Introduction

Constantly ingrained in the minds of Freestyle students through the words of our teachers is the phrase “visual communication”. While our first unit was a good introduction to this concept, the narrative 1 unit was a deep dive into what visual communication really is. We learned how to create characters with depth as well as how to integrate them into meaningful stories. Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Pro Tools, HTML/CSS, were only a few of the programs we learned to use for this unit.

I have the narrative 1 unit to thank for my newfound love of writing. Before, I only had scraps of a story, with none of the tools to patchwork them together. I only knew how to write half-baked characters, generic stories, with no way to convey the narrative I had envisioned in my head. Our flash fiction in English pushed me to commit to a story and finally finish it. Learning to produce audio and illustrations in Digital Media introduced me to new forms of media to express my work.

Story

For English, we were assigned to write a flash fiction narrative with a limit of 500 to 1,000 words. We were allowed to tell any story we wanted, but we were limited with our setting and characters. I knew I wanted to do something different from what I normally do, so I decided to challenge myself and use a young child as my main character. From there I started crafting my story: adding a best friend, a setting for them to explore, and a twist ending to tug at the heartstrings. At first I struggled, but I found that once I landed on a story that I really wanted to tell the words came easily.

We took this story from English and began working on it in Digital Media, in the form of illustrations and audio production. We were tasked with recording our stories in our own voices, adding some *dramatic flair*. The most difficult part of the process for me was relearning Pro Tools, but I’m happy with my final result. At first I was hesitant to add SFX, but I think they really brought the project to life. We also learned Adobe Illustrator during this project! I had learned a bit about Illustrator during Design, but the effects and tools we explored in digital media really elevated my work.

Illustrations

One of the most impactful tools we learned this unit was Adobe Illustrator. I find myself using it almost everyday, whether for my own personal use or for school/work projects.

Exquisite Corpse

We started off easy going into Illustrator, working with our table-mates to create an Exquisite Corpse. We were tasked with creating an illustration, the only requirements being that the ends of our drawing would have to connect with two lines marking where the next person’s drawing would start. We weren’t allowed to see what our partners were creating, making the final product a total surprise. I loved how goofy and carefree this project was, and our whole class had a big laugh over the final end results.

Flash fiction cover

We then moved on to more complex projects, the first being a cover image for our flash fiction audio productions. I played around with different layer modes for this piece, and I like the texture it added to the final result. I also got to play around with some of the blend-make options for the title, which added a nice 3D element.

Illustrator Project

We also had an overall Illustrator project, where we created any illustration we wanted that would be turned into a physical object, such as stickers, t-shirts, etc. I decided on a comfortable crewneck to wear, so I could show off my artwork while just walking around school.

click here to see some progress pics!

I’ve always wanted to create my own clothing/stickers, and this project allowed me to do exactly that. I knew I wanted to do something with bright, eye-catching colors, but still wearable for everyday activity. I took inspiration from some crewnecks I already have, which contains art from the video game Omori and art from the graphic novelist Tillie Walden. At first I struggled with maintaining a color palette and clean lines – I wanted everything to be perfect – but halfway through I let myself let loose and go with the flow. Once I did, I found a lot more enjoyment in my work. I think my style really shined through, and I hope people will recognize my artwork when I’m wearing my sweater. If I could change anything I would mess with the lighting and ambiance a bit more, I think I could have exaggerated it a bit more for a stronger mood. From this project I learned how difficult Illustrator is, but how powerful of a tool it is once you learn it.

Design

Narrative Creature Project

In Design, we spent a lot of the beginning of this unit getting the hang of Illustrator and learning the ropes. Eventually we were assigned the Narrative Creature Project, where we created a creature based on the main character of our flash fiction. The creature had to be made up of five different animals with five different body parts, each representing a personality trait of our character. We also had to include linear perspective in our background, which had to relate back to our story as well.

Oliver, a young boy with strict parents, is sick of being stuck in the house. A young girl with the name of Lily convinces him to sneak out to defend their favorite hangout space, the creek by the woods. They consider the creek their kingdom, and when a neighboring kid tries to take over they have a mighty sword (made of sticks and branches) battle.  When they finally prevail they bask in their victory. 

Oliver is a naive but imaginative character, and I wanted to represent his childlike wonder in my illustration. I started my brainstorming process by listing off as many animals as I could, making sure each animal aligned with a certain character trait that Oliver has. I settled with five animals; a dragonfly, a frilled-neck lizard, an antelope, an owl, and a seahorse, respectively representing energeticness, impatience, hopefulness, imagination, and naivety. I then collected reference photos, thinking about what parts of the animals I wanted to combine and how I wanted them all to interact with each other. Through this project I learned how to use Illustrator, and I learned to understand just how important the pen tool is. This was the main tool I used to trace my reference photos in Illustrator, using different fill colors to bring my hybrid animal to life. In order to create a cohesive animal I referenced a color palette, and using different tones and tints I got a lot of variety from just 5 base colors. I also wanted to incorporate the setting of the creek into my artwork, because it is the motivator for my story as well as where the climax takes place. To create more depth in the background I used a two point linear perspective with a cool color scheme to contrast with the animal’s warm colors. Because my background was of the woods, I struggled a bit with showing dimension with my trees, but I found a way to make the artwork stronger by including a house. My main goal with this project was to convey a story with my artwork, and I’m happy with the way it turned out. I also feel more confident with navigating through Illustrator, and I learned how to use many useful tools and effects that I plan to explore more in the future.

Narrative Portrait

Adding on to our flash fiction, the final form of media we used to convey our narratives was through photography. Specifically, through portraits. I had taken a few portrait photos for my photo blog, but this was my first time using lights and portraying a narrative.

The Memorial is a story about a young boy named Oliver and a young girl named Lily. Oliver’s mother is strict, and Oliver, sick of being stuck at home, sneaks out when Lily convinces him to go to the creek with her. They play together at the creek, but eventually it gets dark and Oliver is obliged to go back home. When he does he finds his mother crying on the porch, a disheveled bouquet of lilies next to her, his father by her side comforting her. It is revealed that Lily was Oliver’s sister, who recently passed away. The story is a window into his mind, he is unable to cope and as a result – unable to differentiate reality from fiction.

I chose to depict Lily in my photo, because although Oliver is the main character everything stems from Lily. An important metaphor from the story is the bouquet of lilies next to Oliver’s mother, because this is what reveals to the reader that Lily is dead. Because of this I chose flowers as my main prop. I scattered them around my model to frame her face, and I chose to have her hold a bouquet of flowers close to her chest, similar to how she would be posed if she was laying in a casket. Lily’s personality is bright and playful, which is why I picked a pink light to be cast over her. While pink is a color associated with joy and love, I also picked it because it was not too bright, making the model look as if she was melting into the shadows. I used soft lighting for this portrait because I wanted a cozy atmosphere. Although Lily is dead, I did not want this photo to be gloomy and haunting, rather I wanted it to emulate her childlike-innocence and lively spirit, with a hint of melancholy. To add to this feeling, I dressed my model in a bright yellow dress and pigtails, with a bit of blush on her cheeks. My original photo was a bit too dark and the pink color was too overpowering, so I added a few cooling filters in Adobe Photoshop as well as a few screen layers. I also played around with curves. During shooting it started raining, so I did not get to experiment as much as I wanted, but I am happy with my final result. Fortunately the slight dampness of the ground tied the photo to the creek in the story, and it also added to the wistful atmosphere. Although the darkness caused the final photo to have a bit of noise, I like what it adds to the piece, as if we are looking back at an old photo of Lily.