Before I finish up my litvestigation (yes, I did just make up an awesome new word) I'd like to play a little game. Well, in a minute.
Right now, I have basically hit a wall. And that's bad. Really bad. Because it is almost the end of the semester which means that this thesis needs to be done. Soon.
I'm not really sure what to do at this point. It's frustrating. And I am verging on disaster mode.
Whoever told you senior year of college is a breeze is a big fat liar. I don't remember who told me this, but I'm certainly not happy with them. It was probably someone who didn't have a required thesis project. Damn those lucky stress-free people.
So here is my problem: Even though my analysis section has been started, I haven't actually analyzed anything.
Which is why I'd like to get back to this fun little game. I'm making it up right now, and it shall be called "Name That Event!" I was thinking about going with "Name that kernel/satellite!" but I didn't like the slash.
Goal: I need to identify some kernels and some satellites.
In a previous post I showed you a timeline that a fan had created. This timeline basically made it clear to me that it will not be easy to identify kernels and satellites because there are far too many pieces of media. But if I had to try, here are a few ways I might name some events. (For a review about what events, kernels, and satellites are, check out this video!)
Name That Event!
Option 1:
KERNEL - Lizzie's Videos
SATELLITE - Everything else
Option 2:
KERNEL - Lizzie's Videos
KERNEL - Certain twitter accounts of major characters
SATELLITE - Everything else
Option 3:
KERNEL - All videos by all characters
SATELLITE - All social media accounts
Option 4:
KERNEL - All videos by all characters
KERNEL - All twitter accounts
KERNEL - Lydia's sex tape website
SATELLITE - Everything else
Option 5:
KERNEL - Certain videos by Lizzie, Lydia, and any other character that explicitly moves the story along
KERNEL - Certain tweets, pinterest boards, or other social media content that explicitly moves the story along
KERNEL - Websites that explicitly move the story along (such as Lydia's sex tape website)
SATELLITE - Videos that do not do much or forward the story and only provide fluff
SATELLITE - Social media that does not do much nor does it forward the story along
SATELLITE - Websites that have no function other than to exist and sometimes re-post information that can be found elsewhere
Option 6:
Some other combination of previous pieces of previous options Or make something else up on the spot
_______
Yea guys. This is irritating. You with me now?
But in general, if the game continued and someone were to ask me about specific episodes or something, I could play like this...
Name That Event!
Q: Episode 1
A: Kernel!
Q: Collins and Collins + Maria of the Lu videos
A: Satellite!
Q: Episodes 60 and 98
A: Kernels!
Q: The San Francisco Photo/Twitter Adventure
A: Tough one. It could do either way. Leaning more towards satellite?
Get the idea?
And do you also get the problem? How do I know what is significant and what isn't? Would twitter be the main social media kernel in the social media realm, but a satellite in the greater transmedia story? And what does this tell us?
My conclusion is that this tells me that kernels and satellites cannot be the primary form of identification. Even if I were to use the Scene Function Model (which would make this process a lot easier), that is only actually supposed to be used for television. I need a new model. The Transmedia Function Model or something.
And then there are a whole bunch of other questions about fan participation and such that I just don't even know what to call, let alone whether or not they should be considered. I mean is a fan's question canon if Lizzie responds to them on twitter? What is that! I don't know!
This whole transmedia form is entirely different than what narrative theory usually deals with. But that doesn't mean I'm abandoning narrative theory all together. It just means I need to use it in a new way and possibly change some of the rules to suit my project.
UPDATE (4/18/14): I found some YouTube playlists that people made. One is called "The Essentials" and I swear to god it's almost like this person found all of the kernels for me. If only I had found it sooner! The other one is called "The Darcy Heavy Episodes" which could also be considered a kernel playlist for those only focused on the romance as the driving force of the show. I don't really think that would be accurate, but whatever.
If I could post nothing but gifs of Ashley Clements' consistently contorting face for the rest of this blog, I would. But alas, that is not allowed because this is a thesis project.
So clearly, this lovely lady plays Lizzie. And a whole host of other characters sometimes too.
