Prison Valley

      Prison Valley is an interactive web documentary about Cañon City, Colorado, where 13 prisons are located. The documentary was made by David Dufresne and Phillipe Brault and has since won many awards around the world. 
      This documentary is very rare, as it uses not only the web to show case it, but it uses interactive media that lets the viewer connect to it with Facebook or Twitter as well as letting them decide where to go and what to do next, all while getting tidbits of information. It even allows you to interact with other viewers through message boards and comment sections. 
      Prison Valley is one of the few of a new wave that's taking the world. Society is connected by more than one device and mode of communication and people want to have a say; they want to be included. This, and others like it, is the future of media. Constantly, things and people that get viewers/fan involved, are becoming more and more successful, such as celebrities like Lady GaGa who tweets, uploads videos and communicates with fans on Facebook. 
      
You can view the website here.

The Character's Journey

     Something related to what I talked about in an earlier post about creating realistic characters, is their journey. To properly showcase your characters and what they're capable of is to throw them into a series of events that create an interesting plot line. Without a plot, the characters are left to aimlessly wander about. 
      A plot always has to start with the main character's ordinary life so the viewer/reader can compare it to something once the character reaches the next step -- the call to action. This call to action is what forces the character into the real plot of the story. Once this call to action has been established, the character most go through or accomplish a list of other things to complete a successful journey and make a believable plot. 
      The only problem with this is to find the formula that can help a story become successful. There are many ways to go about this. Some of which are: the Hero's Journey, The Seven Point System and Propps Folktale Functions. They each basically tell you the same thing, just in varying degrees of detail and what's considered important to creating a story. 
      It's vital that when making any type of story -- especially a more complex or longer one, to follow the guidelines. It doesn't have to be exact (as everything can be interpreted), but making sure to hit the important points will definitely help a story along. 
      As illustrated in the link and the picture of J.K. Rowling's notes while writing Harry Potter, it takes a very long time to flesh out a story line. Many things must be considered to get a plot to make sense and flow well.









 You can view a list of how to create an interesting plot here.

Job Requirements

      These statistics show the impact of social media over the younger generations. Social media has changed life forever. No longer is the only way to advertise your company through ads in the paper or television, but now to get noticed it has to be a constant update of what's going on with the company and its products. It has to be done on every major and many minor networking sites such as: Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and even sites like Vimeo and Tumblr. If the company does not, then they face the failure. There are tonnes and tonnes of competitors for everything and the only way to get on top is to be noticed. 
      Unfortunately, being picky like 56% that wouldn't accept the job, will lead to lost opportunities. It's a lose-lose situation because the perspective employee loses a job and the company loses business and the possibility of a talented worker. It's also a good thing though because it gets your name out there if you can use social media sites.
      This can also apply to the film industry. Getting your name known and out there, as well as the work you're capable of, will leave you open to many more job opportunities.  
     
You can view more information here.

Character Balance

      One of, if not the most important things in any type of story is character. You can describe the landscape or the sky to your heart's content, but if you can't make a real character, it's very unlikely your story will be any good. This is something many writers forget, as evident in stories like Twilight. Bella Swan is a certifiable Mary Sue; she's clumsy and everyone loves her though she's done nothing to earn it. Plus she's somehow gained the affections of the only 'unattainable' guy in the whole series though she's basically described as nothing special and he's some type of Greek God. Even though these characters are poorly thought out, the authors portrayal of what they go through and how they act around each other is what entices people to want to read it. It's what the characters do and their love for one another that draw readers in.

      Something I've personally noticed when viewing a story, is that if the plot line's bad, you can oversee it, but only if the characters are relatable and well thought out. Of course, everything has an exception, such as Twilight (as I mention above). If a story has this problem, like the BBC show Torchwood, you can save it with how the characters are written and performed. To do this, they should be very interesting and leave you wanting to know more about them. The viewer should want to see what happens next and want to grow with them. In Torchwood, the characters compliment each other and serve a purpose to for moving the plot forward. Someting the creators of these stories may not realize is that the audience is smarter than they may appear. They can tell when a character's not needed or under developed. 

      This Character Balance Sheet will help those who are aspiring to create memorable and realistic characters. It will help them know they are on the right or wrong path to making a character viewers or reader will love. 

you can view more information here.

Sharlto Copley

               Sharlto Copley was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1973. He gained fame with the 2009 movie, District 9 where he played the main character Wikus Van De Mewre. He started his career in film by producing a directing music videos, short films and commercials, but he didn't really get into it until 2005. Before this, after he'd graduated High School he met now director Neil Blomkap and allowed him to use equipment at his production company. This would lead to being one of Sharlto's best decisions.

      Copley was shot into fame with his movie District 9. This lead him to co-staring in the revamped A-Team as Murdock, a show and character he idolized when he was young. He is now set to star in two more movies set to release sometime after 2012. 

      All of this good fortune led to Copley wanting to spread it. On his website, here, you can pick the option of sending Sharlto a movie idea. Even though the link suggests it, he wants to support ideas for comic books, movies, tv shows, scripts, animations, etc.. He states he wants to help people break into the industry because he knows how hard it is. 

      I think it's amazing that he's willing to help people break into the industry. Very few others even try to help or care about the potential of those who haven't made it. Doing this can make him even more successful and help someone else fulfill their dream.