jenhansenfullsail

[jenhansenfullsail]

This was published back in 2008. I’m happy to see it is still listed. Things for us have changed, but the sentiment that was there was honest. I gave it everything I had.

[jenhansenfullsail]

I am a writer.

 I write so I can live.

Because pixies, liars, vagabonds, and innocents

All

Have heartbreaks,

All

See beauty through their own eyes.

 Some love whom they see

In reflections, or dimensions,

 Or intangibles. 

 But I simply cannot live while they live

In my head.

 So I write.

 I release.

 I am a writer.

 ~ Jenny K. Gilman, M.F.A.

[jenhansenfullsail]

Thoughts on creating my brand:

It's apparent I have a lot going on. At times, I am certainly chaotic, but there is a beauty in chaos when you know how to hone it. As a group, I see the dark bringing out the light and the abstract strokes of paint coming together to tell a story of a man. I see warmth in the cold, life in death, and a hopeful child penning her story from an early age.

Artwork 1) I’m Nobody by Jenny Gilman (Hansen). This is a digital piece I created. Contrast is the relevant story here. Music, flowers, a hopeful doll, and light: all lovely, typical feminine ideals. Bruised knees, pale skin, black surroundings, bleak posture: might make one think there is something amiss. I see hope here. Yes, something is amiss, but the light is on. There is always contrast in my work.

Artwork 2)  Whirlwind by Paul Wright. Thick, heavy brushstrokes on their own might seem sloppy. Here, it's masterful. Expressionism is the art of my soul. I hope my stories will come together as perfectly as this work and that I can paint such character with my words. Are they there yet? No. Have I edited 1000 times? Yes. Will they ever be perfect? Not to me- but neither is this portrait, and it's delightful.

Artwork 3) Igor Apples- by Garry Gilman, my Father. My Father's pictures have inspired me from the day I was aware of his work. This is a childhood play we wrote, produced and performed for our families. My Brother Brad, the tall one on the left. Me, the center with the quill pen. My Brother Jeff, to my right. My Sister Brandie, with the funny wig. The other two: friends. I want my stories to have as much character as my Dad showed in this one photograph.

Artwork 4) There is Still Life There-  by Leira Enkai. I love the play on words. I am obsessed with the notion of the home. I speak Scottish Gaelic, and this was a Celtic cottage. I have a relationship with trees. All of this comes through in my work. From the tenacity of life to the falling apart. From nature to human built forms. Contrast once again, but with texture and deeper meaning.

Artwork 5)  Unknown - More contrast here. Light that shadows the dark. Warmth in the cold. Hope in the bleak. Beautiful. I want my stories to evoke the same feelings of joy some feel at Christmas time- which often comes as a respite from the hard day to day bleakness of the rest of the year. I hope visitors to my site also find a sparkle of warmth to carry with them until the next visit.

[jenhansenfullsail]

The Video Game As Game Changer

I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to structure as a storytelling foundation. Please understand that the following are just random thoughts and questions, not meant to indicate a final theory. AND this is long, I suggest not reading it at all.

Okay, here we go.

For many, many years, the fundamental structure of storytelling hasn’t really changed. In it’s most simple terms, it is:

Act One) Meet your characters

Act Two): Put them in the worst peril they have ever faced

Act Three): Resolve that peril

That’s it. I know the full on definition is a little more complex, but this is our working model. We have a denouement after act three, and we’re done, happy and sated.

Not all stories follow this structure, but the vast majority, up until this generation, absolutely do.

There have been periods in history where the serial effect distorts our structure somewhat. Dickensian stories were often serialized, and that sometimes extended and twisted the second act in particular. But even in those cases, when read as a whole, the structure holds.

One of my observations with the fanfiction I have read is that this structure is often thrown out the window in exchange for either the ‘ficlet’ model, essentially the fiction version of a snapshot moment, or for a definite lessening of the importance of the second act. I think that stuff is interesting, socially.We often see a huge importance placed on the first act, the introduction of character, and then we skip to the end, bypassing the elevation of peril entirely.

Here’s the strange thing, comics are distorted in structure, in large part as well, at least most mainstream comics. DC had followed the structure, Marvel threw it out the window somewhat. They favored a serial approach, wherein the second act would alter and change over a series of issues. That approach is still what the industry mostly emulates today.

