In attempt to not sound too pathetic, I would like to say this week was..interesting? Definitely more work than I had anticipated. Although it felt like a relief, having bootcamp over with, I have to admit I miss the hand-holding a little. NONETHELESS, I got it done! AND I’M ALIVE with a buttload of experience, which is what matters most.

To start off this week’s weekly summary, I’m going to talk about the blog post of storytelling. I gave my own definition, which grew during the week. Storytelling exists everywhere. It exists from the time you are born, to learning about the Tooth Fairy, to now when my professor tells stories to get us more involved in stats (which is not an easy thing to do). What did I learn about storytelling? That there is no definition (sorry Merriam Webster), that it is not just for children and it has been happening long before me with no near end.

As apart of the rest of the week, we had to watch the Kurt Vonnegut’s Shape of Stories and he introduced a way to analyze videos. So at first I watched this video,and after a couple of times I thought I understood it. Well, I was wrong. Here’s my interpretation of it and I understood of it, that I thought Vonnegut was saying, was that everything is predictable. Sorry not sorry but I agree! Occasionally, you get a movie that really spices things up but no one wants to leave a movie with a cliff-hanger, that’s annoying! So I choose the predictable story of opposites attract and in that, Gossip Girl. It presents the story of a girl and a guy, who try to avoid the obvious attraction of each other and being complete opposites (he’s an ass and she’s miss popular). However, they see the good in each other and through many ‘hardships’ end up marrying. I can’t help but feel like I did something wrong with this though so please comment if you can help me fix it!

Following this assignment, I picked myself up a little bit by checking out past work of the graduates of our beloved class, cause what better what to feel better about yourself than to see the best of the best, no? SO, I choose two pieces. One was a mash-up/mix-up of Toy Story and if you’re a fan like me, it’ll have you in tears so have tissues nearby. The other one was a silent movie version of the Black Swan trailer. Although there isn’t one exact definition of digital story telling, both were excellent examples and complete opposite. One had lots of different aspects to it, bringing together various parts of other Toy Story and making one mash-up of it. The other was completely opposite, going black and white with no sound, which made it even more intense. Both gave me different insights on how to interpret digital storytelling and have helped me in molding my own idea what it should be. For more on what I thought, check out my post.

Then I have my three DC’s, which are surprisingly relaxing and fun as the weeks go by. I sold a breakfast at a five-star restaurant (Bagel Galore!), my biggest fear (don’t use it against me!), and looking into the life of a SpaghettiO. Although it seems like busy work, I think it’s the one thing I know how to accomplish without completely messing up. Also, it helps keep my creative juices flowing and keeping me a bit silly. The telling a story was another silly assignment that helped me into the mood of digital storytelling, sort of getting my feet wet. I got creative with this assignment, which kept me interested in the class. It was fun exploring other flickr’s in the class and having to come up with some crazy story in connecting them. Check out my photo storytelling.

Another fun way to really connect with the class was the comment groups we were put into. Although it seemed like a hassle at first, it actually turned out more helpful and fun than anything else. I got put into comment group three and it honestly feels like a godsend. First off, I don’t have to trifle through 30-something blogs, which was cool at first but became a chore as days went on. I definitely used Kelsie’s blog as a guide whenever I was lost, which was more often than not. However, each blog was very helpful and insightful, especially since each person had a different perspective on it. The feedback I got was helpful too. I could have done a better job getting my posts up (sorry! i’ll do better this week) but since it was the first week of this, they were forgiving. It’s also nice to post and know someone’s reading it rather than just talking to myself.

This week was harder than the rest, unfortunately but it was mostly, if not completely, due my underestimation. I wanted to remain a little kid and pretend that someone would hold my hand all the way through but alas, it didn’t happen. I enjoy posting on this blog, its my own one that I’m struggling with. I guess I’m not too much of a blogger just yet, but it’ll come soon to me..hopefully! What I really need help with is understanding the videos more. I feel like I’m not getting the same message as others so i have to read and look at other blogs but it doesn’t always clarify it. otherwise, onto week 4!