Her name is Ashley Clements. Here is some background information about her:
> Originally from San Francisco, Ashley is an actress with an MFA from The Old Globe/USD. Theater credits include Since Africa, Sea of Tranquility, Cyrano de Bergerac, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, and Fiddler on the Roof. Ashley has also appeared on other web programs from channels such as BlackBoxTV and Geek and Sundry, and shows such as VGHS and Assignment Unexplained. According to her resume (where most of this information is coming from), Ashley is also SAFD certified in unarmed combat, versed in the dialects of RP, Cockney, Irish, Standard
American, various Southern, and French, can singing soprano with belt, can tap dance
(5 years), ride horseback, and do yoga. Fascinating stuff. Makes you want to hire her right now, doesn't it? You totally should. Fans (especially of her tumblr) also know that she has a cat named Perdita, is sort of friends with Wil Wheaton, is very close with her LBD costars, loves her LBD fans (and constantly re-blogs fan art, gifs of her face, and almost anything else they make), and, on a more personal note, has openly (or semi-openly?) battled with depression. She also seems to be an advocate for women and equality in general, which is awesome. Ashley currently resides in Los Angeles, and many of her fans are eagerly awaiting her next project.
Time for the next Bennet sister! Or as Lydia would say, time for the adorbs!
I would love to post tons more gifs, but I just don't have the space. So here's a good one:
Lydia Bennet, youngest sibling, is played by Mary Kate Wiles. Ready, set, background info GO!
> Mary Kate is a 25 year old (as of Feb, 2014) actress from Fayetteville, Arkansas who moved to California to go to USC. She has performed in numerous plays, both at and outside of college. Some theater productions post school include Anne of Green Gables, The Winter's Tale, and A Christmas Carol. MK has appeared in film, notably the indie thriller Dark Woods and rom-com Dreamworld. She has also made television appearances, such as a brief guest starring role on The Middle. MK has a strong web presence, also starring in Squaresville and School of Thrones (among other web shows) and co-running the channel Loosely Bolted. According to her resume she really seems to have hit almost every other medium available to her, having also appeared in music videos and doing quite a bit of modeling. Her adorable cat is also a breakout star of LBD. Fun facts: Mary Kate loves Lord of the Rings, sweet tea, and coffee.
Any of you who have read the book but have yet to see the show are probably thinking, "Hey wait, aren't you missing some?" Why yes, I am. But on this show they were done a little differently.
Meet cousin Mary Bennet. Yes, cousin.
I know this is going to make it so much longer, BUT I JUST CAN'T NOT POST IT.
That moment = win. So Mary. Hmm. Her face just looks so familiar. It kind of reminds me of someone... OH HEY I KNOW - GUYS, THIS IS KALEY CUOCO'S LITTLE SISTER BRIANA. Yea, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting of The Big Bang Theory. Say what? WHAT.
Ok, I got a little overly excited there. But still, it blew my mind when I first found out. I'm sure she would rather stand alone and not be compare to her sister all the time, and I respect that, but I still think it's a cool connection...
> Born in Ventura, Briana Cuoco is also 25 (as of right now) and an actress and singer. She has appeared on The Nightmare Room (TV, non-starring), The Newsroom (TV, ns), The Big Bang Theory (TV, guest, YES IT HAPPENED), The Mentalist (TV, ns), Crisis (TV, ns), and the soon to be released Beauty in the Broken (Film?). Another super awesome thing about her is that she also was a contestant on season 5 of The Voice! You can see her first performance here. Spoiler alert: she picks Xtina over CeeLo. I'd have done the same, Bri. Unfortunately she didn't survive the knockout round, but hey, at least we got her hilarious acting chops on LBD!
> Finally, there is the elusive Kitty. In the book Catherine Bennet is the sister that follows dear Lydia around, and in the show she is the kitty that follows Lydia around. Yes, please note the intentional caps and not caps. On the show she is a cat, played by MK Wiles' pet Rosie. This is no joke, you can see Kitty the kitty in this aptly titled episode here. She also had her own twitter.
While this is a list of all of the actors on the show, there are many instances of "costume theater" in which Lizzie and usually another character will dress up and reenact moments from their lives. For example, before Darcy is introduced on camera he is shown via the characters dressing as him in costume theater. Lizzie might pretend to be him while one of her sisters pretends to be her. Instances with Lizzie by herself or characters dressing up without Lizzie are more rare, but can also occur.
Some characters are never shown and are only seen through use of costume theater, such as Lizzie's parents Mr. and Mrs. Bennet (with the exception of a glimpse of Mrs. Bennet's behind).
Example of Lizzie as Mrs. Bennet sobbing about the perpetually single and unmarried state of her daughters:
After a costume is used to portray an unavailable character, it becomes the one and only costume used from then on in order to avoid confusion. For example Lizzie is always the plaid button down shirt, Darcy is always the bow-tie and newsie cap (click for image of both of them in these outfits), and Mrs. Bennet is always the above outfit of a shawl and sun hat (if that's what you'd call it?).
Here is a fun Fan-made amalgamation of all instances of Darcy costume theater:
