Monday, April 9, 2007
week eight
During this meeting, we were going to watch an episode of Deadwood, but the movie store had already rented all of the DVDs to other people. instead of watching it, I was given the book The Grapes of Wrath, by Steinback. His stlye of writing is really good, and I tried adapt some of the methods he used in the book. I got to take the book to read. I also added to my story.
week seven
During this week, I added to my story. We talked about a series called Deadwood which sort of relates to my story.
week six
During week six, I basically added to my story and did excersises for the entire time. Sheryl was in the states for a long time, so we didn't have any meetins for a while .This writing exercise was about mixing the feelings and the thoughts of the character together. You write it down like this.
Feelings
Mike is reluctant to wake up early and go to work. Until lunch break, he is hungry. On his job site its very dusty, and this is a big nuisance while he is trying to do his job. He also buys bottled water sometimes, because while working his throat is dry from breathing in all the dusty air. The dust causes him to cough. His job is over all very annoying, but his boss only makes things worse. His boss is constantly pestering him to do a better job. Mike has to cary big sheets of drywall which give him a bad back, he doesn't get a good amount of sleep and some of his lunch breaks are spent sleeping. If he doesn't work up to standards his boss lectures him. If its sunny he sweats, if its rainy hes freezing.
Thoughts
Today I had to wake up early, my boss will be mad at me if I don't. I'm so tiredI wish I could jump into my bed, but I can't get fired, I gotta make a living somehow. Crap, the bus is behind schedule. Look at the traffic! I'm gonna be late. Thank god, five minutes late isn't as bad as I thought it'd be. Yumm.. I can't wait for my lunch break. Yesterday I picked up a sandwhich from the deli. Oh god I'm late, here comes my boss. If I weren't so tired, my job would be sooo much easier. Agh, they should water down the dust, I can't put this sheet down to get the dust out of my eyes. Yes! Lunch break is on. I can get outta this hole for an hour.
Combined
Mike awoke to the sound of his alarm clock and birds chirping outside. His body begged him to jump back into he warmth of his bed, but he foced himself to get ready. Outside the window, the sky was still a shade of purple. The sun was just beginning to rise in the sky. He pushed open the door leading to the stairs which brought him to the main entrance. Half a minute later he emerged from the cheap hotel into the fresh autumn air out doors. He keenly awaited the arrival of his bus. He was the only person at the bustop, likely because of the time. It was raining so hard, it was raining so hard, Mike imagined that the clouds were weeping. Atlast his bus arrived, and soon enough he was at the construction site. Great, he was five minutes early. He had picked up a sandwhich from the deli foods section of Safeway. He couldn't wit until lunch began and he could eat the sandwhich. Mike was so tired, he decided to lay his head down on his bag of tools and rest for five minutes until his job started. The rain dropped on his head. After a few minutes he fell asleep. Fifteen minutes later, ge awoke from his slumber, To his chagrine, he was now ten minutes late. he cursed his luck and made his way to the job site. The one good thing about this particular day was that the rain meant there would be no dust. He hadn't yet purchased ear plugs to deafen out the shrill noise of jackhammers and other tools, but until then he would have to deal with it. When he got home from work, his ears were usually ringing, so he thought it might be a good idea to buy earplugs soon. He noticed his boss coming towards hi to give him a hard tgime about being late.
Mike's boss seemed to get after Mike at any opportunity he had. He was slightly shorter than average, Mike was a bit taller than average, so Mike was always looking down at him when they talked. "So you're late again eh? You know, you've probably lost a few hours of work time with this schedule. You're lucky I haven't gotten rid of you yet." The boss chuckled but glared at the same time. Mike wondered if it was impossible for this man to have a normal conversation without being nasty to him in some sort of way. It was almost as though his boss was taunting him, or waiting for some sort of reaction. Mike couldn't risk it, as much as he hated his job and his boss, its what kept him from living on the streets again, and he needed the money. If he missed a days work, he'd have to go with out food for a day. He relied on his job. It got him just enough to eat and pay his rent at the same time, and he made just enough for only that and nothing else. While his boss continued to babble on, Mike had his mind on other things. He was thinking about his life, and different incidents that had occured. He didn't like people who tried to make his life harder, which meant he didn't like his boss. After a few minutes, Mike's boss left, and Mike resumed working. This particular day wasn't so bad, but he still couldn't wait for it to be over so he could get home and sleep. Four more excruciatingly long hours until his job was over. His break seemed to be over in a matter of minutes, while his job hours seemed to take triple the actual amount of time.
