Month: January 2017

Maze by Juan Pablo Bravo from the Noun Project

Reading: The Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges, Translated by Helen Temple and Ruthven Todd

January 27, 2017 / Hannah / 0 Comments

Maze by Juan Pablo Bravo from the Noun Project

Summary:
The Garden of Forking Paths tells the story in the context of World War I where an Asian man, Dr. Yu Tsun, working for the Germans, found out about the ‘new British artillery park’ where the Germans were suppose to attack. He was therefore chased by Captain Richard Madden, an Irishman working for England. Dr Tsui decides to go to his friend, Dr. Stephen Albert’s house to seek a place of refuge. His ancestor, Ts’ui Pen wrote a novel where a Labyrinth was mentioned. Dr. Albert explained about it having a symbolic meaning where there were various futures with many different possible solutions. It was a massive guessing game without using the word itself. Captain Madden arrested Dr. Tsui as the latter killed his friend so to convey the secret place name, Albert to his Chief in Berlin.

Reflection:

After reading the short story The Garden of Forking Paths, I was confused when I read it for the first time. I did not understand why the main character, Dr. Yun Tsun was running away from Captain Richard Madden and why he killed his friend, Dr. Stephen Albert despite the latter allowing Dr. Tsun to seek refuge in his home. In the story, different types of actions led to many possible outcomes or solutions. After I read it a couple of times to fully understand the author’s point of view and the reason of stating multiple possible outcomes, I found the story quite interesting. Readers remained in suspense over what was going to happen to Dr. Tsun. Additionally, there was a special meaning behind the labyrinth his great grandfather Ts’ui Pen was writing about in his incomplete novel which Dr. Tsun was reflecting upon.

The part where Dr. Tsun got pursued by Captain Madden was thrilling, since Dr. Tsun knew the secret behind which part of Germany was going to be attacked by England. As I read the story, I felt like I became the main character trying to escape from the other spy in order to get the information to the country I was serving, getting help from a friend to get away from the other person. In that desperate situation of trying to get the secret information out, I had no choice but to kill my friend to get on the news so as to reach the country I was serving.

The Labyrinth was an interesting part of the story as it mentioned that there were many possible outcomes or solutions depending on the type of actions taken. It was mind-blowing. Many times we think that if something were to happen, the outcome would only have one answer. However if we change our mentality from there being only one outcome to having multiple outcomes, it would create a guessing game.

In interactive narratives, having multiple outcomes of a story could spark the interest of readers to continue on reading. One would not be able to identify what would happen next since there are so many possibilities out there.

Confetti by Korokoro from the Noun Project

Interactive Narrative: Process and Concept of topic

January 25, 2017 / Hannah / 0 Comments

Confetti by Korokoro from the Noun Project

Solo Project

Topic:
Festivals

Ideation/ concept:
Singapore is a multi-racial society and many different festivals are celebrated here. As the digital age bombards us, we do not interact with each other so often. Many times we do not interact with other races but rather hang out with friends of the same races. I want to create more awareness about how each race celebrates their festivals so that younger people will be able to understand each other cultures.

Plot:
Beginning – Introducing Singapore culture in general. Gameplay rules.

Middle – Introducing the festivals: Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali, Christmas, etc. in details.
The do’s and don’ts, food, clothing and customs.

End – ?

Technology:
1. Draggable background, image hovering/ parallax scrolling in the inner pages
2. Physical board game

Inspiration:
Out my window, universe within, the everyday projects, the production kitchen

Assignment 1: Mirror

January 24, 2017 / Hannah / 0 Comments

: Detecting the face from far

: Detecting the face from close up

Sensing: Computer camera and the face size to detect the distance of the object or person.
Effecting: Reflect, Opacity and Transition of the video/image.
Computing: MAX

Assignment 1 was quite a challenge since it was my first time using MAX. It was a fun assignment to learn more about MAX and facing many trials and errors. I had problem getting the box to appear on the face, finding out how the image can be inverted, having the video to be brighter as it was quite dark previously and getting the video to show colours instead of it being greyscale.

Process of opacity and what is needed to be done.

Through assignment 1, I learned about face detection, change in opacity, transition. The problem I face now is the transition not being very smooth but I am satisfied with it.

Documentation:

Reflection: The Internet Classics Archive | Poetics by Aristotle Part VII

January 23, 2017 / Hannah / 1 Comment

co-creation by Esther Se.Kim from the Noun Project

From the reading, Aristotle mentioned about the proper structure of the Plot having a beginning, middle and end. I feel that it is similar to English Literature having different Acts representing the three sections of a Plot. Each Act expands more of the story the author is trying to portray.

I find the reading interesting as the Plot is compared to ‘very small animal organism’ and ‘one of vast size’. It cannot be too short, as the reader cannot understand the structure of the story that will live them in confusion. However, if the Plot is too long one can be lost in the midst of it. Therefore it has to be of certain length for one to fully comprehend and appreciate the Plot.

I feel that the Plot does not need to follow exactly to the proper structure of starting with a beginning and finishing off with an ending. When the Plot changes or have an unexpected twist in structure, the reader will become more curious. This causes them to continue reading the story.

Sometimes we feel that to fully tell a story the plot has to be long. Many times we have to cut the length of the story to fit the amount of words. When the content is compromised, the reader is left confused and the fortunate of the story can change from good to bad.

2 topics ideation

January 18, 2017 / Hannah / 0 Comments

: Book by Clément thorez from the Noun Project

Reflection: The four concepts by Eric Zimmerman

January 18, 2017 / Hannah / 0 Comments

Book by Junior Alvarez from the Noun Project

From the reading, I learned that written and published books are a platform where the digital age is created. In this age, we sometimes neglect how useful books can be because all the information we need is just a click away. With the benefits of technology, they could cause us frustration in many possible reasons namely, the lack of cultural sophistication in the game industry, the limitations and the lack of understanding it.

I also learned about narrative not being subjected to just a story but it has an initial state, a change in that state, and insight brought about by that change. There is a narrative misconception that I have which is a need for words.

Through the reading, I gain insights that the game of chess can be a means of narrative even though that have never crossed my mind. How can chess be a narrative isn’t it just a game of tactics? When I related it back to the definition of narrative it became clear. The pieces on the chessboard are the initial state. When the game commences, the players would move the individual pieces are the change in that state. As one of the players places the queen on the opponent side, the game shows an insight brought about by that change.

Many times I would ask if something was narrative. However the question Zimmerman pose on his reader was ‘in what ways might we consider this thing a “narrative thing?”’ changes how I would question an art piece in future.

Just a curious thought whether theatre play is a form of narrative?

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