Wednesday, March 31, 2010

March 31

Lisa gave her excellent presentation on "Dawn" (thank you Lisa) and you worked on some of the software details for your projects. I have emailed grades for those of you who have presented so far. For those of you who have yet to present - I am in fact using the criteria from the assignment sheet to arrive at grades - so it wouldn't hurt to look it over one more time before your presentation.

For Monday - finish Project 2 & either embed your project in your blog (see previous blog) or post a link to your work at a site with enough space if your work is larger than is allowed on blogger.

In class you will give one-by-one in front of the class presentations on your projects.

We will spend the rest of class identifying genre possibilities (some that we haven't covered)for your final project + brainstorming ideas. Sounds like fun, right?

Blog 14: Project 2 with (revised if there were any afterthoughts/changes) abstract.

Monday, March 29, 2010

What we did in class March 29

Tonight John talked us through "Bad Machine." (Thank you, John). Check his blog for the details. Several of you - Lisa, Nic, Ryan, Melissa, & Yvonne also gave sort of mini-presentations on what you've got so far for Project 2 - and we brainstormed ideas. It sounds like you are getting the idea =

- make sure you have a literary focus (think back to those recurring discussions of what literature is & what it does);

- use the software in a way that creates an "experience" for the reader that is integral to your project's meaning.

For Wednesday, Lisa will talk to use about "Dawn," (Yvonne will be presenting on "Carving the possibilities" - but she has been transferred to a later date:

Lisa Dawn 3/31
Ryan Nio & Justine Storyland 4/7
Anna - let me know & Melissa Girls day out 4/12
Yvonne - "Carving the possibilities" Date TBD

You will spend the rest of the class polishing, finishing, "testing" your projects. Come to class with a "working" draft so your classmated can try them out + give you some feedback. You can either embed your project in your blog (using the links from the previous post) or bring it on a thumbdrive.

Also Blog 13: write your abstract for project to (patterned on the author descriptions in the Electronic Literature Collection pieces). Include a description of what your piece "does" / what it is about; the software & connections to other "literature", etc.

Posting your ppt to your blog

Embed powerpoint slides in your blog

or

another way to embed powerpoints into your blog

For this one - you don't need to download Irfranview - if you figure out the pixels for the width of your blog post (just right click and you can read it from the code) - the Scribd will automatically convert the code for you. My post column is 400 pixels wide - so like the blogger, I typed in 399.

CCCs Talk Sally

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

March 24

Nic's presentation was on All Roads. He gave us an overview on how to play the game + the different scenes you participate in. He described the navigation as flawed + frustrating. Pointed out that you could look at things in the room - but you couldn't get enough information. Interactive moves: senses = no smell; search & examine were the same command; though layering effects were good. Meet characters in different places and the characters respond to him differently - need to move through the scenes to figure out why. Felt that characters were flat.

One of the problems Nic identified was that "you weren't really the hero" - which curiously is an expectation from video gaming - but not necessarily from literature. As we discussed in class - electronic literature has "cross over" interference both from print literature + from gaming - and if you get stuck in expectations from either of those - you may miss part of what the texts do.

If you want to play into All Roads more deeply and need some help with interactive fiction - you might want to check out:

Guide to playing all roads

Sam spoke about Red Ridinghood. See her blog for links to relevant information.

For Monday, John will present on "bad machine". During the rest of class you can work on Project 2 - anyone who hasn't presented their draft can get some feedback.

Blog 12: Post an update to how project 2 is going - with requests for feedback.

I will be reading blogs over the weekend - so if you want comments on Project 2 - post by Friday. Have a great weekend and see you Monday.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Class March 22

Tonight several of you gave presentations on what you've done so far to get started with your second project. The presentations reviewed what your work as 'about,' what software you used, relationships between content and choice of software, and how you created the effects central to your piece. The purpose of the presentations was to share ideas and get some energy to experiment with creating a flash-type digital text.


On Wednesday, Nic and Sam will present on "All Roads" and "Red Ridinghood." Read through these texts so you can participate in the presentation. All Roads does not take long to play through to an ending - and Nic will give us the low-down on all the other possibilities. Red Ridinghood is more about spending time / exploring the space. These are both worth looking at. As you play - think about how /whether you could build something similar with the software you are familiar with.

The remaining class time will be spent working/presenting on Project 2. Think about what you want more information about or help learning how to use so you can work with classmates.

No blog - just check out the texts + work on your project.

Schedule for presentations:
Nic All Roads + Sam Red Ridinghood 3/24
John Bad Machine 3/29
Lisa Dawn & Yvonne to be determined 3/31
Ryan Nio & Justine Storyland4/7
Anna - let me know & Melissa Girls day out 4/12 .

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Class March 10

We talked about "These Waves of Girl" to open up some more possibilities for building electronic lit texts. Take a look at Raine Koskimaa's essay on "these Waves. . ." - she points out connections among structure and narrative that might slip by on a quick read. Think about how your next text can use the structure (and the animation/presentation) as an element of storytelling.

We also talked about what makes texts literary - and what factors you need to take into consideration to make sure Project 2 is a "literary" text. For example - which is more literary = Nio, or Singing Horses? Storyland? Why? What are the features that make a text literary?

We then spent some time brainstorming - coming up with ideas, what you might do + how you might do it. Project 2 is another opportunity to experiment - to help you figure out what you can do for your major opus => the final project.


Schedule for presentations on reviews (see assignment sheet posted below for details).

Nic All Roads + Sam Red Ridinghood 3/24
John Bad Machine 3/29
Lisa Dawn & Yvonne to be determined 3/31
Ryan Nio & Justine Storyland4/7
Anna & Melissa 4/12 => evidently I didn't write down your texts - let me know.


