Sunday, January 16, 2011

Better than Multiplicity .. I Promise!

Recently I offered a 2 for 1 deal on the Haven. If someone used a picture in my folder, I would return 2 captions back to them, with one being a special one. I was trying an experiment where I wanted to use the same picture as many times as possible, and tell a different story each time. I figured that people would have enough variations in their preferences that I could do so, depending on my creativity. Luckily, I only had 5 takers on the deal, as I'm not sure I could have created 6 with the same picture.

This one is my favorite I think. It was also the LAST one I created. I saw that she liked bodyswaps, and wasn't really a fan of forced changes, so that really helped shape the caption I wanted to create. I figured, the document must be some sort of contract. What if BOTH people thought that the bodyswap contract was heavily slanted in their favor, and that their end of the bargain was a great deal? It's a win-win situation! Yay for a happy caption for once!


The next one was made for Dave. He likes captions where his wife punishes him, making him feminine and trapped in bad situations. I did his caption first because I feel like I have a good grasp of his preferences, and  making it would give me that initial SHOT in the arm to get momentum going. I think this one seemed to be the most popular. For me, it is nowhere near my best, or my worst. I think its mostly just another Dee caption for Dave. He loved it though, so in that way, it was very successful.


Ashley's preferences are pretty vague. I seemed to get a teacher vibe from her, and I'm not sure why per se, but I liked the idea of a person of authority having to deal with all the rules they put into place, and have to succeed against a stacked deck that they themselves have created. I would like to think that in the end, Ashley went back to being Rob, but just a bit wiser. Call it my Willy Wonka ending if you want LOL


Brandon recently posted a 2 for 1 that dealt with some themes he wanted to explore. I took some inspiration from that, and twisted it so that his change was COMPLETELY accidental. Other than being a curious boy, there was no maliciousness on his part. The thought "pay for the sins of the father" really came to me while writing it. Even though Brandon liked it, I don't think it was entirely successful, as Brandon is one that really likes the details, and there just wasn't room to describe the changes taking place. He's big on "and his socked turned translucent and slowly made their way up his legs, becoming lace-topped nylons." I didn't follow that form here, but tried hard to make the other return caption for him more within that realm.



Last is the caption for Martha. This might be my second favorite caption of the five. To me, it is the most "Dee" like caption. Its got some word play, a bit of mischief, and something I like to call, "Sad Bugle Sound from Price is Right" where it goes from WINNING to LOSING at the drop of a hat. Alas, Martha didn't quite get the caption, which is where I came up with the idea of making the caption, in that she doesn't always get my references. I don't think my captions travel well across borders and language barriers, and it can be problematic. What is weirder, is that a few others didn't quite get it either, or they were trying to confuse Martha, which is also a possibility. Because of the confusion, I must take the blame for not totally putting my ideas across. Live and learn!


Overall, I am quite happy with this little exercise in my captioning capabilities. I didn't embarrass myself, and everyone seemed to enjoy the caption they received. Will I do this again? Maybe, though I'll probably put another little spin on it, just to keep it fresh.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: Which one did you like the best? Were the stories varied enough where I didn't reuse ideas or retread plots. How would you fair in trying something like this? I am definitely curious to find out what people think!

6 comments:

  1. The Bodyswap was the most interesting to me. I love the switch in perspective and how they basically wanted the same thing, just in different bodies. One of the more creative captions I've seen period and some of your most fun work.

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  2. For me, I can't lie.. It was the one for Dave. I loved all of them, but that hit home for me.

    I didn't have a problem understanding the cap for Martha. It was a very funny cap, kinda picture the loony toons logo pop up. *giggle*

    I'm not sure how I would fair in a caption test like this. I might give it a shot, if I do I'll let you know when I post them! ^_^

    I also thought they were all different enough, you did a great job!

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  3. I really loved the one for Martha. That ending took it from a good chuckle worthy cap to a Laugh Out Loud cap (seriously.. I just scared the hell out of my dog!). So it has to be my favorite. A close second is the body swap. I really like the idea of two people trying to screw over each other, and they both end up succeeding!

    You definitely didn't reuse any plots on these. Heck if you spaced them out enough I doubt anyone would recognize them as using the same image... each story fits the image perfectly, but paints the image differently.

    As to how I would fair.... badly. I can rarely go to an image that I tried to use before, let alone actually use it more than once. Once I make a cap, I have marked that image in my head, and it now belongs to that story completely. I have seen several images that I have used in the past used in different stories, and it just doesn't seem right to me.

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  4. @ Simone

    Thanks for the compliment! You were a huge help to me when I started making captions, and our discussions back then are what made me want to create this blog, the stuff that isn't always talked about.

    @ Jenniger

    I just KNEW that would be the one you liked the most. I wish I could like it more, but I think that at this point, I could write these kind of captions in my sleep, and probably have!

    @ Caitlyn

    My whimsical and playful captions are fun for me to write. Tweaking friends and inside jokes are things I include often, and sometimes its too subtle for those not in the know. I've seen that here where guests that aren't on the Haven, don't realize that Martha lives in Germany and speaks quite a few languages. An American Bimbo might think of Austria as Australia, hence the big punchline when she figures out the spell is in German (which is Niels native tongue as far as I know.)

    Its interesting that you see the picture and think back to the caption story. I've seen images that have been reused, and it can be jarring. Once I get past that, I enjoy seeing how others spin the story around it. When it takes a whole different direction, I'm pleasantly surprised.

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  5. First of all, I liked (besides the one for me) the version for Dave most. Perfect mixture of humiliating, revenge, details of new life ... love it. :) I love it the more I read about the changes person's life - or how it will change, with no way out.

    Now to the Martha, so my, cap. :) Right Dee, German is my native language and I'm fluent with Danish, Swedish and English. In 99,5% of the cases I don't have any problems to understand English, but for the rest even the dictionary doesn't help me. This means things I've seen from a different point of view all my life (cultural difference) and sayings that are hard to understand when you guys don't write grammatically complete sentences. :D

    My approach to the cap was that my new brain just has difficulties with another dialact. Yet I can speak many many dialects and accents (In German as well as in English) and there's nothing difficult with it, everyone can when you have the experience. So I thought ... "Hm, what's the problem, I could read it still ... " I just didn't know I am way more stupid now as this bimbo and mix up contries, languages and names for inhabitents. Sorry for that. ;) But I still love the cap!

    In this sense, be løst în tränslåtión! :D

    Martha

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  6. This was an interesting experiment. I do like the body swap caption. But my favorite was the one written about Brandon. Expecting to lord it over his colleagues one day he instead is stuck as a little bimbo secretary UNDER them. He will even have to service his former father. That's naughty!

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