In contrast to most of the other people in this class, I had never done any net surfing. So to prepare for this paper I explored the WWW for approximately seven hours. This helped to create an impression on me of what constitutes a good Web site. Finally, I decided on a favorite SF/CP Web site and I asked myself what made this site better than others. The Web site is dedicated to William Gibson (Foley) site which scrolls a picture of the writer on the site projecting an air of authority. The problem with the William Gibson site is that the background does little to complement the site. The background for the BR site however, not only complements the title but helps project the mood of the site. Blade is backed by the complimentary color of a cool blue. This blue emits a soothing tone and desolate atmosphere because of its relation to the black. This atmosphere is common in the film. The figure of the BR is backed by the fade from blue to black similar to in the movie where the Deckerd is found under soothing colors and mysterious shadows. Runner is backed by an abysmal black; an image found articulated in the movie in flying scenes over the futuristic LA and under the feet of Deckerd when dangling from Roy's grasp. Fans of the film can relate to the effective use of graphics in portraying the mood of the film. Critics to the use of graphics may argue that the home page is do directed to fans as to lose credibility in fulfilling the criteria to non-fans. As mentioned earlier, the author of the site had provided clues that the site is intended for fans; however, this site fulfills the site so well that non-fans are actually satisfied with this sites fulfillment of this criteria. This sites justification to this is the large amout of visual graphics, sound, and video; enough to make any stranger to Bladerunner, familiar with the film. If baffled to the nature of Bladerunner, a non-fan will imediately see that the table of contents contains a media bullet underwhich images, sounds, and video are provided. Simply a click on the mouse educates the non-fan and disproves the validity of the critic's argument.
To further aid the non-fan in investigating this site is its excel in fulfilling the second criteria of simplicity in style and organization. The home page is organized like a table of contents with 13 large bright colored bullets for each subject. Every dot (except one) is a link representing subjects that are direct and unconfusing. Every dot relates directly to the subject; "Memorable Quotes" (of Bladerunner)..."Different Versions" (of Bladerunner). Because of the table of contents format, the reader isn't forced to read through prose to understand the purpose of this site. When you click on Memorable quotes, for example, you are presented with just that: memorable quotes. Another example of organization can be found behind "What's New." It is organized with a list of dates that are enlarged and indented to differentiate between each other. This page is also simple in that instead of cluttering all the new information on this one page, links are provided for every date to help the viewer run through the dates more quickly. A good example of a site that is opposite to this one can be found at the "The Cyberpunk's Home Page" (couldn't find site again). Here the viewer is confronted with unnecessary prose. "Submissions" could have been filed behind a link to simplify the site. An example of disorganization in the site is the "Export Warning." The reader initially referred to another page for an explanation, but underneath the link an explanation is provided anyway. The warning could have been organized under the link or just left on the site under "Export Warning." Both are not necessary. An objection to the Bladerunner site in meeting the criteria of simplicity is that the site is too simple. One may argue that the simplicity also promotes vagueness. However, this is not evident is this site. The reason this site is so simple is because it is organized from the general to the specific. This allows the home page to have very general, simple topics because they are linked to another table of contents that is more specific than the previous link, but also leads to the final destination or another table of contents of more specificity. "Memorable Quotes," for example, leads directly to memorable quotes and nothing more. This page is further classified by character name. If you don't know a character then you simply click on the character and a link to a character description is provided, nothing more. Another reason for the simplicity of this site stems from the authors intended audience. His audience is his fans and the content proves this. For example, under "frequently asked questions," all questions insinuate that the questioner has already seen and critically analyzed the film. Questions such as "what is Bladerunner about" or "who stars in Bladerunner" simply can't be found on this page. However, the author compensates for this simplicity due to his intended audience and neglect of non-fans. On the home page, by linking on the word Bladerunner, a non-fan is linked to an informative nonlocal movie digest site. This site includes the basics of Bladerunner: plot summary, who starres in it, director, critiques, and much more.
This movie digest site serves to exemplify the third criteria of relevant links. On the home page, when clicking on Bladerunner, the viewer recieved exactly what he/she expected - an explicit description of the movie and basic facts about it. More specific facts about the movie are indexed inder more specific topcis on the home page. "Trivia," for example, leads to exactly as expected; notable, yet unobvious facts about the movie. As displayed with the "trivia" link, relevant links are those that apply directly to the subject and help to elaborate directly and support the subject. What makes this site exceptional in relevant links is that every link that can be associated with an image, is supplied with an image from the film. When clicking on "spinner" (hover car), for example, the link goes directly to a description and picture of the "spinner." This site also exibits its excellent fulfillmet of the criteria in how it gracefully links local pages. To demonstrate this, tour a random subject in the home page. Start with "Different Versions" with leads directly to a page titled "The Different Versions of Bladerunner. The relevance of the link is obvious. Now link to "The Directors Cut." This links to a page entitled "1992 Director's Cut." Again, the link's relevance is obvious. In the prose of this page can be found the phrase "unicorn scene." Click there. The title of this page reads "What is the significance of the Unicorn." When connecting from the link, "unicorn scene," it makes sense that the relevance of the unicorn scene is discussed. In addition, a picture of the unicorn is provided.This page also intelligently links nonlocal pages. For example, under images, Chapman includes a link reading "a large collection of Bladerunner images," which leads to exactly that; Mike Vayser's page devoted entirely to images to Bladerunner. Because this site so casually fulfills this criteria, it is hard to fully appreciate it. Contrasting this site with sites that poorly fulfill this criteria will help appreciate this site. William Gibson's site (Drake) is a good example. When scrolling down to the bottom, appears a large box labeled "Static." The relevance of this link suffer first of all because it doesn't help the viewer to know what he/she is fixing to be linked to. When linked, subjects appear that have no relevancy with each other or the link. "U2," "Info," and "Links" are the connections that appear. Because they are not related, one would expect them to be associated with the topic of the site, William Gibson. When clicking the info link, one would expect to see information concerning William Gibson, but instead this link is concerned with the producer of the site. "Info" doesn't even hint that this kind of information is going to be linked.
This site fulfilled the criteria extremely well as a site directed at Bladerunner fans. But, as I already adressed arguments against this site becuase of its seemingly narrow focus to fans, I believe I proved the site to be exceptional even under the eye of a non-fan. Chapman's intelligent formatting of the sight and thoughtfulness for non-fans helped him far exceed my criteria of impressive graphics pertaining to the subject, simplicity in stlye and organization, and relevant links.
I revised one page that I believed to not be hospitable to fans. As with most of the site, the outcome is a page appeasing to fans as well as non-fans:
Chapman, Murray. The Requiem-William Gibson. 1995.
Foley, J. Off-World (Bladerunner Page).
Obviously, this is a site devoted to Bladerunner. It contains many links, local and local, that supply information directly about the movie. It contains the link which led me to the site I evaluated on this paper.
A basic cyberpunk page. This one contains basic information about the movement including definitions of common cyberpunk words, links to cyberpunk newsgroups, and information about definitive authors of the movement, as well as additional cyberpunk links.