Ok, long story short, I decided to create a "main site" that I can keep after this project and use for other creative ventures, and posted my Power Rangers "Mini Site" on it as a freatured item.
To access the Power Ranger portion click on "Legend Untold"
The User Accounts don't work and won't work till after the semester ends. (FYI)
Here is the site: www.soweweretold.com
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Status of Creative Project
Current status:
I have a web page that functions as a promotional site for a future work of fan fiction. It has an introduction about the project as well as uses for it. It also continues a brief synopsis for the fanfic, a list of primary characters, and a 4 minute trailer.
Future work:
I hope to modifiy the trailer some, possibly add an area for fan interaction, and purchase a domain name and have it directed there so people can keep track of it after I move it to a private server after graduation.
I have a web page that functions as a promotional site for a future work of fan fiction. It has an introduction about the project as well as uses for it. It also continues a brief synopsis for the fanfic, a list of primary characters, and a 4 minute trailer.
Future work:
I hope to modifiy the trailer some, possibly add an area for fan interaction, and purchase a domain name and have it directed there so people can keep track of it after I move it to a private server after graduation.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Revised Essay
My revised Essay can be viewed at the following link:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYmPSTeNFU08ZGRjYm56dzRfNDgyZ3hiMmpncQ&hl=en
Note: I believe the old link will take you to this same version only there will be color codes that I used while editing the document - just in case you were wondering =)
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYmPSTeNFU08ZGRjYm56dzRfNDgyZ3hiMmpncQ&hl=en
Note: I believe the old link will take you to this same version only there will be color codes that I used while editing the document - just in case you were wondering =)
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Creative Response to Project
Possible creative projects that touch on research topic.
Video of a wrestling promo using different soundtrack (perhaps from a role-play)
This would be a video that essentially uses footage of the wrestler(s) speaking and dubbing their voices to tell the story that is going on in the e-fed using words, phrases, or dialogue directly from the role-plays.
Visual representation of a role-play using captions and stills
Same concept of the video but using still photographs with text as opposed to videos.
Promotional video for e-fed storylines
A fake ad promoting an e-fed PPV event.
Writing a FanFic
Actually writing a fan fiction story.
Video of a wrestling promo using different soundtrack (perhaps from a role-play)
This would be a video that essentially uses footage of the wrestler(s) speaking and dubbing their voices to tell the story that is going on in the e-fed using words, phrases, or dialogue directly from the role-plays.
Visual representation of a role-play using captions and stills
Same concept of the video but using still photographs with text as opposed to videos.
Promotional video for e-fed storylines
A fake ad promoting an e-fed PPV event.
Writing a FanFic
Actually writing a fan fiction story.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Rough Draft of Essay
Link to Essay:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYmPSTeNFU08ZGRjYm56dzRfNDJkNXNneHZteg&hl=en
Reflection of Essay:
I know my essay is weak in terms of information to support my ideas. I wrote this draft based on information I remembered reading and thus did not include any intricite details. Although, to be honest I'm not sure what sort of details will be helpful so suggesitons might be nice if anyone has them. I think the ideas are there, they may not transition as well as I would like at the moment, but the framework is in place.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYmPSTeNFU08ZGRjYm56dzRfNDJkNXNneHZteg&hl=en
Reflection of Essay:
I know my essay is weak in terms of information to support my ideas. I wrote this draft based on information I remembered reading and thus did not include any intricite details. Although, to be honest I'm not sure what sort of details will be helpful so suggesitons might be nice if anyone has them. I think the ideas are there, they may not transition as well as I would like at the moment, but the framework is in place.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Reflection on Essay and Project thus far
Organizational Diagram: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYmPSTeNFU08ZGRjYm56dzRfNDBmZjk5dnpjbQ&hl=en
I think that originally I was very strung out with my ideas with this project. I was ranging from authorship, to acknowledgement, to education, to entertainment. However, now I think I have narrowed it down or at least found a way to tie them all together. From the beginning I have been focused on Fan Fiction and Role-Playing. However, I have decided to use a wrestling e-federation for the basis of my project as an area that carries both attributes of role-players and fan fiction authors. In my essay I will need to pull together evidence that it can be a good educational tool for people to become better writers.
