Introduction
“What have you accomplished? How have you grown? How did you grow into the digital artist you are today?”
I’m incredibly grateful for my past two years at Freestyle. The teachers, community, and real-world opportunities taught and fulfilled me more than I ever expected. I learned how to use the Adobe Suite and industry-standard film equipment- but most importantly, how to express and direct myself both creatively and professionally. Here are few of the works that I’m most proud of:
Documentary Research Article
During the documentary unit, I wrote an article about the prevalence of sexual abuse in the ballet industry. I hold this project very close to my heart because it allowed me to revisit and process cases of sexual assault that occurred at my former ballet school. I began this project by compiling and analyzing several research sources on the topic of sexual abuse in ballet. Next, I interviewed one of the sexual assault victims from my former studio, as well as one of my friends who also attended the school- both of these perspectives were crucial to helping me understand the situation and represent it to the readers of my article. I used Adobe InDesign to create a layout with my research, interview quotes, and original photographs. I am extremely proud of this project because I was able to provide a little bit of closure to my dance studio’s broken community.
Zenith Film
My final film is about a girl who stubbornly tries to find her way home in a changed world. I enjoyed turning away from a narrative film style in dialogue scenes and experimenting with color grading in a way that supports the characters. NatalieE and I were inspired by I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, and by David Lynch’s filmmaking style, which is characterized by lingering shots, empty space, and a dreamlike quality. This was one of my most thorough Freestyle projects because I feel like every step of the production was hands-on. We designed and sewed the costumes, drew storyboards, scaled a hill at golden hour, and I physically broke planks off of a wooden crate so that our actor could fit her hand through it. We hope this film (it’s about you) encourages people to walk forward into the future and find a sense of place in the unknown.
Reflections Video Essay
In Film, we were challenged to write and film a video essay that creatively portrays how our minds work. I chose to focus on finding beauty in asymmetrical balance. Expressing vulnerability was the most challenging part of this process, while combining my writing with visual storytelling was the most enjoyable.
Personal Mandala
In Digital Media, I learned how to create a mandala with reflecting and repeating slices in Adobe Illustrator by using concentric circles and clipping masks. I used a small brush in Illustrator to add fine details and fill the space with meaningful designs, and I became adept at organizing all of the layers in my Illustrator workspace. My inspiration for this project was all of the vegetables that I have fond memories eating. I included onions, artichokes, cilantro, bell peppers, sugar snap peas, and avocados. I even drew an avocado plant because I used to salvage avocado pits and submerge them in water until they sprouted a stem and leaves. I wanted to portray how the ingredients in the food we eat shapes our identity and reminds us of home.
Photoshop Painting
One of our final assignments in Digital Media allowed us to explore three skills of our choice. I chose painting in Photoshop as one of my skills since I’d never painted digitally before. Although I struggled with the brush pressure and gradients, I enjoyed the ability of matching colors perfectly using the eyedropper tool. I spent about 7 hours in total on this illustration of Taylor Russell in Bones and All.