For Monday, March 22:
WORK ON PROJECT 2

Blog 11: Yeah, this time REALLY post the map for Short project 2 and write a draft intro for your piece.

In class you will talk through what you have so far + workshop your piece.

Assignment sheet for Project 2:

Project 2: a work of digital literature that is interactive , involves codework, is generative art or is flash-based; you may use some combination of these new features and hypertext – but for this assigment you need to go beyond hypertext structures to incorporate motion, audio or video content, animation, and etc. As with Project 1 = structure should be integral to the project’s meaning.

Purpose: to gain deeper understanding of the purposes, forms, technologies, and reading strategies associated with non-hypertext electronic literature; to experiment with composing practices for creating a range of forms for digital literature; to explore software that can present images, sounds, and text in the forms associated with digital literature; and to design and publish a work of digital literature that is not exclusively a hypertext.

Description of assignment: create a work of digital literature where image, sound, movement, spatial relations and other visual, audio cues are significant components of the work . You may use powerpoint, flash, windows moviemaker, or any software which allows you to create a text that incorporates sound, images, and movement into your text.

The complete assignment will include:
- a short introductory statement or “abstract” to characterize what the text “does”
- any instructions or suggestions for readers to have a successful experience
- a readable/playable digital text linked to or embedded in your blog
- a folder visual & sound files, and lexia associated with the text
- a schematic, “map” or timeline to describe the design of your text

Criteria for grade: The hypertext itself will have:
- a navigation or interactive system that is integral to the text’s meaning
- elements where sight, sound, movement, configuration, and other active features of the text play a role in the texts’ reading
- a thematic, symbolic or conceptul focus that allows for a “literary” reading;
- elements that are creative, well composed, and appropriate to the text’s theme/focus

The abstract & suggestions for reading will be patterned on the introductory material in the Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 1.

Monday, March 8, 2010

March 8

I am not going to be in class tonight. You are welcome + encouraged to hang out together and explore the flash features of powerpoint (Sam should be able to tell you just about all there is to know) and check out software for adding voice-overs to videos + photographs etc (eg Memory Miner, Photo story or you might find other possibilities at this site).

Check out Waves of Girls for next class - and on Wednesday we will sum up the features for non-hypertext electronic literature (expectations for your next project) and do some serious workshopping for your projects.

For Blog 10: post some more writing for your project's description and design

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

March 3

You did a great job on your first project - if you haven't received comments & a grade via email already - you will hear from me over the weekend. I will also be reading your blogs.

We've started looking at examples of texts that use the features you will be integrating into Project 2. As we read - think of ideas you might like to explore using some of the audio & visual effects the demonstrate.

Next week you will (hopefully) come up with a concept for Project 2 & a more or less definite plan for creating it (software choice + design) - so make good use of this weekend to do some planning.

For next class-

Read: Oulipoems + The Dream Life of Letters
Blog 9: Brainstorming for Short project 2 – write into how you will meet each of the requirements

In class Monday we will look in some more detail about how to use flash in powerpoint, check out some of the free software you can use to create sound/motion texts. Wednesday of next week will be an in-class workshop to map out Project 2.

Have a good weekend!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Class March 1 + what to do for next class

We "played through" the hypertexts you created. Wow. What great work you did! Innovative, stretching the boundaries of what hypertexts do, fun! For those of you who were not in class - you will have an opportunity to present your work on Wednesday.

We concluded class by talking over you next project = a non-hypertext work of digital literature. That leaves a lot to choose from - and hopefully reading through the next series of works will give you some ideas. We will also spend some time exploring/talking about what you can do with software that is readily available as a free download (Audacity, digital story software, etc) or in the "regular" software suites that come with most computers (like powerpoint). The assignment sheet for Project 2 is available on the last post of this blog.

The idea for Project 2 is to give you another chance to explore - experiment with ideas + digital lit forms. The one requirement not stated on the sheet is that you do something VERY DIFFERENT from what you did for Project 1. The point is to get a range of experiences under your belt - so when you work on your final project - you have some experiences to draw from.

For Wednesday we will finish up presentations on Project 1, think some more about Project 2, and talk about Regime Change, and Faith - two more works from ELV1 collection.

Blog 8: How are Regime Change & Faith similar/different to works we have read so far? What new dimensions for experience/interpretation do they add to readers' experience of digital literature?

Monday, March 1, 2010

Project 2: a work of digital literature that is interactive , codework, generative art or flash-based.

Purpose: to gain deeper understanding of the purposes, forms, technologies, and reading strategies associated with non-hypertext electronic literature; to experiment with composing practices for creating a range of forms for digital literature; to explore software that can present images, sounds, and text in the forms associated with digital literature; and to design and publish a work of digital literature that is not primarily a hypertext.

Description of assignment: create a work of digital literature where image, sound, movement, spatial relations and other visual, audio cues are significant components of the work . You may use powerpoint, flash, windows moviemaker, or any software which allows you to create a text that incorporates sound, images, and movement into your text.

The complete assignment will include:
- a short introductory statement or “abstract” to characterize what the text “does”
- any instructions or suggestions for readers to have a successful experience
- a readable/playable digital text linked to or embedded in your blog
- a folder visual & sound files, and lexia associated with the text
- a schematic, “map” or timeline to describe the design of your text

Criteria for grade: The hypertext itself will have:
- a navigation or interactive system that is integral to the text’s meaning
- elements where sight, sound, movement, configuration, and other active features of the text play a role in the texts’ reading
- a thematic, symbolic or conceptul focus that allows for a “literary” reading;
- elements that are creative, well composed, and appropriate to the text’s theme/focus

The abstract & suggestions for reading will be patterned on the introductory material in the Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 1.