The Visual Narrative project began in early October. In English, we were introduced to the Narrative itself—we were to write a five page short story that could narrate a character’s changes. The setup for this included beginning with a status quo—setting up the scene, and showing what the character normally acts like—and then having a catalyst launch the character down a path towards eventual change. The requirement was for the character to end up changing some part of themselves out of necessity, and for us to show the new status quo the character faces now that they have changed. We began the story-making process with a Character Questionnaire, in which we set up the background for our character, as well as their personality. The Plot Map helped us plan out our story, and refine our ideas into a usable form. (To read about my story in greater detail as well as to hear a recorded version, view the “Narrative 1 – English” submenu, which is a drop-down menu you will see if you hover on the “Narrative 1” menu in the top right.) After we finished the story, we were directed to record a reading of it, and edit it in Pro Tools, adding music and sound effects to heighten the listening experience (To see in greater detail the Pro Tools process, navigate to the “Narrative 1 – English” submenu as explained above).

As an English Honors Student, the additional work we received was to study a short story author or Playwright, and then to either write an analytical essay or an Emulation of their style. I chose to study Anton Chekhov, a Russian playwright and short-story writer form the mid to late 1800s. As well, I chose to write a mimic play, based on his plays Ivanov and Uncle Vanya. I am terribly proud of this, and you can find a full text of my play on the “Narrative 1 – English” submenu.

In Digital Media, we created a multitude of digital illustrations. This includes the Geometric Light Covers you see hanging around you, as well as an Illustration Choice – either a Sticker, a Patch, a T-Shirt, or a variety of other similar things. For more information on both my Geometric Light Cover and my other Illustrator, please check the “Narrative 1 – Digital Media” submenu.

In Animation, we made frame-by-frame animations of a character we created, on a set we created, to showcase walking cycles. In small groups, we made the sets (made of foam-board, hot glue, and paint), but made the characters ourselves. This was the first time we experienced using two mediums at once—physical, three dimensional hand built puppets and digital recreations of them. For more information on the process of creating a set, building the puppet, and creating the puppet video as well as hand-creating a digital animation, please navigate to the “Narrative 1 – Animation” submenu.