The final week of my project development has been a hectic one for me to say the least. My project partner was unfortunately unable to complete her side of the project in time for the due date as she was struggling with some personal issues. While progress had been made on the technical side of the production, some hiccups in the code meant it wasn’t in a functional state for a demo yet.
This meant I had to step away from my writing, leaving scenes I planned to include in the demo unfinished, and make a new plan for production that could be achieved in the final week by myself. Since I had grown accustomed to writing for the game I didn’t want to stray too far from the original concept. So I looked into a piece of software I had heard about called Twine- a game engine specialised for making text based games.
After spending some time familiarising myself with the software and watching a few YouTube tutorials, I was ready to start coding this new, simpler version of the game. My programming knowledge is limited, which is part of the reason why I couldn’t simply finish the original game myself, but Twine was thankfully intuitive enough for me to manage despite that.
Using the parts of the script I had already made as well as its flowcharts, in just a few days I was able to map out and create a functioning game. It was, however, missing many of the features I had originally wanted to incorporate into this production. Such as music, animations and a 3D environment.
#10 – 27/05/22
Over the course of this week I had the chance to update my tutors on the progress of my work and lay out a plan for the final week of development. I also made a start on my evaluation, writing about why I chose a video game for my FMP and describing a bit about the process behind the production, and began writing character profiles for my two protagonists, Sunny and Pyros. I realised that it might have been beneficial for me to write these profiles earlier in development as in doing so it defined certain things about these characters that still have been a bit muddled, even in my mind. Like the flowcharts I have been creating, it might have acted as a more solid guide for me to use while writing these characters’ interactions.
#9 – 20/05/22
This week I primarily focused on getting on with my script work and found another way for me to get around my writing blocks. If I found myself running out of ideas for a specific portion of the script, I simply started another scene without any worries about chronological order. I feel that this was a good step towards breaking some unhelpful writing habits where I always feel the need to be linear in my work. Now I write what is in my head at the time rather than forcing myself to finish particular sequences all at once, which has made for a less stressful and engaging writing experience for me.
Unfortunately, during this week I was unable to make significant progress on my project as I had, once again, gotten sick. I did, however, still try to make an effort by revising my flowcharts as I noticed I had been making a mistake with some of the diagrams. After combing through these and making corrections I did the same to certain sections of my script as well.
I also went back to make additions to my project proposal after getting some feedback from my tutor. I had failed to include a detail of a backup plan in case something went wrong with my original concept. So I described how, if I could no longer develop the game, I would adapt my work into a choose-your-own-adventure novel or expand on a collection of letters present in my script. My project proposal, with these editions, can be read here: https://witchersandwitches.wordpress.com/2022/04/29/fmp-project-proposal/
From a technical side of things, my project partner was able to make some leeway – establishing a system to present script’s dialogue and creating our planned 3D environment.
#7 – 06/05/2022
This week in my project development I took a step back from my script to expand on other parts of my work again. Primarily focusing on research, I compiled my main notes into a cohesive post for my blog – talking about the sources that aided the development of my concept and why. I also included a detailed bibliography and spoke about the additional research I am still doing alongside my script work.
I also had the opportunity this week to return my illustrations, which I hope to include in the final production. I collected a few references and began sketching out certain characters in a format that could be transferred to the game.
During this week I also caught up with my project partner – now that they are free from other commitments – to discuss our progress and outline a plan moving forward.
#6 – 29/04/2022
While still working on my drafts, this week I put together a project proposal for my blog. I discussed my plan of action for this project, the inspirations behind certain aspects of my work and how I’ve been conducting my research. This post was uploaded alongside my original pitch presentation and some notes on my idea development.
I also caught up with my tutors this week and shared finished sections of drafts, explaining the thought process behind the scripts formatting and the flowcharts used to plan the game’s structure.
#5 – 22/04/2022
After finally laying out a strong foundation for my script over the Easter break, I spent this week expanding other aspects of my script and fleshing out storyboards. As mentioned in my previous log, I realised the scope of my story was a bit too ambitious so I had to reign things in. That was a process I was still trying to get adjusted over this week as well.
I also properly formatted and uploaded the research documents I had been editing over Easter to my blog.
During the easter break my project partner was still distracted with other commitments so progress was still slow from the technical side of things. However, I was able to focus on my writing fully and continued to work on my drafts.
Unfortunately, I hit a bit of a block. I was having trouble getting my footing with my drafts as I found myself constantly dissatisfied with every opening I created. I struggled when it came to establishing the rules of my story and integrating world building elements that felt interesting and unique. It was all starting to get away from me and keeping track of my ideas and the plot in my mind felt overwhelming.
So I stepped away from my drafts for a few days to focus on other things. I tidied up some writing on other projects, did some more research and edited my blog. When I finally returned to my FMP I didn’t jump back into the writing right away. Instead I reigned in the scope a bit, reorganised my notes and started creating pseudo-storyboards for myself so that I had a clearer idea as to where my story is going. I also started creating small profiles for some of the characters, creatures and concepts in my story to help with this issue too.
