For this assignment you will tell a joke using the tools & media we have been exploring this semester—XHTML, CSS, digital images, and Flash. The specific challenge is that you will tell the same joke on three different technical platforms:
To help you start thinking about how a joke could be different when told in this context here are some examples:
Very uninteresting
Less uninteresting
Starting to get interesting
You are not telling the joke verbally. You don't have the luxury of comedic delivery and timing. But you DO have the functionality of a web browser, text, color, images, animation, and sound at your disposal. How might these be combined to deliver a great joke?
In both lecture and lab classes we will explore these new technologies and spend time talking about their strengths and weaknesses in relation to this project. To help you navigate this new landscape, part of your assignment will require that you find a tutorial on Lynda.com that teaches you how to do something WE HAVE NEVER COVERED IN CLASS. You will search for a lesson, complete it, post the results to your T284 site, and write a short statement (500 words) that describes how the things you learned helped you to develop one or more of your three joke versions. Below, this is called the "tutorial postmortem."
These cannot be used to satisfy the tutorial portion of this assignment, but should be consulted to insure that your mobile version is completed correctly:
Anything can suffice. Because this assignment challenges you to work with three different technologies you will have to choose one that can be told differently and still be funny. A joke that is hilarious because it can be conveyed through a Flash animation will not work in Safari for iPhone, for example. You have to find a way to make your joke work for each technical platform, and this will have some effect on which jokes you choose.
You should also consider your audience. Concerning content, anything that would play on a Comedy Central show is fair game for this class. No XXX jokes and absolutely nothing that is discriminatory or excessively violent. At the end of the semester these jokes will appear in your final portfolio, and ultimately your work reflects on you. Consider how potential employers and internship coordinators might view this work and design accordingly.
Also remember that this course requires all media to be created by you. Plan to tell a joke using resources that you can create entirely on your own. No images can be "borrowed" from others. If you choose to use audio, sounds from the GarageBand or Soundtrack Pro libraries are acceptable. Other royalty-free providers may also be valid—consult with your instructor. In these cases be sure to cite the source(s) you used.
Between weeks 8 & 11 of this semester you will turn in the following components for this assignment:
Feb. 28: Browser joke (rough draft)
Mar. 6: Mobile joke (rough draft)
Mar. 21: Browser & mobile jokes (final version)
Mar. 20: Flash joke (rough draft) due in lab class
Mar. 27: Flash joke (final version)
Mar. 27: Tutorial exercise (complete the lesson you chose, step-by-step; post the final file(s) to Mercury)
Mar. 27: Tutorial postmortem (500 words as described above)
As always, "turn in" means to post your work to your T284 site. One clearly-labeled link for each of these is sufficient. You are welcome to organize these files in any way you like on your Mercury account.