And it’s going on in television and even film. In television, dramas used to mostly be complete tales each week. A Star Trek episode carried few notes over from week to week. Compare that approach with most drama on television now…they are following a Marvel approach, as mini-third acts replace genuine story conclusions. Notes are carried over each week. Even with sitcoms, there are overall arcs for the season, something less common in past generations.

Film series like the Dark Knight do this as well, taking the three act structure and laying it out over three films (with little mini-acts along the way).

So I think this generation is the first one really raised on the idea of the mega-story being all around them.

Where it gets truly interesting for me right now is video games. Because they seem to chuck all that right out the passenger side window.

When I asked earlier this evening what games people obsessed over and why, there were a lot of answers, some that don’t have a huge bearing on this discussion, like visuals, even character creation.

But video games are fascinating because, well, they are accomplishing something that traditional media are struggling with…they are conquering the short attention span and limited available time of the average reader/player.

The average role-playing game takes tens of hours, maybe more, to complete.

I recently discovered the joys of Doctor Who, and I loved it. I went wild, I watched episode after episode, read the novels, read the comics, the whole thing. And at some point, I just had to take a break…as good as it was, I was full.

Skyrim, on the other hand, I played probably twice as many hours as I spent watching Doctor Who and I never got bored, I wanted to get up in the morning and play again.

Why.

Here’s the deal, you spend hours upon hours not only doing the same thing over and over, but seeing the same animation and hearing the same exact sound effects over and over. You spend hours smithing. HOURS. The BEST movie would lose your attention in that span of time.

When you go out, you fight the same limited number of creatures. You travel the same path a hundred times. You get an armor upgrade? Great, it changes almost nothing. It makes you a little harder to kill, and it took you twenty hours to get that incremental change.

I love Skyrim, don’t misunderstand.

But they might have found a way to flog the three act structure and win.

In the early days of video games, character and plot barely existed. You were this blob, you ate that blog. You were this rectangle, you shot that rectangle. And Harlan Ellison himself pointed out that video games could never be anything important or meaningful because you COULDN’T WIN.

Harlan was wrong, I’m sure he knows that.

But when you go back and play some of those early games, it’s hard to stay patient. There’s no character and no story. It’s interesting that the current casual games that have become big hits, say, like Angry Birds, have at least made an attempt at character and plot, even in a cursory way.

But I digress.

How does a game hold your attention, if the play mechanics don’t hugely change, for 60 hours or more?

A lot of people said story.

I’m telling you, the idea of writing a sixty hour story is terrifying. Hats off to game developers.

But they manage to do it.

But the structure is different.

What we tend to have in these games is a brief first act, the introduction of stage and setting and cast, and then EVVVVVVVVVVERYTHINGGGG is second act, right up until the final boss, or conclusion.

And that’s interesting…because the second act is disappearing in most other fiction.

How do games keep you THAT involved with the story, in a second act that takes up 58 of 60 playtime hours?

Because I’m telling you, that’s kind of miraculous. And then we have MMORG games that literally don’t HAVE a third act at all. People are paying a monthly fee for an endless, endless second act.

That’s very fascinating to me. You may disagree with my thinking here, I’d love to hear your opinion. But many people said story is what keeps them playing. And if that’s the case, what are games doing that movies, tv and prose seem to have a hard time managing?

I think the answer may be that the second acts are ACTUALLY made up of a series of smaller acts, these would be side-quests, mini-quests, and secondary goals.

It would go something like

First act)

Second act (composed of this pattern repeated a hundred times: mini-second act, mini third act))

Third act)

I’m sure people have given this a lot more of a scholarly look than I have, but my question is, are video games training us to look at stories differently, and if so, will they affect or alter the three act structure in other media?

I say it’s not only inevitable, I say it’s already happening.

Curious to hear your thoughts.

[jenhansenfullsail]

[jenhansenfullsail]

For my Tumblr post, I decided to showcase the characters I’ve created for my animated short, Natural Treasure. Because we were asked to write a screenplay for a cause, I chose to work with the campaigns against GMOs, such as Millions Against Monsanto. 

In this story, a modern-day pirate named Treasure Cat has two goals. The first, to rid the world of GMO manipulated food, and the second, to marry his love, Selkie. Unfortunately, the biggest GMO mad-man, Captain Rich, learns of Treasure Cat’s love, and will do anything to take down Treasure Cat. 

