Abstract
After exploring Rachel Hulin’s “Hey Harry Hey Matilda” on Instagram and through her website, I was enamored with the idea of developing a novel for the web. Jessica and I plan to write our own narrative for the web; like “Hey Harry Hey Matilda,” the narrative will be available as installments on Instagram and as a navigable website. The website will be my primary focus, as Jessica will be developing her narrative through Instagram. I had originally planned to use Tumblr, but after exploring the site, I believe a WordPress site would create the brand recognition I’m looking for.
During my time in entrepreneurship courses, I have been disappointed to find that the creative aspect of marketing is often lost in the search for a profit. Today’s marketing is product and service driven. I want to create a brand that does not necessarily exist to turn a profit; although Jessica plans to continue working with this project after graduation, my goal is to build a space online that allows users to engage with our novel. This digital space will create brand recognition by disrupting the way people are used to reading; it will provide information regarding the novel and its content, but it will force readers to be active participants in the brand.
My audience will be Dr. Wharton and other faculty in the Rhetoric and Composition concentration. Instead of using this project as a chance to demonstrate my writing skills, I would like to demonstrate my ability to create appropriate content for the web and to build an online platform that appeals to an academic audience. The construction of this novel is a chance to build a brand online; my goal is to create a collaborative novel that has an easily recognizable web presence. While Jessica focuses on writing and character development on Instagram, I will shift my focus toward building a website that explores the brand we will be working with.
Like Jessica, I also plan to write a brief explanation of my work with the website. This written deliverable will allow me to explain the design choices I made and how those choices were influenced by the context of the project. Since my portion of the project focuses on marketing and branding, the written explanation will serve as my written argument for the way I design the site. I believe this reflection will be helpful as I compose the site, as it will encourage me to think critically about each choice I make while creating the content.
The site, when finished, will represent a brand with a personal connection. It will be interactive, intriguing, and memorable. Much like Misty Copeland uses personal experiences on her Instagram to connect with her fans and followers, this site (in combination with the Instagram page) will allow users to connect with a former dancer and explore the beauty of everyday dance with her.
Sources
Bannon, Fiona. “Articulations: Walking As Daily Dance Practice.” Choreographic
Practices 1.1 (2011): 97-109. International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance
with Full Text. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
In this study, Bannon reflects on her own experiences with urban walking and discusses how urban walking can be thought of as a choreographed dance. She describes it as a “flow,” an interaction between herself and the people and city around her. She provides her audience with the steps to become aware of this dance, using “Walking with attention” and “Walking with intention” as ways to mindfully enjoy an urban dance. Much like Jessica and I are attempting to capture dance in everyday activities, Bannon looks for the choreography and flow in menial activities that participants often get lost in.
Edensor, Tim, and Caitlan Bowdler. “Site-Specific Dance: Revealing And Contesting The
Ludic Qualities, Everyday Rhythms, And Embodied Habits Of Place.” Environment
& Planning A 47.3 (2015): 709-726. GreenFILE. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Note: The GSU library portal does not allow web access to this article. I found it through the library, but searched for it on my own through the actual journal on epn.sagepub.com.
This article will work well for our project, as it explores the relationship between dances and the places they occur. They also argue for the significance of dance outside the theatre. In the article, Bowdler and Edensor multiple dance pieces, including Traffic and an unnamed work from the Guerilla Dance Project. They look at how spaces confine dancers and people, and how something as menial as passersby on a sidewalk can take part in a graceful dance. As a final experiment, Bowdler performed her own dance in a park in Manchester to study the relationship between her performance and the park’s space around her and her peers.
Geurin-Eagleman, Andrea N., and Lauren M. Burch. “Communicating Via Photographs:
A Gendered Analysis Of Olympic Athletes’ Visual Self-Presentation On
Instagram.” Sport Management Review (2015): ScienceDirect. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
This study will be especially useful because it explores how athletes can build their personal brand on social media. While it also discusses the gender-fueled stereotypes that are present among athlete portrayal, I would like to focus on the relationship that social media allows between the audience and the figure they are watching. The study showed that “backstage performances,” i.e. personal photos of athletes outside of their respective sports, lead to stronger relationships between athletes and their followers.
Gómez, Miguel A. “Rudolf Von Laban’s Labanotation: The Origin Of Notational Analysis
Methods In Sport Sciences.” RICYDE. Revista Internacional De Ciencias Del
Deporte 11.39 (2015): 96-99. Fuente Académica Premier. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
This article provides a basic introduction to Labanotation for audiences that are unfamiliar with the term. Miguel Gómez writes a brief history of dance notation and how Labanotation has developed through the decades since its creation. He also describes how Labanotation can be used to analyze certain sports, such as synchronized swimming and gymnastics, and how it allows certain audiences (coaches, doctors, physical therapists) to look at agility requirements and risks for injuries in their respective sports.
Hulin, Rachel. “Hey Harry Hey Matilda.” Hey Harry Hey Matilda. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
Hulin’s website serves as the catch-all for her story. The site provides character information, audio and visual aspects (the audience can even hear Vera sing), and a brief summary of what the novel is and where it exists. Site visitors can also read all “Hey Harry Hey Matilda” installments in order, without scrolling through photos on Instagram. Jessica and I plan to create a website for our story to provide readers with another outlet of information.
Hulin, Rachel. “Matilda and Harry Goodman (@heyharryheymatilda).” Matilda and
Harry Goodman (@heyharryheymatilda). Instagram. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
As part of her web-based story, Rachel Hulin posts each installment of “Hey Harry Hey Matilda” in separate posts on Instagram. Jessica and I would like to follow this model of writing for Instagram, and like Hulin, we have started to gather original photos to use as our posts. Hulin posts weekly, every few days, or sometimes every day, and the Instagram account links back to the website that she writes on.
Kriefman, Laura. “Guerilla Dance Project | Finding the Dances in Everyday Life….”
Guerilla Dance Project. Pervasive Media Studio. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
The Guerilla Dance Project is a dance company lead by Laura Kriefman, and the company are resident at Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol, UK. Kriefman and her company attempt to bring dance to everyday occurrences, such as interaction between atomic energies and human interaction with natural elements. Kriefman’s work is exactly what we want to do: find the rhythm and dance in everyday activities. Her work has been featured around the world, and she and her other collaborators also use the website as a blogging platform.
Schulaka, Carly. “Brittney Castro On Instagram, Periscope, And Why You Should Always
Be Sharing.” Journal Of Financial Planning 29.1 (2016): 12. Advanced Placement
Source. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
In an interview with Carly Schulaka, Brittney Castro briefly describes her method of marketing thorough social media. She emphasizes marketing on Instagram and how posting with intent has helped her promote her brand and build customer relationships. I would like to use this information to question how we build our Instagram story, for example, are we going to post at the same time every day? How will each of our photos capture our audience? Who is our audience and what are they looking for? This interview, especially since it follows a successful Instagram marketer, will allow me to develop the content of our Instagram page.
Gantt Chart
After opening the link, it may be blank. If this is the case, look in the top left of the screen, next to “Menu” and “View.” You’ll see a blip that says “14 tasks hidden.” Click “Clear” and it will display our timeline. If this doesn’t work for some reason, let me know, and I will be happy to add you to the group.
Jessica and Danielle: Gantt Chart
Photo: Clipart Panda