I know that I have personal experience in the matter because I felt I wasn't a very good writer when I started out in an e-federation, but now I'm minoring in Professional Writing and I am very confident in my work. I'm not sure how I can use my personal testimony in relation to the project but I think it would be beneficial.
As far as the educational aspects go I have found some resources related to it, I just need to tie them all together. I might also throw in additional benefits of writing fan fiction or role-playing in regards to promoting a product or industry and inspiring new participants in the genre.
I think that originally I was very strung out with my ideas with this project. I was ranging from authorship, to acknowledgement, to education, to entertainment. However, now I think I have narrowed it down or at least found a way to tie them all together. From the beginning I have been focused on Fan Fiction and Role-Playing. However, I have decided to use a wrestling e-federation for the basis of my project as an area that carries both attributes of role-players and fan fiction authors. In my essay I will need to pull together evidence that it can be a good educational tool for people to become better writers.
I know that I have personal experience in the matter because I felt I wasn't a very good writer when I started out in an e-federation, but now I'm minoring in Professional Writing and I am very confident in my work. I'm not sure how I can use my personal testimony in relation to the project but I think it would be beneficial.
As far as the educational aspects go I have found some resources related to it, I just need to tie them all together. I might also throw in additional benefits of writing fan fiction or role-playing in regards to promoting a product or industry and inspiring new participants in the genre.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Topic Reflection
I have enjoyed researching my topic thus far. I do not get the chance to write creatively much at all in school, and I don't really have the time to, so that makes this project fun to me. I think once I am out of school I might take part in more fan fiction related writing. I watch a lot of television and I get invested in a lot of characters, and there are times that I wish I could continue their stories in a way I see fit. I sometimes have that urge to be in control. I think we all get that feeling from time to time.
One downside to my project that I am seeing is that I am going to try to focus on an efed, which is based on professional wrestling and uses elements of fan fiction and role-playing. The downside is I cannot really show many videos or images that are in a "commons" area because (at least in my case) the fed I was in used many copyrighted images to create it's images. I also know that World Wrestling Entertainment tries to make sure their footage is not used in youtube videos. So whereas I feel I can describe the experience and research it more, I don't necessarily have a lot to show in a presentation that actually comes from the "arena" of an efed.
Aside from that, I remain optimistic about this project and look forward to where ever it decides to take me.
One downside to my project that I am seeing is that I am going to try to focus on an efed, which is based on professional wrestling and uses elements of fan fiction and role-playing. The downside is I cannot really show many videos or images that are in a "commons" area because (at least in my case) the fed I was in used many copyrighted images to create it's images. I also know that World Wrestling Entertainment tries to make sure their footage is not used in youtube videos. So whereas I feel I can describe the experience and research it more, I don't necessarily have a lot to show in a presentation that actually comes from the "arena" of an efed.
Aside from that, I remain optimistic about this project and look forward to where ever it decides to take me.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Theory
Role-players are authors. They bring characters to life through a first person perspective.
Fan-fiction writers are authors. Authors who re-imagine or re-event a universe with new or otherwise untold stories.
Both are educators. They can give us examples of good as well as bad writing.
They may be competitive, passionate, and driven, but so are a lot of established authors and other professionals. I believe that role-players and fan-fiction authors can be just as creative and just as good as the authors who get their work published for profit. They are fanatics, and love what they are writing about or for, or they otherwise wouldn't be doing it. It's not a job. It's not something they get paid to do. It's essentially a hobby with its core in creative writing.
Both fan-ficiton authors and role-players are story tellers, just as published authors are. Their stories may take a different approach, style, or arc, but the concept is the same.
Some people learn by participation. Fan fiction and role-playing allow someone to participate in a theme they enjoy. Reading these works can also be used as a tool to see what works and what does not. Both fan fiction and role-playing can be used as tools for educating others about writing and storytelling.
