For this four point audio assignment, I created a specialized radio bumper for my group’s upcoming Sexspionage spy radio show. I found the task relatively easy to complete, with diction choice being my longest task as I had to present our idea in an appealing manner which encourages listeners to follow along. The four sampled … Continue reading "Sexspionage Radio Special Bumper"

For this four point audio assignment, I decided to create a Soundcloud mix-tape of notable spy songs, many of which related to my radio group’s specific topic of sexspionage. You can view the playlist below! I wanted to avoid song covers, to capture the original songs’ direct references of the spy genre. As a result, … Continue reading "Spy Mix-Tape"

Week 5’s mission assignments were enjoyable and fun creative experiments with me. I stared the week off with a tutoring session on Audacity at UMW’s Digital Media/Tech Center, while additionally completing my three daily creates shown below. I additionally had a discussion with a classmate about what prompted me to continue with a feet theme … Continue reading "Mission Check-In: Week 5 Summary"

After hearing a radio advertisement last week for the D.C. Spy Museum’s annual “Sex-spionage” exhibition revolving around romance and manipulation relating to spy history in honor of Valentine’s Day, I had the idea of a radio show dedicated to the most intriguing set of famous spy romances or romantic manipulation scenarios spies have executed in … Continue reading "Sexspionage: Spy Radio Show Ideas"

After listening to Moon Graffiti, I was interested in the simplistic effectiveness of a radio-filter over both astronaut voices and a droning pieces of eerie background music were in creating low-intensity tension during the story. I then appreciated the infrequent clicking noise which made the audio sound especially dated, like an old film or audio … Continue reading "“Moon Graffiti” Reflection"

This week, I tuned in and live-tweeted during Wednesday’s and Thursday’s broadcasts of “Limetown” on DS106 Radio. I found the first night’s experience quite interesting, with the plot familiarizing me with the technological ideas being portrayed in the story and the sound effects used throughout the night ranging more notably towards outdoor effects due to … Continue reading "Limetown’s Luminous Soundscape"

I used 5 sound effects in Audacity in addition to my own vocal recording to create a bumper for DS106 Radio. I found the process easy and enjoyable, attempting to imitate radio DJs by using an echoed “Hey!” exclamation in my bumper and a piano synth as ornamentation to my backing effects. Check out my … Continue reading "Auditory Soundscapes: “DS106 Radio Bumper”"

This 4 point audio assignment instructed me to choose two similar songs and mash them together so that a conversation of sorts between the singers appears to be happening. Below is my creation. I chose the songs “You are the First, My Last, My Everything” by Barry White and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by … Continue reading "You’re the First, High Enough: “Music Mash”"

For this 3.5 point audio assignment, I was instructed to reverse a recognizable song and provide three hints as to what the original song was. I found this assignment easy, only requiring me to apply a reversal effect on a converted song MP3 in Audacity. My first hint is actually the title of my blog … Continue reading "What’s Melting in Reverse?: “Reverse Audio Quiz”"

For this 3 point audio assignment, I was instructed to record a thirty second speed-dating clip telling a celebrity enough about me to see if they were interested. To relate it to our secret agent theme for the semester, I wrote a quick script for Agent 003 (Wren Wilder) outside of his classified field of … Continue reading "003’s Speed-Date with Thandie Newton: “Celebrity Speed-Dating”"

For this 3.5 point audio assignment, I was instructed to create a story with at least 5 sounds in under 90 seconds. My product is displayed below. I first decided on the idea of a bride’s walk down the aisle of her wedding as my story, due to some vivid sounds immediately coming to my … Continue reading "A Bride and an Aisle: “Sound Effects Story”"

I found week four’s mission to be surprisingly quick to finish, and found it easier to manage classmate interactions on top of the assignments. My Twitter Daily Creates, pictured below, were primarily completed using Paint. The Warhol-inspired creation took the longest to create within the time-parameters allowed, and required me to make some split-second choices … Continue reading "Mission Check-In: Week 4 Summary"

Before this semester, I have explored very little in terms of formal photographic art. I have always been a bit of a shutterbug, attempting to capture meaningful moments of my family, pets, or friends, as well as images from trips and adventures in nature throughout the seasons. I do take a significant amount of photos … Continue reading "Photo Reflections"

Using the film “Kingsman: The Secret Service”, I’ve identified four specific photographic examples which exemplify balance, depth, moment, and light principles. First, Eggsy’s senior agent Harry Hart is portrayed in the photo below during a photographic ‘moment’. As referenced in Campbell’s blog post on photography and narrative, Hart is caught in a narrative conflict. Yet, … Continue reading "Analyzing Kingsman’s Photographic Moments"

A photo of an object that represents how old I feel (My baby-kid sweater):  A photo which communicates an abandoned/discarded feeling (1930s published book): A photo of  grid pattern (My sheets): “The dusky path of a dream…” -Tagore (Mulan visual development art): Silhouette photo abstraction challenge (Flowers): Close up of a uniquely textured object: (Hint: … Continue reading "Photoblitzer: Flowers, Ties, Art, and More!"

