Affinity Space: Coaching High School Football

I chose to do my video essay on the world of coaching high school football.

 

http://youtu.be/edZQ4u-JpHw

Affinity Space: Urban Homesteading

Digital Identity

I’m not an education major, but I can certainly understand the importance of maintaining a positive digital identity. When we had that exercise in class where we had to Google each other, I immediately thought of a few things that I definitely didn’t want a potential employer to be able to find so easily. Luckily the only thing that came up for myself was for my LinkedIn page, which I believe would promote a positive digital identity for those who may come across the profile. In fact, I will probably go back and keep that profile updated regularly so that it can project a professional and organized persona for myself. I already keep my Facebook locked down pretty tight, but I think that before I fully enter the professional workforce I may have to go through and make sure that the people I have added are being just as responsible with what they post and share with others. My Twitter is something I don’t use very often, but I probably should be a little more protective of that as well, in the off chance that an employer finds it.

Transmedia Franchise – Marvel Superheroes

Spreadability vs. Drillability
When it comes to Marvel, there are plenty of ways to share the information. First off there are comics, which offer a huge array of stories through their various continuities. There are also animated shows, movies, and live action films that a person can also view in order to not only see different takes on the comics but to see completely new stories as well.

Continuity vs. Multiplicity

As I just mentioned, Marvel superheroes are not apart of a single continuity. There are several different universes in which these characters live, giving the opportunity for different heroes to interact with each other without the issue of ruining either hero’s continuity.

Immersion vs. Extractability

Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios is a theme park dedicated entirely to several of the Marvel heroes, with attractions for some of the iconic characters such as the Incredible Hulk and Superman. There are also gift shops where people can bring home their favorite hero’s memorabilia.

Worldbuilding

Marvel Studios has spent the last few years building their phase 1 of their cinematic universe, beginning with Iron Man back and culminating in The Avengers which ended up smashing several box office records and became the fastest film to $1 billion.

Seriality

While the comics and movies both deal with the same character, they use both mediums to tell different stories that branch off from the same origin story.

Subjectivity

An example of subjectivity could be shown through the Hulk. The Incredible Hulk was a standalone movie that starred Edward Norton, but since he decided to not be apart of the Avengers they had to retell Bruce Banner’s story with Mark Rufalo instead.

Performance

Performance within the Marvel universe has continued to grow. From cosplay to various parodies, fans are able to create original content whether the original creators intended for this to happen or not.

Affinity Space: Nerdfighteria

In my Affinity Space video, I provide a small glimpse into the world of Nerdfighteria, that is almost entirely technologically based. While there are some instances of being in the space outside of the internet, i.e. going to VidCon and wearing a Nerdfighter shirt, the space is mostly on YouTube. I talked briefly in the video about how knowledge is shared through the space, which is via YouTube channel, CrashCourse, where John Green and Hank Green teach nerdfighters certain aspects of a number of school subjects, like literature. They are rethinking how knowledge is shared in a fun way.

The space is unique in that all nerdfighters are equal, even John and Hank. Yes, even the nerdfighter that is geeking out is equal to the one who just joined nerdfighteria. And that’s a really cool way of thinking about community and learning. Who knows what the outcome would be if we were to treat students this way?

Affinity Space – The Lord of the Rings

Trajectory for any Given Written Assignment in any Given Class

When it comes to written assignments, especially research papers that are worth a good chunk of a student’s final grade, professors probably feel like they’re doing the student a service by providing the assignment early on in the semester. I’m sure they feel like this way the student can take their time, choose the right topic, do the appropriate research, and construct a well thought out and interesting research paper for them to read at the end of the year. I’m sure there are plenty of good students out there who follow this model or a model similar to it, and aren’t scrambling to finish the assignment 6 hours before it’s due. I’m not one of those students. I work best (or at least I’ve convinced myself that I do) under pressure, meaning I need my completion of the assignment to be imperative. If I don’t feel there are enough stakes involved, chances are I won’t take it as seriously as I should. I have no idea why that is, because I hate feeling stressed over assignments and that’s all procrastination does for me is stress me out. Nevertheless, I do it every single time I’m given a research paper. Instead of drawing out my typical trajectory, I decided to enlist the help of the internet to accurately illustrate my typical trajectory when completing a research paper.

This is how I feel most days in class.

This is my inner dialogue as soon as the topic of the research paper comes up because I know all it’s gonna do is stress me out.

Now we fast forward from the beginning of the semester to 48-72 hours before the paper is due.

I usually spend a few hours being angry at myself for waiting so long to start working on it.

I then spend some time freaking out and generally being terrified over the fact that I have wasted so much time and convince myself that I’m going to fail the class because I’m a horrible procrastinator.

Once I’ve gotten that out of my system I take a breath, grab something high in caffeine, and begin to work.

