Reflections

In this final post of my 3-part journey, I will be talking about three creations from my fellow peers. I thoroughly enjoyed reading/watching all three pieces and am looking forward to the next step in exploring online cultures :)

Read on for my reflections ....

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The Black Box - short film

The style of narration used in this short film does sound like a 'stream of consciousness' because of the natural echoes. As a viewer, I think the sound technique used complemented the narrative really well. I appreciate the raw/unedited/ narration however I do think that the 'mistakes' or hesitancies make it sound less natural (more like script reading) as opposed to a person's real internal thoughts or storytelling, which would otherwise flow without hesitation or self correcting.

When the narrator beings talking about pulling 'love' and a 'human' out of the black box, the video skips/lags which again, I think really complemented the narrative. This clip felt like a sort of 'dream' state and paired with the echoing narration, created a visceral experience. I do think that the film could be improved by including more movement or different settings so that the visual narrative could develop as much as the narration did. Overall I really connected with the themes I identified in the short film such as self doubt and self realization. I think these are universal themes that could really connect to different audiences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onv0OOjh5js

We are family - Fan fiction

The main issue I encountered as a reader was that at some points of the fan fiction, the grammar and use of tenses was irregular which made it difficult to follow the narrative as I wasn't sure if events were happening in the past or present time. My second criticism is the layout/structure of the parts of the fan fiction that included dialogue. For example in the 'Prologue', I think it would be more effective to break up the dialogue into different lines or paragraphs to give the reader more space to absorb the story. In terms of the narrative itself, because I have never seen the Captain America films, I appreciated that the prologue gave a sense of Steven's background story. The repetition of a caring big-brother theme first with Steven and Bucky then Steven and Tony Stark was very effective in adding an emotional element to these 'superheroes'. Themes mentioned in the research included family, taking a break from work, second chances and acceptance. I believe these themes were explored in the fanfic and created a personal touch, a different interpretation from the marvel films and I enjoyed this perspective.

https://autkarishmapatel.wordpress.com/2017/08/08/we-are-family/

The Abbey road memoirs - Fan fiction  

I found that this fan fiction really swept me into the setting, the characters and the time period and I found myself following the narrative very easily (despite my lack of background knowledge of the Beatles and Pink Floyd). I enjoyed the 'diary entry' style and I think that the minimal use of dialogue or conversation worked really well in giving a fresh perspective of the 'behind the scenes' lives of the bands compared to what is shown in popular media. I also enjoyed how the character Emily was not overly explained or given too much attention to, rather her relationship with the boys in the bands which I think is something that the fandom of the bands might also appreciate. In research, it was mentioned that themes/aspects that would like to be included were exploring the Beatles, individually and in more detail, including lyrics and approaching the story through a 'fly on the wall'perspective. I believe all of these aims were achieved superbly. 

https://theportfoliosblog.wordpress.com/