48 Hour Shootout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv45IJ_llw8

Here is our submission to the 48 hour shootout. It was a fun and exhausting weekend. We even got an honorable mention which was really cool.

Everyone Needs a Sidekick

I did this project slightly differently than recommended. I'm still going to incorporate all the necessary elements, but I have my own spin for this one. I loved superheroes when I was little and for a while I wrote a story incorporating myself and some friends as superheroes. It was probably pretty bad and I remember that I wrote myself and my twin sister (I don't actually have a twin sister, I just thought it would be cool) into the story as the children of Hawkgirl and Green Lantern. After a slew of hard drive crashes, I'm sure the story is buried somewhere, but sometimes I'll find the little cardboard figures I made for each of the characters around the house. I had trouble picturing a sidekick, so I just made myself and my twin sister from the story in the hero maker.

I didn't really like thinking of superheroes in terms of sidekicks. I enjoyed Justice League because they were a team and despite varying powers were considered equals. Mystic (name of my fake twin sister) complements my powers and vice versa. I have more powers that come from Hawkgirl. I got her wings and have my own mace. Mystic followed in Green Lantern's footsteps and has a power ring. She also learned from Dr. Fate and knows a lot of magic. This makes us opposites because I am resistant to magic. She is more headstrong than I am and more spontaneous, but she is very serious. I am more grounded and more personable, but tend to be very funny and silly. We work as a team and ore personalities and powers complement each other. So I didn't really make a sidekick, but in a sense we work as each others sidekicks. Looking back on it, this story is mostly embarrassing, but I can see where it came from. Honestly both of the twins represented different versions of myself at the time. Mystic is the more feminine side of myself that I didn't really know how to express in middle school, so I made a character to do that for me.

Up, Up, and Away?

My primary experience with superheroes comes from the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited cartoon series by Bruce Timm. To date, I think it has the best writing and character development of any superhero related story across any medium. I also appreciate one concrete story continuity which is why comic books and other adaptations are less appealing to me. Here is a list of some of the best superheroes featured in Justice League and their powers.

1. Hawkgirl - Shayera Hol

Hawkgirl is my favorite superhero of all time. She is one of the best developed cartoon characters in television history in my opinion, and on top of that she is a total bad ass. Her main power is sustained flight which is a trait of all Thanagarians (her alien race). She also wields a mace of Nth metal which is electrically charged and resistant to magic. She has detective skills that rival Batman and can hold her own in a fight with Wonder Woman.

2. Green Lantern - John Stewart

John Stewart is one of many members of the Green Lantern core, a group of warriors who keep the peace in the galaxy. His power comes from his ring, which allows him to manipulate green energy blast into any form that his imagination allows. The energy enables space travel without a suit and flight.

3. Martian Manhunter - J'onn J'onzz

Martian Manhunter is often over looked when it comes to the Original Seven members (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, GL, Flash, MM, and Hawkgirl) of the league, but he is one of the most powerful. He is the last surviving Martian and has the powers superhuman strength and speed, flight, regeneration, some invulnerability, telepathy, and shapeshifting.

4. Wonder Woman - Diana of Themyscira

Wonder Woman is a bad ass in any form. She has super strength, speed, agility, durability, and flight. She is incredibly skilled in hand to hand combat and has bracelets that can deflect bullets and a magic lasso.

5. Flash - Wally West

The Flash is one of the most likable heroes in the show. His sense of humor and ability to act as the conscience of the team were important. He has the power of super speed.

6. Doctor Fate - Kent Nelson

Doctor Fate is a member of the extended league. His main power is magic. He can also teleport between locations (including different dimensions) at will.

7. Vixen - Mari

Vixen is an example of the exceptional writing of the show. She was the obstacle for the romantic relationship of Hawkgirl and Green Lantern for the final seasons of the series, but she was also an incredibly likable character. Her pendant gives her the power to mimic the abilities on any animal she can think of. For instance, she can run fast like a cheetah or have the strength of an elephant.

8. Aquaman - Arthur

Aquaman is the ruler of the undersea city of Atlantis. His powers include the ability to breathe underwater, super strength, and the ability to communicate with creatures of the sea.

