Introduction
During the Narrative I unit, we focused on using the tools we have and the skills we learned to tell stories. We produced music, we wrote short stories, and we directed films, continually gaining experience and ability to clearly and meaningfully tell the stories we wanted. This unit was by far my favorite, as I had the most experience beforehand. That does not mean I knew everything, however, as I still grew and learned tremendously. Narrative filmmaking and storytelling are the medium I enjoy the most, and I look forward to future narrative projects, and any other project in which I may use the skills I gained this unit.
Story
In English, we were tasked with writing a short story, or “Flash Fiction.” After reading and analyzing several stories, we began brainstorming our own concepts. The idea I liked most, and eventually settled on to adapt into my story, entailed a young adult living in a dystopian future where the environment has been destroyed, who longs to go back to the past where the world was whole.
I began with an extensive character sheet to define the personality and characteristics of the protagonist, and to keep consistency in their choices. Even if most of the information would never be used in the final product, it was important to know how our characters would act and respond to the events of the story.
I then created an outline to define the structure and events of the story. Over time, I wrote, expanded upon, and rewrote that draft as it evolved into the final story. Many changes and revisions needed to occur before completion. Thanks to the critique of my classmates and Mr. Greco, I was able to recognize what needed editing and modify the story accordingly. One of the most considerable changes I needed to make was to focus on showing, rather than telling. I tended to directly explain the inner thoughts of the protagonist, when it would be far more powerful to allow their actions to speak for them.
After the story was complete, we then carried it over to Digital Media, where we produced an audiobook of our story with narration, music, and even an album cover. The narration was recorded in several takes to account for any errors, and so that I may splice together the best versions of each paragraph. After that I added appropriate music to compliment the story. I chose an adventurous track to fit the sort of fantasy RPG theming in the beginning of the story. To finish it all off, I created an album cover in Adobe Illustrator, which I will cover in the next section.
The Hook-Shaped Mountain
As Kay reached the summit of the hook-shaped mountain, they were filled with a sense of freedom and excitement that nothing else could instill in them. The feeling expanded in their chest as they opened their arms wide to greet the massive expanse of fresh wilderness before them, the sun casting luminous godrays through the redwoods and landing on the creek below, projecting dancing caustics onto the smooth stones at the bottom. Kay inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of dirt and wood around them, as a formation of unknown birds passed overhead.
This world was nothing but peace and adventure, but when Kay gazed back down at the valley, they knew it couldn’t last. They had wasted enough time here, and they glanced at their watch’s reading of 6:57. They sighed and sat on the soft grass. The excitement had now been pushed out by longing. Longing for a world like this to return. Longing to go back to before the skies turned brown, before the trees were cut, and before the birds sang their last. A world they had never known but wished with all their heart that they had.
As the hand of their watch inched toward 6:58, they reached up and took off their headset, rubbing their shadowed eyes as the virtual escape surrounding them vanished and the dark bedroom with its tangle of wires and computer parts came into focus. They had missed too much sleep every night, but the feeling of fulfillment, of living, of adventure, kept bringing them back in. Tossing the headset back in their bag and turning off the computer, they tried to ignore the emptiness creeping back into their body. They knew it was unhealthy, they knew it just disappointed them each time, but they had to go back.
Kay sat on the bed of tangled, unwashed sheets and pulled open the window to see an orange sunrise silhouetting the hazy skyscrapers in the distance. This was the world they lived in, and there was nothing they could change about it. The watch beeped 7:00, and they got up to pull on a work vest and slung the dusty bag over their shoulder. Another day of work identical to the last. Just a cycle of apathy, monotony, and false joy. They survived passively, only to make it through the day and return to their imitation of life. Their indifference to the world had fully set in now, as they opened the door to head out into the warm January morning.
As they stepped out onto the platform high above the street below, they paused and looked up, seeing the tallest skyscraper had a curved top resembling a hook. They didn’t know how long that building had been there, yet here it was, and they now remained in the doorway, transfixed, staring at that hook-shaped tower. Kay stepped outside, closed the door, and looked down the street to their right, down the route they took every day, unthinking, unfeeling.
And, in a burst of volition, took off running across the bridge between buildings, high above the city, not East to the factory, but North, toward the hook-shaped tower. When the bridges ended they jumped across rooftops, climbing the gutters, veins pumping with adrenaline as they flew forward, catching glimpses of the hook through the gaps. They finally came to the wall of their prize, and looked up at its glistening surface. They grinned as they began to climb from ledge to ledge, their fingers bleeding as they pushed on. This was real. The energy and pain and sweat and stinging wind they felt was real.
As they climbed, Kay pondered how differently they considered their real and virtual lives, but why? Why did they need to be so disconnected? Surviving passively had suddenly lost its appeal. Kay didn’t want to survive, they wanted to live, and if they didn’t live in the real world as they did in their fantasy, then the cycle would continue.
