I based my narrative this week off of the doctored photo I made last week. I decided to keep the purple hue and saturation layers on all of the photos and create a little whimsical world for a pretty straightforward fairytale. This is a very silly fantasy story from the point of view of a dog who doesn’t understand why he has to deal with a new puppy. (images are thumbnails, click to enlarge)
(Act 1) Padfoot, our hero.
Padfoot and his best friend, Staci, traipse around their strange little planet with their talisman, the red ball.
One day, a new dog appeared, Bella. Padfoot was highly suspicious of her and her motives, but Staci asked him to play nice with their new companion.
Padfoot attempted to get along with Bella, and continue on as normal, then suddenly:
Staci became stuck in between dimensions when attempting to give the talisman to Padfoot! (inciting incident)
Padfoot found out that Bella’s evil rouse was to steal the talisman and keep Staci trapped inbetween dimensions forever! They struggled over the talisman. (plot point 1)
(Act 2, midpoint) Padfoot feared he was too old to defeat this evil little puppy, and that all hope may be lost. While he despaired over what to do about his talisman and his Staci, he thinks of a wager. (plot point 2) He suggested to Bella that they launch the talisman as high into the air as they possibly can, and whoever catches it first wins. If he wins, Staci can return to their dimension. Bella took him up on this and believed her youth to be an advantage.
(Act 3) They both catapulted the talisman, and then immediately leapt after it, flying into the air. Padfoot took Bella by surprise when he leapt ahead of her, but as they descended the talisman was within both of their grasps. (climax)
They landed in a tangle of limbs, and Padfoot emerged victorious. And as he looked up, Staci reappeared.
Padfoot immediately entreated Staci to banish this evil pup, but Staci was known for her kindheartedness and forgave Bella for what she had done. Staci knew that Bella had been extorted by an evil King to remove Staci’s talisman from her and Padfoot. Staci made it clear to both of them that they were all family now, and would stick together. (denouement)
And they lived happily (and on Padfoot’s part a tiny bit grudgingly) ever after.
March 2, 2017 at 4:25 pm
Lindy,
The storyline that you created here was creative – and the purple hue that you kept on the photos really alluded to the fact that this was on another planet. There were many components that added to this fantasy approach including the talisman and the king’s orders which I thought were fun touches, and both really reinforced the context of why these dogs were caught within the narrative that you chose. With this, it left me wanting to know more about the backstory! I appreciate that Stacie was left as the secondary subject as the dogs were able to be personified within the fantasy world – but you tapped into a piece of the story that was also interesting about the king and her’s relationship. I’d imagine that in another setting where this story could be continued that knowing what got them to the planet in the first place and why the subject was trying to trap the other dog in between dimensions could have been a compelling piece of the story as a whole. I thought the images really helped to enhance the narrative, and was glad to see that the doctored photo with the multiple balls in the air was used to capture motion within the story! You have a knack for bringing whimsicality to simple scenery and what seems to be ordinary in a way that is genuine – which is something I have grown to admire about the work that you have presented. It’s clear that you were thoughtful and attentive to the details in this story and it left me smiling and wanting to hear more. I could see this as a successful storybook and it was very cool to watch this story become of the original photos you posted. Really fantastic work here, nice job!
March 4, 2017 at 9:39 am
Lindy,
First off, I think it’s really fun and clever how you used the purple hue and saturation layers on your pictures to create the visual landscape of another planet. Padfoot’s point of view gives the story a childlike quality that makes your original photoshoot even more endearing. I could imagine “A Dog and His Girl” as live-action episode of, one of my all-time favorite animated shows, Adventure Time. Like me, you also used a lot of the original pictures in your original set and the fact that you re-worked them to fit the story was a definite plus. The composite picture of the two dogs running/jumping after the talisman and the picture of the trees against the sky was my favorite.
The dogs look exactly the same to me so I wonder how you chose which one was going to be the “hero” or the “good boy” and which once was going to be the villain!