While I am only aiming to include part of this story in the final production (with plans to finish the rest in my own time), I felt that having some more thorough notes like this was a necessary foundation for me to push off. After doing this, I was able to finally write an opening I was satisfied with and soon began writing the rest of the story.
#3 – 28/03/22
Unfortunately, at the start of this week I became sick and my friend had to focus on some of their other responsibilities, so progress on the project slowed significantly. That being said however, I was still able to make a start on my first draft, or at least I was able to compile my notes on characters, plot points and themes into a sort of plan for my writing. I also started making sketches on the illustrations that, as long as we achieve our baseline goals, may be able to be included in the final product – getting a feel for the visual style we want to go for.
Towards the end of the week I was able to present my pitch to my course leader too. While my pitch was full of information that outlined what this game is and how and why we’re going to make it, I feel that my delivery of this plan could have been much better. On some slides there was far too much text, leading me to frequently fumble over my words, and my interaction with the people I was pitching was limited to say the least. This in tandem with the fact I was still struggling with my sickness, led to a pitch that I am disappointed with.
#2 – 21/03/22
The following week I spent some time creating a pitch for this project, compiling all of my ideas into a powerpoint and outlining some of the points my friend I discussed during our talk.
Once this was complete I returned to my research, branching out from videos and articles to also get notes straight from the source. I began playing certain games that fall under the same genre as ours ( Coffee Talk, Disco Elysium, Divinity Original Sin 2 ) so that I could gather notes on their narrative and how they interact with the gameplay mechanics. I also started rereading some of novels that feature rich world building (such as Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive) in the hopes that I could learn from the writing techniques put to use in them.
During that week I also figured out a system to format my writing in a way that was readable and easily transferable to the game’s flowchart (a diagram that clearly outlines what line of text should go where and when) and its code. By labelling and partitioning my writing into nodes, we can store each in line in an array that can then be pulled from when needed.
#1 – 14/03/22
After writing up my notes from Jam week I immediately began work on my FMP. Coming up with a concept for the project was a very quick stage of the project as I had already been brainstorming over the prior weeks. I was originally going to create a short story collection set in the world I used for my comic book. But after realising I wanted to work in a different medium this idea soon evolved into a video game.
I spent the majority of the week outlining the plot, themes and messages of my story and how they could react with certain game mechanics that come with visual novel RPGs (the video game genre I am working in). Since I am no programmer I also had to reach out to a friend who has experience in the industry so that they could help me with the technical side of the project.
We spoke, shared ideas, assigned responsibilities and came up with a plan for the next two months. During this talk we also established a baseline for what we want to achieve as some of my ideas were a bit too ambitious for the amount of time we have to work on the game.
I also began my research for the project this week by watching, and collecting notes on, various videos created by professionals in the industry where they provided advice and discussed how writing for the medium differs greatly from others and provided.
On the first day of jam week I sat in on a talk with Meg Jenkins, a digital marketer who has done work for various startup companies in the past. She went over her experiences working with these companies and the struggles she faced, such as the plethora of responsibilities that come with small start up teams (their low budget and low numbers usually means people need to take on multiple roles). While her area of work didn’t particularly lay within my interests I still feel that I received a lot of insightful advice.
Key Skills:
Communication – honing your communication skills is key to a successful project as it goes a long way in preventing needless confusion and clearly outlines what is required of the people on your team.
Organisation – this is a universal skill that is good for anything you do in life, not just in a work environment.
Leadership – being a leader doesn’t necessarily mean being the bossiest person in the room. A good leader is someone who possesses a higher level vision of what needs to be done who can then communicate that effectively to your team – keeping them focused and organised.
Career advice:
“Stay curious. If you’re not curious, you’ve lost interest.”
“Network, because you will never know where it will take you.”
“Know your strengths and your weaknesses.”
Stay humble and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Make use of Google Analytics Academy, LinkedIn, Hubspot Academy for networking and research.
On Freelancing:
Establish your business legally
Start on LinkedIn or Indeed
Facebook groups can be a good place to look for work locally
Interviews and Drafting a CV:
Over prepare for interviews so that you always have something to say. It is beneficial to research the company you are applying to thoroughly so that you can adapt your content to fit their needs and ideals. It helps to go the extra mile with the presentation of your CV as well, presenting your notes in an aesthetically pleasing way and colour-coding the layout to fit the company’s own ‘themes.’ Don’t be modest about what you’re good at either. In an interview you need to show confidence and lean into your strengths.
Day 2
Jeanie Finlay
My first session on the second day of Jam Week was with Jeanie Finlay, a documentary filmmaker who has made such films as Seahorse (2019) and Game Of Thrones:The Last Watch (2019). A recurring theme in Jeanie’s work is her desire to create stories about the people you don’t usually see, with her work on Game of Thrones shining a light on the individuals that worked tirelessly behind the scenes.
During her talk it quickly became evident that emotion played a large part in her work, as one of the main points she reiterated on numerous occasions was: to make a connection. She said that it was important, when starting a new project, to focus it around a subject that felt important to us and encouraged us to conduct extensive research – so that we knew everything there was to know about whatever we’re talking about.