Time to focus and figure out a topic to research.

I then take a short break to celebrate the fact that I’ve finally found a topic to work on.

Then there are several hours spent typing furiously to reach whatever page count I have to reach in order for my paper to reach the assignment requirements until…time’s up.

Blog Post 8–Transmedia Franchise Spiderman

I chose to look at Spider-Man as an example of a transmedia franchise. Spider-Man was first introduced in the Comic Book Amazing Fantasy issue number 15 in the year 1962.

1. Spreadabilty vs. Drillability– Spider-Man started off as a comic book character from the famous comic book franchise Marvel Comics.  Since then, Spider-Man has erupted into the most commercially success superhero of all time. Blockbuster movies, multiple television shows (nine series to be exact, both live action and cartoon), novels, reprints, video games, radio and web shows, internet memes, toys, and even a Broadway musical has all been influenced by Spider-Man.

2. Continuity vs. Multiplicity–Throughout all these spin-offs, the main story-line has remained the same. An orphan named Peter Parker is being raised by his aunt and and uncle. As a high schooler, Peter is having to deal with the normal struggles of adolescence in addition to be a costumed, mutant crime-fighter after a spider bite. Spider-Man has super strength and agility, the ability to cling to most surfaces, and is able to shoot spider-webs via wrist.

3. Immersion vs. Extractability–Fans who wish to immerse themselves into the world of Spider-Man can do so through playing as Peter Parker in one of the dozen Spider-Man video games, write fan-fiction, wear the famous blue and red costume that you can pick up at any Walmart, or even take a vacation down to Orlando where fans can become apart of the story by riding the super awesome Spider-Man ride in Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios.

4. Worldbuilding– One particular fan of Spider-Man, Julie Taymor, established a form of Spider-man Worldbuilding by creating and directing a Broadway play titled Spider-Man : Turn off the Dark. In was opened in 2011 and is the most expensive piece of live theater to date, and features high-flying action sequences and stunts.

5. Seriality–Throughout these media outlets, adaptations and stories are being added to Spider-Man’s original roots, but nothing is being taken away. The classic Peter Parker story-line remains the same so any new fan can quickly understand the intended plot.

6. Subjectivity– A recent example of subjectivity in the Spider-Man franchise is the fourth live-action movie of the Spider-Man series. The first three movies were based directly on the comic book series, but the fourth and future fifth movie (titled The Amazing Spider-Man) is produced by the same studio, but carries different actors and serves as a reboot to the well-known series and is not a continuation of the prior three. These two movies explores and offers a new set of eyes to the original story

7. Performance– The internet allows fan to actively participate in performance. The most popular examples include various parodies and a viral 1960’s  Spider-Man meme. These were not made by the Spider-Man creator.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07nbKOccvog

Transmedia Franchise

GAME OF THRONES as a Transmedia Franchise

 

Spreadability vs Drillability:

Game of Thrones has a more drillable narrative. The books are much differnt from the movies, and there exists a lot of fan fiction. So, there is an opportunity for fans to get very deep in the narrative of the universe. There is also a Dungeons and Dragons like role-playing guide set in the Game of Thrones world which allows for almost endless narrative possibilities.

Continuity vs Mulitplicity:

It depends on how deep you go into this narrative. You can have continuity if you choose to attach to only the book narrative or only the show narrative, but you can have multiplicity if you choose to attach to both, and especially if you choose to get into the role-playing universe.

Immersion vs Extractability:

There is much more extractabilty for the Game of Thrones narrative. There is a plethora of Game of Thrones merchandise that one can purchase, like these:

 

However, DragonCon and other conventions can provide some immersion by being surrounded by many people with the same passion for Game of Thrones. It could also me said that one could me metaphorically immersed in the role playing universe that one can create with the role playing guide.

Worldbuilding:

There are many fan-fiction sights for the Game of Thrones world, like this one:

http://www.fanfiction.net/tv/Game-of-Thrones/

Through these sights, fans can create and extend the Game of Thrones world. There are also Game of Throne video games on Steam where players can manipulate the plot line based on the choices their character makes.

Seriality:

The Game of Thrones narrative is currently broken up into five books, and three television seasons, each consisting of different episodes.

 

Subjectivity:

The books chapters are broken down by different characters. While the characters themselves do not narrate, we are able to see how each character is reacting to the same things that are going on in the universe.

Performance:

The internet offers so many opportunities for fans to participate in this transmedia franchise. While none of these have been invited by the creator, it doesn’t keep fans from participating. Perhaps the most popular fan performance is the “Game of Thrones 90s Version” fan trailer:

There is also Game of Thrones as a Sienfield Sitcom:

 

 

Affinity Space: The Bioshock Franchise

 

 

Here is my Affinity Space video done on the popular Bioshock video game series.