Today we had one last in-class work day, as the remainder of our class periods will be dedicated to class presentations on our remix projects.

I continued to collect pictures to go along with the events that define Ross and Rachel that I have chosen to focus on. I found a new source I am going to use in my project, which is a blog that a Friends fan made that goes through the show, highlighting events in detail that relate to real life moments in her life. I think the concept behind the blog is really cool because Friends is full of real life events, lessons, and experiences that everyday people face because the show is centered around six adults in their early 30s who are just trying to figure their life out. Anyway, I know this source will be useful for me as I finish up my project this week.

I also began to work on my presentation by starting the slides so I can fill in more information later. My presentation is this Friday so I will need to be completely done with it no later than Thursday at midnight.

Why I Did It

As I mentioned, I was looking for more pictures to go along with my events so I could add a visual context to them and I found a new source to use that will be helpful. This new source also gave me some great caption ideas that I am sure would be close to what Ross said in those situations. I went through this blog to find as many pictures and quote/caption/fake tweet ideas that I could and I will continue to do so because I found this blogger/fan’s insight to be both entertaining, true, and helpful.

I started working on my presentation slides because I am presenting at the end of this week, so I know that in order to have a detailed presentation prepared I need to start now.

Since Wednesday’s class was spent giving and getting feedback on each other’s projects, I was able to use the feedback I received to better focus my project from now on. Based off of the helpful feedback I received, I have decided to narrow my project’s focus even further by remixing the story of Ross and Rachel into Ross’ perspective on the story. I think that if social media was around during the time of the show’s original filming and airing that Ross would’ve been more likely to use social media as an outlet for his thoughts and emotions. I feel like Ross would’ve taken full advantage of posting status updates and tweeting his thoughts on people and situations, especially his love life.

Today, I spent class time making statuses and tweets from Ross’ perspective, based on the major events of his relationship with Rachel (and also some of his other major relationship events). I then took screenshots of the statuses I made so that I will be able to incorporate them into the project easily.

Why I Did It

I have chosen to narrow my project down to Ross’ perspective on events that occur because it was suggested by one of my peer reviewers, it will save me some time in the amount of time I have left before my presentation date, and also because I think it will make for a more entertaining and less overwhelming project for my audience. As I said, I really believe that Ross would be more likely to use social media as an emotional outlet more so than Rachel would’ve. I think Rachel would’ve had difficulty figuring out how to use the the technology of the sites, so she would just give up and vent to Monica and Phoebe about her emotions and what’s going right and wrong in her life and relationships.

As I began to make fake statuses and tweets, I thought about what Ross would’ve said in situations, keeping in mind his thought process and some of his quotes during the show. I made sure to take screenshots of the statuses I made.

Today in class, I began to draw out an outline for my timeline of Ross and Rachel. I decided to do this on paper and pencil so that it is easy for me to visually see the order of events. I have not completely narrowed down the events that I will be using, but today I got a good idea of the major ones I need to include in order to make an accurate portrayal of the long, complicated history of the relationship between the two characters.

Why I Did It

I created the outline/storyboard in order to give myself a visual of what my timeline is going to look like. While the events will be in a different format of course and I will be adding pictures, it was beneficial for me to see what I want to include.

Below is a picture of the storyboard that I created for myself to follow. While I am using a few more events than I have included, the storyboard provides a good indication of the timeline I am portraying.

The two people that reviewed my project really liked my ideas and the story that I am remixing. They are both fans of Friends, so they were able to give me some helpful feedback on how I should recreate the story of Ross and Rachel. They suggested that I narrow down my topic even further than just focusing on Ross and Rachel by just focusing on Ross and making the remix from his perspective. I really like their suggestion because I think that will make the remix even easier to complete in the time that I have left before the deadline. I also think that narrowing down my remix to just Ross’ perspective will be more entertaining and less overwhelming for the audience.

My Revision Plan 

Since I am now planning to focus my remix on Ross and his point of view (as well as focusing on the story of Ross and Rachel), I have a much better idea of the format I am using. I think that Ross would’ve been a social media guru if they had had social media during the time that Friends was filming, so I am going to use a fake facebook (fakebook) and a fake twitter (LemmeTweetThatForYou) to portray some of Ross’ emotions about the major relationship events that happen to him throughout the show. While I am going to narrow my focus on Ross and Rachel’s story, it is hard not to include some of the other significant others that come into the picture during the show as well, in order to fully represent the story.

