gosh this uploading of photos thing took me a whole afternoon thanks to my ultra slow comp. i'll upload more later if my comp lets me.

1. In his paper “Modular Structure and Image/Text Sequences: Comics and Interactive Media”, George Legrady states: “Meaning in the interactive work is a result of the sequential selection of components that the viewer assembles in the viewing process. The viewer can then be considered as someone who actively constructs the narrative through the assembling of fragmented or modular information elements. The sequential sum of viewed selections becomes the narrative.” This approach to interactivity is reflected in his work Slippery Traces.
Discuss how this approach to constructing a narrative changes the roles of the reader and the author in the process of narrative transmission.

I believe what narratives like comics can do which other narratives(eg. novels etc) may not be as good at is allowing readers to play a part in constructing the narrative. By filling in the gaps between frames, the reader is intepreting what could possibly be happening. This intepretation may or may not be different from what the author intended, and the author can't be there to tell the reader whether or not he is on the right track.

Using the example of the most simplified comic strip containing 2 frames of Carl telling his mother that he won't drink and drive, and later showing a tomb stone, one could make a multitude of intepretations as to why he died, which would most likely, at some stage, be different from the 52 complete slides shown. This would make every reader's experience different.

Because of this, I think it is even more crucial than usual for authors/artists to think of the best possible way to represent their thoughts so as to put across their intended meaning. However, the author's role later diminishes in the reader's intepretation of the text.

2. Choose a set of 5-10 images that you feel form a narrative. If they are not digital images, scan them into the computer (there’s a scanner available in the USP multimedia lab). Arrange them in a linear sequence on your blog. You may or may not want to include text captions with each image.Bring a physical copy of your images to class on Thursday. We’ll be using them as part of an in-class exercise.



3. Write about the narrative that your group has chosen for project 1. Why have you chosen this work? How might you approach the task of re-configuring it as an interactive piece? Be prepared to discuss your group’s choice of work in class on Thursday.

We're doing a combination of a few fairytales. -to be continued-