nickrallen – Writing and Digital Media Class Blogs

Monday, December 1st

nickrallen — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 15:57:09 +0000

Today I created a document that will help contextualize the information for the final product. I have about two more pages to create before I’m completely done.

Friday, November 21st

nickrallen — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 22:52:01 +0000

Today I created all of Ichabod’s diary in Illustrator and exported it as a PDF for publication in the flip software. I still need to finalize some contextual content and Brom Bones’ side of the story.

Innovation Space selfies

Revision Plan

nickrallen — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 15:42:53 +0000

My draft showed the basic idea of my project, but wasn’t anything close to a final product. I think it showed my intentions well and it received positive feedback from my peers. It will be problematic for me to really do a good job making the transition from Ichabod’s diary to Brom’s narrative (if I decide to do that) given that they are probably going to be on different mediums.

I need to change the font and size a bit, as well as include the sketches throughout to break up all the text.

I’d like to try adding background music, but I’m not sure how to do that since wordpress is restrictive and at this point I’m not even sure how to get the flip book into wordpress at all. I’d rather not link to it since FlipSnack’s site doesn’t have the feel I’m looking for. I think I could code a window within a window if wordpress wasn’t so locked down. Right there I have a lot of issues to solve.

Before the next due date I can definitely finish my project, but the final result will be a challenge to fine-tune and perfect.

Here’s the draft.

Monday, November 17th

nickrallen — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 16:03:24 +0000

Today I finished my narrative of Ichabod’s side of the tale and started putting it into the pages that will serve as the actual diary.

Friday, November 7th

nickrallen — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 15:57:23 +0000

What I did

Today I worked on outlining my story and sketching out a rough story board. I also created five different pages for the diary. One cover page with a title for the diary/project, and four blank pages with various coffee stains and torn edges for an aged look. These will serve as backgrounds for the text and sketches I will include in the diary.

Why I did it

I want to have a good idea of the events and details I want to include in the final story. It will be important to get the key details which are brought together at the story’s climax without clogging the diary with so much prose that it is unreadable or boring to audience members less inclined to long texts. I’m sure I’ll find the right balance.

Project Timeline

nickrallen — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 15:48:32 +0000

Monday, 11.10 — Divide story up into diary entries with specific dates,
decide where sketches will appear
Wednesday, 11.12 — Work on sketches for diary,
consider other “artifact options”
Friday, 11.14 — Begin writing diary entries and interview
Monday, 11.17 — Have rough drafts written of all Ichabod’s diary entries and Brom’s interview (develop specific narrative voices for each)
Wednesday, 11.19 — Finalize diary entries and Brom’s interview,
test EZ Flippr software,
record Brom’s interview between now and Friday
Friday, 11.21 — Use Illustrator to create diary (handwritten entries, old paper, coffee stains, etc),
post selfie showing self at work
Over Break 11.24-28 —
Monday, 12.01 — Finalize diary, insert into EZ Flippr (or other) software,
prepare for presentation.
_____________ — Presentation date
Wednesday 12.10 — Final Project due before midnight

What I did was make a timeline, I did it to stay organized and on task.

Friday, October 31st

nickrallen — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 14:37:44 +0000

Selfies

Because selfies. I’m not entirely sure myself. brooding beanies #teamedward

Wednesday, October 29th

nickrallen — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 14:53:07 +0000

Today I did some “thought work” on how my project will look as a final product. This information is in my blog post from Monday.

Additionally, I used Illustrator to create a first draft of the “old paper” look I may use for Ichabod’s final diary. This may receive more edits and details, but it’s a start.

Monday, October 27th

nickrallen — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 14:31:27 +0000

Project 3: Remix a Story

I’ve chosen “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” a classic short story by Washington Irving, to remix for this project. I think I’ll be able to tackle the whole story for this project; it’s relatively short and the gist and sensibility of it can be portrayed without necessarily including every detail.

I’ve found four fairly good sources to use.

1. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” – a classic short story by Washington Irving
(Original text, available online)

2. The Headless Horseman: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – 1922 silent version starring Will Rogers as Ichabod Crane.
Available here.

3. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949) Disney Masterpieces – animated short film
Available here.

4. Sleep Hollow (2013) – Fox television series.

I think I can create a collection of digital artifacts, or possibly a diary of Ichabod Crane (including sketches and possible pictures of artifacts), to convey the story, create an appropriate, spooky feel to the tale, and effectively “digitize” it in a unique way.

Friday, October 17th

nickrallen — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 14:58:19 +0000

I think I would be most likely to use Easelly. The design is captivating and beautiful. Apparently it’s very easy to use and the products in the powerpoint examples looks really, really good. I think this tool could be immensely useful for presenting information in a professional manner.