This focus on emotion expanded beyond the subject of material of her work too, as Jeanie often spoke about her efforts to make genuine connections with the people at the centre of her films. Creating a greater sense of intimacy and evoking more human emotion in her work.
While documentary filmmaking isn’t something I am necessarily interested in, I could appreciate the sentiment of Jeanie’s points nonetheless. I still came away from the session with a better understanding of the importance of connection and in a sense, collaborating with others within my work.
Towards the end of her talk, Jeanie also gave us some tips for starting a documentary of our own as well as any other new projects we might pursue:
“Just start shooting,” Jeanie encouraged us to start whatever it is we may be doing with the equipment and resources we already had as the actual content of our work should be our main priority. Specifically with filmmaking, she noted that audio should take priority over video quality as poor image can be more easily excused than poor sound.
“Why not me?” On knowing your worth, Jeanie mentioned that in the filmmaking industry it’s important to realise your strengths and stop others from walking all over you. “Steel fist in a velvet glove,” approach to your attitude.
Linking back to the first point, another piece of advice Jeanie gave in relation to creating documentaries is to take the time to find a good, interesting story that resonates with you.
Day 3
Darren Simpson
Darren Simpson is an author who has written such titles as: Furthermoor (2022), Scavengers (2019) and Memory Thieves (2021). All which are targeted at a young-adult audience, with each of their stories containing real world ideas adapted to tell a cohesive narrative. For example, his most recent novel, Futhermoor, integrated maladaptive daydreaming (a real disease where an individual will experience frequent, intense and highly distracting daydreams) alongside symbolic landscapes to discuss a variety of issues. I found Simpson’s talk to be the most interesting out of the ones I sat in for, as his work more closely relates to what I want to pursue in the future and gave me some insight around finding success in the industry.
Getting Published:
Simpson spoke to us about the difficulty of getting published and the importance of perseverance. When he attempted to publish his first works Simpson was rejected by 39 agents before one finally took him on. Even then however, his first 3 books were still rejected by publishers. It wasn’t until he adjusted his approach to storytelling, targeting his books at a different age demographic, that he found success – also highlighting the importance of keeping an open mind when working in this industry.
While hearing Simpson go through 39 agents and 3 books before hitting his stride made the concept of writing a book even more daunting at first, I eventually warmed up to the message behind his struggles and accepted the fact that I am most likely going to face my own similar ones. But in the end, with some perseverance, I can eventually get my work out there too.
“You’re always getting better. . .Don’t be disheartened by rejection.”
Simpson also spoke about the actual process of getting published, breaking it into 3 steps:
Author – > Agent – > Publisher
When finding an agent, Simpson suggested that we don’t send out too many submissions at once, as it’s better to show that you want a particular agent over the others. Similarly to Meg Jenkins advice on CVs and applying for jobs, you need to adjust your work/pitch to match the interests of the agent you are trying to work with. Showing why exactly you went to them.
Simpson mentioned that agents want to see that you can actually complete a book. Sending complete drafts or fleshed out sample chapters alongside your cover letter and synopsis is only going to increase the likelihood of an agent taking you on.
As for publishing, Simpson spoke about his low budget when marketing his first book. He had to look to sites like kickstarter to try and receive crowdfunding from the public as well as additional aid from local sources. Local bloggers, local printers from libraries in his town etc. Making use of what was already at his disposal was a more cost effective process that helped with the process of getting his first book out there.
Writing Process:
Like his points on publishing, Simpson also broke up his writing process into 3 parts:
Inspiration:
Inspiration, Simpson said, can come from anywhere. As mentioned earlier, he used a lot of things from the real world to craft certain elements of his stories.
Planning:
Before actually writing anything, Simpson compiles his notes from the various topics he has had to write into moodboards and storyboards.
First Draft:
After writing his first draft, Simpson takes time polishing and slimming it down before sending it to his editor to repeat the process with them.
Towards the end of the session with Simpson, I had the opportunity to ask him something myself. Since originality in my writing is something I often worry about, I asked him if that was a concern of his in a world where most stories have already been told. His response:
“It’s about mixing things up. . .Shining a new light on things that already exist.”
Matthew Taylor
Matthew Taylor is a casting director who has worked on films like Ghost Story (2017) and The Old Man & The Gun (2018). He spoke to us about his roles in the production of these projects, one such being the casting calls. This process consists of arranging dates and spaces to take auditions for selected roles from a film or any other production that requires actors. During casting calls 360° photos of those that are auditioning are also taken to make sure they match the physical description of a particular role.
Due to the specific requirements often in place for these roles and the numerous submissions Taylor will receive, he usually has to reject over half of them. Because of this, Taylor offered us some advice in case we were to try getting cast on a project in the future:
“Don’t be afraid of reinventing yourself.” Like the previous talks this week, we were once again being encouraged to adapt to the needs of whatever role we are applying for – whether that be for acting or not. Taylor also mentioned that creative roles – such as a ‘painter’ – “aren’t necessarily realistic” and that when we are trying to get into an industry like filmmaking we need to be specific with our wants and what works for us; similarly to the employers we will be working with.
