At Freestyle we take narrative very seriously because story is king. A story is the most important enhancement to art, it is what gives purpose to a canvas and what assigns humanity to acrylics. In English we create a short story that tests are ability to visually convey details. In Design we create a beautiful illustration that combines the stories and characteristics of a plethora of contrasting creatures. Most importantly, in film we create a fully fledged short film. Below you will find all of these projects that I have worked so hard on. Enjoy.
The flash fiction is an incredibly short story that sacrifice quantity for intensely packed quality. Every sentence is the epitome of show don’t tell and inspiration is gained from the golden standard of visual narrative: 1984, by George Orwell. I hope you like it!
“Even The Losers”
The echoing sound of footsteps filled the long hallway. Kace carried himself as if he were also carrying a weight on his neck, his head drooped low while also managing to bob to a beat, and an iconic popstar grin was plastered onto his face. However, his facade of a smile was given away easily by a dreadfully diffident posture and apprehensive ability to hold the beat of his favorite song. The bell had rung loudly about ten minutes ago, but he pretended not to hear with his earbuds snug and blasting a classic rock tune. The unusual amount of noise and activity in the halls would have been immediately clear had he heard anything aside from the ensnaring melodies of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Suddenly, the floor rushed to meet his plummeting body as the wind seemingly sent him hurtling into the tile floor. Kace scrambled to find footing as a blend of panic and confusion overtook him and quickly was replaced once again with soothing vocals and daring chords. He, for the first time, noticed the boys in front of him. There were two of them and they possessed all of the stereotypes of a school bully: massive, strong, and sporting military haircuts to boot. They appeared to be laughing at Kace. However, in contrast to what might have been an endangering scenario, It appeared as if they were mouthing the words to Free Falling, as such was the perfect syncing of the laughter to the music.
Kace couldn’t help it. A rare, genuine smile crept over his previously unadorned features.
The two accidental rockstars didn’t understand the comedy, nor did they reserve a tolerance for it. They said something, which only made it increasingly hilarious as it seemed to magically match the lyrics of the newest song in his favorite rock playlist. Kace was being flung from wall, to floor, and even head first into lockers. Somehow, the laughter only managed to rush forth more aggressively. The two boys stood over him, perplexed at what this kid could possibly find so amusing.
Kace sat looking up at the two kids, blood streaming from his nose and his left eye badly bruised. He just sat there with a toothy grin spread from ear to ear. The aggressors glanced at one another, puzzled, and proceeded to yell something inaudible – presumably at Kace – but, ultimately, discovered the source of Kace’s bizarre confidence. The bully on the left quickly snatched the headphones out of his ears and dangled them far above his head. A sensation of pain replaced the previous adornment of confidence as his facade cracked. His smile, for once genuine, washed away.
Trying to reach for the earbuds would be pointless, so he sat, slouched and legs trembling, as the bullies taunted him. And yet, Kace found himself slowly nodding to an unheard beat once more. The soft, mental metronome turned to an echo. The echo quickly transformed into a symphony, ascending to blot out the low pitched taunts and screams that invaded his world. Although laughter remained stifled, a grin that reached his eyes returned to his face as he ignored the resumed assault.
The two boys then stood, completely dumbfounded, wondering how this helpless child remained unaffected by their efforts to bring misery. Having tried everything, their shoulders lowered, and they walked away with eyes scrunched in confusion. Kace, left completely alone, is accompanied by “Jammin’ Me,” another classic, as it begins to play its familiar tune in Kace’s head. The unheard sound of echoing footsteps moved away to somewhere new along the stretch of hallway. Kace sits, back to wall, with his shoulders slightly back and head nodding confidently to an imaginary beat. A familiar popstar grin remained authentically plastered onto his battered face.
The character inspired illustration is an exploration of strange and conceptual storytelling through the creation of characters. Characters are key to a story and sometimes even the focus of a story structure. As a result of this truth, we didn’t just create a character – we got to know our character. Get to know the character I created below.
![](https://www.freestyleacademy.rocks/~BenjaminC/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/BenjaminCIllustration.jpg)
The tale described by my flash fiction is that of a high school boy with a lack of real self-confidence, but an abundance of fake self-assuredness. With a fake, but cocky grin and overly loud old school rock music; it is clear that in the beginning of the story he is compensating for a clear lack of belief in himself. As the story progresses, stereotypical bullies are introduced and inadvertently allow the boy to find himself through learning that he has control over himself that he never previously realized. When his music is taken from him, his newfound confidence is momentarily paused, only to be replaced with the realization that he truly can rely on himself. The piece I have created is a representation of the boy’s initial psychological state.
This piece was made across a many step process that begins with basic sketches and finishes with picking a particular color palette. The sketches were simple with the sole purpose of finding direction and experimenting with poses and composition of the many creatures we were about to mash together. Shortly after this, we took photos of backgrounds in order to gain a better comprehension for the framing of our creature on the illustrated background. Then it was time to produce the final piece. This involved tracing certain images, for me only the silhouette of a suit and head, and create the basic shape of our creature. Then I added details, shadows, highlights, and other additions to the creature using intuition, reference images, and certain bits of art theory. The resulting creature is a combination of victimized creatures (deer, mouse, and even plant!) and those which indicate the facade of confidence (eagles beak and fancy attire). After the creature was done, (but colorless) it was time to draw the background. For this we began with a simple linear perspective that would give the world depth, form, and believability. I wished to force the viewer to watch my creature through a window, as if they were gaining an insight into the privacy of his psyche that he does not wish others to see. Furthermore, I added a canvas behind him which depicted a crude sketch of the creature. This was to show how his personal view of himself and what he is trying so hard to make sure no one sees in him. A crude, not perfect, representation of him. Yet, although flawed, is the most pure representation of the essence of who he is. This bizarre scene was intentionally placed on a beautiful, dream-like landscape in order to portray the comfort his music provides and the early reliance on it. After the lines and shapes were there, the final step was colors. I chose very earthy, yet contrastingly vibrant colors out of the Pantone color book. The purple suit furthers his sense of self-importance as if he is royalty, whilst the bright green leaves flash his true softness. If one statement were to encapsulate the piece it would be; the appearance of a child is shown in contrast with the image he wishes to not project.
For Film, the narrative unit for junior and senior year is the assignment that will tear you apart and test everything you know about filmmaking and organization. The junior year project is a narrative short-film with the constraint of no dialogue. It is a silent film that was storyboarded, filmed, and edited in just a few months. Mine is a comedy which exaggerates the dismal reality of being a student at high school that was not assigned a parking permit and cannot park in the student parking lot. I encourage you to watch below.