This project asks you to use digital technologies and platforms to remediate other texts. The notion of remediation helps us think about how new media forms and technologies draw and extend on older technologies, simultaneously producing something new and allowing us to see previous technologies and texts in a new light. We will practice remediation by drawing on tools and technologies related to audio and video production and then interactive storytelling, giving you the opportunity to transform and rework texts that you produced earlier in the semester or texts from outside of our class.
This project has two parts, each of which should be accessible on your class site in some way. For the A/V component, you have two main options. First, you can post your video to YouTube or Vimeo and then embed the video or include a link on your website. Otherwise, you can submit your video through a class folder on Dropbox and then include the Dropbox share link on your site. NOTE: In order to upload your video to YouTube, Vimeo, or Dropbox, you will need to produce it as an .mov, .mp4, .avi, or similar file. It will not work if you try to use the iMovie or Final Cut Pro or other program file, as this file opens up your work in the program rather than a stand alone video.
To submit your interactive storytelling work from Twine, you will need to “publish to file” from the menu on the lower left corner of the screen in order to generate an html file. You can then upload this file to a site like philome.la so that your work is playable/readable for others, and you can then post that link to your site. (Philome.la requires a Twitter account; if you don’t have one, you can use the class account: mrking@sbu.edu, password = bonaventure .)
A/V Work
This aspect of the project involves producing and editing audio and video. The first challenge is choosing a text to remediate. I would recommend working with your flash fiction or poem or nonfiction writing, although you could also work with one of our other assignments or something written by someone else. For the audio aspect, you can record yourself reading the text and/or incorporate background music; for the video component, you can have the words of the text on the screen (if this works better than reading and recording the text) and/or images and video footage. In this sense, how can you use images and audio to enhance the original text, to create contrast or tension, to highlight a particular element of the text, or to comment upon it in some way?
This handout offers an overview of resources and technologies you can draw on to produce your video. This example could help you develop ideas for this part of the assignment.
Interactive Storytelling
This component involves working with Twine to produce a text with hyperlinks so that the story unfolds over multiple screens and in different ways depending on the reader’s selections. Again, I would recommend working with your flash fiction or another story or poem you have written, although you could potentially work with one of our other assignments or a work written by someone else. For example, you could use Twine to annotate or comment upon another text as a means of performing rhetorical or literary analysis. Your use of Twine will likely take one of two approaches: you will either have one main text that appears on one screen with other pieces branching off (for example, “Not So Once Upon a Time“) or a series of screens that take the reader in different directions, like a choose-your-own-adventure story (for example, “Beautiful Dreamer“). The main question here becomes, how can you create opportunities for the reader to interact with the text and shape its development in meaningful ways?
Extra Credit
One of challenges we face when writing in digital environments and drawing on the work of others is addressing concerns of fair use and accessibility. You will get a 1/3 letter grade bonus on your project if you include a written component that addresses these concerns. To address accessibility, you should provide a transcript of your video. You can find an overview of best practices for transcription here. Note that transcriptions go beyond just transcribing words to include descriptions of music, images, or other textual elements. Here’s an example. To address fair use, you should write a paragraph or two commenting on your use of outside materials. Where did you incorporate the work of others into your project? How would you defend your use of these materials with reference to the principles of fair use?
Matt King 