About:

I feel like over time I have started to use digital networked medias more often. As a kid, there were not as many digital medias such as we have today. Technology has made digital networked medias much more accessible and demanding for everyday life. As a child I loved VHS tapes, my brother and I used to watch movies on VHS all the time. However, now we can watch movies on our laptops or even through our phones.  I believe the only media texts that I dislike are accounts such as Tumblr because to me they are boring and just a bunch of random pictures. I do enjoy reading blogs though and looking at all the different types of blogs. I am interested in this class because I am excited to see what other digital networked medias are out there that I never even knew about.

Essential Narratives List:

1)Breaking Bad, series 2008-2013

Breaking Bad is a series that I got into about two years ago. It was a shock to all of my friends when I started watching it because I am not usually into shows that are so gory and suspenseful. When I watched the first episode on Netflix I was hooked and could not stop watching it. I even found myself at times putting my laptop on the table while I cooked meals so that I wouldn't have to stop watching. It is an awesome story that always keeps me wanting to watch more.

Wiki page

IMDB

Season One Trailer

2)Bridesmaids, film 2011

Bridesmaids is by far my all time favorite movie. When I first saw it in theaters I could not stop laughing and every time I have watched it since I continue to laugh just as much. Kristen Wigg is my favorite comedian/actress and so her in this film is hilarious to me. Also, all of my roommates love the movie just as much so it is almost constantly being played in my apartment and we quote it all the time.

Wiki Page

IMDB

Trailer

3)Beyoncé's album (B'Day), 2006

Beyoncé is my favorite artist and her album B'Day is my favorite album of hers to date. Beyoncé's songs always have such a good dance beat and this album has some of my favorite songs that I love to jam to. This album is filled with up beat music and it is also one of her most popular albums that have sold the most songs.

Wiki Page

Beyoncé IMDB

Freakum Dress Music Video

4) Saturday Night Live, series (1975-now)

Saturday Night Live is a show that I look forward to watching every Saturday with my family. I started watching it back in high school and now love watching reruns of my favorite skits and look forward to new hosts and performers. I used to do theater back in high school and have always loved improv, so since SNL is a majority improv I always found it fascinating. Some of my favorite comedians include Kristen Wigg, Andy Samberg, and Maya Rudolph who all became popular off of SNL.

Wiki Page

IMDB

Garth and Kat skit

5)Footloose, film 1984

When I was in high school and in theater, we performed the musical Footloose my sophomore year. Since we were performing it we had to watch the film to learn more about the story and get into the music. My high school friends and I soon started to love the movie and watch it every time we get to see each other, sort of like a tradition for us. The music is super catchy and fun and we always have a fun time dancing to it.

Wiki page

IMDB

Trailer

Gif:

This is an image from the Beyoncé music video of "Check on It". I decided to make a gif out of it because it shows Beyoncé being excited and happy and I feel like a lot of different titles could be placed with this gif. The background with the waving satin pieces of fabric show almost a beyond happy and fantasy type look and I think this gif could be used to represent happiness.

Portfolio Project Proposal:

Growing up I always loved to play games online especially fashion ones and ones that were interactive. I used to play this game online for Seventeen Magazine were you were the editor's assistant and had to run errands and make sure everything was on time. Now, being older and actually working in the real world at Nordstrom I decided to make an interactive game based around the store Nordstrom. It would first start out to where the player would have to choose from certain pieces to sale in their store for the upcoming season. They then would have to open shop and assist customers and overcome tricky customer needs to see what they liked and what they wanted. The main goal of the game is to have shoppers leave the store happy and with the items they needed. The more you sale and the happier your clients are the more points you earn. Also, making clients wait causes points to be taken away and clients to become angry. Throughout the game there could be several things that pop up that the employee must overcome such as tricky customers, low inventory, or even a boss sending them on a task. It'll be a fun interactive game with a teen player in mind. Similar to the game Diner Dash, it will be interactive and show the customer's mood at all times. You want them to stay as happy as possible and the faster you work, the faster  you gain points. This game will move in levels and by passing one level you will then move on to the next.

My 5 photo story:

My five photo story is to show the sequence of events of someone finding a recipe on pinterest and then once they try to make the recipe they end up burning the food. This is shown through the first picture of the girl on her laptop looking around, the second image shows what she is looking at on her screen which is pinterest with a bunch of recipes. The third picture shows the woman shopping at the grocery store for the items she needs. Then, the fourth picture shows her chopping up the foods and the fifth shows the food on the stove burning. This is all showing that pinterest recipes aren't as easy to make as they appear.

DNN Critical Review: Gone Home

Ever since the beginning of the semester when we discussed the game Gone Home in class, it has always interested me and made me want to play it for myself. I decided to do it as my critique so I could tell what I personally thought about the game. I first went online and figured I’d play it for myself, however once I saw that it cost $19.99 to play, I decided to find clips of the game on YouTube. I ended up stumbling across an hour long YouTube video that someone videoed of them playing the entire Gone Home game (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak4wU8Gp2RQ). It was a great video because I felt as if I was actually playing it for myself. The video starts out with the player being a young college aged girl named Katie who has just come home after studying abroad. She is greeted by no one home except for little letters and notes that are left around each room. There is even a note waiting for her at the door.

All of the notes are left behind from her sister, Sam, who come to find out is a few years younger than Katie. The house is a huge historic home that people around the town call the “psycho house” and there are many turns, rooms, and secret passages around the house. It is up to the player to find hidden keys to unlock the secret passage ways and to find all the letters to piece the story together. Throughout the game there is narration that can be heard and it is Sam reading her notes aloud that she left for Katie. In the notes she first starts off telling Katie about how she has started this new high school and does not have many friends but then befriends this girl Lonnie.

As the story unfolds, the player comes to find that Lonnie and Sam have more than just a friendly relationship and actually have feelings for each other. Upon graduation Lonnie is set to leave for the Army however once she gets to where she is supposed to ship off she frantically calls Sam and states that she cannot be without her and asks Sam to pack as much as she can and leave her home to come be with her where she is. Since Sam is in love she does as Lonnie says and that’s where she has run off to. This game really was not as exciting for me as I hoped it would have been. I felt that it was more of a story than it was a game and you just had to look around the house to find random keys to unlock certain doors. It was an unexpecting story however, paying $19.99 for a game that only lasts an hour to me just does not seem worth it and the player is somewhat left at the end not really knowing where the story goes from there.

5/6 in class activity

1) Prior to this class I honestly had no idea what a digital networked narrative was and now walking away I have a pretty clear understanding of what exactly it is. The three units helped me to learn about all the different types of DNNs that are available and also how they are all unique. There are countless numbers of DNNs and this allows people to express themselves.

2) If I were to explain DNN to a fried I would probably start out with the more basic ideas of a DNN such as GIFs or online blogs, since these seem to be most popular. Also, I would probably refer to something that they really enjoy and then think of different DNNs that relate back to that topic. So, if someone loved Beyoncé I may show them a fan video or a remix video.

3) I believe that DNNs will continue to grow for years to come and there will be new types of DNNs. They will also continue to get better and grow for these years. I also feel like they will be easier to make and easier to find the information to paste together for such a DNN.