I think it could have been fun to include a shot of Staci in the other dimension waiting to be rescued or something.
I wonder why the evil king was so interested in the talisman to begin with? Also, we know Padfoot’s feelings about having to share his life with Bella, but how do we know that Bella wants to be included in the family? How can we be sure she even likes Staci and Padfoot?
Great job, fun read!
March 5, 2017 at 2:47 pm
Hi Lindy – this was a lovely fantasy story. I appreciate the way you went all-in on the doctored images, using them to reinforce the idea that this is an alternate universe. What seemed like a straightforward premise (dog doesn’t want to deal with new puppy) offered an enjoyable amount of complexity in execution, and deftly evoked some classic elements – a quest, a talisman, a shadowy oppositional power figure.
I would have loved to see more development of this world – the teases of world-building left me wanting to know more. For instance, how did Staci know that Bella was sent by the evil king? What is this talisman that is both so powerful someone’s existence could be erased over it, but so casual that it can be used in a game of fetch? If it’s so important, how did Staci end up with it to begin with – who is she? And, of course, who is Padfoot really, that he is capable of immediately perceiving and engaging in a game of wits that serves as a proxy for the battle of Good vs Evil? And how does Bella figure in to any of this? You leave a lot of ambiguity around how Bella ‘suddenly appears,’ and I can’t help but wonder what form that takes. Does she literally show up one day in the park? Does Staci bring her from somewhere? If so, how much did Staci know ahead of time?
As you can see – so many questions! I thought it was very clever how you found a way to use images of a simple-joys-of-life outing to evoke some of the eternal narrative themes that we struggle with – right vs wrong, motivation, forgiveness, redemption… and that sometimes you can’t always get exactly what you want, but things turn out okay anyway. Thank you for this story!
March 6, 2017 at 1:41 am
Lindy,
This was an enjoyable read for me. I love the edited photos and how you played on a parallel world. I love a good fantasy story, being a huge fan of a good story. Thank you for your narrative and your concept, I really enjoyed it.
March 6, 2017 at 11:40 pm
Lindy,
I like how you embraced the narrative of the dogs in your images to compose a well written story about a dog accepting a new puppy into it’s social dynamic circle. Your narrative was fun and playful similar to some of your photographs.I love the image paired before act three, it really embodies the sense of dimensions and competition. I like how you infuse fantasy into the narrative in moments like “Staci knew that Bella had been extorted by an evil King to remove Staci’s talisman from her and Padfoot.” As a reader it had me engaging on the thought process of dog personalities and societies.
March 8, 2017 at 8:02 am
Your creativity continues to shine through with this week’s assignment. I thoroughly enjoyed reading! Upon introduction of the dogs with the first photography assignment, I took notice to their playful and friendly nature. They seemed to play happily with the toy as though their friendship did not require an outside force. In contrast, it is interesting to see how well you spun the story to depict Padlock and Bella as enemies in competition for Staci’s love. This goes to show that pictures can hold a completely different meaning than they initially show once a narrative is attached to it. It forces the reader to see these shots from a totally abstract angle.
The purple hue of your doctored photos also helped to set the ‘outside world’ tone for the story. Purple is often said to be a supernatural color, and your story certainly carried a supernatural, mystic feel. While the actions and thoughts of the dogs may initially come off as personified, one may consider it highly likely that these feelings that they harbor toward one another can actually be real. This notion makes the story believable, though whimsical.
My favorite shot is the one with Padfoot and Bella frozen in the air alongside the sequential shots of the talisman. That action shot was key to the flow of the story. Rather than seeing the shot as simply two dogs playing happily with a trinket, the reader takes on the plot and scheme of the narrative and, rather, interprets this shot as two dogs fighting over the trinket. Your story carries the reader into a different direction than the pictures initially prompted.
I enjoyed the angle that you took with your narrative and look forward to seeing where you take it for the coming assignments. Thank you for sharing this story!