Captian Rich finds Selkie and her father before Treasure Cat can stop him. In a whirlwind, Captain Rich convinces the farmer of a “win-win” scenario. He’ll buy the farm for his GMO practices, and marry his daughter, Selkie, to ensure her comfort and well-being.

Treasure Cat and Selkie must find a way to reverse the mess they are into, and Captain Rich just might be the one who solves their problem for them. For once his ugly intentions are revealed to the farmer, the deal is off.

1) Treasure Cat vs. Captain Rich Picture Link

 I wrote Treasure Cat to have red hair and Captain Rich to wear a dark cloak with white GMO labeling. This comes very close to what I had in my imagination. The only difference here is that there should be carrots they’re fighting with instead of swords.

Farmer's Daughter Image 1 Link

Farmer's Daughter Image 2 Link

I have two images for the farmer’s daughter. She actually looks quite alike in both images, though the style of drawing is different. I love the idea of it being somewhere between the two. The smart, sassy Selkie above who is too clever to fall for Captain Rich’s tricks, and the innocent and in love Selkie below who begs her father to wed Treasure Cat. Notice the poison apple in the first image.

The Farmer Image Link

And here we have the farmer. Tired. Worn. Without much hope. He loves his daughter but is no longer making emotional decisions. He needs to make sure she is secure and release her to another’s care.

[jenhansenfullsail]

Because gamification isn't always an app device, I wanted to share a different kind of an example. One of the uses for gamification is marketing. This is a case from television. On the morning show, Kelly and Michael, there is a segment of the show where they use a roulette-type game to entice people to watch the show daily. The marketing is successful in two distinct ways. First, the viewers who want to be included in this game sign up to play online, giving the show their information for further marketing through email. Second, to win anything in this game, they have to watch the shows religiously. The people who play are randomly called on the show. They're asked a specific trivia question about the previous day's show, and if they get it right, they win the prize that has been spun on the wheel. Usually, it's a vacation package. It's a brilliant strategy to mix the fun of the game, with the chance for a prize, on the condition the viewer has tuned into their show.

[jenhansenfullsail]

I must admit, this game cracks me up.  I played it for a few rounds this morning. The synopsis of the game is that a movie star has hired you to handle their finances because they're too busy or daft (depending on the star) to do so themselves. You are in charge of finding them work, as an agent would, as well as taking care of all of their financial matters. You're given a budget, a shopping list, and a salary with which to work. You then have to catch the money (in an arcade game type format). Not all of the money they are salaried gets caught, so you naturally lose some income. The skills you learn are how much to spend on what, whether to use a credit card with interest or a debit card, and whether to pay down the credit card or let the interest accrue. If you do a good job, you climb the career ladder.  Overall, it's interesting, and I was hoping to find a financial savings game, but this isn't one I would use for myself. I'll keep looking.

[jenhansenfullsail]

For my Writing for Games class at Full Sail. This link is one example of Gamification. Here, students interested in learning IT technology and learning how to write code, develop apps, and new business skills use a game-like tracking device to show students what they've learned, how marketable their skills are, and what salary they would likely make in the workplace. As their skills improve, their virtual salaries increase.

[jenhansenfullsail]

I CANNOT wait for this one.

[jenhansenfullsail]

Community

When I think about ad-hoc writing for television I think about community. It’s funny, upon reflection, that I have found such a home in a community setting. I am individualistic, reclusive, independent, stubborn, and I often know what I want, though these days, what I want is community. The polar opposite of everything I have needed to be, according to me.

Why?

Self-reliance has its benefits but when it comes to multi-million dollar projects- I know when I’m licked. Without a doubt, I do not want the success of a show to be hinged on my ability to knock each episode out of the park on my own. I find relief knowing that I could have other brilliant minds and creative strategists with whom to work. I feel a community takes away the individual creative pressure that can be mentally binding. In other words, for me, being tied down to a team allows me the freedom of creative thinking.

I am intrigued by the way other writers think and work. Some of the best ideas within my work came to me from collaboration during this class. Some ideas came from criticism that wasn’t overt, but criticism that simply said it was “too much.” So I found the right darlings to kill and massacred them beautifully.  My creative license and ownership of my work allowed me to sort through those suggestions and choose the ones I felt worked, and trashed the ones I didn’t. I enjoyed that I carried that responsibility but I wouldn’t have minded working with a full team to the final revision. How interesting that for someone so independent, I found solace in this writers community.

