http://mith.umd.edu/digitalstorytelling/2012/09/09/struggle/

My story, “Struggle,” is a first-person narrative about a character trapped in the dark struggling for freedom, and when he finally finds a way to solve the dilemma, it turns out that “he” is a butterfly that breaks through a cacoon and flies away.

As discussed in Thursday’s class, e-lit succeeds when it manages to create an interaction between the reader and the story, but it fails when the reader gets distracted by overwhelming digital effects. After going through the readings again, I’ve listed out five features that I want to include the most in my e-lit:

1)   Flash
Fisher incorporated Flash (or some sort of animation) in the background of “These Waves of Girls,” which inspired me to try similar techniques. When the reader enters the website for my story, he or she will see a dark gray background. Then a thin, black horizontal line will appear in the middle of the page and gradually expand both upward and downward until the whole background becomes black. This effect represents the viewpoint of the main character when he opens his eyes and finds himself in the darkness. The reader may be able to relate to the character more if they share the same viewpoint.

2)   Sound
As the first effect finishes running, a play button will appear on the bottom left of the page, and when the reader clicks the button, he or she will hear the sound of a person breathing heavily. It allows the reader to feel the fear of the character, but if he or she thinks the sound is too distracting, it can be turned off by clicking the button again.

3)    Links
I will break up the story into short paragraphs, put them on separate webpages and create links to each on the homepage in chronogoical order. I will not make the links open in new windows because the readers might be distracted by the pop-ups. However, organizing the story in such way helps the reader follow the plot, a function similar to that of the number labels for comic storyboards.

4)    Images
For the last few paragraphs of my story, I would like to include images, such as pictures of a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, on each webpage to give the reader a better sense of what is happening. The reader may be surprised when he or she finds out that the main character is a butterfly, and the images that appear on previous webpages may serve as a hint.

5)    Video
On the webpage for the last paragragh, there will be a YouTube video taken from the perspective of someone moving outward in a cave toward the sun. The video also attempts to draw the reader’s attention and help he or she relate to the main character.

“The 21 Steps” failed to establish a connection with its audience because Google Map presents buildings with a high angle shot rather than a normal person’s perspective. It also omitted details that the reader might find interesting; thus, the purpose of making the story an e-lit is obscure. This is why I choose to take more of the reader’s feelings into consideration as I design my own e-lit.

It’s dark. The darkness scares me.

This was the first thing I noticed as I opened my eyes. A few seconds, maybe minutes, have passed since then, and I am slowly recovering from the shock. My brain begins to function rationally, which allows me to think through what just happened.

Well, to be honest, there isn’t much information to process. I might have woken up from a deep slumber, found myself in the dark alone and could barely move, even to this point. That’s about it. As for the reason why, I do not know. My memory of everything before the sleep had been washed away.

But perhaps the reason is not important at all. What’s most important is to get myself out of here as soon as possible.

I try to move my arms again. It works this time, but I can only stretch out in a certain area. When my arms try to reach farther, something solid blocks them.

There are walls around me, probably merely one or two inches from where I stand. Great, at least the walls are not moving inwards. I am lucky.

The hell I am! I am trapped in the middle of nowhere. Maybe temporarily, or maybe forever.

The word “forever” reverberates in my head and brings all the fear back, like tiny little creatures crawling up and down my body. I start to struggle, attempting to cast the negative emotions away, yet in the end I fail and am swallowed by despair.

Just when I’m about to give up, something comes to my attention: the floor is shaking. Not only that, but it seems like the walls, the ceiling—the whole room is moving back and forth. While I know the sudden movement was caused by me as I hit and kicked the walls, I also realize that there is still hope. Since the room is easily affected by my movement, it must be somewhat light and perhaps breakable. Also, based on the way the room swings, I believe it might be hung on something, maybe a shaft, a stick or…a tree!

That’s right! The memory’s coming back! I know this. It is the moment I have been anticipating for a long, long time.

I use all my strength to push the walls in opposite directions, causing a gap big enough for me to pass through. Finally, there is no need to fear because a brand new life awaits me in the azure sky.

I take one step, one more and another. Then I jump, spread my wings and fly toward the sun—

“Mommy, look! There’s a fairy!”

“Don’t be silly, sweetheart. It’s a butterfly, a beautiful one.”

My mom named me after the main character of the classic novel Tess. However, the reason had nothing to do with the book. She just thought that “Tess” sounded nice.

I am not like the British farm girl at all. I’m quiet, observant and at this point still quite dependent on my family. I was born in Pasadena, Calif., but moved to Taiwan after finishing first grade. A city girl all the way.

After graduation from an international high school in Taipei, I came back to America for college. This time on the East Coast, where all seem new and fascinating to me, even the green trees and red bricks.

(My avatar is a picture of me taken in southern Taiwan this summer. The green in the background reminded me of Maryland, so while it is not directly related to this post, I picked it anyways.)

At the University of Maryland, an environment so different from where I used to live, I really hope to enrich my four years and acquire skills in various fields. The ability to tell stories via digital media is one.