Dilwen?

Web?

Welcome to my Narrative ll Website. This is broken down into three pages, they each feature what I did in either my Web Audio, Design and English class. This page shows what we did in Web Audio.

In Web we took our story that we made in English and created a book trailer for it. In order to make this trailer we used the program After Effects. In order to make the trailer, we learned how to make 3D space/environment, Effects & Presets offered in After Effects along with many other skills. The most challenging part of this assignment was the syncing of audio to visuals. The music in the Trailer I made from scratch in the program Reason. I needed to create music that would fit the mood of the Trailer and had to make sure that the music changed when the mood of the Trailer changed. I also created the visuals before I put in the voiceover, so I had to make sure that lined up so everything happened according to the voiceover. I really enjoyed making the trailer, and I hope you enjoy it too!

 

Design?
Photo Of Book Jacket

Welcome to my Design page. This page features the two things we worked on during our design unit, the Book Jacket and Surrealist work. The book jacket assignment was to create a jacket for our short story. I made an Front cover, back cover, and a design for the part that wraps inside.My book jacket is based off of my short story “Dilwen”. It takes place in a historical fiction location of Flint. It includes pieces of celtic mythology and other points in mythology, such as deities, fairies and other mythological creatures. Dilwen and her siblings have been left here after everyone else in the world had died due to a flood. The Gods had saved these four siblings, however everyone, except Dilwen, had no memory of the life they had lived before. The story begins with Dilwen having a dream about her mother trying to protect her. All her sibling are there except her brother Bleddyn. Dilwen is awakened by a fairy and it leads her to the“Dark Forest”. When Dilwen arrives, she overhears a conversation with the gods about what they want to do with the her and her siblings. They have to atone for her parents sins. As they are talking they discover her.They tell her that her parents attempted to achieve immortality, but failed. This resulted in a curse on her and her siblings tying them by the Thread of Fate. When they drink from the River of Abnoba the cuse will be lifted. Dilwen travels back home, there her brother Bleddyn spills their water prompting them to travel to the water hole. However, once they arrive they realize that it’s been dried out. They decide to go up the dried up river to try to find another. Suddenly her sister, Branwen, is attacked by a swarm of crows. Dilwen lunges at them and they disperse. Cadwgan, the eldest brother, realizes that Bleddyn is missing. The God, Dagda, appears and tells them there is a curse on Bleddyn and if they see him, avoid him because he will be a different person. They continue up the river and standing in front of the River of Abnoba is Bleddyn and the Witch Cerridwen. She orders Bleddyn to attack his siblings. Branwen goes to Bleddyn and tries to hug him, but instead Bleddyn stabs her. Cadwgan attempts to resuscitate Bleddyn as he calls out to Dilwen to come help. Dilwen turns away and instead she goes into the water and takes a drink. Then she takes a sharp rock and cuts the thread tying her to her siblings. This results in Dilwen achieving immortality and becoming the God of Sight.

My surreal work revolves around a reoccurring dream that I had when I was little, it is also the only dream that I remember from my childhood. It begins with my Dad, sister and I going to a lake to fish. As my dad sets up the fishing poles, my sister and I walk over to the water to put my feet in the water. I begin to walk deeper and deeper into the water, then I look back at my Dad and sister who are standing on the shore.I go into the water and it seems as if I am drowning, however I am not suffocating, then I float down to the bottom of the lake. My body breaks through the bottom of the lake, revealing the sky. I continue to go “down” until my house is underneath me. I go through the roof and float into my bed. I choose this dream as my story for my surrealist work because I thought it would be really interesting to bring this dream to life, because I remember it so vividly.

In this assignment we had to use a minimum of three photographs, and to have texture, an HDR photo and a black and white photo. The HDR photo is the bowl. I thought the bowl would be good as an HDR photo because it cast interesting shadows in the bowl. The texture is on the bowl because there are dirt speckles on the glass. The black and white photo is of the person, I had the person jump to make it look like they are falling.

English?

“Sing O Muse,

Sing to us of the glorious gods,

who ruled the land and sea.

And tell us

Of the fair beauty of the goddesses

who dwell in Eternal Olympus.”