I plan to use the events from the outline that I made and add pictures to go along with those events, as well as have status updates from Ross as “captions” to those major events.

I am excited about my revision plan; I got some helpful feedback, so I think my remix will be much more doable and less overwhelming for both me and my audience!

Today we started class by signing up to present our projects, which will start next Wednesday. I will be presenting my project 4, the remix of Ross and Rachel, next Friday May 1. I am excited to show everyone else in the class what I have been working on, but I know that I have a lot of work left to do before I can present.

After signing up for presentations, I spent the rest of class continuing to look for and collect pictures to include in my project as well as making some tweets from one of the fake twitter sites Professor Gardner provided us with.

Why I Did It

I spent today’s class looking for pictures because I need to have at least one picture to accompany each major event and each status that I have from fake twitter and facebook. The pictures serve the purpose of providing a visual component to the project, but to also provide some context and visual background to the audience members who are not familiar with the Friends.

In addition to collecting pictures, I spent my time making status updates because I think they will be an important, funny component to the project. I know that the the characters from Friends would’ve used social media frequently if it had been around during the time of the show, so I want to use statuses and tweets as part of my remix.

Since last class, I have been working on collecting pictures to go along with the major events that define Ross and Rachel’s relationship that I have decided to focus my project on. I have also been thinking about the best way to document and present my project, as well as my citations. My method of presentation will be important because it needs to be appropriate for my project’s genre.

Why I Did It

I spent some time looking for pictures because I would like to incorporate social media into my project, but in order to provide context to members of the audience who might not be familiar with the show or the storyline, I need to include visual components. The pictures will be a key aspect to my project, as they will provide visual background and make it easier to understand the meaning behind the social media status updates.

Project Format

I am still thinking about the most appropriate format for my project, but it will likely be in the form of a visual timeline or just in the form of a blog page. My project consists of retelling the major events of the relationship between Ross and Rachel, the two major characters in the show Friends. Their story is obviously chronological, so I will most likely use my blog to display pictures and status updates from fake social media accounts that I am making.

Documenting my Sources and Assets

In order to keep track of all of the sources and assets that I am using throughout my project, I have been taking screenshots of pictures and a list of the links to the website pages that I have found my information from. Since I am remixing part of a tv show, most of the quotes I use will come from the show and the pictures will come from other sources, but the original source is Friends. I know it is important to keep track of all my sources as soon as I use them and not rely on them still being available at a later time, so I have made sure to take screenshots and document them initially.

I am still trying to figure out which method I will use to present my citations so that it fits my project’s format and is creative at the same time. My project is not a video, so I cannot present the citations like in a credits format, although I would like to present them in a way that is just as creative. Going along with the social media that I am using, I may have status updates at the end of my project in which there is a status that presents each citation. As I said, I am still in the process of deciding the method I will use for presenting these citations, but I have already begun to document them.

For my remix project, which I am focusing on the story of Ross and Rachel from the Friends tv show, I will be working this week on creating fake social media accounts as part of my remixed story. Professor Gardner showed us in class the links to several different sites to create fake facebook, twitter, and instagram sites. In class today, I looked at some of the different options for fake facebook and twitter.

I need to narrow down the different points that I want to cover in my remix because I cannot talk about every moment or event that occurs between Ross and Rachel.

I also plan to spend some time this week collecting photos and quotes that feature the two characters so that I will have a good amount to choose from and use in my remix.

Why I Did It

I began to look at different options for fake social media accounts so that I can get an idea of which one I want to use to display my remix. By the end of this week, I want to have a firm plan of which site I am using for my fake accounts.

I attempted to narrow down the different major events that I want to be sure to cover so that I can hopefully have those also firmly planned out by the end of this week. I need to be sure of the events I am featuring because in a 10 season show, there are obviously many events that occur between the two characters.

Just like with narrowing down the major events, I aim to get most of my photos and quotes collected this week or the beginning of next week so that I can match those with the different events they correspond with. The show has many memorable quotes and scenes, especially between Ross and Rachel and I want to be sure to cover as many as I can.

For project 4, Remix a Story, I am choosing to remix one of the main plots of the tv show Friends.

