Newsworld

Are there any prominent symbols in the story that you read? If so, what are they and how are they used?

One of the most prominent symbols within the story is of course, the 9-11 attack on the world trade centers. The other symbol was the amusement park the kids would go to. The World Trade Center attack was one like no other; for many, it marked the end of the feeling of being safe. For a change, doors had to be locked, people could not be trusted, and you never know what's about to happen, that is what 9-11 means for most, if not all people. Newsworld reflects this symbolism by the kids world being flipped upside down, before they knew where they were in life, and felt safe, but once it happened, everything was taken away from them, including Newsworld, the park that was always there, until suddenly it was taken away due to the incident. The park, Newsworld, seemed to symbolize a time of innocence. It was disconnected from reality; the kids could go there to escape reality or problems. At the climax of the story, when the kids realize this wasn't the case anymore, that's when their eyes opened to the fact that their whole world has changed.

What connections did you make with this story? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

When 9-11 happened, I was in third grade; I didn't know what evil was back then. Once it happened, that's the day we started locking our front door, our car door, not talking to strangers, and stereotyping people for merely existing. Like the kids in the story, I had a 'Newsworld', a place to escape to whenever, but once 9-11 happened it wasn't safe to go out alone, instead I'd have to be with someone, it felt as if it was taken away, even though it wasn't. Unlike them, I wasn't old enough to feel the future being a mist of fog, but, upon reading this, the destruction of the safety bubble was the feeling it brought back.

What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What media would you use? What changes would you make?

If I were to adapt this to another medium, I'd make it into a picture book. Even though the subject matter is dark, it'd help those born too young or those not around when the event s happened understand the power of what actually happened. I believe this story only touched me because I was there; I even remember being forced to go inside from recess to eventually leave school to go home due to the smoke of the remains flooding the area. That's a feeling you cannot give to one through text, but you can make those remember through text. Through illustrations one can be shown what to feel. The story I'd simplify it to the point of being for children, but keep the subject matter and events the same. By making it simpler, and removing some of the flavor text, but by adding illustrations, I feel the same impact would be achieved, but, would meld itself into being another genre of book.

In hitting Buddapest, mainly, I thought it was an author who traveled to a land they were not familiar with, then made a goal to show how unfamiliar it is within their writing. This felt like a motif of sorts, introduce an alien thing, then talk about it for awhile. I think if this part of the writing was altered, it would make me immersed in the reading, I wanted to see the child's point of view of the world, not a travelers idea of how a child perceives the world.

The ethos seemed like more of a all for themselves mentality. In order to get by in life one had to do whatever it took. Also, one has to live like they're going to die soon. In the story a 10 year old girl is pregnant, she would've taken more precautions if she thought she was going to live long, or at least it seems.

The writer talks about some daily life and beliefs of the children to convey the world to us. When the kids talk about how God places the baby in the stomach, the author is saying something different tharn what most kids from America hear when they ask the same question. Little things like this are the author saying "wake up, you're not home." 

The characters are in twined with the world of the story mainly by how they stick with their beliefs instead of going with our beliefs as a culture. When it comes down to talking about America, the argument against it is that it's too far, not anything bad really, just distance. This further concretes the world of kids from another country less advanced than most due to distance not really mattering for most. But in this world, the kids are probably thinking it's far to walk or bike to.

Alternity

When thinking of showing an alternative world for an existing intellectual property, I don't think of only changing setting. For this class, I watched a version of Hamlet that took place in modern times. When describing this film, it's difficult to say the least. The version I watched literally the only thing that changed is the time of the play, all lines said by characters are the same for the most part. While the story is cut down a little bit, and lines are edited, many of them are not, and come directly from the playbook. Not a moment went by while watching this film that didn't make me question the point of this version existing. Notable actors are in it, but other than that, the viewer has no reason to watch this film over another version of the play set within the correct time zone. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead was shown, the film took the play, and turned it on it's head, offering a new point of view, and mindset when thinking about it.

With alternative versions, one of the better pairs to show from this class would be True Grit the film versions. The dialog was different for the most part, but basically the same thing was being said by each character in each scene. Things were omitted on each side, but, when it comes down to it, the different versions showed their relevance by the way each character was portrayed.

Adaption

This week, I read a starwars screenplay, the screenplay was the original version of The Empire Strikes Back.

If I were to be a costume designer on it, I'd play around the idea of a lizard. One thing I think would be challenging, which is why they might've changed it to a yeti. The first thing that comes to mind when creating this lizard in the screenplay, was obviously it would be a puppet. But, thinking about it more made me feel that maybe it was scrapped due to limitations in what puppets can actually do. Puppets are good for far out scenes, the closer the camera is to the puppet, the faker the animation will appear to be. Puppets can be very lively looking, but they always feel a bit outlandish once animated. Having this giant lizard, being the first scene in the film, will most likely be the first thing the viewer sees. If the first scene of the movie breaks immersion, most likely the rest of the movie wont be taken as seriously as intended. Having the lizard removed i feel is the best decision, which is what happened. Have this been made recently, computer graphics have advanced to the point that it's doable, I believe this wouldn't have been omitted.

Voice

This week, I was supposed to watch three films directed by a specific director, I chose Tomas Tykwer. What attracted me to Tomas Tykwer was his film Run Lola Run. I've seen this film ten years ago, back then I didn't care much for it, but, it felt like an experimental film, so I figured I'd give it another go. I watched Cloud Atlas, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, and Run Lola Run. Out of these films, I'd have to say Perfume: The Story of a Murderer was the most appealing to me in regards to storytelling. Cloud Atlas, while I didn't care for it, the film was very appealing and could easily been seen as a piece of art. What I noticed with Run Lola Run was how it was reminiscent of french New Wave techniques. Run Lola Run seemed like a love letter of sorts to the films that built that film era. Without going in depth with each film, they're very artsy in their own way. Run Lola Run with the editing, Perfume with the shots, and Cloud Atlas with the aesthetic of how the cinematography was done. One thing I thought up the moment I saw the directors work, was that now that I think of it, the films are very similar. I have seen these films before. Now that I re-watched them knowing they were made by the same guy, the only thing that shows between each film is the voice of the director being identical.

Media

Media is the cat on your face that wont let you sleep.

Multimodal Narrative

One thing that stood out to me while reading Asterios Polyp was the way it was executed. It didn't feel like a comic book, and it didn't feel like a book. The way Asterios Polyp told it's story was unique to me. While, I have seen similar styles of graphic novels, they were never integrated to this extent. While reading it, randomly at times I would stop reading and just read by looking at the pictures. I feel like even without words, the story can be told, and succeeded in telling itself visually. That said, I wouldn't recommend the words to be omitted as they only add to the story, the same goes to the illustrations. The illustrations, while they are done masterfully, aren't required to understand the story. Granted at times, they are the only thing to look at, thus being the only way to 'read' the tale of Asterios Polyp. Reading this felt like a fresh breath of air opposed to reading a story through a white page with black text.