My goals as a writer flow like water downstream. Scratch that. They flow upstream. I know at my age (46) I have my work cut out for me and frankly, I’m up to it. My main focus is and has been a novel that is likely to be a series. It has been written and completed in short form and given the appropriate amount of time and brain space, I will expand it to the story that needs to be told. Perhaps this is an old song but I feel that it’s the thing I must do before I die.

I have thought about teaching creative writing at the college level. I taught at Boise State University as an adjunct professor of Linguistics and I enjoyed the experience. Having an MFA will add a breaststroke or two to the doggie paddle that is taking me upstream, slowly.

The more I do the work required for this program, the more I feel I could do this for a living. Overall, I feel I am still more of an independent architect than a community writer but I can see that changing. I visualize teaching, and at the same time, writing a screenplay for film and sending it off. Rinse; repeat. However, that idea for my future is what I had in mind from the beginning and I also see that changing, for I have enjoyed this community and I am inspired every day by our work.

[jenhansenfullsail]

When I think about ad-hoc writing for television, I think about community. It’s funny, upon reflection, that I have found such a home in a community setting. I am individualistic, reclusive, independent, stubborn, and I often know what I want, though these days, what I want is community. The polar...

[jenhansenfullsail]

Well done, Full Sail students! I appreciate reading all of your hard work.

[jenhansenfullsail]

A reflection: Plum’s Goody Good Goods (see note below).

Since this is meant to be a reflection of our work, I think I’ll meander through the events of this assignment in a raw, reflective, informal way. I’m feeling rather resigned to what I have created as I know it’s not perfect, but I know for my level of learning it’s good. But I am a perfectionist at heart and there is so much more I’d like to smooth out. Learning the editing software at the same time I produce a commercial is a unique challenge and (to be honest), I liked it. I really really liked it. I want to learn more, make it tighter, smoother, professional- and then do another. This kind of work is right up my alley. I’ve always enjoyed putting together puzzles. Here, I get to create one as I build it.

That being said, what I really need to reflect upon is my script. Boy, did I learn a lot from this assignment! I’d be willing to bet I learned more about the field of screenwriting in this exercise than anything we’ve done so far. While putting it together on the page- I rehearsed the lines. I timed them. I broke the script down into each second as expected and thought it would work. 

In reality, though it worked, it wasn’t as smooth as butter like I would have liked. It was molasses. My voice over stuck a little trying to spit out my words. Sure- I said them out loud as I wrote, but timing it with the images and REALLY making it fit the seconds was another story. I cut some things out. I rewrote part of it, and I changed a phrase based upon another student’s suggestion and I like it much better. (Thank you, Jorge).

I want to do more of these. A LOT more. There just wasn’t enough time to have found the actors and location, filmed, learned the software, jumped into post-production as a greenie, and polished it off like the diamond I knew it could be. But for a first time project, I’m very very happy. I can’t wait to market my work as a stylist by making my own “commercials.”

Very happy because I learned so much. That’s the goal here. This is the foundation. Next time I’ll take a step up. That’s the natural order of things anyway.

References and Credits:

Where the Wild Wild Flowers Grow [song]. Ola Belle Reed and Family. (1978). Itunes

Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe [location]. 99 East State Street, Eagle, Idaho. 83616. Owner / manager: Gloria Maheux. RBGM Holdings LLC.

Cast:

Female Lead Shopper: Ellen Fogg

Male Lead Shopper: Tanner Maurer

Checker player: Garry L. Gilman

Checker player: Dr. Brad Gilman

Clerk: Jen Hansen

Child with lollypop: Julia Charlotte Fogg

Teenage shopper: Evelyn Fogg

Child shopper: Josephine Fogg

Dog: Maggie the Shar Pei

Note: The title for this film is: Plum’s Good Old Fashioned Mercantile... however, I had so much fun making this and jokingly calling it, “Plum’s Goodie Good Goods (and getting good responses from fellow students), that I’m naming my reflection the latter. 

[jenhansenfullsail]

A reflection of my work for this assignment.

