Unmasking Second Life

I can be my own worst enemy at times, especially when it comes to taking on new forms of media. What is so difficult and challenging about learning new media challenges? I'm a CIT major for crying out loud. A part of me loves it and another part of me...the unsteady, unsure and unconfident part of me dreads it...Why?

The only thing I can think of is - FEAR. Fear is my true enemy. Fear makes me freak out over something as simple as learning a new technology. Why? Fear of the unknown, fear of failure...fear of screwing something up? I have learned that the best way I deal with my fear of something is to just say: "Screw it! And just do it and learn it."

This is exactly what has happened with me and my introduction to Second Life. When Second Life was brought up in class, I had NO idea what it even was. I had to go home and look it up on google. An online participation game through an avatar living basically a "second life" for me. Hmmm...interesting and yet scary at the same time.

I don't play video games...at least not since we had the Atari and a Sega Genesis. The last video games I remember playing were Frogger and Q-Bert and Donkey Kong. My younger brother had the Sega and the Nintendo growing up - not me. We got PONG for Christmas one year - which I believe is probably still in my parents' attic somewhere. So, the thought of learning to play a character participation game like Second Life initially scared me. But, I decided to say "Screw it! I'm learning to play Second Life!"

I am beginning to get the hang of playing SL now. It has taken me a week or so just to learn the basics from the tutorial. While choosing my avatar, I was reminded of Glassner's idea of a "living mask"(375). In designing my avatar, I was essentially creating a virtual version of my character Becca Akroyd...my living mask so to speak. I was choosing my height, my weight, my body type, and eye color.

I initially chose my avatar to look like the Girl Next Door. I think I chose this av because it felt safe. It was more comfortable for me to look like an average person during my introduction to the game. I was a bit self conscious about looking too wild or crazy; but now that I am understanding more and more about living in the Second Life world, I have a feeling my originally chosen "safe" girl next door avatar look is about to change.

In Thursday's class, we were given our first SL assignment. During the course of the class period, we were to sign on to SL and meet new people, mingle and interact with them in SL. Also, we had to interview a person about their avatar.

I went to Hanjo. While I was walking around, I was approached by a female av named Jet Good. She immediately said "Hi! How are you?" We began to chat and I informed her I was actually playing SL while in a college classroom. Jet Good was intrigued by this and began asking me questions. She asked "Where are you in school?" and "What class dares to play SL for homework?"

I informed Jet Good that I was in Macon, GA and she told me she was in Amsterdam. When I asked what she was doing up so late, she laughed and replied that she always stays up late and that she was waiting up for her boyfriend who was out buying some pot.

I asked Jet Good if I could interview her about her avatar and her SL experience and if I could also get her permission to take her picture for my assignment. Jet Good said "Sure, why not?"

First of all, I asked Jet Good how long she had been playing SL. Jet Good replied that she had joined SL about 10 months ago and that it took her about the first 3 months to actually get into playing. Jet Good said she knew friends who played and were addicted to it.

When asked about the look of her avatar, Jet Good laughed and said she did not enter the game looking like she looks now. Like me, she initially chose a fairly simple and plain avatar. She said that she could tell from the look of my avatar that I was probably new to the game (because at the time I was wearing no extras like jewelry, hats, skin textures or tattoos).

Jet Good asked if I would like to join her at ALOHAS, which is where she works as a beach club manager. Also, she works at the bar a few nights a week where she makes enough money in tips to help pay the rent for her house on the beach. She also told me her SL boyfriend is a club DJ at ALOHA.

Jet Good teleported me into ALOHA. The Club was hopping. Avatars were dancing and hanging out at the bar. Jet Good showed me how avatars can touch the big disco ball above the bar and join in the dancing.

While we were dancing, I asked Jet Good what she thought of my avatar. She said it was nice, but plain. I laughed and explained that I chose the "safe" look of the girl next door. Jet Good told me she experimented with changing her look over the course of a couple of months and it would probably take some time for me to perfect my look as well.

She offered to take me shopping for free stuff around the bar. So, we walked around. She gave the grand tour of ALOHA and we went shopping together! How cool! I picked up a couple of free t-shirts and a new pair of jeans, which I put on. Then, Jet Good showed me where to get free jewelry. I chose a sparkly silver necklace that says "aloha" on it.

All in all, I would have to say I had a positive experience with my first Second Life assignment. The assignment definitely forced me to interact with people. I have been hanging out in ALOHA since then. On Saturday afternoon there was a dance party. Jet Good also sent me an invitation to the Disco Inferno Roller Disco party on Saturday, October 27 between 12-2am. From what I understand, it is a big Halloween party where you can come dressed in costume. I'm not a big fan of disco, but I plan to check it out anyway!

Interactive Storytelling at the Georgia State Fair

Glassner writes that "Audiences enter a storytelling experience in many different states of mind(93)." So, for my digital story, I decided to engage my audience with a trip to the Georgia State Fair. I felt that most of the audience would be able to relate to attending a state fair. I knew I could get interesting shots of the fair and encorporate them into my project.

The last time I had visited the Georgia State Fair was when I was in high school in the late 1980's. I am not sure I have been to a fair since then. I can't recall attending a single fair in the twelve plus years I lived in Los Angeles. So, I not only looked at a trip to the fair as a project topic, I looked at it as an adventure.

It's funny the reactions I got from people when I informed them I was going to the fair to take photos and video for my digital story project. Reactions I got ranged from "You'll see a lot of fights" to "Be sure and take a guy with you" to "Make sure you leave before it gets dark." Wow! I was immediately intrigued. What goes on after dark at the fair in downtown Macon? Well, as I learned from my experiences in shooting "Fair Night", not a lot really goes on at the fair on a Wednesday night. I'm still not sure why I got the sketchy reactions from everyone. If I had found crime and chaos at the fair, then I might have been a bit more understanding of the reactions and comments.

Nick and I packed up my cameras on a Wednesday night and drove to the fair. We arrived at 6:30pm. From the moment we stepped up to the ticket booth, I was overwhelmed by sights, sounds and the smells of the Georgia State Fair. I knew this would be an interesting subject for my story.

In structuring my digital story, I kept in mind Glassner's idea that "A story follows an interesting protagonist seeking a clear goal by addressing an ever-escalating set of difficulties(36)." The protagonist of my digital story is my boyfriend Nick. He was actually a very good sport about being in my story. He was open to anything I wanted to photograph him doing at the fair. I concentrated on the fair experience...the food, the carnival games and rides. (It also helped that there was a food stall everywhere you looked. So, when crankiness did set in with my protagonist, I could appease him with the occasional corn dog or flesh of some dead animal on a stick.)

I enjoy the photography process. I have worked on my own short film and video projects before. I have a small, independent film production company with my friend who is a director. I have been mainly invloved in the actual producing side of storytelling with those projects. I have essentially produced them, secured financing, crews, equipment. I have never been the director behind the camera. So, I enjoyed the freedom of taking the shots myself and getting to edit them the way I thought was best.

Overall, I enjoyed putting together my digital fair story. I like the idea of combining photographs and images to tell a story. I am also taking Mrs. Chalfa's Digital Storytelling class this semester. We are in the process of writing a script, collecting images and creating a digital story about change for that class. So, I feel that reading Glassner's techniques on interactive storytelling has allowed me a solid knowledge and foundation for digital storytelling with my Fair Night project.