Group Project Revised Commentary

Gordon Marshall Bigsby, JD Mink, Elizabeth K.

Video

Watch the video first, and then read about the process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8jniQLAIEs

Process

Based on the suggestions made in Justin’s review, we decided to utilize the YouTube annotation system as some “choose-your-own-adventure” projects had which he had referenced. This entailed restructuring the end of the video in order to accommodate the alternate endings that we had created. We removed the initial options which had scrolled through the screen in the initial video which had been created and left a black screen over which we added annotations which linked viewers to the alternate ending scenes. Colours were added to the annotations in order to help the viewer distinguish between the three options as they differentiated each option by making them more recognizable.

We attempted to integrate various forms of multimedia by making use of different formats in creating our alternate endings. Option 1, Keep Playing the Tune, was created by using Louis Armstrong’s “After You’re Gone.” This option is an audio clip; however, we added an image of the artist (found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_finlayson/2988238517/) and turned it into a YouTube video in order to make the structure of the project work. There’s a catch here, though. Instead of allowing the listener to listen to the original tune, I added a sinister audio track from Freesound.org (all CC licensed content. Credit to James Duckett: http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=55082) to the beginning. Listeners will not actually be able to listen to the original tune as they had hoped. Instead, they are tricked into listening to a “butchered” version of the song (the tune has been reversed and chopped up using Audacity, the free audio-editing program). I picked a “dark” image of Armstrong to go with the evil laugh that plays in the beginning.

Option 2, Let the Cat Get Revenge on the Stooges, is a video clip spliced together by using various scenes from The New Three Stooges’ “Aloha Ha Ha” cartoon, and “The Hep Cat Symphony.” In this clip, it appears that both the cat and the Stooges are outside and the cat is chasing the Stooges off into the sunset.

Option 3, I Want Popeye Back, is a still image (found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dominicspics/1128401985/sizes/l/) which was edited with audio. The audio which plays in the clip was created using Vozme (a CC-like license, explained here: http://vozme.com/licenses.php?lang=en). I picked computer generated audio to give the viewer/listener a distanced feeling. In other words, while the viewer wants to have Popeye back, he/she can’t truly have him back. In a cold/unfriendly computerized voice, Popeye rejects the viewer by saying, “Listen, you can’t have me back…my girl’s name is Olive Oyl. Got it? If you’re a guy, understand this: I don’t swing that way.” You can’t have him back. Why? He already has a girl.

Note that the original video says, “Choose Wisely.” These three options only leave option 2 as the most “wise” choice, because the other two mess with the viewer’s mind. In the first option, the listener gets an unfaithful rendition of the tune. In the third option, he/she is rejected by Popeye.

Conclusion

The whole process was terribly difficult. We spent hours and hours trying to figure it all out, and ultimately, we conquered the Internet and YouTube. Call it a digital exploration. We explored, witnessed good and evil, and declared ourselves triumphant.