Digital Storytelling: An Interactive Adventure.

For this task I worked with classmate Dan to produce a choose-your-own-adventure, non-linear youtube video. We were inspired by this blogpost which puts into words a girls struggle when forced to choose between two men: one representing time and the other money. Dan and I reconfigured the storyline, stylising it to have a more comical, satirical feel. We decided that three videos would be produced: one whIch introduces the storyline and then at the end of that video two annotations would appear which link to another video, continuing and concluding the story in the way which the viewer decided.

We filmed and edited the whole thing in one evening and given the time constraints, the outcome was fairly good (if you ignore the fact that my acting skills make Kirsten Stewart look outstanding).

We took note of the various digital stories we had researched, and tried out something new. Neither of us had produced a non-linear YouTube video before.

We both promoted the video on our personal FaceBook pages and on Twitter (using the #netmed hashtag). Internet fame here we come!

 

Splendour in the Grass recap

I just got home from Splendour in the Grass!

… Like 9 days ago (Yes, I know I fail at blogging). But, to be fair, as soon as I returned I contracted a horrible flu.

For those who don’t know, Splendour in the Grass is a Music and Arts festival that goes for a duration of 3 days in Byron Bay, NSW. This was this years lineup. Amazing, huh!?

I went with two of my biffs: G and S. We stayed in an apartment because we missed out on camping tickets. The weather was almost unbearably freezing at times so we were quietly thankful for that. Each day we caught the shuttle bus from town to the fields where the festival was held, making some short-term friends on the way.

My favorite acts of Day 1 were Kate Miller-Heidke, The Shins and Jack White. The quality of the music was superb but I longed to be tossed around in a mosh-pit and day 1 definitely did not deliver on that front. We had a pretty good spot for The Shins, smack-bam in the middle of the crowd but nobody was moving. And I have the lack of bruises to prove it. I looked around at the crowd and everyone was so mellow. Just casually swaying back and forth to this amazing band. The random wofts of marijuana probably explains that.
For a duration of about 15 minutes on day one, it was absolutely pissing down with rain. It was literally coming down in sheets. All traces of grass turned to mud and from then on in, the festival was referred to as: “Splendour in the Mud”.

My mates and I decided to get our pre-drinks on for day 2. This meant that we arrived at the festival late afternoon rather than midday. There were a few clouds in the sky, but overall the weather was fairly nice. Mud and puddles were still very evident. S nearly pulled a sickie due to over-inebriation. G and I found this quite hilarious.
We got mad spots for Jinja Safari and The Beautiful Girls. At the end of Jinja Safari’s set, the keyboardist jumped into the crowd. I got a nice grope of his hair.
S, G and I then decided to chill out and have lunch. Lunch and ciders. Festival food really is delicious.
After lunch we went our separate ways because I wanted to see 360 and nobody else did. So worth it though! He absolutely killed it. On the mosh front, 360 definitely delivered. At the beginning of his set I was about 7 meters away from the stage and by the end of it I was nearly at the front of the mosh pit. So good.
Day 2 came to a close with Bloc Party and late-night-kebabs (that’s not the name of a band, we actually got kebabs on our way back to the apartment).

Day 3 was my favorite day. We arrived fairly inebriated (and managed to sneak in a goon sack in S’s hood). A stand-out band of the day for me were Ball Park Music. I had never heard their stuff before but as soon as the frontman emerged into the mosh-pit mid-song, I fell in love. S and G then went to see another act but I stayed put because one of my favorite band’s were about to play. Fun. were too amazing for words! they definitely live up to their name. Other highlights of the day include Missy Higgins, The Kooks and Electric Guest.

Overall, despite the mud, rain and cold, Spendour in the Grass was a fantastic experience. I definitely got my moneys worth and would consider returning next year. I slept on the flight back and as soon as I got home I bought a bunch of albums and then went straight to bed. It feels as though I’m only kind of waking up now, 9 days later.

Unfortunately my shoes did not survive the weekend.

Moral of the weekend is: If you jump in the mosh, I’m probably going to buy your album.

Semester has Begun!

Simultaneously working a part time job and studying a degree means that I never really get a break. Right this instance I feel as though I am not awake nor asleep.

When I finished high school, there were mere weeks between graduation and the commencement of a full-time summer job. This was where I got my first taste of what it felt like to be hungover and at work. That means I’m a woman now, right?!
I tend to forget that I actually do work fairly hard. It’s probably because my current job is so un-fulfilling. Hashtag university pains. Hashtag I’ve got to stop ‘hastagging’ outside twitter.

So this semester I’m studying Networked media, Broadcast media, Authorship and Narrative in Cinema, and Communication Technologies. I’m quite excited.
I’ve also enrolled into studying  a Diploma of Languages on top of my degree. I’m learning Spanish! Actually, this semester is more of a test run kind of thing. It’s something I’ve never really done before so I could possibly hate it but then again if I could speak Spanish… Woah… the mind wanders. I’m getting a travel boner just thinking about it.

So, if all goes well… In three years time I will have a Degree, a Diploma and just enough money to buy a ticket around the world.

1 more week till I head to Byron Bay for Spledour in the Grass!!