Taylor also briefly spoke about getting into the industry from the production side of things. He advised that we start out at the bottom as a PA to give ourselves a better understanding of production, rather than going straight for some of the more sought after positions. It’s important, at first, to be quiet and just observe.
Towards the end of the session, Taylor also highlighted the importance of a healthy working environment – no matter the industry that you are working in. Work role models and representation are vital when building strong relationships within a team and collaborating with friends and family has, in Taylor’s case, been detrimental to de-stressing while working on a big project. Taylor encouraged us to “bridge the gap between actors,” by doing the latter more often, casting your friends that may be interested in acting to avoid budget issues on a particular project.
Day 4
Adam Paul
My first session on the fourth day of Jam Week was with Adam Paul – a cinematographer who has worked on a plethora of adverts and music videos. While camera work doesn’t particularly align with my interests and aspirations to become a writer, I was still interested in learning about his experience on a set and seeing whether or not I could glean some valuable insight.
Paul opened his talk by sharing his story of getting into the industry and the risks he took to do so; moving to a different country to pursue a career and trying out a variety of roles in relation to photography. His journey getting to where he is today has encouraged me to stay inventive with my work and not be so afraid of taking more daunting risks or exploring avenues I might not have considered before.
Travelling to the states as a foreigner, naturally, presented a lot of networking issues for Paul. Building a list of contacts quickly became a priority of his as it was vital to finding more work with different people; once again highlighting the importance of taking time of collaborating and networking when getting into creative industries or looking for work in general.
Paul then went on to discuss “adaptability” – a recurring theme across this week – and, quoting the great Bob Ross himself, the importance of embracing “happy accidents.”
He advised us to take advantage of missteps in a project rather than letting them ruin your project, remaining situational and able to adjust to any sort of needs that may arise while collaborating with different people. Paul linked this to his emphasis on post production too and how mistakes can be adjusted during the editing process.
Finally, Paul also mentioned his struggles with building confidence. Particularly when trying to get permission to take photos of people while doing studies in certain areas. Listening to Paul share these difficulties was relatable and, in a way, reassuring. While I am no photographer, my confidence is sometimes lacking when it comes to sharing my work and knowing that others who have found success have had to face similar issues in the past, helps validate my worries and make me hopeful that I’ll eventually overcome them.
Megha Mohan
Megha Mohna is a BBC reporter who primarily focuses on esoteric stories that she feels a strong emotional connection to, similar to Jeani Flynn’s work. Her journalistic career began in central Africa before she signed onto a program that allowed her to begin producing and editing others’ work. As her career progressed she began to build a beat (an area you are interested in and know for, people will come to you first if they want a story on this subject), hers being a focus on identity, the trans community and cultures surrounded by lots of discourse where she tries to shine a light on unrepresented perspectives.
After her introduction and overview of her work, Mohan went into a bit more detail about the process of preparing for a story – specifically using her work relating to a lesbophobic murder in Chile as an example. Before travelling to Chile, she spent 3 months conducting extensive research around the area in which the crime occurred – collecting information relating to people close to the victim and getting a grasp on the social climate there. Due to the prejudices still present in Chile, Mohan also had to make use of something called “dark social” when it came to collecting information and spreading her story. “Dark social” are messaging apps like WhatsApp that aren’t necessarily as public as something like Twitter. In some instances, reporters will also have to make use of shortwave radios to reach countries that don’t have access to things like social media – which is a part of putting yourself in the mindset of the group you are writing a story about.
Mohan also stressed the importance of “knowing your audience” and spoke about how she approached online influencers in Chile’s LGBTQ+ communities to help spread the story. Collaborating with people closely tied to the issues you are discussing shows an understanding of the people you are trying to reach and ensures that they will see the story. Mohan’s coverage of the murder even eventually resulted in the case being reopened with fresh leads, highlighting the effect and importance of thorough journalistic work.
Finally, Mohan rounded out her talk by giving us some advice on starting a career in journalism and managing a healthy work life balance.
Getting into journalism:
Start locally, getting stories from your town or creating a student paper etc.
Social media is a necessity in this industry as it allows people to easily reach out to you if they want you for a specific story. It best also to follow other people with similar beats as you so you can stay informed and up to date
You don’t want to be “clock watching,” in your career. Do something that interests you
“Is this person going to make my life easier?” adjust pitches to better suit the person/company you are pitching to. Clinically examine other stories relating to them
“Show you research, show you know what you want to do, show why you want to do it there. . .Personalise everything.”