Fan-fiction authors may not be credited as being inventive as published authors, but role-players can certainly be inventive. A character could be the sole creation of the role-player. Its past, its present, and its future all at the hands at the person dawning the role. The characters story is told through the role-player portraying the character. The role-player is the driving force behind it. The authority. The author.
Fan-fiction may take place in a universe already created. How is this different from directors or screen-writers re-creating the Star Trek universe time and time again? How about Christopher Nolan's interpretation of Batman? In fan-fiction the characters may be familiar but they're under new control, and new direction. The writer is again the authority. The director. The author.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Beginning of Research Proposal - Revised Final
There are many different forms of storytelling. With the Internet allowing various people to share their stories with the world, there seems to be a lot of writings being exchanged or posted. Should we consider works of fan fiction or role-playing works of serious fiction? To a lot of people, I imagine, fan fiction or role-playing is merely a game. A commerce of imagination amongst fellow fanatics. However, what if these fanatics are actually artisans, or perhaps authors? It is true that there are several genres of fiction, many of which have a base of fanatics of their own. What is the difference between an author fortunate enough to publish a work of vampire fiction for a group of eager admirers of the genre, and a fanatic eager to put his own spin on a television character and write a first person tale for the online community to critique and enjoy? Their differences might include background, finances, and career paths, but are they not essentially doing the same thing? What about ownership? Does an author of fan fiction have particular rights to their work online? Do people find it a useful form of writing? What about educational usage? Should authors of works used for educational purposes be in anyway compensated or otherwise credited? Fan fiction and role-playing is not only a game, but a creative approach to writing fictional works that should be protected, and used to inspire and educate others.
Fan fiction is when someone writes a story using pre-established characters that the one writing did not create. It is fairly popular with television characters and other forms of entertainment. Fan fiction is nothing new, but the Internet has allowed it to gain more popularity. There have been authors who have penned novels based on the characters of the Star Wars universe and the like, but the Internet has allowed even the minor fan to try it out. I say “try it out” because fan fiction involves the writer trying to write for characters that he or she did not create, as stated earlier. Whereas before the Internet, perhaps only people who write for a living would dare to tell a tale using someone else’s characters. Now anyone with access to the Internet can post his or her own versions of pre-established characters. Some may be good, some may be bad, but they’re all different and unique to the writer.
Role-playing can very easily be tied to fan fiction as an author could choose to take on the role of a pre-established character. Similarly to fan fiction, role-playing is nothing new, but the Internet has given it more ground to stand on. Where pretending to be a sorcerer in a board game or a superhero in your back yard can be considered role-playing, the written stories found online is what can be tied to fan fiction. Several stories have been told with a single character as the main focus. In fact it is almost a paradigm to have a central protagonist. Certain forms of role-playing could be seen as a character odyssey. Even if the character is not taken from another work and is completely invented by the author, the act of role-playing could be seen as writing the story of this character's life at a specified time period. If the author is role-playing amongst other people role-playing with different characters, the world itself could be considered a collaborative story.
I know that I personally didn't have a favorable opinion about writing until I became involved in an online role-playing site that focused on the world of professional wrestling. When writing became a competition in an environment I already enjoyed it almost became addicting. I have no idea how many pieces I wrote for the site, but I did it for 5 years on an almost weekly basis. Others have pointed out that fan fiction helps someone understand the importance of characters and other elements of fiction. While still others point out that the simple introduction of works of writing in a genre that young people are vividly interested in can help literacy in regions where it is neglected or faltering. When people are passionate about something it helps them write about it or seek out things to read about it. Fan fiction and role-playing allow us to dive into a world we enjoy, and it allows us to be creative. Creativity can allow us to grow and help us learn. For many people fan fiction or role-playing is just the creative outlet they need to become passionate about their own writing.
Bibliography:
"Fan Fiction." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction. August 31, 2009.
"News: The Overlooked Art: Fanfiction." deviantART. http://news.deviantart.com/article/38278/. August 31, 2009
"Differences Between Writing and Roleplaying." The Fantasy Library. http://www.fantasylibrary.com/ir/irws14.htm. September 7, 2009.