As Kay reached the summit of the hook-shaped tower, they were filled with a sense of freedom and excitement that nothing else could instill in them. The feeling expanded in their chest as they opened their arms wide to greet the dense stretch of urban wilderness before them, the sun radiating dusty streaks through the smoke and landing on the river of cars below, their taillights piercing the fog. Kay inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of smog and rust around them as a helicopter roared overhead. This world could be adventurous. Sitting down on the cold copper roof and reaching into their bag, they pulled out the headset, and ran their fingers across the scratched lens. Kay held it out over the edge, and released it.
Illustrations
Also in Digital Media, we began learning Adobe Illustrator. This program was quite difficult for me to get used to, as I am used to working with Photoshop, a pixel-based image editor, while Illustrator is vector-based. The slight differences in the software’s UI and tools made it a bit strange to get a hold of at first, but I eventually got a handle on it.
One of our first illustrations was a group project: the Exquisite Corpse, where we, in groups of three or four, created a segmented image without knowing what the others were doing. All we knew was where the sections would meet. I decided to make a submarine tangled in the tentacles of a giant squid, inspired by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. By complete coincidence, Sierra and Eva, whom I was workin with, also made red sea creatures for their segments. Unfortunately, my squid was not the part connected to the others.
Next, we used illustrator to make an album cover for our short story. Since The Hook-Shaped Mountain took place between two worlds, one physical and one digital, I decided to emphasize that split with the parallels of the Hook-Shaped Mountain and Tower merged into one. I drew the scenery in a sort of geometric style with only straight lines, and painted the scene with contrasting colors of orange and blue to further define the halves. I connected the two with a Matrix-style barrier of ones and zeros, and finally, added Kay at the peak of the Mountain, and in the process of climbing the Tower.
Finally, we used Illuatrator to make designs to be put on our own physical items such as a shirt or mug. For this project, I decided to make a set of stickers, as I felt I was most likely to use them and they’re easy to share with others. I made three cute designs based on my cats combined with a different kind of baked good. It may seem strange, but they’re based on what the cats can sometimes look like when sitting or sleeping. Penny was a cinnamon roll, as she often looks like that when curled up. Dime was a loaf of bread, because he often likes to tuck his paws under his body. Nickel was a pancake because he’s recently taken a liking to flattening himself on the ground, which has earned him the nickname Pancat. One of the biggest challenges was the differences between drawing with Photoshop and Illustrator. I have used Photoshop for all of my digital art and have been used to the tools and the way it works, but the subtle differences in UI or functionality with Illustrator tripped me up frequently, and I personally found it fiddly and difficult to get used to. I may wish to stick to Photoshop more in the future, though I do hope to improve on my Illustrator skills first.
Music
As a project to work on our sound editing skills in Pro Tools, we wrote, sang, and produced a parody song, “Weird” Al Yankovic style. We brainstormed ideas and rewrote the lyrics to he first verse and chorus of a song of our choice. I couldn’t just do one, so I made a mashup of three holiday songs, given it was December at the time, and rewrote them to be about the lack of snow we get in the bay area. After writing the lyrics, I recorded the vocal track in a couple different takes which I would splice together later. In the end, the most time-consuming part was editing the best versions of each take together, like in the short story project, and matching them up to the music. I also had to blend the music between the three songs I had chosen to parody.
[Let It Snow]
Oh, the weather outside’s delightful
Mother nature is just actin’ spiteful
It’s no fit for the season you know
It won’t snow! It won’t snow! It won’t snow!
Man it doesn’t show signs of happening
Won’t get the glittering nights I’m imagining
The last time was too long ago
It won’t snow! It won’t snow! It won’t snow!
Oh, the chilliest day last year
Barely got far below forty-five
And to me it seems pretty clear
That no holiday ice will arrive
Oh, the planet is slowly dying
And the clouds are still denying
I try to keep the spirit although,
It won’t snow! It won’t snow! It won’t snow!
[Dreaming of a White Christmas]
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones in all the tales
Before global warming
When the snowflakes were swarming
But now Christmastime just pales
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
As I decorate the tree
I would love if there was snow to see
But a white Christmas is no guarantee
[Winter Wonderland]
Sleigh bells ring, you can’t hear ‘em
Blizzards rage, I don’t’ fear ‘em
Not so much as a frost
Miss what we’ve never lost
Far away from winter wonderland
Gone away is the snowflake
If it stayed, it’s a mistake
I’d sing a love song
If it didn’t feel so wrong
Far away from winter wonderland
Never seen a winter wonderland
Longing for a winter wonderland
Wanna be in winter wonderland
Gotta go to winter wonderland
Really far from winter wonderland
Far away from winter wonderland
Film
During the Narrative Film unit, we were challenged to use the skills we learned in the Experimental unit, along with some new ones, to tell stories and build characters.