-from Book of Heroes by Unknown Bard 

  In the territory of Flint lived four orphaned children, our parents killed by a great flood of the world. Two sons, Cadwgan and Bleddyn, and two daughters, Branwen and I, Dilwen. Cadwgan was of strong build, but also a fool. Bleddyn was a marvelous hunter. Branwen was blessed with beauty, she had raven hair, porcelain skin, and blood red lips. Then there is me, the youngest of all, but perhaps the wisest, for I can see.

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My mother holds me, protecting me from something. I don't see my siblings there, it is just me. Suddenly, a crash from outside wakes me! I walk towards our door, and I realize the mess in our hut. I look around and realize a Bwbachod, a small faerie, was the culprit. I take a cup and go after it. I stumble left and right, struggling to capture it in my cup. As I follow it, it takes me outside. It speeds away, but I continue to follow it. It weaves me through the trees, and under logs. But then it stops. I look around and realize I have found myself in the Deep Woods. I do not know where I am anymore. It’s silent. 

Lights begin to cascade down, like a waterfall. Slowly a staircase begins to materialize from the heavens. From the clouds figures of beauty and grace come onto our land. In a panic, I run and hide. This is surely a meeting of the Gods. This is not meant for my ears to hear. I think to myself. But I stay. “We have saved these humans, but what shall we do with them,” says a voice, crashing through like thunder. I squint to try to figure out a face. He is a male, with a long beard. An older male, he is equipped with armor an ax. Dagada. The god of gods, the almighty ruler of Olympus. “They need to atone for their parents sins?” I whisper. I think to myself, sins, what sins? “Come out this instant, Child.” They heard me. I walk, slouched, out of the bushes and am engulfed in shimmering light. I look around: Bran, Dian-Chet, Morrigan, Cerridwen, they are all circled around me. Dagada reaches his hand out to me.

“Come my child, sit with me.” I walk up to him, with the snap of his fingers a chair appears. I go and sit next to him. "You must be wondering why we have brought you and siblings here?" I spring to attention. "Your brother, Bleddyn, has a curse cast by Cerridwen. Not until that curse has been lifted can your sibling leave, for you are all tied by the Thread of Fate. While you and your siblings were still young, your parents desperately wanted to inherit immortality. Your parents made a deal with the witch, Cerridwen. In return for their immortality, they must sacrifice one of their children. Your parents made the deal, and Cerridwen choose your brother. She cast a dark curse upon him." I glance over a Cerridwen, she have an evil smirk on her face. "Sir, how can I get rid of this curse?" "Not until the thread is cut can you be released. You must go to the River of Abnoba, obtain the water, and drink it. Then, release the tie between your souls. Only then can the curse be lifted."

The figures surrounding me begin to dissolve into nothing. I begin to walk home. It’s dawn, already. I weave back through the woods towards the direction of the sunrise. As I walk, I recall the life that my siblings and I used to live before the flood came. We lived in a small cottage near the ocean with our mother and father. When the great flood hit it wiped out our village, my siblings and I were saved by the Gods. When we awoke later with a large arc of many colors was shining above us. My brothers and sister had no memory of the life we lived before; to their knowledge, we had always lived here in this forest with no one else around.

“Dilwen, have you returned?” I walk through the entrance into our home. To the left of me is Cadwgan placing chopped wood in the fireplace. My sister is next to him, she is cooking quail for our breakfast. Bleddyn is nowhere to be seen. I look around in a panic. “Where has Bleddyn gone?”, “He has gone off to gather berries and nuts.” I recall what Dagada had told me. I must find a way to bring my siblings to The River of Abnoba. That is the only way we’ll be saved. Bleddyn returns, taking the berries and setting them on the table. He carries a dead bird and a slingshot.

“Welcome home Bleddyn. Now let us all wash up so we can eat breakfast.” We all go to the water pail. We rinse our hands one by one. First my Branwen, then Cadwgan, and then I. As I walk to my chair I look back. A faerie had flown across the room towards Bleddyn, who was washing his hands. The faerie goes up to the water bucket and pushes it out. Splash! "Bleddyn!" Branwen shouts. "What did you do, that was our bathing water for the rest of the week!" "It was not me, Branwen," he says as he picks up the empty tub.

To myself I think, this is perfect, thank you Gods. "We need to go fishing today, perhaps we can also get water while we are at it." "You are right, let's do that this afternoon." There is a pause, then Cadwgan says, "Well let’s eat for now" We gather around the table and eat breakfast. Once we all finish I gather up our kitchen ware and place it outside. We then prepare lunch, my sister cooks the bird Bleddyn brought in during breakfast. It’s going to take until sundown to get to fresh water and back. We pack small pouches and set off into the woods. Bleddyn packs a small dagger for hunting and I pack thread and sticks for fishing. When we set off, we walk towards the direction of sunset.

