Adventures in CWMFA

Hello! My name is Amber Wilder and I am currently in Full Sail’s Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing program. I am a recent graduate from Chicago State University with a Bachelor’s degree in English - Professional and Technical Writing. My dream and major goal in life is to write for videogames and put my ideas into a digital and playable form.

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Here is the final video for the CWMFA program in Business of Creative Writing class. This has been an amazing journey.

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I am a WRITER. I am CREATIVE. I am these and more.

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Week 4 reflection for ASV

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Here’s the final cut for my scene.

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Week 3 in ASV reflection video.

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Here’s my rough draft final cut. If the quality is a little off, I had to scale back to post this video. 

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Week 2 of ASV reflection video. Sorry for any background noise you hear.

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Here are the screenshots from my director’s treatment for my short scene. Thanks for looking.

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Week 1 reflection video for Advanced Visual Storytelling

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Short Scene for Advanced Visual Storytelling

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My retelling of “The Gift of the Magi” differs a bit from the original. I chose to change the setting, characters, and situation. I wrote about two teenagers, who are neighbors, best friends, and fall in love. They each make a great sacrifice, per the original story. 

I learned that it is ok as a creative to change elements, but have to ultimately stay true to the story with adaptations. If there is no element that has a shadow of the original, it is not an adaptation. 

This project meshes with my goals as a writer in that I wanted to experience and try my hand at various writing skills/formats. I love reading comics because they are different from novels but still allow to get sucked in like novels. Writing comics is different from writing a screenplay in that you are limited with what action you can show, but you are limited even more with comics. Panel descriptions are your way of showing action and the image you want to create. Each panel can only show one action, so again limitations. The dialogue parameters are limited as well with comics. I enjoyed forcing myself to stay within the limits that I had because it forced me to tell the story concisely with the images that I saw in my head. I cannot think of any other projects that I would like to adapt, but I would like to write more comics. 

Image credits: 

Regenwolke0. (2014, October 31). Weeping Willow, Pasture, Baumm. Retrieved May 27, 2018, from https://pixabay.com/en/weeping-willow-pasture-baumm-509886/

StockSnap. (2017, July). Hand, Arm, Palm, Sunlight, Sunshine. Retrieved May 27, 2018, from https://pixabay.com/en/hand-arm-palm-sunlight-sunshine-2596573/

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Transmedia Writing and Gamification

Transmedia is seen in the movie/comic book/video game genres like in Spider-Man. For the past say 10 years or so, we have seen various boys from New York take up the mantle for Spider-Man. There is a trilogy of movies from the Spider-Man that I think original in my generation. Then the big and mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) took the theatres by storm and we have seen two more Spider-Mans. Now, this summer, we will see another Spider-Man in an animated movie. Granted, Spider-Man has undergone several different character changes in the comics and in some eyes’, it seems only right that that tradition follows in the movies. As for video games, years ago there was a Spider-Man game and this fall, there will be another game released. 

I see gamification in my work life, oddly. During a staff meeting, my boss offered money if we could remind our coworkers on both the day and night shift to put their time in on time, as administration and the human resource staff were issuing penalties of suspensions and terminations. The idea was immediately axed as the day staff told other day staff about the time issue and all of us would receive the money. However, since no one could really tell the night shift as my boss and the coordinator left at 5 pm, the night staff was left in limbo. This system of reward and achievement fell flat as the task had already been completed en masse and none of us received the award. I do not really like gamification in work as it changes the atmosphere to extremely competitive for little reward. 

I actually use gamification in my life. I set tasks and reward myself with small things. For example, when doing homework and I find myself having trouble focusing or procrastinating a lot, I either complete as much of the task as I can and then watch a video. This system actually does help as it keeps me motivated to stay on task and to actually complete the task in a good amount of time. I would like to think this system helped my procrastination tremendously. During my last year, last semester particularly, I could not stay focused long enough to complete anything. So, everything got pushed to the day it was due and then I was forced to complete everything before the class in a few hours. During those tense periods, I would still procrastinate by taking long breaks from the assignment, doing something else, or watching videos or minutes on end. This is not to say my procrastination is miraculously cured, but it is a lot better. 

All in all, it easy to see transmedia and gamification in our daily lives. Whether this occurs in the media through the convergence of comic books, movies, and video games or in our work life, this mix of genres is here to stay. It is possible that workplaces will start to include gamification even more to keep employees engaged and dedicated to the work they complete. Also, it is interesting to see how the books, comics included, we adore are transposed into other media for the world’s consumption.