Feelings
Mike is reluctant to wake up early and go to work. Until lunch break, he is hungry. On his job site its very dusty, and this is a big nuisance while he is trying to do his job. He also buys bottled water sometimes, because while working his throat is dry from breathing in all the dusty air. The dust causes him to cough. His job is over all very annoying, but his boss only makes things worse. His boss is constantly pestering him to do a better job. Mike has to cary big sheets of drywall which give him a bad back, he doesn't get a good amount of sleep and some of his lunch breaks are spent sleeping. If he doesn't work up to standards his boss lectures him. If its sunny he sweats, if its rainy hes freezing.
Thoughts
Today I had to wake up early, my boss will be mad at me if I don't. I'm so tiredI wish I could jump into my bed, but I can't get fired, I gotta make a living somehow. Crap, the bus is behind schedule. Look at the traffic! I'm gonna be late. Thank god, five minutes late isn't as bad as I thought it'd be. Yumm.. I can't wait for my lunch break. Yesterday I picked up a sandwhich from the deli. Oh god I'm late, here comes my boss. If I weren't so tired, my job would be sooo much easier. Agh, they should water down the dust, I can't put this sheet down to get the dust out of my eyes. Yes! Lunch break is on. I can get outta this hole for an hour.
Combined
Mike awoke to the sound of his alarm clock and birds chirping outside. His body begged him to jump back into he warmth of his bed, but he foced himself to get ready. Outside the window, the sky was still a shade of purple. The sun was just beginning to rise in the sky. He pushed open the door leading to the stairs which brought him to the main entrance. Half a minute later he emerged from the cheap hotel into the fresh autumn air out doors. He keenly awaited the arrival of his bus. He was the only person at the bustop, likely because of the time. It was raining so hard, it was raining so hard, Mike imagined that the clouds were weeping. Atlast his bus arrived, and soon enough he was at the construction site. Great, he was five minutes early. He had picked up a sandwhich from the deli foods section of Safeway. He couldn't wit until lunch began and he could eat the sandwhich. Mike was so tired, he decided to lay his head down on his bag of tools and rest for five minutes until his job started. The rain dropped on his head. After a few minutes he fell asleep. Fifteen minutes later, ge awoke from his slumber, To his chagrine, he was now ten minutes late. he cursed his luck and made his way to the job site. The one good thing about this particular day was that the rain meant there would be no dust. He hadn't yet purchased ear plugs to deafen out the shrill noise of jackhammers and other tools, but until then he would have to deal with it. When he got home from work, his ears were usually ringing, so he thought it might be a good idea to buy earplugs soon. He noticed his boss coming towards hi to give him a hard tgime about being late.
Mike's boss seemed to get after Mike at any opportunity he had. He was slightly shorter than average, Mike was a bit taller than average, so Mike was always looking down at him when they talked. "So you're late again eh? You know, you've probably lost a few hours of work time with this schedule. You're lucky I haven't gotten rid of you yet." The boss chuckled but glared at the same time. Mike wondered if it was impossible for this man to have a normal conversation without being nasty to him in some sort of way. It was almost as though his boss was taunting him, or waiting for some sort of reaction. Mike couldn't risk it, as much as he hated his job and his boss, its what kept him from living on the streets again, and he needed the money. If he missed a days work, he'd have to go with out food for a day. He relied on his job. It got him just enough to eat and pay his rent at the same time, and he made just enough for only that and nothing else. While his boss continued to babble on, Mike had his mind on other things. He was thinking about his life, and different incidents that had occured. He didn't like people who tried to make his life harder, which meant he didn't like his boss. After a few minutes, Mike's boss left, and Mike resumed working. This particular day wasn't so bad, but he still couldn't wait for it to be over so he could get home and sleep. Four more excruciatingly long hours until his job was over. His break seemed to be over in a matter of minutes, while his job hours seemed to take triple the actual amount of time.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
week five
This was the most eventful meeting I have ever had so far with Sheryl. First we went to Pacific Spirit Park, up by UBC, which was really interesting. We observed a tree which had been eaten by termites and walked for about 10 minutes from the entrance of the trail which we went into. We went across a couple that smiled and said hello, and as we later noticed people in the city never stop to talk or say hello. We looked at the trees and I noticed that some of the really old looking ones, all of which were huge, had holes in the side. This would be from a lumber-jack propping pieces of wood into the side, making it easier to climb. They used to do this because it was hard to chop from the bottom. Now days you don't need to with the new tools used to chop trees down. Sheryl took a few pictures with her camera, and it was raining so I worried if it might die from water leaking in.