A Week in the Life of Me: Day 7- Tuesday

Woke up at like 5.50AM. Browsed twitter for a bit. Went back to sleep.

Got up at about 10AM for work at 12. Work was BORING!

The Avengers has been in cinemas for ages now. Today I noticed that there are a lot of nice butts in that movie. Someone should make a montage of all the butts in the Avengers. There are seriously so many closeup shots of sexy, athletic, superhero butts!

I’m yet to start watching the current season of True Blood. I forgot it had returned for a while. It’s kind of a good thing though because True Blood episodes are more enjoyable when watched back to back (I don’t handle suspense well).

Was contemplating hitting up a bar with the friends tonight but I chose to wash my hair and watch T.V instead. Work is draining me!!

So this has been 7 days in the life of me. Just an ordinary, average, boring, mostly disappointing week. Sadly, the most exciting thing that happened to me was getting my wallet stolen at a nightclub. Such is life I guess!

Looking back at the lack of action and un-productiveness (that’s not a word) I’ve kind of been inspired to be less lazy and make more of an effort to do something with my life. I need excitement! Excitement will be had!

Soon.

A Week in the Life of Me: Day 5- Sunday

I slept through most of the day again because I was up all night last night watching The Glee Project (awesome show by the way… so trashy and over-dramatic. It’s better than glee I reckon).

I’ve been playing guitar for a while so I had a bit of a solo jam in my bedroom this afternoon. I thought maybe I might try to sing and see what happens because YOLO… right? I whipped out le trusty MacBook Pro and recorded myself on photo booth. Turns out I can’t sing LOL.

I got my work roster for this week and I have a shift everyday. Not happy. Now I’m in a bad mood. Hmph. Short sentences reaffirm my dissatisfaction.

These are some of the reasons I dislike work:
-I’m not allowed to wear nail polish
-My uniform consists of tailored pants and a flared, three quarter length shirt (what is this… the 70s?)
-I have to wear my hair pinned back (I have bangs so pinning back my hair is difficult and unflattering)

Doing this “A Week in the Life of Me” thing has kind of induced a mild existential crisis. Usually, I don’t deeply consider the way I choose to live but now recounting my actions of each day I’m starting to question what exactly I’m doing with my life. Am I wasting time?

Looking back on the week so far (especially the past few days) I’ve not really done anything super productive. I feel like I need to write and create and learn more.

I’m contemplating going to New York City for a solo holiday next year. Maybe even for just a week or two. It’s a pipe dream of mine to obtain a social media internship while over there, but in the back of my head I know that an American company isn’t going to hire an Australian student (despite my charming accent and abilities to file things, enter data and hold multiple coffee cups)

Hmph.

So this is my Sunday.

A Week in the Life of me: Day 4- Saturday

Today I woke up at 1pm. Kinda embarrassing.

Bummed around the house for a couple hours, surfed the web, pumped some tunes etc.

Downloaded Missy Higgins new album… it’s quite wonderful.

Got dressed up and went to a friends gathering for her birthday. Was an early one for me on account of the cold weather and my lack of money.

That was my again, uneventful Saturday

A Week in the Life of Me: Day 3- Friday

Woke up this morning with a hangover and still suffering muscle aches from the other day’s gym workout. Ate some oats and a coffee. Mmm coffee.

Started work at noon and finished at 7. It was a fairly ordinary shift. Nothing interesting. There are a few movies out at the moment that I got a glimpse of that look good.

I was supposed to go to a 90s bar tonight with my mates but because my wallet got stolen yesterday and I had no money, plans had to be changed. Instead we went for an evening coffee and cake date. It was cute.

So that was my (uneventful) Friday.

 

A Week in the Life of Me: Day 2- Thursday

WARNING: this post will be infested with non-words such as ‘ugh’, ‘argh’ and ‘grr’ and will probably require a significant amount of attention if you wish to decode my verbose, inebriated ramblings.

I woke up this morning at about 11.30AM. Sleeping in was nice. My day consisted of getting an X-ray on my teeth, dropping by a friends place for coffee and then cosmetic shopping.

This evening my friends and I planned to go out clubbing. I hadn’t been for a long time so it seemed like a good idea. We were to meet at my friend’s house at 7.30pm. I spend the most part of my afternoon curling my hair with a straightening iron which by the way, is a near-impossible task. As the afternoon faded I begin to remember why I hadn’t been clubbing in so long.

It was raining outside so finding an appropriate outfit was not an easy task. My bedroom is an utter mess now, with clothes all over the floor. I decided to go with a skirt, tights and a jumper but it was still unbearably freezing outside. I wanted to cancel on my mates but the evening had been planned for a long time and we hadn’t gone out together for a while. The curls in my hair turned into matted frizz in no time. Pre-drinking with the girls was fun. I was in the comfort of a warm home, with nice music and good company.

The taxi arrived to drive us to the club. A friend and I acknowledged each others reluctance but we toughened up and got in the cab. Taxi ride was fun- we were just the right amount of drunk.
When we arrived at the club the line was awfully long. We walked all the way to the back of the line- still happy drunk- so we weren’t so bothered. Time passed us by and we were all busting for the bathroom. We saw the fun in the situation.