9.  Black Canary - Dinah Lance

Black Canary is incredibly skilled in hand to hand combat and has an ear shattering sonic scream.

10. Fire

Fire's powers are sort of self-explanatory. She can turn into living green fire at will that she can freely manipulate and can fly.

Invisibilty or Flight? Flight, duh!
I personally disagreed with the views presented in the American Life documentary. In it, most people agreed that invisibility is the power that most people would want and that they would use it for evil reasons. I can understand certain aspects of that because there are definitely instances where I would want to be invisible, but honestly flight just sounds so much more fun. Think about it. With flight, you could simply visit any place in the world you wanted on a whim. Day to day travel would be easier. Invisibility just doesn't sound nearly as practical as flight. I'm to clumsy and loud to be a successful criminal and I don't think even invisibility could fix that. The only con with flying is you'll be that dude who can fly now and people will expect you to use your power for good. I'm not saying that I would use my powers for bad, but I would probably just want to use the power for me. I think that I have some desire to become famous which is probably why I picked flying because people would know my name if I was the only person in the world capable of self-sustained flight. I think in the end, the documentary turned into a debate over whether humans are innately good or evil and boy I hate those debates.

Archetype Montage - Femme Fatale

https://vimeo.com/85985470

Music: Problem by Natalia Kills

Conspiracy Theories

Area 51 has been a point of mystery for a long time and many people have different theories about what this top-secret government base in a remote section of Nevada contains. Many people believe that the base has something to do with Alien activity. Some believe that the base is home to Alien spacecraft or that the US is manufacturing vehicles based off of Alien technology. Some think that the workers there study dead Aliens or captured aliens that were found after the UFO crashes. Others believe that the US uses the facility to negotiate with extraterrestrial beings. Another popular theory is that the base is used to create technology that most people believe hasn’t been invented yet. Energy weapons, weather control, and time travel are all facets of this particular theory. The Aurora Aircraft Program is thought to be a result of Area 51. A different theory claims that the base is home to a secret society of government officials that control the country. They also believe that the original moon landing was simulated and filmed here. Others think that the base exists as a misdirection attempt and that all of the secret doings now occur somewhere else. In this theory the base simply exists to capture the attention of conspiracy theorists. The different interpretations of these events are examples of the wild speculation that can occur when people experience something that they don’t understand. It’s like how the book explains that sometimes a good story let’s the audience come to their own conclusions. Some of the alien based theories have some supporters who claim to have worked at Area 51 or to have footage of alien interviews. This is why this is most popular of the theories leading to public perception to lean toward this line of thought. I think that movies and television have warped the views of many in this particular instance. Many movies and shows utilize these conspiracy theories as a plot mechanism. Slowly this can lead to audiences perceiving this as true even without factual basis. I think that what people believe about Area 51 depends largely on what phenomena they believe in and on how much they trust the US government.

Information: http://stooge.hubpages.com/hub/List-of-conspiracy-theories-and-UFO-myths-around-Area-51

Interactive Storytelling

I think that a modern retelling of Bonnie and Clyde could work well with interactive elements. I think it could make an interesting dramatic television series or miniseries that could follow them, but I also think that the interactive element could blend moments of humor and even contribute to character development. The main series would chronicle their adventures and their run ins with the law and would establish some of the humor and comic relief that would be the basic for the online content. I think that weekly travel vlogs and maybe some fan interaction videos could work well for the story. The main problem would be setting up these without making it seem like they are just post their location online frequently. The travel vlogs could open with a disclaimer that they were found on an old computer that belonged to the two of them and are now being used for evidence. The fan interaction, question based videos could be communications between the duo and their cohorts. The vlogs would add to the exposition by giving “audience members the tools they need to follow the story” which is the books definition of exposition. The difference here is that the vlogs wouldn’t be necessary to the plot, but add some interesting details that might humanize the characters. The interaction videos allow the fans inside the continuity of the story in the most literal sense. The book lists this as one of the goals of exposition but with this interactive element, we can actually let the fans communicate with the characters in a small way. I think that this program could succeed by being character-driven (which the book defines as content where the action originates from the wants and needs of the characters). The main episodes show them as criminals with a purpose and will have human moments, but the interactive content will give us the chance to humanize them in a way that is more relatable to the viewer.

