Top Ten

1. My favorite part of the class was the transmedia storytelling theme. Mixing creative writing with the more technical aspects of the course made it really enjoyable.
2.I really liked blogging. It was a quick and easy way to turn in assignments.
3.I liked that even though we were in groups, we had our own individual character inside the group.
4.I liked the character blogs. I've never really been into creative writing, but the blog made me feel like I was telling a story.
5.I like how we read many of our assignments out loud, especially the character blogs. It was both useful and fun to see what everyone else was doing.
6.I liked the idea of the CAC collaboration, even though it didn't work very well for us because it was difficult to coordinate both groups.
7.I liked the first Friday exhibition a lot. It was cool to see our work shown in a public place.
8.I liked using Youtube Editor to make videos. It's a skill I could maybe start using in the future.
9.I liked the essays we had to select from for the presentation because many of them discussed popular culture such as Doctor Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
10.Finally, I also liked the Guide to Transmedia Storytelling. It offered a lot of good advice about both multimedia writing and storytelling in general.

Krzywinska

Archane Challenges Minerva:The Spinning Out of Long Narrative in World of Warcraft and Buffy the Vampire Slayer-by Tanya Krzywinska

The beginning of the essay summarizes Ovid's epic poem Metamorphoses, in which a mortal woman (Arachne) challenges the goddess of warriors, crafts, and wisdom (Minerva) to a tapestry weaving contest. Minerva's tapestry depicts her defeat of the god Neptune with four smaller depictions of mortals  challenging gods surrounding it (all the mortals lose). Arachne's tapestry depicts the seduction of Europa by Jove (along with other women seduced by gods). Everyone is in awe of Arachne's skill, and Minerva goes into a rage. She rips up Arachne's tapestry, hits her on the head, and turns her into a spider so she can weave forever.
Krzywinska suggests that this story portrays 2 approaches to long narrative in epic poetry-heroic epic mode Minerva) and unepic (Arachne). In heroic epic mode, violence is seen as bravery, gods are respected, and there is a set of structured rules. In unepic, gods are criticized, mortals are portrayed as gods' playthings, and there are no rules. Krzywinska uses this story and these definitions to examine how the epic texts World of Warcraft and Buffy the Vampire Slayer weave long narratives.
Krzywinska gives us a short history of the long narrative, saying that it began to appear in popular media around the 19th century. It started in printed serialized fiction and moved to cinema, radio and television (soap operas most widely consumed long narratives). Serialized fiction affects long narrative because studios want to make shows appealing to casual audiences. They create stand alone episodes with an overarching story arcs. The story arcs become more prominent after a show gains loyal fans (this happened with Buffy). Both Buffy and World of Warcraft contain several characteristics of new long narratives: heroic deeds, supernatural entities, and developed "worlds." Buffy's world is similar to the real world (except for the Hell dimensions), while World of Warcraft is set in a cartoonish world that is not meant to resemble ours. Buffy is more similar to Arachne's version of long narrative it weaves together multiple genres (soap, horror, and serial). Many of the events that occur in stand alone episodes are stitched to a larger story ac of interpersonal relationships and personal transformation. Krzywinska argues the main theme of Buffy is the experience of life changes on identity and relationships.
World of Warcraft does not use narrative in the same way, instead using a well developed history to create long narrative.World of Warcraft does have story lines, but players can choose their level of engagement with it.  The game even has a story bible that keeps track of all the narratives. Every player gets some of the long narrative when they begin playing the game, they can't just jump in the middle of a story line unlike television shows. This helps contextualize what players will later do in the game (offers potential meanings). Also, when a player creates a character, they get a history of the character's race (ex: Blood Elf). Next, they are given a quest. Quests represent longer overarching narratives, while smaller stand alone events happen along the way. Narrative is also created through the "lived story," which is individual players' actions in the game. The longer players interact with the game, the more they experience and understand their given and lived narratives. Players can also create their own backstories and interact with other players (sometimes subcommunities, guilds, are formed.
Geography (hell dimensions) is also important to long narratives because they create dramatic effect. It creates the need for heroism and provide history (Minervan qualities).
Persistance vs. Seriality also affects long narratives. World of Warcraft's world continues to exist after a player leaves the game, but Buffy's ends with an episode.
Questions 
1. Do our group stories more resemble Arachne or Minerva's weaving?
2. Is your story persistent or serial?
3. What is your story's geography and how does it affect narrative?

Character Blog Update

My first priority for Cassie is to create blog posts that describe her interaction with the other MAPI members and their paranormal investigations. I want to develop her opinions and impressions of the other members, so they seem like a real team. For instance, is there anyone she does't get along with? Also, I need to write more posts that drive the plot and get Cassie to the end of the timeline since the semester is almost over. In regards to the investigations, I think pictures of locations will really help. I'll either go to the locations nearby, or find some photos on CC Search. I'd also like to include more videos on the character blog. I might make more on Youtube Video Editor, or I might embed/link some from Youtube. These videos could possibly stand in for actual investigation footage or paranormal encounters. Finally, I think our collaboration with the CAC group could help with more promotional/informational material like our trailer (video, music, pictures). These materials could offer audiences short glimpses into our story to make them feel more involved.  We could even put on another demonstration somewhere on campus.

Character Video

Character Progression

I really need to develop Cassie's personal traits and details. I want to make her a unique character that interacts with the rest of the group in interesting ways. In order to accomplish this, I think I need to move back and create a few very short stories that take place in her past, both in California and on the road. Then, I'm going to expand upon the story about the haunting I posted on google maps. I plan on writing everything in first person, so I really want her personality and voice to become distinct and apparent. I want to develop the character to the point than an audience would find her believable as a real person (or at least a decent character). I also plan on reading my group members' blogs so I can begin to think about how Cassie would interact with their characters.

Top 10

CGTS contains a lot of practical, useful, and interesting information. While some of the info doesn't really apply to our assignment, the majority of it can be used to improve our characters and narrative. The top 10 things I will take away from CGTS are:
1.The Meaning of Transmedia Storytelling-Before reading this book, I had no idea what transmedia storytelling meant or involved. Now I think I have a clear understanding of the puropse of transmedia narratives. Hopefully, I can use this understanding to help write a successful narrative in my group.
2.The Basics of Storytelling-It's definitely been a while since I've done any creative writing. The book helped me brush up on the imortant parts of storytelling like characterization, plot, rising tension, and conflict.
3.Methods of Online Characterization-Without interesting characters, a narrative falls flat. CGTS gives us valuable tips for developing characters' voices and personalites through technology in order to avoid this pitfall.
4.How to Convey Action-I never thought about the different ways to convey action before reading this, such as whether I wanted to inform the audience about news live or delayed.
5.The Truth About Audience Involvment-I also never realized how small a portion of the audience actively participates in the storytelling process. The relatively small but influential portion makes me realize I need to make the game engaging but still fun for people to just follow.
6.How to Select Media-The book tells us to stick with our strengths when selecting media. I'll definitely follow this advice to avoid frustration and mistakes.
7.The Story Bible-A story bible would be useful to my group since there will be multiple people working on the same narrative. It's already difficult to keep the story straight.
8.The Imortance of  Redundancy-Usually, I think of redundancy as a bad thing. Now I realize I need to recap to avoid confusing my audience.
9.The Positives and Negatives of User Generated Content-I now realize I need to be careful of how much use generated content I use in my narrative, because it is often poor quality.
10.The Imortance of Rewarding the Audience-The book helped me remember that keeping the audience happy and engaged is the most important part of storytelling. Rewarding them for effort is the number one way to accomplish this goal.

Principles of Storytelling

Andrea Phillips's A Creator's Guide to Transmedia Storytelling offers many interesting and helpful tips related to character and story development. Since our characters and stories are still in their early stages of development, we have the opportunity to apply the author's advice on the principles of storytelling to our work. For instance, Phillips describes the value of worldbuilding in storytelling. Phillips states, "In transmedia storytelling, though, the most effective tool is to actually create a small piece of your world and give it to your audience to play with" (pg.43). Allowing the audience direct interaction makes the world feel more real and, therefore, more interesting. One way my group could apply this approach to our story is to create a website where the audience can view our videos, recordings, and print records of paranormal activity. Maybe they could even contribute their own paranormal experiences and evidence in a comment section or chatroom. We should design a unique logo to create the illusion we're a real organization. I also liked Phillips's description of conflict and it's importance in storytelling. Reading this section made me realize my group hasn't really come up with an idea for conflict that will drive our story. Phillips suggests, "think very hard about your characters and what their utmost hearts' desires might be...dangle that possibility in front of their noses, and then come up with a situation in which they can't have it" (pg.59). I suppose the desire all of my group's characters would have in common is finding evidence of paranormal activity. The conflict would be the fact that such evidence is very difficult to find. However, all of our individual characters should probably have their own unique desires and minor conflicts if we want the story to be engaging. The individual desires could possibly even create conflict within the group. In conclusion, these two sections gave me many ideas about how to involve an audience in our imaginary world using various media and write an interesting story. Phillips also prompted me to think deeper about my character and her desires/motivations.

McGonigal

 McGonigal's The Benefits of Alternate Realities discusses the various ways alternate reality gaming encourages players to improve their lives. The first claim McGonigal makes is that alternate reality games involve "Wholehearted Participation". Wholehearted participation occurs because "compared with games, reality is hard to get into. Games motivate us to participate more fully in whatever we're doing" (McGonigal 124). As a result, players will be more efficient, while having fun at the same time. In order to support this claim, the author cites several examples of alternate reality games that successfully encouraged enthusiastic participation in normally unpleasant tasks. For instance, Chore Wars, which is mentioned at the beginning of Chapter 7, involves competing against other people to complete the highest amount of chores. In reality, people rarely enjoy chores, but Chore Wars turned chores into a desirable experience through the offering of prestige and virtual gold(that can be redeemed in actual reality). Also, McGonigal describes how the innovative school Quest to Learn motivates and nurtures students through games and challenges that actually make learning fun.
 The author's second claim states that alternate reality games give "meaningful rewards when we need them the most" (McGonigal 148). According to McGonigal, "Compared with games reality is pointless and unrewarding. Games help us feel more rewarded for making our best effort" (McGonigal 148). For example, the iPhone game, Jetset, entertains and rewards frequent fliers. The game helps them laugh about their experience rather than stress about it, and it also allows them to collect virtual  souvenirs while moving up in rank. McGonigal explains that this type of reward is more effective than frequent flier miles because players can enjoy it instantly and experience positive emotion.
 McGonigal's third claim is that alternate reality gaming allows "more fun with strangers" because "compared with games reality is lonely and isolating. Games help us band together and create powerful communities from scratch" (McGonigal 172). For example, the Smithsonian Art Museum created the game "Ghost of a Chance" to improve membership experience by more closely connecting members with each other and the museum itself. Players have to collaborate on online forums to create pieces of art that represent the lives of the ghosts supposedly haunting the museum.
 I definitely agree with all three of McGonigal's claims, because I have definitely found that alternate realities are often much more interesting than the real thing. I also believe it's important to continue studying the benefits of these games because, like McGonigal's examples show, alternate reality games can have very positive impacts on players' lives.
      

Fictional Character

I'm not entirely sure about the specific details of my fictional blog character. I'm pretty sure I want to write the blog in first person, because it really allows you to get in a character's head. I'm tempted to make my character a man, simply because I think it would be a challenge, but I'm not sure I could pull it off. So, right now, the potential names for my character are Calvin or Callie. I'm wondering how far in depth I should go in writing the character, since I'm not sure what story context the character will have to exist in yet. Should I just brainstorm personality traits and a brief history?

Anonymous

For the past several years, Anonymous has been creating chaos and mischief through a variety of mediums. They communicate in chat rooms, hack government/corporate/private websites, create memes, record videos, and stage protests/demonstrations. Despite the high magnitude of media attention anonymous has received, their motives are still unclear to the majority of the public, myself included. However, after reading Quinn Norton's "Anonymous: Beyond the Mask" series, I believe I have a clearer understanding of the group's construction, purpose, and goals. First, it's important to understand that Anonymous is not a hierarchical organization that relies on the concept of leaders and followers. Instead, Anonymous consists of individual anons that participate in equal opportunity conversations in chat rooms or through other means of communication. As a result of this loose/fluid type of organization, Anonymous's goals are constantly changing and evolving. However, one of their original and most important goals is confronting corruption, abuse of power, and hypocrisy through lulz. From the description Quinn provides, I view lulz as dark humor that draws attention to what Anonymous considers important problems. Often, lulz involves methods like prank phone calls, exposing targets' personal information on the web, and hacking/defacing websites. But, over time, Anonymous's goal changed from simply exposing the lulz through pranks into more moral/political activism, because the group wanted to find out if it could truly make a difference in the world. For instance, Anonymous has participated in revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, as well as the Occupy Wall Street movement. Their methods included providing virtual toolkits that allowed protesters/revolutionaries to fight censorship, drawing media attention to issues, and encouraging/offering advice to protesters online. I think Anonymous has succeeded in making a difference, even though their plans are not always successful. They make a difference simply by drawing attention to previously obscure issues/problems through media coverage, social networks, and their own media creations.

When examining the case of Anonymous, it appears that a certain level of anonymity is possible online, especially when participating in actions involving large numbers of people. As stated in Quinn's article, the authorities are not capable of identifying and punishing all of the millions of anons. However, they are perfectly capable of punishing a few. While many people view the concept of anonymity on the web as valuable and important, I do not believe it is completely possible. Browsers and websites constantly track web users movements, and the government/authorities can often easily find the personal information of anyone they wish. As a result, I do not think anyone should assume they will always remain safe and anonymous on the web.        

My Online Identity

Unlike some internet and social network users, I use my actual name in all of my profiles. However, this is not because I'm trying to adhere to Facebook's rule of truthfulness, but more because I'm somewhat uninventive and uninterested. I don't put a lot of work into cultivating my online identity, even though one of the purposes of sites like Facebook and Twitter is to control how you want to present yourself to other people. Instead, my friends are the ones who create my online identity. Since I never post on Facebook and rarely tweet, the only visible activity is comments or messages from my friends or pictures I've been tagged in. So, I guess I've given up control of my online identity and allowed it to become whatever my friends wish it to be.