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For my final project, I decided to create and analyze my own creation. I've decided to make a painting and (in my opinion) interepret how effective the story-telling is presented. In order to make a more thorough analysis, I will present the painting to two friends and analyze what they think my painting is depicting. After my two friends give me their initial analysis, I am considering providing clue words to indicate any characters that the painting in presenting. (This is similar to what we did in class watching the Circle and Line Love Story)
I would then judge and analyze the effectiveness of my painting taking into consideration what my friends have taken from the piece.

While reading "Twelve Blue" the other day, I realized I had been exposed to this kind of interactive narratology before. I was never a reader of Choose Your Own Adventure books, but I am familiar with them. My familiarity with interactive narratology comes from conducting research for an English class last fall.

Our topic was on the "Salem Witch Trials". While researching, I came across this story.

One of the main differences, though, between the Trials story and "Twelve Blue" is that in "Twelve Blue", the reader makes the main decision at the very beginning by clicking on one of the numbers (1-8) presented to him or her. Soon after, another decision must be made, depending on what number was selected on the first page. For the most part, after that, there really aren't many options aside from clicking the links at the end of the story's paragraphs.

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Last week in class, we discussed the topic of synesthesia. This topic brought to mind the syndrome, which Daniel Tammet describes in his book  Born On A Blue Day as "a rare neurological mixing of the senses, which most commonly results in the ability to see alphabetical letters and/or numbers in color."

As I left Combs for the day, I grabbed a copy of the November 3rd  issue of The New York Times and in the Health section of the paper I saw a picture that grabbed my eye:

While walking, I read the caption:  PERCEPTIONS The drawings of Daniel Tammet, above, who wrote the 2007 book “Born on a Blue Day,” about living with autism, show how he visualizes some numbers.

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Yesterday in class, we were discussing the “uncensored” and “censored” versions of Steamboat Willie. There was general agreement among the class that the scenes depicting tobacco use were inappropriate for children. In addition to the use of tobacco, the amount of animal abuse (with the cat, goose, and pig) was something not usually seen in modern children’s programming.

Later on, I thought of the year this cartoon was released. Animation in the 1920s was still a relatively new form of entertainment. Perhaps the studio needed to include things that would not only entertain children, but also jokes for adults that a child would not understand. A great example of this is the Betty Boop clip we saw in which the Walrus Ghost danced and sang about drugs. Additionally, in the 1920s, tobacco’s harmful effects were not fully understood. Tobacco use was seen more as a pastime versus an unhealthy habit. Therefore, censors perhaps found it unnecessary to cut that scene from the animation.

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Discussing metapictures in class last week was definitely one of the most interacting sessions so far. Once the definition of a metapicture was given (a picture about a picture), I immediately thought of this drawing:

While researching, I learned that this is a drawing by M.C. Escher. In my opinion, this is a great example of a picture about a picture. In a very literal depiction, the picture is creating itself: one hand draws the other... yet it makes one question: Which hand drew the other? It's a very intriguing work. Upon further research, I realized that I had briefly studied M.C. Escher before in my Introduction to Theatre Design class (I clearly didn't pay attention to names that day). The picture I studied was the following:

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Going back to a couple of class meetings ago, we were discussing "comics" as a broad term that encompasses a vast variety of themes that range from the mindless to the very complex. Some of these comics are quick and to the point much like "The Far Side" (comic art), while others require long, detailed images and plot structure to show character development (graphic novels).

Dr. Whalen stated that an academic institution would more quickly accept the introduction of a new class called "The Graphic Novel" than they would a class called "Comics". This brought to mind how people seem to instill value in things and then decide whether it's worth studying.

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During our class discussion today, one thing in particular stood out in my mind: music as a language. Questions and opinions were tossed about in debate as to whether or not music is capable of being substituted for a language while maintaining its significance. Professor Whalen summed up his response to a student's question by stating that, "It's difficult to substitute music for dialogue without somehow first 'programming' it with a meaning."

Without a visual, or some other means of making the point clear, it is very difficult to what is going on by relying on a music note or a song as a character or event. A great example of music being potentially misinterpreted would be to listen to the score from "The Great Train Robbery". Without watching the motion picture, one would never realize from the score that a train robbery is taking place. Even while looking at the video, the score seems odd when compared to the events taking place.

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