Afterwards, we left and headed down to down-town east side. After observing an internal court yard of an apartment building and wondering if that could be where the character, Mike, would go to get some peace and quiet because he doesn't get if often. Our next stop walk nearby a rooming house which Sheryl explained had a very friendly owner, and she knew this because her brother was staying their. We looked at this because our character lives in a rooming house, and it might be interesting to take a look at some. Sheryl took a few shots of the city with her camera that show some of the areas the character we are making, Mike, might go.
After that, we went to a comic store, but not before putting a few extra quarters into the parking metre. The store had many graphic novels, as well as a few There were a few cats which were probably tired of people coming up and petting them because they didn't seem keen on the idea of being petted. The owner of the store didn't seem to be keen on the idea of social attention either, and after being asked a question and making eye contact once, looked at the ground and barely spoke. We looked at a few comics, and while in the store I noticed the newest book by Eoin Colfer, which I haven't read yet.
After staying in the comic store for quite a while, we decided to go to a store to get something to eat, and ended up going to a Starbucks Coffee shop. I got a hot chocolate, which tasted warm as opposed to hot, but still tasted good, as well as some banana bread. Sheryl had a coffee, and after I finished Sheryl showed me a very interesting novel, from which I got a few interesting ideas in my head which I can't remember. Afterwards, we left the coffee shop and started on our way home.
Afterwards, we left and headed down to down-town east side. After observing an internal court yard of an apartment building and wondering if that could be where the character, Mike, would go to get some peace and quiet because he doesn't get if often. Our next stop walk nearby a rooming house which Sheryl explained had a very friendly owner, and she knew this because her brother was staying their. We looked at this because our character lives in a rooming house, and it might be interesting to take a look at some. Sheryl took a few shots of the city with her camera that show some of the areas the character we are making, Mike, might go.
After that, we went to a comic store, but not before putting a few extra quarters into the parking metre. The store had many graphic novels, as well as a few There were a few cats which were probably tired of people coming up and petting them because they didn't seem keen on the idea of being petted. The owner of the store didn't seem to be keen on the idea of social attention either, and after being asked a question and making eye contact once, looked at the ground and barely spoke. We looked at a few comics, and while in the store I noticed the newest book by Eoin Colfer, which I haven't read yet.
After staying in the comic store for quite a while, we decided to go to a store to get something to eat, and ended up going to a Starbucks Coffee shop. I got a hot chocolate, which tasted warm as opposed to hot, but still tasted good, as well as some banana bread. Sheryl had a coffee, and after I finished Sheryl showed me a very interesting novel, from which I got a few interesting ideas in my head which I can't remember. Afterwards, we left the coffee shop and started on our way home.
week four
On this particular week we got a lot of work done on making accounts for websites. We got an account at the site for bookmarking sharing, Magnolia, which is very useful, as well as an account for photo bucket, an account for Blogger\, and a G-Mail account.
After all that we wrote the blog, which I am writing in now, and then we edited some images on Adobe Photoshop, which is really fun.
After all that we wrote the blog, which I am writing in now, and then we edited some images on Adobe Photoshop, which is really fun.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
week three
During our third meeting we did a lot of work on developing our character. We came up with tons of good ideas to use for our character, which we decided to name Mike. I haven't come up with a last name that will suit the character yet, but he has lived on the street for fourteen years and has had a lot of experience. What we did was, basically, jotting down our ideas and editing them until we came up with something we wanted. Right now I beleive we both agree on the characteristics we have given our character. We added in antagonists as well, and made several problems occur in his life. We also worked on making the character more interesting, and giving him some added information so people might be able to relate to him, and think of him as a real person, not just something read about in a book. With some of the books I have read, I can totally imagine this person and this situation being real, since it is so complex as well as being something I can relate to.