We follow our markings in the tree that we made decades ago. As we walk, I hear rustles in the bushes and tiny snickers. Gwragedd Annwn, river faeries, run next to us. I look around to see if my siblings see them, but remember they cannot see them anymore, they lost the ability years ago while I maintained it. We start to get closer and closer to the lake. Bleddyn runs ahead of us. We hear a voice saying, “Cadwgan, Branwen, Dilwen! The lake is dry!” We run to the lake. We look across what was once a great lake and see that it is indeed completely dry. The fish are dead and all that remains is rock.

Across the top of what was once a lake the Gwragedd Annwn play, happily. I look at them confused, why are they happy when their home is gone? I realize that they are pointing towards a river, or what was once a river. “We need to find a lake or river before sundown,” says Cadwgan. “Perhaps we should follow up the river, see if it leads to another lake?” I recommend. We begin to walk up the river, in hope at another area we can find water.

As we venture, I notice a bird flying over head. It swoops down and picks up a worm. It has slick black feathers and beating red eyes, a raven. As we continue more appear, the sky begins to fill with hundreds of raves till you cannot see blue anymore. “What’s going on?” Branwen shouts, in distress. The ravens swoop down and begin to peck her. “AHHHHH!” she screams, “GET THEM OFF OF ME, HELP!” Cadwgan and I take sticks and attempt to swat them away. It’s not successful, in an attempt to protect her I lunge at her. “DILWEN, NO!” Cadwgan yells, I wrap my arms around my sister and brace myself for the ravens to peck me. I close my eyes and wait. Nothing. I slowly open my eyes. “They are gone” I sigh in relief. I look around to see the damage, Branwen has some minor cuts, but nothing too severe.

“Where is Bleddyn?” The question cut through the silence. “Bleddyn!” I call out and hear no response. We look around, but he is nowhere to be seen. Lights begin to cascade from the sky, and a staircase falls from the clouds down to where we are. Down the ladder steps Dagada. I curtsy, my sibling stand in shock. “Hello my children, my name is Dagada. I am the ruler of Olympus. Dilwen, I have appeared because the curse upon your brother has been activated. He is now with Cerridwen, unfortunately you cannot save him. However, you can still save yourself do not go near him. He can transfer the curse to you and your sibling. Drink the water and cut the thread then, you can be saved.” “Sir, I'm sorry but we cannot leave our, brother. Where can we find him?” asks Branwen. “Branwen no, we must listen to what he says.” “You will encounter Cerridwen on your way to the River of Abnoba. The Gwragedd Annwn will accompany you to the river. You will arrive before sundown.” He walks back up the staircase and it dissolves.

We follow the Gwragedd Annwn, as the sun begins to set a river appears in the distance. We run to is. As we approach the lake, we see to figures. One, an elderly woman and another, Bleddyn. “Bleddyn! We are over here”. No response. He looks at us with dead eyes. My sister approaches his and attempts to hug him, however he has no reaction. Cerridwen steps forward. “I have your brother and you are next, Go Bleddyn” He lunges at my sister with a dagger covered by a translucent dark mist. “Once you die, your soul is mine.” I think to myself, I need to drink from the river of Abnoba. I run, I run as fast as I can towards the river. Blood gushes out, Bleddyn stabs Branwen. “Quickly, bring her over here!” I shout at Cadwgan. As black mist covers her body, Cadwgan lifts her and carries her over. Cerridwen and Bleddyn halt and let them pass by. He lies her down by the Lake and I take out a canister. I fill it with water, as I do this Branwen awakes.

She sits up, she now has the same dead eyes as Bleddyn. I look at her and then look at Cadwgan. “We have to save her!” Cadwgan pleads. I pause. I look at Cadwgan then I take a sip of the water. There is a visible thread tying all four of us. “You need to cut the thread!” I yell. “I cannot see it” Cadwgan says back.

I reach into the river for a sharp rock. I look at my siblings, in pity. Then I cut the thread. In a flash I am surrounded by darkness that becomes light. The last image in my head is the death of Cadwgan.

A voice says to me, “Congratulations, Dilwen, you are now immortal. You are now the god of Sight.”