YouTube Spotlight: Anna Burden

Anna Burden's famous cover video

YouTube is a powerful tool and has been proven to be so numerous times. Amateur film makers or musicians are using YouTube to get their name out there  to a large audience. All for free.

Source: Anna Burden YouTube Channel

One artist that caught my attention as well as the attention of about 2 million other people is Anna Burden, an aspiring singer with some real talent. Check out the video above if you don't believe me.

This video has helped her gain the attention of people like Ellen and Ricki Lake. She is now in the band Day Trip with fellow musician Sam DeArmond. Both of them together make a great duo and I would be shocked if they don't go anywhere with their music.

One hell of a Bobby Brown Cover

Writing fictional interactive stories

An excerpt from "Gerald Fitzgerald" celtx.com

 

          This year one of my assignments was to write a script that was interactive for the reader or "user". The focus was on character transformation which was part of basic storytelling structure and "If/Then Moments" where the story branches out in two different directions. It started off pretty easy until I had to figure out a way to re join those branching routes back into one shared direction. 

     

          This was the point when story mapping came in handy. I learned that I really had to organize the basic story structure first in order to work out the dialogue. It's hard to write meaningful dialogue when you, the writer, don't even know where it's headed or what the conflict is. 

          If/Then writing is far more difficult than it seems but I found it satisfying when I was able to pull it off and make it seem believable. I would definitely like to continue this type of writing because of the many things it applies to in media. Video game writing for RPGs like Skyrim or Heavy Rain utilize this style of writing but it isn't perfect. Not yet. I hope to one day write a video game that deals with branching story lines that the player has a real effect on.

This changes everything!

 

Grand Theft Auto V trailer

          It's been a year since the announcement of this highly anticipated title and we finally have a second trailer. This time focusing on the narrative of the game and introducing the new protagonists in the Grand Theft Auto series.

          In Gameinformer's December issue they reveal a plethora of GTA V info through an exclusive interview. One of the most significant details to me was that there are 3 playable protagonists.

          Michael, Trevor, and Franklin will be playable and its the execution that excites me. You will be able to transition character to character seamlessly at the touch of button. The camera warps you to the next character and puts you in the middle of their current situation, whether it be driving a car or even just sitting by the pool. In terms of mission structure Rockstar has made it so that the player always has something to do by playing the roles of the three protagonists simultaneously.

Source: GameInformer digital magazine

          The new info brings up new questions. Are we just seeing the tip of the ice berg? This mammoth of a game is set to release in spring 2013.

Drive

          One of my favourite movies of 2011 was Nicolas Winding Refn's film adaptation of James Sallis' novel of the same name. Ryan Gosling was convincing as the silent protagonist with a mysterious past. The cinematography is amazing utilizing blue and orange contrast in pretty much every scene. To me this helps set the mood and is consistent in its execution.

Source: IMDB

          The video above is my edit of Drive into 5 minutes. Please watch and enjoy. Mahala.