The Challenges of Creating a Visual Narrative

At first glance, our visual narrative project seemed like an easy task.  Snap a few pictures, tell a story, and you’re done.  However, once I came up with a story to tell, it was difficult to create pictures that captured the story in my head.  With movies, the acting, music, and movement do a lot to tell the story, but with pictures it is difficult to convey a mood. 

The Images

This photo of "Gravity Hill" came close to image I had in my head.  I wanted the hill to appear menacing and deserted.  However, I had hoped for hill to appear steeper, but that just was not the case.

The intention of this shot was to show the girls in the story waiting on the hill.  Unfortunately, it looks more like the car in motion.  

This was a very challenging shot to create!  The wind was blowing and baby powder would not spread across the back of the car like I was hoping.  Regardless, I still came out with the photo I wanted.

The photo of the "crash" was a disaster.  It just looks like the car was pulled off on the side of the road!  Every angle was wrong, but in the end, this was the best shot I could get.  It is difficult to portray a crash if there is no damage to see.

I wanted this shot to show motion.  This scene was supposed to show the girls' attempt to get out of the locked car.  I think it worked fairly well.  

This is may favorite photo.  I love the trees that are reflecting on the window.  This shot captures a bit of dread and darkness.  It was a creepy mood to it, which is just what I was going for.

This photo is actually of a shadow that was on the wall of my living room.  About a week after out class started, I saw this shadow on the wall and thought "that would be perfect for my project!"  I had to find a way to work it in and I am glad I was able to.

This last photo, that of the abandoned car, was just what I hoped it would be.  The car looks empty and I think that I somehow captured an air of mystery.  Not only does the story end without knowing what happened to the girls, but this photo (without the story) raises questions as well.

Overall, I am satisfied with the photographs that I captured for this project.  Although some shots did not capture the exact mood or scene I was trying to create, I think that together they put the story together.  This project has opened my eyes to the challenges that directors and writers face as they try to put a story into words or images.  

Gravity Hill

Gravity Hill 

Halloween Night

“It’s Halloween; I’m bored and there’s nothing to do,” Allie whined as she dropped to the couch. “Is anyone having a party tonight?”

Meredith and Lindsay sat on the floor, doing homework. Pensively, Meredith bit on the edge of her eraser. “Umm, I think Kayla is having a party at her place. Her parents are out of town.”

“Her parties are always lame. Since it is Halloween, why don’t we watch some scary movies” Meredith closed her binder and stood up. “Oh, even better – Carrie was telling me about some place near Thurmond off of 21, Gravity Hill, I think she called it. She and Jason went there a couple of weeks ago and supposedly your car goes up a hill while in neutral.”

“Yeah, right. I’m sure it’s just some illusion or tourist attraction,” Allie scoffed.

“Do you have any better ideas?”

“I think it sounds kind of fun,” Lindsay closed her binder and stood up, too.

“It’s settled: two to one; we’re going,” Meredith said while heading to the bathroom. “Carrie said you needed to bring baby powder to get the full effect.”

“The full effect of what?” Allie turned to Meredith, confusion on her face. Lindsay also looked questioningly in her direction.

“There’s a story behind Gravity Hill. Several years ago, a mother and her three sons were traveling by car when it stalled. The mom had her boys get out to push the car so it would jump start. The oldest boy slipped and fell, but the car was too heavy for the younger brothers. So, the car rolled back and killed them all. If you put baby powder on the back of your car, you will see hand prints of the three boys. “

“That sounds a little creepy. Are you sure you guys want to do this?” Allie looked frightened as she looked at her friends.

Lindsay laughed. “Come on, Allie, don’t tell me you’re scared. It’ll be fun!” She traipsed into the bathroom after Meredith and they returned with the baby powder.


“Okay, all set. We’ve got the baby powder, I’ve got the keys. Let’s go.” Meredith and Lindsay stood by the door as Allie finally grinned and followed. “Yeah, let’s go”. 

_____________________________________________________________________

“I think this is it,” Meredith pulled the car to road on her left. The sun was setting and traffic was very light. “Yep, here we are.” Meredith slowed the car and pulled to the side of the road. She hopped out of the car, baby powder in hand. Allie and Lindsay watched as she dusted the back bumper with baby powder. Meredith jumped back in the driver’s seat with a now empty bottle. She drove the car a little further and stopped in the middle of the road. 

“This is the spot. From here just put the car in neutral and let the ghosts work their magic.” Meredith turned off the car and put it in neutral. The three girls waited expectantly as the sun was setting.

Minutes past and the girls were getting restless. “I guess Carrie is just crazy. Have you guys felt the car move?” Lindsay inquired of the others.

“Nope, nothing. Let’s just go grab something to eat while we are out,” Allie seemed relieved at the thought of leaving. With resignation, Meredith reached for the switch to start the ignition, but as she moved, so did the car. It jerked and then lurched forward a few feet.

“Oh my gosh, did you guys feel that?” Allie clutched the seat in front of her. Lindsay mirrored her look of fear, while Meredith wore a look of excitement. The car lurched again, much harder this time.

“Okay, I’m scared now. Let’s just go home,” Lindsay said.

“Fine, let me just see if there are some hand prints on the back first.” Meredith excitedly unbuckled her seat belt and ran to the back of the car. Lindsay and Allie noticed as her face fell, displaying a look of fear. Meredith sprinted back to the car and locked the doors. With shaking hands she reached for her seat belt. 

“Now I’m freaked out. There are three sets of hand prints on the back of the car. I swear they look like they are little kids’. We’re going home now.” Meredith reached for the ignition and turned, but nothing happened. She tried several more times to start the car.

“I don’t get it. The lights are on, but the car won’t make a sound.” Meredith made a few more attempts and reached for her cell phone.

“No signal. Do either of you have signal?” Meredith frantically looked at her friends and knew the answer by the look on their faces. Meredith tried the ignition again, but without success. Meredith pressed herself back to the seat and pressed her hands to her face, aggravated. Suddenly, the car lurched forward a third time, this time traveling further and faster than before.

“Meredith, push the brake! Do something!”

“We’re going to hit a tree! Stop the car!” 

CRASH. The car careened off the right side of the road and landed in a ditch with sudden impact. Disoriented, the girls reassured each other’s safety and Lindsay reached for her door.

“My door won’t open. Meredith hit the unlock button.” Meredith pressed the button, but no sound was heard. Each girl attempted to force the lock by hand; none would budge.

“What’s going on? The doors won’t open! I want to get out of here!” Allie pried at the door and beat the window. Lindsay searched for something to break the window and Meredith tried to turn the switch again. Suddenly, the headlights went out, submerging them in complete darkness.

“Try the switch again!!!”

“Please, let us out!”

“I’m so scared. I just want to go home!!”

The girls pleading cries filled the car, along with sounds of beating and clawing. After several minutes, the girls’ hysteria lessened and all that could be heard were heavy breaths and sobs. The car’s lights flickered on and the girls’ eyes met a terrifying sight.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

________________________________________________________________________

November 1

“This is Officer Hall. We’ve located the missing vehicle off of Old US 21 in Thurmond. It appears the girls were in a minor accident last night. The doors of the car were open when we found it, but no sign of them. The only thing we found in the car was a camera. We’ll bring this down to station to see if that gives us any clues…”