Davis, Jennifer. "What Roleplaying and Fanficiton taught me about Writing." (Semi) Intellectual Blathering. http://www.intellectualblathering.com/?p=441. September 10, 2009.
Vosloo, Steeve. "Fan Fiction: Improving youth literacy." Thought Leader. http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/stevevosloo/2008/01/22/fan-fiction-improving-youth-literacy. September 14, 2009.
Fan fiction is when someone writes a story using pre-established characters that the one writing did not create. It is fairly popular with television characters and other forms of entertainment. Fan fiction is nothing new, but the Internet has allowed it to gain more popularity. There have been authors who have penned novels based on the characters of the Star Wars universe and the like, but the Internet has allowed even the minor fan to try it out. I say “try it out” because fan fiction involves the writer trying to write for characters that he or she did not create, as stated earlier. Whereas before the Internet, perhaps only people who write for a living would dare to tell a tale using someone else’s characters. Now anyone with access to the Internet can post his or her own versions of pre-established characters. Some may be good, some may be bad, but they’re all different and unique to the writer.
Role-playing can very easily be tied to fan fiction as an author could choose to take on the role of a pre-established character. Similarly to fan fiction, role-playing is nothing new, but the Internet has given it more ground to stand on. Where pretending to be a sorcerer in a board game or a superhero in your back yard can be considered role-playing, the written stories found online is what can be tied to fan fiction. Several stories have been told with a single character as the main focus. In fact it is almost a paradigm to have a central protagonist. Certain forms of role-playing could be seen as a character odyssey. Even if the character is not taken from another work and is completely invented by the author, the act of role-playing could be seen as writing the story of this character's life at a specified time period. If the author is role-playing amongst other people role-playing with different characters, the world itself could be considered a collaborative story.
I know that I personally didn't have a favorable opinion about writing until I became involved in an online role-playing site that focused on the world of professional wrestling. When writing became a competition in an environment I already enjoyed it almost became addicting. I have no idea how many pieces I wrote for the site, but I did it for 5 years on an almost weekly basis. Others have pointed out that fan fiction helps someone understand the importance of characters and other elements of fiction. While still others point out that the simple introduction of works of writing in a genre that young people are vividly interested in can help literacy in regions where it is neglected or faltering. When people are passionate about something it helps them write about it or seek out things to read about it. Fan fiction and role-playing allow us to dive into a world we enjoy, and it allows us to be creative. Creativity can allow us to grow and help us learn. For many people fan fiction or role-playing is just the creative outlet they need to become passionate about their own writing.
Bibliography:
"Fan Fiction." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction. August 31, 2009.
"News: The Overlooked Art: Fanfiction." deviantART. http://news.deviantart.com/article/38278/. August 31, 2009
"Differences Between Writing and Roleplaying." The Fantasy Library. http://www.fantasylibrary.com/ir/irws14.htm. September 7, 2009.
Davis, Jennifer. "What Roleplaying and Fanficiton taught me about Writing." (Semi) Intellectual Blathering. http://www.intellectualblathering.com/?p=441. September 10, 2009.
Vosloo, Steeve. "Fan Fiction: Improving youth literacy." Thought Leader. http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/stevevosloo/2008/01/22/fan-fiction-improving-youth-literacy. September 14, 2009.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Reading Response for 9.1.09 - Plagiarism & Copyrights
I found both the articles to be very interesting. Although the second article was somewhat tiresome at times due to the writing style and it’s length. I do think I share a similar opinion on plagiarism and copyrights.
With as much writing and thinking that goes on in this world, your ideas are bound to be similar in some regards to someone else’s ideas. If we were to have some of these high tech search mechanisms to find even paraphrasing of ideas, I think that goes a little too far. I remember being taught in high school and middle school that you were not to use the exact words of an author in a paper, but you could paraphrase and cite your source. Which often made wonder growing up how anyone had any original ideas. If they read something and or were influenced by something, they might just write something that sounds similar unintentionally. Worse yet, we were told that unintentional plagiarism is still plagiarism. It’s almost as if you’re supposed to write in fear. No wonder so many people dread writing. They’re probably not sure how to create, invent, or otherwise fabricate their own words in such a way that it comes off as them and not the voice of someone else.