As we approached the front of the line we almost couldn’t contain our bladders. Then a bunch of sluts and douchebags cut in front of us and got let straight in. UGH. Exclusiveness makes me angry!
Finally, we got inside and because by that time it was after 11pm, WE HAD TO PAY THE FULL $20 ENTRY FEE. $20 is like one and a half hours of work for me. Rage.

We hit up the D-Floor for a few songs. So far so good… apart from the fact that my whole body was aching from yesterdays gym workout and I made the stupid decision to wear high heels. Also, the place was filled with rain-soaked people who were all up in everyone’s grill. All up in my grill.

We went to the upper floor, back to the lower floor, back to the upper floor, split up for a bit, met back up again. And then I noticed my wallet had been taken right out of my bag. What the fuck!?

I retraced my steps, hoping that it had fallen out and no-one had noticed. Upstairs, downstairs, back up again and then back down. It was nowhere. With all those people brushing past me, somebody must have stolen it. ARGH! I swore at one of the bouncers for a bit and then left the club. I did not want to be in that environment anymore. I left alone and stood in the pouring rain. Perfect.

I stood in the rain for a while before realizing that I’d have to catch a taxi back to my neighborhood alone. Luckily I had my new bank-card in my iPhone case so I’d be able to use that to pay for the fare. My night had turned to ruin so I asked my mother to pick me up halfway from the club to my house (to save about $15). I instructed the driver to pull over in a general location so I could get out and meet my mother there. I was yet to use my new debit card so I assumed that the pin code was the one that they had given me. I’m sure you can tell where this is going- the pin code was incorrect so I was unable to pay for the cab. Fuck. Mother didn’t have her wallet on her so I had to stay in the cab as he followed her car back to our house so we could collect the funds to reimburse him. I had a bit of a teary in the taxi on the way home.

When I got to my bedroom I was glad to be home but still filled with so much rage. I’ve decided that I absolutely hate nightclubs. They are so uncivilized and gross.

I was so angry at my handbag for not keeping my items secure that I ripped it apart. Woops.

I was so angry at my new debit card for not letting me access the funds that I grabbed a pair of scissors and cut it to bits. Woops.

Now I’m in bed, I’m still a bit inebriated but I’ve calmed down a bit.

To top off my pain, I have work tomorrow.

Hashtag first world problems.

So that was my Thursday.

A Week in the Life of Me: Day 1 – Wednesday

So I’m beginning to lose inspiration and every time I read my past posts I can’t help but cringe at my… cringyness. In an attempt to immerse myself into the wonderful world of WordPress and hopefully combat my writers block, for the next seven days I shall be posting about my day.
This could be boring for you.
This could be embarrassing for me.
However, I’ll try to keep the posts short and simple (just how I like my men… wait, what?).

I woke up at 9AM this morning for a dentist appointment. Oh golly, this is already bleak… Bare with me. 9AM is a pretty big deal for me on account of the fact that I’m a lazy teenager and it’s semester break and it’s cold outside (so naturally I’m quite the sloth).
I’ve decided I’m going to have my teeth whitened. This impulsive decision has made me realize that I spend money on the most peculiar things. I’m still kind of grieving over last months $200 haircut. I need to do some serious life-reassessments.

After the appointment, I met some ol’ pals for lunch. We sat down at a nice looking cafe and ordered water for the table. At a closer inspection of the menu, we discovered that pricing was way out of our league. By a good $10. So we made the combined decision to dash out, despite the fact that one of my friends went to high school with the waitress that had served us the water. Awkward.
Before we went our separate ways, I initiated a group hug (there were 3 of us) and didn’t let go for a good thirty seconds. I thoroughly enjoy making my friends feel embarrassed in public.

I had my runners (trainers, sneakers, gym shoes… whatever you’d like to call them) In my bag so I decided it would be an appropriate time to break my exercise drought and return to the gym once and for all. Plus, I have been getting repeated text messages from the gym reminding me of my laziness. I was going to take them up on the free personal training session offer and book an appointment after my workout today but there was a fairly attractive man behind the desk and I was afraid he’d judge me for being lazy. But then again… hot guy… he could potentially be the personal trainer… and the personal training session could end with some hands-on stretching. Okay, my mind is wandering now.
I went pretty hard at the gym and I’m going to be pissed if I don’t wake up tomorrow morning feeling the pang in my abs and arms. You know what they say… pain is weakness leaving the body.

This evening I babysat for a few hours so I got to watch some cake shows on pay TV. That was pretty sweet. When I got home I ate a pear and watched tonight’s episode of Offspring. (Offspring is an Australian comedy-drama centred around the life of an obstetrician, her awkward love life and her chaotic family. Maybe I’m biased, but it’s one of my favorite T.V shows at the moment… tears and laughter and the whole sh’bang are induced with each episode.)

So that was my Wednesday.

1, 2, 3, 4…

It’s 2.27AM, my footsies are cold and I can’t sleep. So I decided to type this, live from my bed on my iPhone. This means I probably won’t sleep for a while now. Damn iPhone!