Our character was originally going to live on the streets, but I didn't see this as a good option since he is supposed to be trying, and failing, to fix his life up. He runs into problem after problem after problem, the problems generally leading up to the next problem and then to the next. As each problem comes up, he gets more desperate and willing to risk more to get what he wants and get out of the pit he has dug himself into. He hasn't dug the pit he is in all by himself, his land lord is secretly, but not so secretly, doing work but keeping himself safe under the law. The character goes to Labor Ready, and gets enough to live off but not enough to lead a normal life, which is one reason he is stuck in this position.
He is basically spending most of the money he makes every day on paying for rent, and later gets himself into another problem. His brother, who is living across the country, is seriously ill and needs his help. His brother is also taking care of a baby because his girl friend has abandoned him. So he gets a loan from his landlord (who deals drugs and is also loan shark) and plans to buy an airplan ticket with in the next few days. Unfortunately the money is mysteriously stolen, and this is when things start to make a definite turn for the worse. His landlord decides now to get Mike into crime, and Mike has no other options, so be is almost forced into it. They begin to plan a [dangerous] organized crime, or robbery. Mike doesn't want to get himself back into crime, but is very desperate and has no other options.
These are all our ideas at the moment, but we are going to make more. So far I think the story is going great and we are going to add more to it soon.
Our character was originally going to live on the streets, but I didn't see this as a good option since he is supposed to be trying, and failing, to fix his life up. He runs into problem after problem after problem, the problems generally leading up to the next problem and then to the next. As each problem comes up, he gets more desperate and willing to risk more to get what he wants and get out of the pit he has dug himself into. He hasn't dug the pit he is in all by himself, his land lord is secretly, but not so secretly, doing work but keeping himself safe under the law. The character goes to Labor Ready, and gets enough to live off but not enough to lead a normal life, which is one reason he is stuck in this position.
He is basically spending most of the money he makes every day on paying for rent, and later gets himself into another problem. His brother, who is living across the country, is seriously ill and needs his help. His brother is also taking care of a baby because his girl friend has abandoned him. So he gets a loan from his landlord (who deals drugs and is also loan shark) and plans to buy an airplan ticket with in the next few days. Unfortunately the money is mysteriously stolen, and this is when things start to make a definite turn for the worse. His landlord decides now to get Mike into crime, and Mike has no other options, so be is almost forced into it. They begin to plan a [dangerous] organized crime, or robbery. Mike doesn't want to get himself back into crime, but is very desperate and has no other options.
These are all our ideas at the moment, but we are going to make more. So far I think the story is going great and we are going to add more to it soon.
week two
We looked at the antagonist and the protagotist in the story.
As a protagonist I was interested in a character like Wolverine. Hes not interested in looking like the good guy, he just wants to get the job done, and will do so at the risk of other people. Hes not a hero and he doesn't mind about that, and he can be bad but never tries to injure anyone on his team. Superman has a strict moral code, and makes sure never to hurt anyone for no reason, and never kills anyone. I find the story more interesting if they have done bad things or had a hard time, and they are working on redemption, or fixing their life up a bit. Wolverine is also interesting because he is Canadian, and actually will fail ocasionally, unlike the situation with many superheroes. A few good examples are Batman, and especailly Superman. Superman almost never fails, and even if obstacles come up, they almost never threaten him and he always gets around him. The obstacles usually involve someone he is close to, often that person might be on the brink of death and Superman has got to save him/her. Although he may fail, Superman never dies and always overcomes the obstacle. Now with Batman, the story is slightly different, obstacles to come up, such as his secret identity being discovered by the bad guys (usually criminals) or banks being robbed, and it is always his job to stop it. He has a million gadgets that are fool proof and extremely useful, as well as a car that is armed to the teeth with all sorts of explosives and cool gadgets. Batman hardly ever fails, and like Superman his only obstacles are often his sidekick, Robin, getting himself in trouble, or sometimes the people he love become endangered because of a criminal.