As far as copyrights go, I have always felt that as long as I am not profiting from the use of materials I have bought or otherwise obtained through legal means, I should be able to do whatever I want with it. If I record something off of television, splice pieces of it together and add music from a CD or album that I have purchased, why can I then not show it on a site like youtube? I can very easily show it on my computer. Nobody can stop me from doing that. In theory, I could invite hundreds upon thousands of people to my house to view said video on my computer. Nobody can stop me from doing that either. What is the difference other than time? Hundreds upon thousands of people could view the video all at once on youtube, but they cannot all fit into my house at once. Some might argue that people have ways of ripping videos off of youtube and that would be stealing. Well what if I used the DVD burner that came with the computer that I purchased to put the video on DVD and gave everyone who came to my house to view the video a copy to keep, free of charge? Is that not the same concept? I find copyrights to be a very sticky situation when it comes to content. I have had aspirations at time to be involved in creative markets such as music or television, and I sometimes wonder how would I feel if people were sharing my product instead of purchasing it. I try to see both sides, but since I have not actually been in a position where something I profited from was being shared instead of purchased, I tend to favor the side that just wants to use that which I own in the manner in which I please.
I think I will be focusing my research in the class on fan fiction. Which is when a fan decides to write stories using pre-established characters. Sometimes it is for television shows, which the area that has caught my interest, but it can be used for other genres. I have been told that some authors don’t like their fans to participate in fan fiction because they do not like how they use their characters; in contrast, other authors like it. Does an author have copyright over their characters to the point that fans cannot write their own stories involving said characters? If this is the case, does that also mean that children cannot mimic their favorite television characters while playing make-believe in their backyards? It’s essentially the same concept, only in written form. If someone posts their stories on a centralized site where other fans can read it, is that not the same as several children participating in a character game in the backyard and then telling their friends about it later? Fan fiction can be a different take on established characters, or it can be an exercise in creative writing when the characters are not your own. It is an interesting medium and one I would like to explore more.
With as much writing and thinking that goes on in this world, your ideas are bound to be similar in some regards to someone else’s ideas. If we were to have some of these high tech search mechanisms to find even paraphrasing of ideas, I think that goes a little too far. I remember being taught in high school and middle school that you were not to use the exact words of an author in a paper, but you could paraphrase and cite your source. Which often made wonder growing up how anyone had any original ideas. If they read something and or were influenced by something, they might just write something that sounds similar unintentionally. Worse yet, we were told that unintentional plagiarism is still plagiarism. It’s almost as if you’re supposed to write in fear. No wonder so many people dread writing. They’re probably not sure how to create, invent, or otherwise fabricate their own words in such a way that it comes off as them and not the voice of someone else.
As far as copyrights go, I have always felt that as long as I am not profiting from the use of materials I have bought or otherwise obtained through legal means, I should be able to do whatever I want with it. If I record something off of television, splice pieces of it together and add music from a CD or album that I have purchased, why can I then not show it on a site like youtube? I can very easily show it on my computer. Nobody can stop me from doing that. In theory, I could invite hundreds upon thousands of people to my house to view said video on my computer. Nobody can stop me from doing that either. What is the difference other than time? Hundreds upon thousands of people could view the video all at once on youtube, but they cannot all fit into my house at once. Some might argue that people have ways of ripping videos off of youtube and that would be stealing. Well what if I used the DVD burner that came with the computer that I purchased to put the video on DVD and gave everyone who came to my house to view the video a copy to keep, free of charge? Is that not the same concept? I find copyrights to be a very sticky situation when it comes to content. I have had aspirations at time to be involved in creative markets such as music or television, and I sometimes wonder how would I feel if people were sharing my product instead of purchasing it. I try to see both sides, but since I have not actually been in a position where something I profited from was being shared instead of purchased, I tend to favor the side that just wants to use that which I own in the manner in which I please.
