Design Process Blog: Final Sound and Motion Nonlinear Flash Narrative

Wow! I can't believe I have figured this out and reached the point I am at for this final critique. Flash is challenging, very challenging- especially when trying to learn action script without tutorials and without a solid understanding of how it all works. I taught myself how to address errors and fix them by taking chances. I expanded my knowledge of writing code and definitely learned that trying something new isn't as simple as it looks. I often spent hours and hours on one concept, just trying to figure out how to create it the correct way. Using containers and playing around with the movie symbols, instance names, and multiple layers allowed me to become comfortable within my final flash file. I feel like I know where everything is and how to navigate Flash with shortcuts and other tricks. I'm really glad we had this project and I look forward to designing websites and other action scripts in the future.

The sound effects I chose are all about "brushing your teeth." They include sound files of "brushing," "swishing," "spitting," "rinsing," and "tapping." All of these sounds should be extremely recognizable and specific to my subject matter. I included the sound effect of a clean smile which sounds like a "ding!" I think sound effects establish a direct relationship to the activities I'm presenting visually. They enhance the images in the animations, regardless of the fact that they are not direct sound effects of what is being shown. In other words, just because the animations don't show a person swishing toothpaste in their mouth or tapping their toothbrush on the sink- the sounds still make sense to the activity of brushing your teeth.

The voice overs are about brushing and flossing, but contain instructions on how to properly brush and floss. They also explain why doing these are important daily activities. I like the way they are educational, with out being boring or uninteresting. I searched youtube for a long time trying to find the movie clips with the best narrations and then I recorded them directly through audacity. This was all a brand new trial and error process for me. It opens many doors to me as far as what I can do in the future for other projects. I tried to record my own voice overs and after narrowing down the best ones for my final project, I decided to not use the recordings I made..based mainly on the fact that I would rather hear a stranger's voice than my own :)

The music files I chose also add color to the narrative because they allow the viewer to chose the mood while they navigate. They can click one tooth that plays a fun song about shiny smiles or they can enjoy an instrumental song without lyrics that sets an entirely different mood. I chose a song called "My shiny teeth and Me" that is pretty literal, but the instruments and the singers voice relate to a younger age group.. I think its catchy and fun. Its not tacky or cheesy, unless you wanna get super critical! The songs with lyrics are both educational, which is what my original intentions were throughout this entire semester. I chose an activity that is part of everyone's daily life and in order to make it not so monotonous, I chose songs that suggest brushing is not just important, but enjoyable!

The following images are screen shots from my nonlinear narrative that I have created and interacted with. I posted several different variations of how everything can be manipulated, moved, opened, played, etc. I think you can get a good understanding of the visual aesthetics I have designed.The only thing you still have no idea of is how I used sound to add to this interactive narrative. Each tooth contains a different sound effect, voice over, or music file. You can play as many as you would like at once, or just click each individually and listen to them by themselves. (I found that by playing a music clip with sound effects on top of it was especially interesting.)