It’s funny because I considered Plum to be a well flushed out character before I began this assignment. For the story I intended on writing, I knew the arc. I knew the challenges she faced getting out of an abusive relationship. I knew it was life or death. In my mind, I had it all worked out.

But...

There was one thing missing (really, a LOT missing). 

The detail.

How funny it is that I so confidently went into this assignment raring to go and found myself halted at the starting line. What an awkward twist. It’s like going to the grocery store and seeing an ex best friend and turning to introduce them to your partner and forgetting their name. How embarrassing. “I know you,” said to her. And to my spouse I say, “honey, I know her, she’s the one who.... and who also...” 

Yeah. That was me with this assignment. Of course I know Plum. Gosh. But wait a minute... what made her special in the beginning? Was she a genius? Yes. Was she artistic? Yes. Then why was she weak enough to marry such an abuser? Well, in reality, it happens to the best of us. You don’t see it coming. You are set up with niceties and “your beautiful”s and all the rest and it isn’t until you turn around and look behind you that you see how big the shadow has become. I suppose that is exactly what happened to her. One wrong hurtful word leads to another... until you think you’re crazy and you have no idea how to make it stop. That’s my Plummy in a nutshell and I hadn’t had such detail drawn out until now. It makes me think about life. How often in my career have I let the little details slip away? In my home life? I am going to be paying better attention now that I see that we can go through a state of familiarity that comfortably lets things slip away if we let it.

So this assignment was good for me, but it was really good for Plum. She’s getting pink on her cheeks now that I’ve added some color. Not only that, but I’ve added that color in the most important places of the story. Sure, she needs more work, more detail, more breath in her lungs but she’s coming along nicely. At least, I hope you out there think so too.

[jenhansenfullsail]

I admit to feeling a bit anxious about writing my first script. While deep within my brain I understand wholly the concept of why it is that I am in a master’s program at Full Sail University. But I still have moments of nerves and emotional blocks. This project was no exception.

I am a perfectionist. I am slow and deliberate. I self-abuse and torture myself over work that should be fun. And this is the beginning.

At the same time I know eventually I will hone my skills and I will be made a better writer by the seriousness of which I take my work now. I love to write. I am full of ideas when I’m not under this intense pressure I create. Due to my life being at an interesting crossroads, I suppose it is fitting to be under such pressure. But pressure creates diamonds. I know someday the work I will be creating will be masterful. I also know that today’s work is not there. I am nervous about the timing. I used a stopwatch to fit it together, but in reality, will it work? Time will tell. And I am nervous about filming this complicated scene. What if I don’t find a store that will allow me to film? What if I can’t find actors? But I wanted to write this project in this manner, I hope the rest will fall into place. If it doesn’t, I don’t know what I will do.

But all of this is an example of what learning is. It is about learning from those that have been through this before and using that knowledge together with my own personal talents to create a foundation for the next project… then the next. Eventually, I will know more and understand better what to do and what to avoid.

The mistakes I make now will help me polish that diamond in the future. I eagerly step forward. I am able to say I have completed my first script. Sure, it’s elementary, but I’ve done it. My anxiety ceases. I am free to move ahead.

Thankfully.

[jenhansenfullsail]

A reflection

This assignment was a breath of fresh air. I’m a visual thinker, so for me, seeing images and puzzling them into my story, was exciting. 

I feel deeply connected to this character but sometimes I have to wonder if my text descriptions do both her, and the story, justice.

 It is my job to fill the page with images created by words, and with my focused editing and a lot of reflection, I will make her come to life. But I now see an advantage to using Pinterest that I hadn’t thought of before.

 Plum is in the very early stages of writing. I am working with classmates to help fill her character out. I generally use text, but using the images to help to tell the story is an added bonus. I can choose images that help to enhance the emotion I’m trying to create. It’s a useful tool that can help them to understand who Maudeline Plum is at her weakest, and who she is at her strongest.

 In the future I will use images to help me create new characters as well. For example: If I want an old hag and perhaps can’t think of a telltale feature that sets her apart, I have a wealth of image information at my disposal. This will enhance my descriptive writing from character to setting and beyond.

As a hairstylist, I have used and will continue to use Pinterest as a way to communicate something abstract to clients who aren’t visual thinkers. It’s like downloading my ideas into their minds via the images I find for them.

 What I have learned, upon reflection, is that we have tools at our disposal if we choose to use them that make communication easier.