Griffith’s Pattern
In one of our first lessons in film language, we practiced the use of Griffith’s Pattern, a sequence of shot types used by pioneer filmmaker Andy Griffith to establish scenes and characters. In our practice film, ‘Batter Up’, we used the pattern to introduce our setting, a deserted baseball field, and our character, a field sweeper…? who wishes to play baseball.
Suspense
Next, we practiced the use of suspense as a storytelling tool, inspired by the works of Alfred Hitchcock. We practiced concepts such as the 180-degree rule to maintain directional continuity and privileged position to let the audience know more than the characters and give buildup. In our film, ‘Stealing the MacGuffin’, we created a simple heist scene, where the characters are attempting to steal a book.
Chase Scene
Next, we put these concepts of suspense and composition together to create a chase scene. In this film, we used changing direction to give a quick pace and privileged position to create suspense. This film involves an assassin in a car pursuing a target on a bicycle.
Narrative Film
Finally, all of the lessons and practice we worked on up to this point was put together with new lessons on film language, such as the 3-act story structure, into our big final narrative. In this project we worked in pairs for over two months pitching, planning, and producing our stories into short films.
Pitch
We began with brainstorming and eventually pitching our ideas to the group. My original idea was a bit too ambitious for the project, so I shelved it, and may return to it later. I liked the cute romance that my classmate, Kylie had come up with about a girl trying to ask her crush out to a school dance, so we decided to work together. We further defined and outlined the story into the synopsis below:
ACT I
The film opens to a classroom in the middle of a lesson. The camera dollies in toward Valentine at her desk who is not paying attention, instead staring at her Crush across the room, who is busy working. The camera moves in on a handwritten note she was writing to Crush on a piece of yellow paper. The camera focuses on her signature on the bottom. The teacher knocks on her desk and she snaps back to reality. The bell rings and she packs up her things. She folds up the note and holds it as she stands and walks with the crowd out of the classroom. Cut to a poster in the hall advertising 3 DAYS LEFT UNTIL THE SCHOOL DANCE. The camera moves away from the poster to show the students leaving the classroom. Valentine fights her way through the crowd toward Crush holding the note tightly. Crush turns a corner, and Valentine slows and stops. She puts the note in her pocket and turns around.
ACT II
A montage showing Valentine trying and failing to talk to Crush, continually getting too nervous and chickening out. A close-up of the poster shows a hand tearing off the 3 revealing 2 DAYS LEFT underneath, then 1. On the final day before the dance, Crush drops a book (possibly intentionally) and Valentine gasps, seeing the opportunity. She picks up the book and follows after Crush, psyching herself up. When she reaches him she takes a deep breath and says… nothing. She freezes and stares at Crush, holding out the book. Crush takes the book, and Valentine runs away. Crush stands there, bewildered. Around the corner, Valentine hides, furious that she didn’t say anything and blew her final chance to ask him out. She looks at her note and crumples it up, throwing it in a garbage bin as she walks away.
ACT III
Valentine sits in the corner of the school dance by the food tables. She leans against the wall and closes her eyes, frustrated with herself for not talking to Crush. She finishes her drink and decides to leave the dance. As she’s walking away from the school, she sees Crush sitting on the bleachers, alone. Valentine suddenly has a burst of motivation and walks up to him. He waves and invites Valentine to sit with him, which she does. He hands her a note of his own, which is written on green paper. They sit together and talk, watching the sunset as the camera pulls out and the credits roll.
Pre-Production
After getting the green light to continue working, we refined the story into a spreadsheet, which we then used to storyboard every shot in the film, and created concept art for costumes, props, and location layouts.
After the story had been completely planned out, we contacted actors and extras, organized filming locations, and planned shooting schedules. Once all of that was completed, we were finally able to begin shooting the film.
Production
The shooting of this film was certainly stressful. We had to plan around our actors’ sports activities, account for when the sun would set, and ensure our locations would be open. We had to reschedule multiple sessions last-minute for the Super Bowl or my forgetting to bring our lights. Our various scenes were shot over five separate sessions, and we eventually managed to get every shot we needed.
Post-Production
Finally, to finish off the process, all the shots and scenes wee edited together according to the rules of Griffiths Pattern, 3-act structure, etc. We presented the rough cut of the film before the class for critique, and used the suggestions of finalize and add the finishing touches to the end result.
One such critique was that the film seemed a bit slow and repetitive, and seeing that the film was nearing ten minutes in length, we agreed. We decided to take two scenes which were quite similar and felt redundant, and merge them both into one. This cut down on runtime and improved the pacing of the film. This is a great example of how a film can still be changed during editing. We didn’t even need to reshoot anything.
With the final details worked out, the effects completed, the color grading done, and the credits added, Valentine was ready to premiere!