirt as she likes feeling “put together.” She has a light dusting of freckles, and acne scars that are slowly fading. One of the signature parts of her style is her green nail polish, because she feels like it makes her features pop. Lunch most days is a salad or leftovers, and after work she might enjoy an Old Fashioned or two. She doesn’t go anywhere without her phone. She is glued to it, whether she is at work or anywhere else. She can be found making hushed phone calls and viciously texting, but swears “its nothing.”
Smithy, on the other hand, was “born” September 29, 2011 at 1:06pm. She knew her Dad was up to something, but he had been going on a lot of “work trips” recently and “working late” more nights than not. One day, she went to bring her Dad some lunch and walked in on a scene she would never be able to forget. Her Dad was dead, bent over his desk in a pool of blood. While she knew it was wrong, she had to look at her Dad’s computer before calling the police. Through his emails and phone records, she realized that the man she knew as a good father and loving husband was one of the East Coast’s most powerful mobsters. Whatever had happened to her Dad was clearly targeted, but the police ruled it a suicide. Smithy used what she found on the laptop to slowly begin to build her own empire, using her connections to the crematorium to take care of anyone who causes her trouble. No one knows who Smithy is, and no one knows what Bethany is always so preoccupied with.