Perseverance is key
Work life balance/self care:
Separating your work from your life is vital for decompressing and avoiding overwhelming yourself
Communicate any worries or struggles you may have
“Ominent window,” don’t let abuse become the norm
“Mental pages,” empty your thoughts onto 3 pages every morning
Day 5
Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff
Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff is an editor-in-chief at The New York Times whose typical responsibilities include: overseeing operations and other people’s tasks, “nitty- gritty” editing and handling human resources and financial roles. She opened her talk by suggesting a few avenues we could take if we are interested in pursuing journalism as a career:
Jem Collins’ Journo Resources (a platform that provides young journalists with the resources they need to break into the industry)
The Guardian’s Positive Action Scheme
BBC work experience scheme
Scott Bursary’s Guardian Scheme
Cuff went on to share some of the difficulties she has faced while working within the industry, like prejudice and receiving flak online for talking about topics surrounded in discourse. Due to these same issues Cuff has also had to refuse funding from unethical brands while working for startup companies. However, because of the already limited budget behind these businesses, that wasn’t always so simple and Cuff and her team had to wade through a lot of morally grey areas in order to publish their stories. Cuff also discussed how difficult it can be for working class people to find a role in the industry due to privileged individuals with wealthy backgrounds easily taking the majority of positions.
Even when someone does land a stable role it can feel overwhelming, so Cuff advised us to “fake it until you make it,” while slowly chipping away at personal struggles such as a lack of confidence and shyness. Cuff also clarified that once you’re in this position that it’s still important to – every so often – take time to sit down and refresh your mind of the terminology used in the industry. Cuff touched upon interviews too and outlined the proper etiquette of approaching someone for one, telling us to remain kind, respectful and thoughtful to their situation.
Over these last couple of weeks I wrapped up my work on character profiles, finishing my InDesign poster on Ellen Ripley and then later presenting it in a powerpoint as a part of a group collaboration with other students on the course. I briefly reflected on my experience using the software by discussing what I liked about it as well as my frustrations with it and how I overcame them. In this presentation I also included a character profile from my comic book pitch and spoke about the process of coming up with the character and then integrating them into a scenario which included other characters created by my group.
Slides that featured my work:
Research and Comic Books
In preparation for my final major project, I looked into lateral thinking and how it could be applied to my writing in the future. As a part of this research, I spent a day in the city exercising the thought process by taking photos of objects that could represent various interpretations for a particular word (my given baseline was ‘design’). I did this again the following week but instead focused on a single item rather than a word (I used a photograph of myself and a family member) and came up with various story ideas relating to it. I found this sort of research to be quite refreshing, as it gave me an opportunity to come up with lots of random concepts and made me aware of all the different ways I can approach my writing.
Audio
For this side of course, I flexed my journalistic muscles and did some research on knife crime in my area which acted as another opportunity to prepare for the research I will need to conduct in my FMP. While I don’t feel the subject of this research is relevant to my other projects, I did enjoy getting some time to practise these sorts of skills.
Before submitting my final pitch, I went through my work to make some changes to the synopsis as – based on previous feedback – it was a little convoluted. I also made changes to some of the character profiles that I had included as I had written them as if I were presenting them to a reader rather than someone I was trying to sell the story to. In general I made some formatting adjustments to present my pitch neatly alongside my script, including a contents page for example. While I was happy with the work I had completed, like my cathartic process evaluation, I realised I had missed one of the requirements of the project after submitting it. This was a result of poor proofreading on my part, making it clear that I need to take my time with such things in the future.
Audio:
Now that I had actually created my audio piece I was finally able to complete the rest of my evaluation. I made sure to include points I have previously mentioned in my learning journal as well as detailed descriptions of how and why I did certain things over the course of my project. Learning from my previous evaluations, I made sure to include everything that was required of me and made my explanations as thorough as possible. Rather presenting my evaluation as just a simple text document, I tried to present it similarly to my comic book pitch. Including: a cover page, a contents page and bibliography.
04/02/22
The Cathartic Process:
Continuing on with my Indesign and character profile work, I started to create a poster in the software on a character from a piece of media that I like (I chose Ripley from Aliens) to then later include in my final zine. I also had an opportunity to work on profiles for my own original characters. Since I had already completed the majority of the writing for these profiles in other projects, I decided to focus on creating sketches for them instead.
Research and Comic Books:
At this point I had mostly finished my pitch for my comic book script. I had profiles of the characters featured in the script with sketches, mocks ups of panel structure and a plot summary. All that was left to do was to make a few finishing touches here and there.
Audio:
During this week I finally had the opportunity to work with some acting students to collect audio samples for my final piece. The experience was rather stressful as, due to all the scheduling issues, I had to complete a large part of the project in just a few days and was still left with too few voices. This meant I had to compensate during editing by cutting out lines from the script and shifting about dialogue. Editing the audio together in general was also very time consuming as it wasn’t a process I was particularly familiar with. In future I feel that I would benefit by scaling down my goals and avoiding ideas that would require me to collaborate with other students.
28/01/22
The Cathartic Process:
This week I submitted my finished short story where I then presented it in a zine format. Overall I was happy with the final product and thought that the images I chose to use for the zine tonely and thematically fit my story. I then went on to write my evaluation for the project in its entirety. While I did cover a lot of bases (mentioning inspirations, the reasoning behind the choices I made and what the piece meant to me) I realised after the fact that I had forgotten to talk about the process of actually converting it into a zine, affecting certain areas of my grading.
