Rebekah McKendry's Webpage

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Welcome to My Site!

Rationale: The Theoretical Side

So much of my work relies on technology. It is funny that up to this point, I barely noticed the vessel by which the videos, photos, and texts I deal with daily are delivered. I make digital films, which are then distributed and marketed almost entirely digitally. I edit audio digitally (for a sample see under “Oddities”). A good 50% of my writing is published digitally. I now have some inkling of what type of structures are holding all the pieces together and bringing them to my computer screen.

Since my academic focus is on cult media, specifically with audience reception and marketing, the theoretical approach for my website focused on how my multimedia project focus on cult markets and often support them. For example, my writing examples are a blend of pieces I have written about cult markets, and also for cult markets depending on their use. My videos are also either news reports on cult markets (like San Diego Comic Con), made for cult markets (like my feature on the alternative fashion show ) or often utilize my prior knowledge of cult audiences and draws (as is evident in the GWAR video). Some pieces, like my “Oddities” did not comfortably fit into other larger areas of exploration, but are still important for me to include in order to consider myself a digital researcher and artist. Though my site was ultimately created with the intention of displaying my work and my academic interest, I tried to make sure this cult vein ran through all elements, including the digitally manipulated image below. Also because of my strong interest in cult media marketing, I accented some pages with corresponding cult movie posters. The posters on this opening page have been lightly altered to include a piece of me (my face). These will later be discussed in my dissertation, as I continue to build the site.

Perhaps the element of my site that is most reflexive of my academic focus is the flash piece in my “influence” section. This flash piece (which I discuss in a technological manner in a moment) highlights the five major films that have encouraged my interest in cult and fringe media, specifically my interest in looking under the surface of what are often disregarded as “trash” movies. I framed the posters in this as if they were hanging on a bedroom wall, glanced over as “sleazy” movies. My research allows the site viewer to look behind them and see much more.

I also had to make a lot of ethical and personal decisions with my e-portfolio. Perhaps the biggest decision occurred on the “Writing” page. I am a professional writer. I am paid for it. I have published two books, have a third on the way, and write for many magazines and websites. This is how I make a living. I know we were encouraged to put our papers in their entirety on our websites, but I have chosen to not display unpublished material. Writing is how I make my livelihood. The academic papers that I wrote during my MA and MFA, I eventually published either in books or academic journals. I am very uncomfortable placing any unpublished materials on my site in full for free when these are things for which I would potentially be paid. I know that this may be a point of disagreement, but my writing is my job. I included a list of my recent papers and a synopsis of all. Additionally, I invited viewers to email me if they would like to view the papers in full. I’ll, of course, be happy to send. But I just don’t like the idea of my unpublished work floating in the internet ether. I hope this makes sense, and I’m not penalized for it. I do provide links to several of my online published articles and blogs.

When theoretically designing my site, I also really wanted to allow for grow room. Right now, this site is in its preliminary stages, just highlighting the past year and a half of my work. I want to keep it going and growing, to include work I have done before my enrollment at VCU, and work that I will do after the “eportfoilo” approval process comes to pass. I discovered I am capable of web design, so why not use that to my advantage?

Before shifting to discuss the technology behind my work, I would like to briefly discuss the art of manipulation. Though my work is focused on cult media, it seems much of it comes down to manipulation of images. I change photos. I created a five-minute video out of over thirty hours worth of footage. All of this comes down to the manipulated image. I plan to know explore this element in much greater detail in my eventual dissertation. Since my dissertation is focusing primarily on cult media marketing, digital manipulation is crucial. Trailers are cut and re-cut to make them seem appealing toward a wide variety of demographics. Images are altered. Sound and music are remade and reshaped until it becomes a marketable product. The primary job of marketing as a whole is to create a “want” for the product or media, even if it means changing the image of the media itself.

Rationale: The Technological Side

This is my first experience at building a web site. Sure, I’m an avid internet user and understand basic web code, but this is the first time I have constructed a full website, not just small independent elements of one. I tried to make sure my page encompassed all areas of my work, which is quite extensive. I also took into account that my job and academic studies often intersect. For example, I may be working on an article on feminism in exploitation films for work, but I’m also focusing on it in a class as well. My career pieces are limited, but ultimately, I’m getting my PhD to allow me to further my career and help me in my niche field of cult studies. I already work for a cult media company, so it only makes sense there is some overlap.
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I have learned that though I am far from a webpage master or even novice as this point, I find the act of webpage construction kind of relaxing. After spending much of my life working with such malleable, creative and often ambiguous art forms like films and writing, it was rather nice to work with a precise form. When I put in a certain code, this happens. If it doesn’t happen, I used the wrong code. I found an odd sense of serenity in the work.

That said, the building of this page was not without headaches, ranting, frustration, and a few tears. Though I’m now comfortable with actually building the site, the act of getting it to the internet is still one that confounds me. Yes, I press a button in the Dreamweaver program , and… taa-daa! It is magically on the internet. But I want to know why. It is like I’m pressing this “post” button without really knowing what is happening behind the curtain. I guess much of technology is now like that. I send almost a hundred emails each day with little knowledge about how they travel or why sometimes my fonts change in the process. I just roll with the technological punches and adapt.

My biggest headache came from my flash pieces. I made two of the flash pieces at VCU. They were easy to understand and easy to implement. Another flash piece (the one on my “influences” page) was created as part of a Flash class I took in New York City. Well…it was started there. When I didn’t finish it by the end of the class, I had another New York based friend who was good at flash help me out. Then I came back to Richmond for the Fall semester still fine tuning it and had yet a third person help me finish the piece. So, I had several different people advising me and often holding my hand through the creation process. I discovered that like any other creative art, different people create these pieces in individual ways. Some felt the recommendations of the past person were wrong. Some wanted to lead me in another direction. Web design is in fact an art form, with countless creative approaches.

Then implementing this flash piece on my web site posed another problem. At first it wouldn’t work at all. However after hours of tweaking, the flash piece would work but only in Firefox. Then after hours of more tweaking, it seemed to be working but only as long as the user had the latest edition of flash. Often my tweaking was done in a rather “blind” process where I would try one thing and then my whole flash piece would disappear. I learned to not do that and would go back and try again. Thank goodness for the “undo” button!

I know the site may look simple, but a lot of thought and sweat went into its creation. Click around, explore, and enjoy!

Programs Used in the Creation of this Web Page-