For this 3.5 point visual assignment, I was instructed to create a bucket list of at least four photos and describe the collage. To incorporate our secret agent theme, I decided to make Agent 003’s (Wren Wilder’s) bucket list! Since 003 is at the SIA facility primarily, he’s never directly in action-packed missions like his … Continue reading "Agent 003’s Bucket List"

She’d been waiting for her boyfriend to show for over two hours, with no phone-call or text to settle her emotions. Long-distance puts strain on relationships near universally, but the three months she’d been away at her new job seemed to promote an unsettling indifferent in her boyfriend’s actions. Normally, she’d have fled the scene … Continue reading "Blessing at a Bar"

For this spy-genre visual assignment, I am particularly proud of my media product created. The instructions were to pick three similar secret agent characters, and layer a picture of one, a quote of the second, and the name of the third over each other into a ‘quote’ image. The point of the assignment is to … Continue reading "“Who Said What”: Well-Known Spy Misquoted"

Make a quick guess: what is normally recognizable, and is distorted through photography in the image below? For this visual assignment, I was instructed to take a recognizable subject and distort an image of it to be unrecognizable. I primarily relied on image blurring during the photo-session, while using a large textbook to deepen the … Continue reading "“Blackmail”: Blurred Image Challenge"

I found the third week’s focus on writing assignments and the analysis of spy genre stories to be quite enjoyable! Early in the week, I completed my three Daily Creates on Twitter, pictured below. The shadow image was difficult to capture with my camera accurately, but otherwise I simply had to use Paint to resize … Continue reading "Mission Check-In: Week 3 Summary"

After reading through the AV Club’s “History of TV Spies and Secret Agents”, I watched some clips of the original show ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ before watching the recent film by the same name. Comparing this with the story ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’, I found some interesting commonalities among the stories. In the original U.N.C.L.E. … Continue reading "Spy Patterns and Themes"

For this 3 point writing assignment, “Changing Fortunes” (http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/changing-fortunes/), I had to use a randomly-generated fortune cookie for inspiration in my own short narrative which tied in our spy theme for the semester. I used my character, Wren Wilder (003), to explore the idea of loneliness an office-based agent might face when his friends are … Continue reading "Changing Agents’ Fortunes"

After reviewing Kurt Vonnegut’s discussion on the Shape of Stories, I decided to analyze this week’s story “Kingsman: The Secret Service”. I decided to attempt a visualization of the story, shown below. The story starts at a low point, as Eggsy did not finish his career plan of British service like his father and is … Continue reading "Agent Stories: “Kingsman”"

For the 2 point writing assignment, “How Does a Song Make You Feel?”, I had to choose a song and twitter a summary of what I felt from listening to the song. I feel remorseful whenever I hear this song. We can cause pain to those closest to us if we aren't careful. #ds106https://t.co/7dHK3qYCzF — … Continue reading "How a Song Makes Me Feel: “Hurt”"

For this 3 point writing assignment, “Dear Diary…” (http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/dear-diary/), I was encouraged to write a diary entry from the perspective of any Disney villain I choose. In an attempt at creative liberty, I chose villainess Mirage from Pixar’s “The Incredibles”. I justified this decision by the fact that Disney owns Pixar, and incorporates their merchandise … Continue reading "Dear Diary: Mirage’s Conflict"

Prior to being interviewed and hired onto the U.S. Secret Intelligence Agency (SIA), Wren Wilder was an Orlando native with a penchant for outdoors exploration and international travel. His involvement with Boy Scouts at an early age led to an interest in outdoor survival techniques, and his proudest accomplishment from his childhood is his well-earned … Continue reading "Character Dossier: 003"

For the writing assignment, “A Haiku Poem About a Haiku Poem” (http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/a-haiku-poem-about-a-haiku-poem/), I was supposed to writing a three-stanza haiku poem about the Haiku poem itself. I first decided that my topic would be on my interest in attempting to translate any given haiku into another language. I noted that this seemed to pose quite … Continue reading "Haiku on the Haiku"

I found week two to be more enjoyable because of the increased and positive community interactions I had with other students, particularly on Twitter. Below are the three daily creates I made, along with one classmate’s tweet I replied to which ended up resulting in a minor discussion about their process for an assignment they … Continue reading "Mission Check-In: Week 2 Summary"

For my first Audio Assignment, I completed “What A Song Might Mean to You” (http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/what-a-song-might-mean-to-you/). For this assignment, I had to chose a song which reminded me of something meaningful or significant, then create an audio recording discussing this. I wanted to pick a song which had personal significance for me, and also portrayed a … Continue reading "“Happy” Song Meaning and Interpretation"

For my first Writing Assignment, I chose to complete a “TV Guide Remix” (http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/tv-guide-remix/). The goal of the assignment is to approach an existing film or show by shifting the characterization of the story and plot as significantly as possible with a TV/movie synopsis of one to two sentences. In generating my initial idea, I … Continue reading "“The Little Mermaid”: A Psychological Thriller Synopsis"