As this semester concludes, I have reflected on my journey of media analysis and creative storytelling. This process has allowed me to bridge the gap between my knowledge of technical media usage and narrative construction, which shows in my final project to explore the character of Kurapika from HunterxHunter.
My Final Story
You can read my narration and story creation here: Final Story: The Mystery of Kurapika.
In this final story, I put my efforts to weave together written storytelling with various forms of media, including:
- Original Backstory and After Story: I crafted an original origin story for Kurapika, imagining his life as an orphan before his canon events. Than after all of the cannon event concludes, I created a story of his life based on what I know about the character for an after story.
- Audio & Visual Integration: The narrative i chose is supported by a audio track that explores his themes, video clips depicting his canonical struggles, and collected official and fan art to help visualize his unseen “after story”.
Semester Reflection
- What I Learned: This semester taught me how to approach media through a critical lens, using methods and ideas from those of Roger Ebert to deconstruct film, while also mastering the fundamental building blocks of using audio tell stories. I also used inspiration from other student examples from the audio, visual, and video assignments to understand further on how to expand my creations.
- What I Would Do Differently: If I were to retake this course, I would have an even greater emphasis on the process of drafting and refining multimedia components of the assignments and lessons. This is so I can ensure the audio and visual elements feel as deeply integrated as the text.
- Most Exciting Project: While the final narrative felt rewarding, the most exciting project for me was the photography-based “Design Blitz.” It pushed me to think about and apply principles like minimalism, rhythm, and symmetry to real world environments and photo which fundamentally changed how I view visual storytelling.