The point is they hardly ever fail what they are trying to accomplish, but with Wolverine you never know. He could have to end the life of someone who is close to him to save his own, he might come close to death, he might lose a close friend because of some bad guy, and he might have to save his close friends from bad guys as well. The story is almost always different, and also very intriguing. The maker of the character Wolverine made him a very complicated character. What is shown in the comic book is not all there is to him. If you go onto Wikipedia there is a lot of information about him, and you can see his creator must have put a huge amount of work into making the character interesting as well as intriguing. The same goes for the story ideas.
Using Writing a Mystery: the Drawing Board, we looked at how to make a story believable, and how to develop a timeline for the story.
As a protagonist I was interested in a character like Wolverine. Hes not interested in looking like the good guy, he just wants to get the job done, and will do so at the risk of other people. Hes not a hero and he doesn't mind about that, and he can be bad but never tries to injure anyone on his team. Superman has a strict moral code, and makes sure never to hurt anyone for no reason, and never kills anyone. I find the story more interesting if they have done bad things or had a hard time, and they are working on redemption, or fixing their life up a bit. Wolverine is also interesting because he is Canadian, and actually will fail ocasionally, unlike the situation with many superheroes. A few good examples are Batman, and especailly Superman. Superman almost never fails, and even if obstacles come up, they almost never threaten him and he always gets around him. The obstacles usually involve someone he is close to, often that person might be on the brink of death and Superman has got to save him/her. Although he may fail, Superman never dies and always overcomes the obstacle. Now with Batman, the story is slightly different, obstacles to come up, such as his secret identity being discovered by the bad guys (usually criminals) or banks being robbed, and it is always his job to stop it. He has a million gadgets that are fool proof and extremely useful, as well as a car that is armed to the teeth with all sorts of explosives and cool gadgets. Batman hardly ever fails, and like Superman his only obstacles are often his sidekick, Robin, getting himself in trouble, or sometimes the people he love become endangered because of a criminal. The point is they hardly ever fail what they are trying to accomplish, but with Wolverine you never know. He could have to end the life of someone who is close to him to save his own, he might come close to death, he might lose a close friend because of some bad guy, and he might have to save his close friends from bad guys as well. The story is almost always different, and also very intriguing. The maker of the character Wolverine made him a very complicated character. What is shown in the comic book is not all there is to him. If you go onto Wikipedia there is a lot of information about him, and you can see his creator must have put a huge amount of work into making the character interesting as well as intriguing. The same goes for the story ideas.
Using Writing a Mystery: the Drawing Board, we looked at how to make a story believable, and how to develop a timeline for the story.
week one
We did some character development using the superhero quiz as well as the supervillain quiz.
We used wikipedia for our results on the super hero quiz, (We got The Hulk for 70%) and took some notes on our wikipedia entry for "the hulk." After that we began character development, adding in some characteristics of the Hulk.
We also did some stuff with the movie, "The Matrix." We looked at the main structure as well as the main events. This was for storyline development. It was to show how characters fit into the movie, and how the movie was structured in three acts. We also looked at the character arc for Neo and how he changed through the movie as he met each challenge.
RESULTS:
We used wikipedia for our results on the super hero quiz, (We got The Hulk for 70%) and took some notes on our wikipedia entry for "the hulk." After that we began character development, adding in some characteristics of the Hulk.
We also did some stuff with the movie, "The Matrix." We looked at the main structure as well as the main events. This was for storyline development. It was to show how characters fit into the movie, and how the movie was structured in three acts. We also looked at the character arc for Neo and how he changed through the movie as he met each challenge.
RESULTS:
You are The HulkYou are a wanderer with
amazing strength.
Hulk 70% The Flash 65% Robin 57% Superman 50% Supergirl 45% Iron Man 40% Green Lantern 40% Spider-Man 35% Batman 35% Catwoman 30% Wonder Woman 25%
Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test
You are Mr. Freeze
You are cold and you think everyone else should be also, literally.
Mr. Freeze 54% Dr. Doom 53% Venom 52% Dark Phoenix 49% Juggernaut 45% Two-Face 45% Apocalypse 42% The Joker 42% Poison Ivy 40% Lex Luthor 38% Magneto 37% Catwoman 34% Riddler 33% Green Goblin 29% Kingpin 28% Mystique 17%
Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test
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