For my Hypertext project I wanted to do something a little different, something that didn't follow the traditional hypertext rules. So I made a webpage about an organization that builds custom animals.
I had fun with this project because I think it shows what one can accomplish with marginal talent and the ability to steal pictures off the Internet. I plan to add more to it later like an actual order system and more pictures of the custom pets.
Hypertext Writing Assignment
Spiders
Electric Sheep Comix is a web comic spawned by Patrick Farley. I was going to write a big introduction on Patrick Farley, but there isn’t really that much information on the web about him. So, I guess writing an introduction about him would be the same as writing an introduction about me. The one difference being that he’s actually created something worth while.
There are several individual comics that are a part of Electric Sheep, but the one that I focused on was “Spiders”. This comic is framed around the idea that the
The interface of Spiders is one of the key parts of the comic. When I clicked on the first part of Spiders I was brought to a page with images and voice bubbles, much like a traditional comic. The unique part about Spiders is that the comic scrolls from side to side instead of from top to bottom. This interface of side scrolling functions differently from a traditional webpage. When I use the web I’m used to scrolling up and down to access information. Spiders shakes this up by forcing the reader to scroll from side to side over the length of the comic.
The images and speech bubbles work well with this side-scrolling interface. The structure of the images keeps the reader moving from one to another. I found that since the images were all in box format and close to each other, I could easily jump to the next image and keep the story flowing. This structure is kept pretty consistent for the rest of the comic. In some parts there is a row of boxes on the top of the screen and a second row on the bottom of the screen. When the reader side scrolls through the comic, these two rows of boxes synch up on top of each other. This makes it very easy to see that the stuff happening in the top row of boxes is happening somewhere else, but is also happening at the same time as the stuff in the bottom row of boxes. It was easy for me to keep track of what was going on because I could stop scrolling and read the bottom row and then the top row or vice versa. I found that this structure cut down on confusion even with two rows of action occurring.
The most interesting part of Spiders is the way images are used throughout the comic. Being a comic, Spiders pretty much relies on clear, bold images to tell the story. The difference between regular comic images and the images in Spiders, is that Patrick Farley has incorporated animation features into some of the images. For example, in the first part of Spiders there is an image of a robotic spider near the end of the strip. The interesting part about this image is that the light on the spider is flashing green. This is something that can only be done with comics on the web. A traditional print comic is just on paper and can’t include moving graphics.
Images are also used in an interesting way during the second part of Spiders. The premise of Spiders allows Patrick to add a portion in the middle of the comic that mimics a website posting with screenshots from the actual spider robots. Some of these images have static distortion on them to represent distortion when the spiders originally took the shots. I think this is important to the overall idea of the comic. This static distortion works well with the idea that the images were taken and transmitted across the Internet. This is something that could be done with a traditional paper comic, but the distortion idea works so well with the idea of the Spiders that I thought it was worth mentioning.
The writing in Spiders functions as a traditional linear story. The separate parts are individually accessible and can be read out of order, but I think the experience would be confusing given the pretty traditional way that Patrick tells the story. There are references in later parts of the story to characters and situations that are in the earlier parts of the comic. I think the most successful part of Spiders writing wise is the use of humor to tell the story. For example, the first part of Spiders deals with a Taliban officer attacking a group of Arab women who are taking the food from supply balls dropped by US Army. He makes a comment to his partner that, “police work is ninety percent theatrics.” Later in the comic there are many other places that humor is used. There’s a part in the comic where a real life and death situation is occurring. This is also the part of the comic that is presented in captured screenshots from the spider robots. These screenshots are posted on a fake website, and the owner of this website is commenting on the screenshots as the life and death situation unfolds through them. At one point, a female refugee and another character are about to kiss. The next screenshot is missing from the posting due to interference when the shot was originally taken, but the web site owner wants to know what is happening. He says, “What happened here??? Did she kiss him? Unfortunately I don't have another screenshot of this moment.” This adds a touch of humor since the comment is very MTV gossipy and is also taking place when people are losing their lives. It is so crazy that it is funny.
Spiders is a worth while read as well as an example of comics on the Internet. I sometimes find that works like Spiders deliver on the cutting edge of technology, but fall short on the idea and the story. Spiders has a very readable story and this is what makes it accessible to readers. The other fancy stuff is just gravy.
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This is the first introduction I’ve ever written. I want to start off with that information out in the open. This way you won’t have any sort of expectation while you read this. This takes a lot of pressure off me. I no longer have to impress you, entertain you, or keep you from writing an angry letter to the editor. All I have to do is put sentences together and, maybe, indent my paragraphs. If you get to the end of this introduction and you’re thoroughly disgusted, it’s not like I didn’t warn you. But you might get to the end, look up from the page, and lean over to your spouse, partner, friend, or loved-one and say, “this guy’s introduction wasn’t half bad.” If that happens, let me know and maybe I’ll write another one sometime.
This is a book of creative writing, though the “creative” part is debatable. No one is claiming that I didn’t create the articles and rants filling the next bunch of pages, but the word “creative” leads people to believe that the work in question is good. In fact, in creative writing classes across the country, right now, there are professors telling their students to never degrade personal work. See, it isn’t ok for a student to, right before she reads her newest short story out loud, tell the class that said story was written in a half an hour after sixteen bong hits. Well, I don’t have that much self-control. Some of what you are about to read isn’t very good. I’m not ashamed of that. Hell, I’ll put anything in a book – I tried to get the publishing company to dedicate the last half to napkins I’ve signed. But I do think that most of what you are about to read is amusing in some sense, and that’s better than nothing.
Actually, I guess you could say that most of this book’s content was written with “amusing” in mind. Whenever I write anything, I try to make sure that at least I enjoy it. It doesn’t need to flow or make logical sense; it just has to make me smile a couple times. Do you think that’s a low barometer for success? Maybe, but I’m not much for barometers.
What I’m getting at is that if I find something funny, there’s a good chance you’ll find it funny too. Look, there’s no point arguing, I looked it up on the Internet. And besides, you’re still reading my introduction – the introduction that I already warned you about. So how’s bout a couple more hit or miss pieces of writing.
These articles are early freelance assignments that range from video game reviews to digital commentary. I review game demos. I talk about spyware. I’m unpredictable – like tornados. I bet you can taste the excitement. Here’s a tip, brush your teeth before you go to bed unless you want your partner, spouse, loved one, to taste the excitement too. Second-hand excitement is in the same food group as battery acid.
I’ll leave you with a story. I wrote my first freelance articles for a website dedicated to the Real Time Strategy game Warcraft 3. I happened across the site while looking for replays of professional gamers playing the game. I thought that by watching these people play I could learn enough to stop losing when I played people on the Internet. When I got to the website, I noticed that the staff was hiring an article writer. So I applied. I wrote three or four articles before the site got sold off and dissolved. Since I really knew nothing about successful game play or strategy, I had to be creative and (I hope) funny so that the website’s community didn’t light torches and call me a hack. I just tried to amuse myself and put a spin on everything I wrote. And it worked. Most of the time those people had no idea that I had no idea. I’ve been working off this strategy ever since.