I also did some more work with Indesign, deciding on the sort of zine I wanted to create (a booklet of character profiles I’ve made for my writing projects) and creating a plan for future sessions.
Research and Comic Books:
For this section of the course I continued working on my pitch proposal. Making sure to include: a personal statement, references to my blog and examples of various pieces of media that inspire during the process of creating my script. Adding text to the layout I had created did present some issues however, as the software I used caused images and paragraphs to rearrange themselves with each new addition. Resolving problems like these, while minor, were tedious and frustratingly ate up time that I could have spent writing.
Audio:
During my audio lesson this week I was unfortunately unable to work with any acting students to complete the final part of my production, but I did begin writing up part of my evaluation for the project as a whole. I detailed what inspired the concept of my audiobook and why I chose the title that I did, allowing me to shamelessly gush about horror (the chosen genre for my project) and different pieces of media under that umbrella. In order for me to progress any further with my evaluation, however, I need to finally organise a script reading – either with other students, or friends that are interested in helping.
14/01/22
The Cathartic Process:
During my first week back on my course, I began familiarising myself with a piece of software called Indesign so that I could use it to create professional looking zines for future projects. I did find the software to be a bit finicky but I eventually managed to create a basic poster which included an image and placeholder text.
In the latter half of my class, I took a look at Dracula and the vampire genre as a whole to deconstruct its main tropes and attributes into a readable profile. I found this sort of work beneficial as it gave me an opportunity to understand how timeless characters and ideas change to reflect different era’s. It also got me thinking about character biographies in general and how I will inevitably integrate them into my various projects.
I also went through my short story draft and made some adjustments. I slimmed down the opening as it felt like it dragged on for a little too long and I edited some descriptions and metaphors I used since they didn’t particularly flow well with the rest of the story. After making these changes I focused on and completed the ending of the story, bringing it to a conclusion that I felt satisfied with.
Research and Comic Books:
On the comic side of things, I finished my script and started working on my pitch for the final project. Since making final touches to my script still took up the majority of my time, I only managed to format a layout for my proposal. I was still happy with the progress I made however, as this layout provided a clear plan for me to follow moving forward.
Audio:
For the audio section of my course, I completed my script and began laying out a plan for what sort of SFX I intended to use in the final product. I did this by visiting sites such as Freesound, which provided a library of easily downloadable sound effects that I kept listed in a dedicated document.
Christmas
The Cathartic Process:
Over my christmas break I took the time to update my scrapbook in between working on my cathartic short story. I presented my analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat and The Raven alongside pictures and doodles to match their contents. I also went back to the mood board I had created for this section of the course, making a new one as I wasn’t exactly satisfied with how it turned out before. Just like my Sylvia Plath moodboard, I looked to student examples and images found on sites such as Pinterest for inspiration.
Research and Comic Books:
I then began the second draft of my comic book script. I felt that my first draft featured too few panels and hardly any dialogue to provide any sort of context to the story. It felt rushed, even for a short story. So, with the knowledge I had gained from my various research tasks, I beefed up the panel structure, fleshed out the dialogue and generally improved the plotting of my script. I also included more creatures and environmental details into the setting of my story to lay the grounds for potential developments in future projects.
As well as working on my comic book script, I also completed another research task – this time on British comic books. Like my work on American comic books through the years, it was interesting to see how the medium changed to fit each era and just how different the themes prevalent in each culture were.
Audio:
I also started another draft for my audio piece project. Similarly to my comic book work, I felt that the plotting of my script felt rushed and some of the ideas I had implemented weren’t very fleshed out. In one of the short stories included in the audiobook, I added more characters and extra scenes to provide context to later events – which I thought had ultimately made for a more interesting reading experience.
Carrying on from my project proposal, last week I started writing my short story, ‘The Foxes Always Scream at Night’. So far it has been a challenge trying to balance my prose, making sure that it is not bland but also not too flowery at the same time. However, I am confident in the direction it is going and have been taking inspiration here and there from different books I am currently reading
Research and Comic Books:
For my research project last week I took a look at film scripts and how they compare to comic books. Out of everything that I learned while working on this task, the suggestion that scenes should follow an upside down triangle structure was probably the most interesting and helpful to me. Simply because it was a writing technique that I hadn’t previously thought about. Watching films and TV shows now, I can usually pick it out and understand how it can elevate a specific scene.
Audio:
Last week I visited a recording studio to record a sample of my audiobook. Seeing as I still haven’t found any students that are able to do voice over work, I read my selected excerpts myself. I chose the openings to two of my short stories as the rest of their contents are bullet pointed or rather scattered in terms of structure. This was a sort of wake up call, motivating me to make sure that I’m on top of my work. I didn’t find the actual recording process as difficult as giving my presentations in previous lessons but I still fumbled my words in a few instances, meaning that if I’m going to add my own dubbing to the audiobook I need more practice ‘speaking’.
