Up until now I have only described my project as it relates to the creation of fake receipts. The project also includes coupons, which I have begun to develop sometime near the end of last year. At this point I have lined up my coupons with the receipts in the story. The coupons are based on Valpaks that are sent out in the mail, and each coupon that I have created references a store that appears in the story. They line up with coupon codes that are used in specific locations in the story, and they expand on these specific scenes, from a more distant, observational perspective. As I continue my project, I hope to expand on these.
Category Archives: Thesis Blog
Writing and Thoughts on Process
The next step that I have been tackling is writing the story content that will go into the receipts. I have completed two of three characters; the third has been more of a challenge. Having reached this point, though, has brought me back to considering the process of how I’ve been breaking down this story.
The story is first broken into scenes, and each scene is a script. It includes setting details in the headers of the receipts, and following that are characters’ dialogue alongside numbers that represent the time it takes to read dialogue. These sections of dialogue compose the scene, followed by a closing that narrates the scene from each store location’s perspective.
These restrictions have really helped during the writing process, as they drive the story forward. They also create roadblocks that I must navigate around, much like my third character. I’ve found that sometimes the best way for me to navigate around these blocks is to take my mind off of it and come back. The characters reveal themselves in time.
Until then, it’s back to writing, and back to making receipts of what I have!
Break time? Work time!
The break between semesters proved to be a great opportunity for me to continue working on my thesis project. Having worked through the semester on creating additional receipts and expanding the scope of the story from where it was in the summer, I expanded the story further. I used notecards to create a fluid outline that enabled me to rearrange content and weave characters’ stories together.
I chose to tell the stories of three characters that intertwined. Their stories were spread across the table as I worked out the details and a general timeline as I moved forward with the project.
Another Post and Another Idea Underway
With an idea in mind, I decided to experiment with the narrative theme. Over the summer I began by thinking of receipts as a story format. The next step was to create a story for these receipts, and by the end of the summer I had combined a story with the form of receipts. This resulted in a set of eight receipts, which became the basis for my thesis project as I continued my work into the semester.
The Very First Post: an Introduction and Beginnings
So this is my very first post on this blog. It will be used as a way of showing the progress of my thesis project, which I selected last spring. This is where I’ll start with the story of my thesis project. Last spring, I chose narrative as my thesis area of inquiry; more specifically I chose to focus on how narratives can be expressed in new and different ways by visual means.
I began the process of exploring my thesis last year through several class projects which examined the way structures of narrative can be visualized or revealed. The very first project I did that lead to my area of inquiry is pictured below. It explores patterns in stories. I compared one of my own story drafts to a novel by one of my favorite authors, Garth Nix.
From here, I completed a couple of other projects which continued to explore my topic of interest, including an installation that invites viewers to participate in the creation of stories, and a diagram which explores the idea of a narrative expressed through the use of a diagram structure.
