A group of five students in CMDC 354.02 (Digital Storytelling) at Washington State University Vancouver -- Brady Berkenmeier, Lorraine Botros, Cathy Manwell, Cassie Watson and Linda Zandi -- have been working on a new Fort Vancouver Mobile module, based on artist Paul Kane's "Wanderings," that we will be trying to develop into a real working piece during the next couple of months. Here is a Flash animation presentation, created by Berkenmeier, that the students presented on the project, minus the extensive verbal accompaniment. Yet the images show a lot about the inventive ideas this group has for the project. Will post more as this develops.
Be careful using Paul Kane! If I remember correctly, the published writings aren't really the work of Kane, exactly, they are the embellished version of his field notes as compiled, expanded, and added to by Grub Street hacks in London. There was a 19th century industry of taking the field notes of men like Kane and turning them into racy travel accounts for an English readership that was fascinated with the exotic. See "Herbert Spencer, Paul Kane, and the Making of "The Chinook" by I.S. MacLaren in a collection edited by Jon Lutz, Myth and Memory.
ReplyDeleteLarry,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip and source. We are planning to stick to the core of the Kane story, but we also will be careful to avoid the trap you mention.
- Brett
Yes thanks very much for this caution. My group became aware early on of the potential embellishments of Kane's tales and we have done well to tread lightly and not assume too much. The people and places in the module come directly from Kane's journal and sketchbook and questionable stories such as Chief Casanov's hired assassin have been weeded out.
ReplyDeleteWe do appreciate being kept on our toes, though. We hope to make this module entertaining as well as historically accurate.
-Brady Berkenmeier
Brady: I wish I had my copy of Myth and Memory at hand, bit it might be the journals that are problematic. I may be misremembering.
ReplyDelete