Since Friends is 10 seasons long, it would be nearly impossible for me to remix the entire show. Therefore, I am focusing my remix on the story of Ross and Rachel, one of the main couples that the show is centered around.

Genre/Format of the Remix

I would like to use memes and other graphics like gifs to illustrate the history and timeline of Ross and Rachel’s relationship. I really like the idea of a photo essay with cool captions, such as memes and gifs. I am still not entirely sure of the format for my remix, but I would definitely like to use photos to illustrate their story. I just need to find an especially creative way to show the timeline and major events that happen throughout their history as friends and as significant others. I am definitely going to compile a list of funny quotes that Ross and Rachel say throughout the show to illustrate the different stages of their relationship and the dynamic that they share.

Bibliographical Citations

I googled “timeline of Ross and Rachel” and one of the results that came up was actually a prezi that someone created called, “timeline of Ross Geller and Rachel Green” which is pretty cool and I will definitely look to for inspiration.

https://prezi.com/ettmen_1-nbk/timeline-of-ross-and-rachel/

Another source that I have found is a fan page on which a fan of the show posted their interpretation of Ross and Rachel’s history and relationship. I will use this for a little more guidance on some of the details I want to include.

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/friends/articles/5514/title/ross-rachel-from-beginning-till-end

A third source I will use is wikipedia, because there are several articles on wikipedia that provide in depth analysis of Ross and Rachel’s relationship, as the show went on for 10 years and became an icon that helped to define a generation of tv.

Conclusion

I am still working through the details of what my remix project will entail, but I have a good idea of what I am focusing on, I just need to iron out the format details of how I am going to present the remix.

What Makes a Good Remix

There are several different characteristics that make up a good remix, as can be seen in both the assignment and in the examples of remixes that other students have already completed. First and foremost, a remix has to use several different modes of communication all at once, rather than just the original linguistic like the original story. Second, it is important that the remix version is in a new format or genre than the original story. If most of the details of the story stay the same or the format doesn’t change, it is not a true remix. When a written story turns into a musical or a horror story turns into a comedy with the same basic plot, those are true remixes. Finally, I think that creativity is a huge part of what makes a good remix! If the remix is basically the same as the original story but just tweaked a little, people are not going to enjoy or appreciate the new version.

What Makes a Good Digital Story

Based on the 12 examples of past projects, I think that The Hunger Games, Time Magazine Edition and also Around the World in 80 Days both did the best jobs at digitizing their original stories into different genres. I think these two were my favorites because The Hunger Games remix looks so real, just like it could be an actual issue of Time magazine. The author used creativity to remix the original version of The Hunger Games into a new genre in the form of a magazine and transformed the story into a completely different version, which is the whole idea behind a remix. I also really liked the Around the World in 80 Days remix because the author incorporated several different versions of the story into her remix- the original novel, the original film version of the novel, and Disney’s remake of the story. The author told the story using historical pictures from the time the novel was written and then also used pictures from both movie versions of the story, so we are able to see how different actors have portrayed the story as well. Overall, I thought that the author’s remix was very well done from a creativity aspect as well as a multimodal aspect. I enjoyed looking at all the examples, but these two stuck especially stuck out to me.

Stories I Am Considering 

When brainstorming possible stories that I could use as the basis for my remix, some movies and tv shows come to mind, but not many stories. I love the show Friends, so if I could use an episode or storyline within the show as a basis for my remix, that would be really cool! I also think it would be fun to do a remix of the movie Mean Girls in some way. As a kid, I read all of the American Girl Doll stories and many of those were made into movies, so a remix of one of those might be fun to do as well. Friends and Mean Girls would likely be the most appealing to people in my generation, as those are two big pop culture icons. It would be fun to choose one of the American Girl Dolls though because many of the girls in my generation grew up playing with the dolls, reading the books, and watching the movies just like I did.

Those are three of the “stories” that I am considering for this project, though I am still brainstorming before I make my final decision for what my remix will be based on.

The interface that I can most see myself actually using is Kim’s interface, Thematic, which is a photography based interface that is similar to Instagram. I use Instagram very frequently, so I can definitely picture myself using Thematic a lot as well. Kim said that the biggest difference between Thematic and Instagram is that with Thematic you can use photos to tell a story instead of just posting one photo at a time. I think I would really like to use Thematic, so I definitely think I will try it out and see how I like it!