06/12/21
The Cathartic Process:
Due to my illness from the previous week, I unfortunately missed another lesson. However, in the meantime I began plotting out and creating rough storyboards for the short story I chose to continue from my project proposal. Towards the end of the week I also went back to my scrap book and created a moodboard for my work covering Edgar Allen Poe. Although I attempted to replicate the same style I used for my moodboard on Sylvia Plath, I am little dissatisfied with its presentation and will likely come back to edit in the future.
Research and Comics:
Still taking a break from writing my comic book script, last week I took a look at American comics and how they have changed over the years. I found the research task to be insightful as it gave me a better understanding of the medium’s history and the importance of relevancy/culture in regards to comic books.
Audio:
Last week in this section of the course, I created another update log on the progress of my audiobook and did some more work on the scripts I’ll be using. I also finally began painting my logo, using the mood board I created previously as well as a number of other images for inspiration.
Last week I began compiling my notes for my cathartic process project proposal into a cohesive post for my blog. Looking back at these initial notes I can start to see why there might have been confusion during my pitch as some of these writings are hard to piece together – even for me. In future I might benefit from adding some structure and organisation to my notes, even if they are only a part of an initial brainstorming process.
Research and Comic Books:
In this section of the course I took a break from my comic book script to take an in depth look at Watchmen and its film adaptation. I found analysing the transition between the two mediums to be interesting and I enjoyed getting a chance to take a look at writing like Alan Moore’s. However, after finishing my work on the topic I felt that it was a bit lacking compared to some of my other work and might have to come back to it at a later date to make additions if I can. Though we took a break from writing scripts, I also began thinking about the monsters for my comic book and started sketching out a few design concepts.
Audio:
Unfortunately, half way through the week I became ill and missed this week’s lesson on audio. However, to make up for that, I compiled some notes from previous sessions as well as some other pieces of work into another post for my blog. But like my work on Watchmen I feel that its contents were probably lacking.
This week I presented my pitches on short story/poem ideas to the rest of my class. It was a nerve wracking experience as I don’t exactly consider myself a good ‘speaker’, but I found actually creating the presentation to be a helpful exercise as it allowed me to flesh out my concepts in detail. If I had to give presentations in the future I think I would rehearse them beforehand to help boost my confidence somewhat.
Research and Comic Book:
Like last week, for my research and comic books lesson I continued working on my five page comic book script. Moving away overviews and mood boards, I focused entirely on the script this week – managing to complete the first couple of pages. However, I did struggle when it came to writing some of the narration for one of my characters as I couldn’t figure how to properly integrate my message/themes into their dialogue. To help get rid of this block, I left the narration for the time being and instead continued working on panel descriptions; in the hopes that it would be easier to structure my dialogue around them once they are all complete.
Audio:
During my audio lesson this week I paired up with another student to research drama podcasts and then create a presentation on one; thinking about SFX and intro music specifically. We picked a series called Dimension 20 as I have already spoken about it in one of my research tasks for the comic book section of my course and it is something that I am currently watching. I think the exercise was beneficial as it got me thinking more in depth about sound effects and how to use them effectively, as well as helping me further build on my presentation skills. I also got to practice my script writing abilities as one was required for the presentation.
This week I started developing a few ideas for my cathartic final piece and how I would present some of them in a pitch. Just as I did in my audio and comic book lessons, I began by brainstorming and creating overviews of my various story concepts – including a mix of poems and short stories. Once again this exercise proved useful as it helped me flesh out my ideas as well as come up with new ones. It also helped me get over the ‘blank page’ hurdle.
During this process I found inspiration from other writers besides just Edgar Allen Poe and Sylvia Plath. Since these concepts are to become a collection of poems or a short story, I looked to Stephen King and Emily Carroll as they have both created collections of short stories that I enjoy. They are also horror writers, which is a genre that I find I am most comfortable writing in.
Research and Comic Books:
In this section of this course I simply continued my work from the previous week, expanding on my ideas and actually making a start on a script for my comic. Based on some feedback I received, I went back to my overview and tidied it up, as well as adapting it into a format that better fit an ‘elevator pitch’. I also thought about the themes and message of my comic and broke down what certain elements of it represented. For example, my story features a vampiric creature who is intended to embody the power struggle often explored in gothic literature.
I also compiled a number of images to act as a moodboard of sorts. This ranges from inspiration for the setting to character design and horror imagery:
Audio:
During this week’s Audio lesson I finally began plotting out my script for one of my short stories and writing it’s dialogue. Because of my research and work on comic book scripts in my other class, starting this wasn’t as difficult as I initially imagined but I still need to work toward making multiple drafts so that I can keep my dialogue tight and focused – as well as making sure that it is grammatically correct. During this session I also recorded a few more sound bites in preparation for the editing process of my audio book. The audio I collected, however, was rather messy; with heavy background noise ruining the sound I actually wanted to capture. So, an area of improvement for me this week would be collecting audio samples and perhaps looking into better quality microphones.
05/11/21
The Cathartic Process:
During my first lesson back to college, I received feedback on my poem that I had written a couple weeks prior. An area of improvement was for me to go back and detail why I made certain creative choices while creating the poem. For example: why I repeatedly chose to use ‘A’ at the start of the majority of the poem’s lines.