References

Fizkes. (n.d.). Boss Giving Money Premium To Happy Employee Stock Photo - Image of entrepreneur, director: 99602770. Retrieved from https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-general-manager-presenting-envelope-premium-bonus-cash-to-male-company-official-boss-congratulating-happy-employee-image99602770

McNamara, B. (2017, May 25). How to Beat Procrastination This School Year. Retrieved April 25, 2018, from https://www.teenvogue.com/story/procrastination-tips-dont-put-homework-report-off

The Playlist Staff. (2017, July 06). Ranking The Best 'Spider-Man' Movie Characters. Retrieved April 25, 2018, from https://theplaylist.net/ranking-the-best-spider-man-movie-characters-20170706/

Weinberger, A. (2017, August 01). 'Miles Morales: Spider-Man' is the story you didn't see in the movies. Retrieved April 25, 2018, from https://mashable.com/2017/08/01/miles-morales-audio-book/

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Effective Branding - Portfolio I

The three companies that I chose that exhibit effective branding are Marel Studios (the logo that we see during movies), Apple logo, and the Netflix logo.

This is one of the final seconds of the Marvel logo we see when watching Marvel movies. The full animation of the logo includes pages of various comic books flipping as if someone were thumbing through fast with various colors until this is the image we see before the start of the movie. This logo is effective because pretty much everyone knows it when they see it. One does not have to be well-versed in Marvel comics and movies to know what one is about to watch. This logo is akin to the official stamp that the movie is guaranteed to be good depending on the tastes of the movie-goer.  

The Apple logo is synonymous with Apple brand products from iPods to Apple Watches. Even relate latecomers to the Apple brand has seen at least one update to the logo. No matter where one is in the world, relatively, the Apple logo is known. 

Netflix is relatively new but the company has a logo that a lot of us know. From starting from delivered disks to the streaming phenom, it is a brand that a lot of us know and care about. Netflix has taken over what cable is trying to keep its hands on by offering more and diverse titles while offering missed titles than cable.

In my opinion, these brands exhibit great branding knowledge as well as logo conception. For many, we know these brands by just spotting them. 

References:

Dusdn0205. (2015, April 17). Marvel and Sony logo for 2017 Spider Man Movie. [Video file]. Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55VoIvV3NOc

Factory facts. (2017, January 21). History of Apple logo. [Video file]. Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ZHXIXcJIY

Hooton, C. (2016, July 04). The new Netflix logo (well, icon) is a thing people have strong feelings about. Retrieved February 25, 2018, from http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/the-new-netflix-logo-well-icon-is-a-thing-people-have-strong-feelings-about-a7118756.html

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MJA for Episodic and Serial Writing

The task for this month was to create a web series and create a pilot for it. This was definitely a different avenue for me as I am used to television writing. I did enjoy the challenge of creating something that had substance yet, had a very visible time constraint. I really liked the examples that I was provided because it allowed me to see how other creators took the time constraint and were able to use it to their advantage with what they were able to pack into each and every episode.

This meshes with my goal of being able to say things succinctly, because in real life I tend to go on long tangents and monologues about any and everything. As a writer, I cannot do that. This was a very rewarding and challenging month for me. Another goal I have is to be able to write for different styles. I do not want to put myself in a box of just being really good at television writing but no proficiency in writing webisodes, film, or video games. My ultimate goal is to be a well-rounded writer.

This is different from other writing experiences I had previously in that what you put on the paper matters because you do not have a lot of time and space. Time and space are important, because I had to fit in the plot, three-act structure, good dialogue, and it all had to flow successfully.

I think writing and making a web series would be a cool thing to do, but as of right now, I’m not sure if it is something I would want to do full time. I would like to do this part time, definitely, as I really enjoyed coming up with the ideas, writing, and letting the story progress in my head and on the paper. With the pilot webisode for class, I definitely want to try my hand at filming it.

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The three photos above are visual triggers for me to complete my creative writing ideas. Thanks for looking.

Sources for the images:

A. (2017, July). Custom Work Shirts. Retrieved November 24, 2017, from https://arteeshirt.com/artee/date/2017/07/page/2/

Bettencourt, J. (2002, August 6). Activitiy Ideas for Women's Ministry. Retrieved November 24, 2017, from http://www.juliabettencourt.com/womens-ministry/activities/activity-ideas.html

Standard Business Cards. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2017, from https://www.vistaprint.ca/business-cards/standard?couponAutoload=1&GP=11%2F24%2F2017%2B00%3A43%3A14&GPS=4607050089&GNF=0

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Pinterest Link for Protagonist & Antagonist

Here is the link to my pinterest page: https://www.pinterest.com/amwriter45/

The boards are listed under my protagonist (Richard Davidson Ruff) and antagonist (Sinæ Gabrielle Morrison) names. Hope you enjoy their pins!

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Designed meme at: https://imgflip.com/i/1y2moj