Ward+Wk+09


 * 3/30/12 Description**

The idea: A short story told through pictures about a military reporter trapped on earth struggles to survive and capture Earth's darkest hour on camera. Though he is more than skeptical at the idea that help will eventually come, he does his best to give the resistance group intel on the invading alien forces.

Where: This moments are a side plot of the Mass Effect series, prominatly. A trilogy of video games that take place in an alternate dimension of Earth. Information about this game can be found online at http://masseffect.com/.

The Critics 1): According to Sontag, " In teaching us a new visual code, photographs alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking at and what we have a right to observe." Stating that the reason we take photographs at all is to create our own code of ethics and beliefs about what moments in life are worth preserving.

Reflection: This really ties in to the inner conflict with the main character of this short narrative. He has been given orders to go out and gather as much visual intel as he can. However, how do you decide on what is good intel in such a bleak situation, where you see hundreds of people die every day? Do you give up on the assignment to help who you can? Or do you steel yourself and take those pictures that could potentially save millions of lives? Is it even prudent to follow such a code during the end of the world? Through the course of the story, the Namless man will need to find his own awnsers to these questions as he goes through his mission.

Search: Went on google images and found a few shots of london as its being invaded along with various images from the invasion trailer for the game but not as much as I would like. Few photos of the Reapers and husks who will be patroling the skies in the story. I also found a few images of people evacuating in mass which will fit the scenario. Still not sure in what order I'm going to put them in yet but I will spend the next week putting them together.

Prezi: I have created an account and have created my first Prezi but it is currently blank. I am in the process of getting use to the controls but I'm not confident enough to start putting the images up yet. Some of the instructions of how to put the images there and how to orgainize them is still confusing to me but I should figure it out in time. For now, I'm just going to continue to experiment with it.

My Point: I would really like to tell this story through the eyes of a man who is being forced to take images of the end of the world and his conflicted views on the matter of what needs to be preserved, based on Sontag's idea. It would be very interesting to see if such an idea can still hold water even in such extreme circumstances.


 * 3/28/12 ** AUDIENCE PROFILE SHEET


 * Kind of Viewer: || Primary ||
 * Education: || College or University. ||
 * Professional Experience: || Student and/or soldier. ||
 * Job Responsibilities: || Class assignments, training, cleaning, cooking, drills, etc. ||
 * Personal Characteristics: || Dedicated, tough, empathetic and protective. ||
 * Personal Preferences: || Staying strong while all seems lost, not giving up. ||
 * Cultural Characteristics: || Familiar with the Mass Effect games, along with the severity of war. ||
 * Attitude Toward the Photographer: || Confused but intrigued. ||
 * Attitude Toward the Subject: || Really enjoyed the games though the ending was a little disappointing. ||
 * Expectations about the Subject: || Figures it is just more advirtisement for the game. ||
 * Expectations about the Photograph: ||  ||
 * Reasons for Viewing the Photograph: || The images from the game are neat but so are the images that are clearly not from the game. ||
 * *Way of Viewing the Photograph: || Skimming, studying and analyzing. ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Viewing Skill: || The viewer is capable of analyzing the images and how they would apply in the fictional world as well as the real world. ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Viewer’s Physical Environment: || Home, school, or barracks. ||