I think I will be focusing my research in the class on fan fiction. Which is when a fan decides to write stories using pre-established characters. Sometimes it is for television shows, which the area that has caught my interest, but it can be used for other genres. I have been told that some authors don’t like their fans to participate in fan fiction because they do not like how they use their characters; in contrast, other authors like it. Does an author have copyright over their characters to the point that fans cannot write their own stories involving said characters? If this is the case, does that also mean that children cannot mimic their favorite television characters while playing make-believe in their backyards? It’s essentially the same concept, only in written form. If someone posts their stories on a centralized site where other fans can read it, is that not the same as several children participating in a character game in the backyard and then telling their friends about it later? Fan fiction can be a different take on established characters, or it can be an exercise in creative writing when the characters are not your own. It is an interesting medium and one I would like to explore more.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Autobiography
I would consider myself to be a "digital native" because I was born in 1986 and I can remember playing on the computer when I was really little, even it was just attempting to understand the default card games are drawing in Microsoft Paint. I think (not positive) my family had its first computer in either 1993 or 1994 when I was in first grade.
While those might be my earliest memories of using a computer, my earliest memory of the internet is trying to access the Nickelodeon section of American Online when my family first got it. This was probably like version 2 of AOL, and I remember we did not have for very long after that. The only thing in that same time frame that I remember doing was going to ty.com to look up the new Beanie Babies that were coming out so I could attempt to buy them. I believe I also had a time limit for using the internet because at the time we had dial up and only one phone line. Before we had broadband, my family purchased a separate phone line just for using the internet.
I do love the web. I love the idea of having information at my finger tips and being able to Google or Wikipedia anything and everything just when it pops into my head. I've been known to be watching television with my family and someone will ask a question that nobody else knows the answer to, and I will open up my laptop and look up the answer on the internet and have it in seconds. I also love the ability to find videos of things I like or missed on TV on sites such as youtube.com or dailymotion.com. Video On Demand online for free is an exciting concept to me. I also use Facebook and Myspace constantly and have them both on my cell phone. I'm also considering getting a Twitter account. The only reason I haven't yet is because I'm debating what username I would like to use. I find that I'm the kind of person who likes to change things from time to time so I would hate to be tied down to one username. So I want to make it something good. I also use AIM and text messages to communicate with people. I love having all sorts of ways to keep in touch with people.
I'm fan of many things such as wrestling, NASCAR, television, movies, and music. I enjoy going to sites to get the latest gossip and news in those different areas. In some cases if I run out of news on the sites I frequent, I will use Google News Search to find information that may be posted else where on those specific topics.
While those might be my earliest memories of using a computer, my earliest memory of the internet is trying to access the Nickelodeon section of American Online when my family first got it. This was probably like version 2 of AOL, and I remember we did not have for very long after that. The only thing in that same time frame that I remember doing was going to ty.com to look up the new Beanie Babies that were coming out so I could attempt to buy them. I believe I also had a time limit for using the internet because at the time we had dial up and only one phone line. Before we had broadband, my family purchased a separate phone line just for using the internet.
I do love the web. I love the idea of having information at my finger tips and being able to Google or Wikipedia anything and everything just when it pops into my head. I've been known to be watching television with my family and someone will ask a question that nobody else knows the answer to, and I will open up my laptop and look up the answer on the internet and have it in seconds. I also love the ability to find videos of things I like or missed on TV on sites such as youtube.com or dailymotion.com. Video On Demand online for free is an exciting concept to me. I also use Facebook and Myspace constantly and have them both on my cell phone. I'm also considering getting a Twitter account. The only reason I haven't yet is because I'm debating what username I would like to use. I find that I'm the kind of person who likes to change things from time to time so I would hate to be tied down to one username. So I want to make it something good. I also use AIM and text messages to communicate with people. I love having all sorts of ways to keep in touch with people.
I'm fan of many things such as wrestling, NASCAR, television, movies, and music. I enjoy going to sites to get the latest gossip and news in those different areas. In some cases if I run out of news on the sites I frequent, I will use Google News Search to find information that may be posted else where on those specific topics.
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