We also made a start on Edgar Allen Poe, taking a look at The Black Cat and The Raven. I found myself much more intrigued with Poe’s work than Plath’s because of the gothic themes present in his confessional writing – a genre that I am much more naturally drawn to. Analysing Poe’s writing has been beneficial to me as it has provided further inspiration to what I want to create for my final piece in this section of the course.
Research and Comic Books:
This week I not only started another research task (this time on the writing technique: ‘Show, dont tell’), but I also began plotting out ideas for my five-page comic book. I started by brainstorming various concepts before moving onto creating a general overview of the comic. While a bit lengthy and convoluted, this overview was a helpful foundation for me to start planning out my comic page by page. During this process I found inspiration from a couple sources, the main two being: Through the Woods, a comic book by Emily Carrol and a film called The Night House (2020).
I love the way Carroll presents her dialogue in her comics. Rather than enclosing her captions/narration within boxes, she instead integrates her text into the illustrations themselves and makes use of various fonts and sizes. It’s informal, but in a visually pleasing way that better fits the themes and aesthetic of her comic. Her dialogue balloons are also visually inconsistent but – once again – in a way that benefits her work. This is all a part of what evokes – at least for me – memories of those scary stories told to children, only that the horror has been dialed up to eleven. I want to somehow adapt this visual style for my comic and use it to represent the captions within each panel.
Although not a comic book, The Night House (2020) made use of a visual technique that I found rather interesting. The supernatural entity haunting Beth (protagonist) throughout the film is invisible, but the outline of it’s silhouette will manifest within the background – reshaping it to fit it’s unseen features. This idea of using negative space to depict the film’s antagonist is a technique that I would also like to somehow adapt to my comic book.
Audio:
In my audio class I got to work on my audiobook project again. I made a more detailed overview of my short stories to – like my comic book – use as a foundation when it actually comes to writing them. I also made a plan with my tutor to outline my next steps, which included:
Compiling royalty free sound effects to eventually use in my audiobook
Conferring with the drama department to find students willing to join my project as voice actors/actresses
Deciding on two short stories to write and then starting the script for one by at least 18/11/10
Having both an overview and plan has helped create some organisation among my work, something that I occasionally struggle with.
During this session I also had the opportunity to sit in on talk with a publisher of a writing magazine. Like the workshop with Sophie Sparham a few weeks prior, it was interesting to listen to an established writer’s experience and the sort of advice they had to offer.
Finally, I also made a very short creative piece based on my visit to the Bromley House Library:
The Bromley House Library is a capsule of knowledge and ages long past, squeezed between chains of modern day retail and yet still sequestered so very far away.
As you enter the foyer the resounding click of your shoes cascades through the wizened halls, stirring the latent energy nestled between thousands of worlds.
Ascending the creaking stairs, a gallery of faces – embossed by swirling oils and eternally preserved – greet you every step of the way.
Your journey culminates with the discovery of a never ending expanse, the smell of ancient pages enticing you delve even further.
Half Term 29/10/21
Over my half term break I attempted to keep up with some of my work from the previous week. I created an Instagram account to share snippets of my writing and other artwork, with my first post featuring my poem “The Big Bad Wolf,” as well as my own digital illustration.
I also continued my research on dialogue, taking an indepth look at some examples of media that I enjoy. I made sure to include a mix of genres and mediums to provide myself with a better insight as to how dialogue is adapted to various forms of media rather than just one.
As an extra task I also created a couple one hundred word reviews of a film and a game that I had recently enjoyed and I did some reading up on scriptwriting and screenwriting. This was in response to the feedback that I received for the comic book section of the course, which included a self set target to reduce ‘waffling’ and a target set by my tutor to take a look at books to do with specific disciplines (i.e. comic book script writing).
Finally, I began storyboarding and outlining key plot points of the short stories I will eventually include in my audiobook project.
22/10/21
The Cathartic Process:
For my cathartic work this week I went through my scrapbook to add some finishing touches to my poem analyses and created a mood-board to represent my work on Sylvia Plath. The layout of my mood-board was inspired by other students’ work who had previously taken the course. I also received some feedback on my progress in this section of the course thus far, helping me outline my next steps to further improve my grade. One being to explore more forms of media with my work, e.g. Instagram photos.
Research and Comic Books:
My research task this week was on dialogue and how or if it is realistically depicted in the media we consume. To get a better understanding of ‘realism’ I had to create an account of various conversations from a day spent in the city and compared them to writing from some of my favourite television shows, films and books. It was an interesting process as it highlighted just how much dialogue is dramatised in entertainment.
Audio:
Rather than working on projects for this section of the course, we were once again out and about on another day trip. This time it was all about the history of some of Nottingham’s most notorious writers and how their work influenced the literary world in their own ways. We completed a scavenger hunt of sorts, finding all sorts of landmarks related to each writer, before visiting the Bromley House Library where we further learnt about Nottingham’s writing heritage.
Witchers and Witches 