Note: A lot of these ideas are based of of the way the MyMusic program functions that I discussed in a previous post.

Audio Doc Pitches

Audio Doc Idea #1

My first idea would be similar to one of the popular audio documentaries I found on the site. One of the most entertaining documentaries was one that was a collection of camp stories from people. I worked as a counselor at my church camp for the past two summers and our enrollment has been down so I thought it would be good to do an audio documentary that tells some of our various crazy camp stories. I’d interview various counselors and campers that I know about their experiences at Bluestone and organize it in a way that conveys the nature of the camp. The target audience will be people who might consider going to a Presbyterian Church camp in West Virginia.

Audio Doc Idea #2

My next idea is similar in content to my first idea. Every summer at Bluestone, we tell a story of the superhero Captain Bluestone that encompasses his origins and has him facing off against a villain who is determined to destroy the camp. This past summer, we counselors hit our stride with the tale of Captain Bluestone and the Lady of the Lake facing off against pirate captain Bartholomew Gulch and his cohorts. The audio would be each counselor telling their part of the story with the sound effects added that we use in camp. The target audience would be campers from summer of 2013, who would recognize the story and hopefully enjoy it.

Audio Doc Idea #3

As we have well established by now, I really love drag queens and like most fans, I am really excited for RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6. So in this documentary I will evaluate the 14 drag queens that have been announced for this season based on their photos, audition tapes, and meet the queens interviews from worst to best and give my predictions for this season. The documentary will go queen by queen and probably involve lots of humor. The target audience will be viewers of Drag Race. Online recaps of the show usually gain a decent amount of views so it should attract a good audience.

Audio Doc Idea #4

This documentary will focus on the Ally group on campus. Ally is a gay-straight alliance student organization. The documentary will be a collection of interviews from members of the organization and will discuss things like queer prom, political issues, and what it is like to be a part of the LGBT community at Ohio University. I’d ask everyone what their favorite part of Ally was and edit all of that together at the end. The goal of the documentary would be to spread awareness of the organization on campus and the target audience would be incoming LGBT students or ones that hadn’t gotten involved with the organization.

Audio Doc Idea #5

This documentary would focus on the Life In Adams show within AVW Productions. It would include audio clips from episodes of the show and interviews of the cast and crew. I would want this one to be a fun and interesting documentary. The goal would be to get more viewers for the show once we finally premiere our first episodes. Another goal would be to encourage media students to join the crew or anyone to audition for the cast at some point. The documentary would really need to sell the entertaining aspects of production and would function as a long ad for the show. The cast and crew are all big personalities that would translate well to an audio broadcast. The target audience would be all Ohio University students.

Analyze a Doc of Your Choice

The Celluloid Closet is a documentary that follows the history of homosexuality in film and the evolution of these depictions throughout the years. The documentary is chronological in nature and follows the different eras of treatment towards gays and lesbians in Hollywood. The theme of the documentary was very pro gay and emphasized the power of cinematic images over our subconscious. It started in the earliest depictions where pansies or fancy men were often depicted with negative or humorous connotations attached to their image. It transitions into periods where censorship caused homosexual depictions to have to be sneakier in films. Often these characters would have to pay the price for their malicious love in the end with death or would even be cast as villains in the piece. The documentary does a great job of depicting the feelings of people who went through this time period and how these pictures influenced their self-esteem. The pacing of the documentary keeps the viewer interested throughout and despite seeing these clips from films where gays and lesbians were depicted as monsters; the viewer can get a sense of hope at the end. It would be very interesting to see an updated version of this documentary or a second part. Film and television has transitioned into a period where LGBT visibility is on the rise, but different depictions have led to different reactions. It would be interesting to discuss some of these developments and include interviews from the various openly gay actors around today.

The Celluloid Closet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhygdCjYrdk