E-paper- 1st Draft- Thoughts?

Here is the first draft of my interactive e-paper idea.  Let me know what you think.  What would you like to see there?  How can I improve the flow and interactivity of the paper?  Constructive criticism will be much appreciated.

Ophelia Drowning: Cleansing Herself of Social Roles on Prezi

Marionette and Hand Puppet...Complete!!!

Here is Ophelia, fully constructed.  Oliver decided to hang her up on the cupboard knob.

It was a lot harder to make her than we thought it would be.

Here is Hamlet, who Oliver thought was a king when he was forming the frame for him.  Who does not  love a fat future king for an antagonist?  :)

Hamlet in his black outfit (kind of looks like a black straight jacket, coincidence...maybe)

Ophelia with a fancy red dress

Close up

My awesome fiance- he worked hard

I think the paint fumes started to get to him.

Ophelia completed- Oliver was pretty happy about it.

Here she is!

Hamlet now has a face.

Now, we are about ready to perform and film.  These took a lot of work, but I am excited to perform the show.  I hope you will all enjoy it!

Searching for Celia Shirt

Here is my new Searching for Celia shirt.  :)  The designer, an animation major at BYU, happened to deliver it right when we finished constructing the marionette of Ophelia.  She laughed, said at that point it looked kind of like a voodoo doll, and then said she was impressed.  I am pretty impressed with it myself. My fiance was an amazing help; without him, it probably would not have turned out so well.  Thanks Oliver! :)

Marionette Theater- The Stage

This is kind of what I am thinking for my marionette theater.  What do you think?  Instead of wood, I will probably use a large cardboard box.

Puppets Controlling Other Puppets.....People Controlling Other People....

I have been trying to figure out how to get my idea of control by men over Ophelia's thoughts and actions in the play Hamlet and the idea of the controlled structure of the research paper to connect in some creative way.  My ideas led me to thinking of a way to create a puppet show, where the feeling of control and manipulation could really come through.  To really make my idea work, I was going to need a marionette to illustrate the idea of cutting the strings of control in order to experience freedom of movement and thinking.  However, trying to get a marionette to control another marionette seemed quite difficult.  This led me to the idea of making a hand puppet to control the marionette.  I have almost all of my supplies gathered to get started and will hopefully have the puppets finished tonight.  I have contacted two puppeteers telling them a bit about my idea and asking for any advice they may have for me.  We will see what happens, and I will keep you updated.

I Won a T-Shirt! I Won a T-Shirt! I Won a T-shirt a few days ago! Hey, Hey! :)

Last summer, my roommate and I were planning on going to a local battle of the bands competition at the Velour venue.  The day of the show, I was on campus when a band member from Searching for Celia, one of the bands competing, stopped me and told me about the band.  This sparked my interest.  I looked them up that day on the Internet (including a little Facebook stalking) to find out more about them.  As a result, I discovered that I loved their music.  Next, I looked them up on Reverbnation, a great social networking site for music.  You can read more about it in one of my past blog posts.  We went to the show and had a great time.  I have been to several of their shows since then.

On their Facebook page, they have asked several times for people to help advertise by posting about upcoming shows, which I have done on Facebook and Twitter.  Recently, they asked for help advertising once again, with the incentive of winning a free custom-made t-shirt.  I shared, and they announced me as the winner.  :)  I met with the artist designing my shirt, gave her my input, and will soon have an awesome Searching for Celia shirt that is one of a kind.  I will share a picture once I get the shirt. :)

Now, why would I share this experience?  Because so many useful connections can be made through contacting people through the Internet on social networking sites.  You never know what the outcome could be...a new friend, someone you can discuss your ideas with, a great band, a free custom t-shirt, or maybe even a pickle (for those of you who caught The Little Rascals reference made in the title of this post).  :)

My experience on Facebook has allowed me to keep in touch with friends, share messages about the gospel, and to talk to many prospective freshmen about my experience at BYU.  Twitter has allowed me to have a personal written response from a celebrity, Troy McClain, from the TV show, "The Apprentice," connect with people who are also interested in e-learning, and know what people I am interested in are currently thinking about.  Goodreads and Flixster allow me to see what my friends are reading and viewing.  Goodreads has also helped me find great reads that former classmates, teachers, and librarians have read, rated, or/and reviewed.  Reverbnation has helped me keep in touch with friends who have an interest in local music or are working on their own music.  I have also been able to explore the local music scene of both the Provo area and the music scene back home.

In regards to Ophelia and the issues of control and her suicide, I have found many social connections.  I was able to start a discussion on Goodreads (also here is a link to a discussion on Jane Eyre from last year), and I received comments on status posts on Facebook about Ophelia and the issue at hand.  These helped me to further develop ideas I had already had and to spark new thoughts on the subject of Ophelia.  The Internet is full of ideas, and just like Buckwheat, if you are willing to pay a small price by searching and putting yourself out on a limb by actually contacting others, you will be able to find great gems of knowledge through others online.

Making a Marionette

Trying to create a puppet show, especially one with marionettes, when you have never even participated in one before can be quite overwhelming.  Thankfully, I have a wonderful fiance (see picture on top right of my blog) who has volunteered to help me create them.  To start off, we have to learn how to make a marionette.  So I am watching videos on YouTube and am contacting professional puppeteers in order to gain some insight on how to accomplish this great task.  Here is one video below on how to make a marionette:

I will let you know more about how it is going as I go on the journey of creating a puppet show. :)