Now we have allocated roles and set out what everyone needs to do. We each have to create 5 fake Facebook accounts for the party photos and event, I have to find a diary and make a plan of how to go about it.

We have also decided as a group to cut out the webisodes of the point of view of the mother and the neighbour. We have cut out everything that is ‘fake’ and not supposed to be interpreted as real life media. I think we are better off doing this because we had a lot on our plate for just a few weeks, and making not one but two or there short films is a lot to take on. Locations were also a problem as we couldn’t find two houses next to each other that we could use.

With the diary I am planning to connect the fake facebook accounts people are making with the people Connor mentions in his diary. I will create personalities around them and significant histories with some, which could create another pushing off point for the Facebook event.

Inspired by the Elliot Rodger Massacre in the U.S our project looks at a socially awkward teenage boy by the name of Connor who chronicles his hatred for the world he lives in and more specifically targets the kids at his school. He ends up going on a rampage, murdering a bunch of other teenagers at a party in which he wasn’t invited to. We are looking at the psychology behind Connor and how the perceptions of other people affected him.

Firstly we will construct a public opinion about him through a news article, highlighting the facts of the murderous event. He won’t be named specifically in this article, but the journalist will signify what sort of person it takes to commit a crime like this. Then, in a “tell-all” A-Current-Affair type piece, we will show an interview will those that knew him, perhaps his mother and some class mates. This will indicate his odd and aggressive behaviour and perhaps delve into the psychological world of Connor. In addition, his personal Youtube Channel and diary will also be mentioned, to really explain to the audience about Connor’s mental state.

On his Youtube Channel, Connor will talk to the world, explaining his problems about how he feels ignored and teased at school. He will show signs of aggression but none of his plans of murder will be revealed. If audiences haven’t read his diary yet, they could assume his acts of violence were merely an outburst, because it is in his diary that he outlines his plans for revenge. In his diary we see a more personal side of Connor. We really get an understanding of the inner workings of a psychopath and how he manages to blame everyone else for his own problems. We are thinking of included profiles on particular people at his school he has a hatred for, much like the diary from the television series “The Fall” (2013 – ). The diary will also have a lot of parts stuck into it, drawing information from a lot of different places. We have taken inspiration from J.J Abrams’ “S”. The diary will serve a similar function as Elliot Rodgers’ Manifesto did, allowing audiences to see what went on through his head.

At this point we are also thinking of including a couple of webisodes to further display how others perceived him. The webisodes will be from an elderly neighbour’s perspective, restricted to their house because of their old age so they notice things that others don’t and his own mother who also notices odd behaviour from her son. One night when he is out she goes into his room finding the diary and realising his plans for murder. Only it will be too late because he will already have begun murdering people at the house party.

The house party will have it’s own event on Facebook with people uploading photos in real time, where we see Connor in the back of some photos, and some people lying in the bush thought to be intoxicated but actually have been murdered. This will be the only content form the night available.

We are splitting up the roles and the work evenly, according to our interests and skill levels. I am really interested in creating the diary as I am fascinated in the psychology of serial killers and have the ability to write from the perspective of someone with murderous intent.

Today we shared out pitches in class for the transmedia project.

A project that really stood out to me was “Dodging the Bullet” about cat fishing on social media. It’s a topic that’s really relevant in today’s society and that I find really fascinating. It’s a modern day thriller. I love how social media is used, and the screen captures of a computer tells the story. It reminded me a lot of a trailer for a new film filmed completing using screen captures and Skype videos called ‘Unfriended’. (CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER). Another plus was the music and the suspense created throughout the hovering over buttons and such. Really well presented!

In terms of our pitch, I wish we had a little more time just to make our parts a little more cohesive. I do agree with a lot of the constructive criticism that our group was given. I do feel like we have a bit too much content and could do with cutting some out. I guess it’s hard to make everyone in a large group happy, so putting something in that everyone wants was an easy way to satisfy everyone. However I think we all should have a meeting and discuss what cab be culled. Personally I agree with the idea of scrapping the video logs as I think that can all be said in the diary (yes I am a bit biased because I’m excited for this section of our project). However I think it would add an air of mystery to our project if we get rid of Connor all together.

This week Daniel brought in J.J Abrams novel (not sure if it is really?) called S. We were working on our final projects and I’m fascinated with the idea of creating a diary/scrapbook for someone, where all the pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. That is pretty much what “S” is. There are a few stories overlapping as people converse through graffiti in a library book. Every little detail of the book was so fascinating down to the time stamps on the back cover. This book is a whole new genre of stories that acts a lot more like a database than an actual novel. It has a collection of news articles, hand written letters and notes, post cards, compasses and so much more to guide the audience through a story. And because of all it’s different interactive parts the books remains nonlinear. For instance I opened the book to a random page with a note sticking out and read it. The book feels like you don’t have to go through it chronologically to understand what is going on. And even if you do, do you read the typed text or graffiti text first? How can the author control that? I hope this is the future of stories because I think it’s a lot more fun trying to piece things together than being spoon fed sequential events.