Introduction:

This project is about taking risks in our creative pursuits- whether is be poetry, film, or song- and challenging ourselves to make art that reflects our skills and beliefs. Additionally, this project is a baseline to teach us valuable technical and professional skills by using valuable applications and tools such as such as DSLR Cameras, Tascam Audio Recorders, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Animate, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Audition, Avid Pro Tools, WordPress, and Google Apps.

I value what I have learned at freestyle because I know that no matter what I decide to do with my life, I will have skills that will make me a valuable employee. This first semester has exposed me to so many useful tools, some of which came really easy to me like Photoshop. Being a Freestyle student, especially during the coronavirus outbreak, has really taught me how to be a diligent and independent learner. I find that even more valuable than the skills we learned over zoom, because it gives me the confidence to know that I can overcome learning challenges.

Haiku

In English, we created videos using audio and image to help accentuate our haikus. By doing so, it allows the reader to feel more connected to the story or feelings I am expressing. It also helps me set the tone and mood of my poem without even reading it.

Premiere Pro Application

Poetry

After the Haikus, we began using more technical platforms to help elevate our writing. In digital media, we learned how to use photoshop to edit images together as well as code websites where we can upload the highest quality versions of our projects.

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Click Here To See The Poem

This poem is about my relationship with my identity as a mixed indigenous person, and how the hardships and the destruction of our civilizations how my family overcame that lead me to where I am today. The first stanza uses objective correlatives to show my love for the indigenous communities that my family is from yet has been disconnected from due to physical distance. I also used it to describe and reference the poetic and romantic nature of traditional native writing and songs, which use nature and the elements to describe emotion. I chose to reference the sanskrit language because it is widely known as one of the oldest written languages and the most romantic languages in the world. Oftentimes people believe native cultures had no written language, but most indigenous civilizations had libraries with written records of traditions, stories, and important events. Furthermore, indigenous cultures are believed to be up to 20,000 years old, making their languages as old (or older) than sanskrit. I use the metaphor of a sleeping giant to represent the power of our languages even though it is in decline. The fire represents native people’s resilience and strength through the horrors they have been through, and that when we speak our languages, we take back our power. The second stanza refers to a beautiful island, which is an allusion I used to reference an origin story. According to the story, we live upon the shell of a turtle floating in a body of water (called Turtle Island). In stanza three, I use scars and blows as a metaphor to represent trauma that has been inflicted on my living family members and ancestors from past generations. I use stones thrown into a pond as a simile to show the rippling effects of trauma that pass from generation to generation. Blood struggling to clot is a metaphor for problems that are difficult to fix, and being cut at the veins is a metaphor for the ways indigenous people have been systematically held back, oppressed, and given few better options. “They are there, not here” alludes to both physical separation from my family, as well as the fact that native americans exist as historical characters a lot of people, but not as people who actually exist in our current day and age. This is a serious issue that my family and I have faced, and by treating us like mythological creatures, people minimize us and our issues. Finally, reaching out to touch the stars represents both achieving my dreams as well as coming back to my community to help them in any way I can. During peer review, my readers enjoyed the first half of my poem but suggested that I write even more. The most helpful feedback I got was that it was ok to put my raw feelings out there, because to be honest I was kind of shy to talk about this issue, despite the importance of it to me. I adjusted the length of my poem, because it used to be two pages long, and then redid the ending in order to make it end on a more powerful look. I was particularly inspired by Maya Angelou because she also writes about her community’s issues. I tried to emulate the honesty and pride she puts in her work.

Pro Tools Application
Photoshop Application

I valued learning how to use photoshop. Normally, art forms like drawing and painting are not my talents, so it was cool to learn an art form that I am capable of making visually beautiful. I also really valued learning basic HTML. Knowing how to make a website and upload my work will be super useful in the future, no matter what my occupation is.

Elements & Principles of Arts

This assignment taught me about the basic aspects of visual art, so that we could later incorporate them into our digital art work later on.

(Click The Link Below To See The Slides)
Elements and Principles of Art Title Page

Film

The Conceptual assignments in Film were about teaching us the basics of film while thinking in an abstract way. So far, Film class is challenging, but also very interesting. I really love learning about all of the different ways to creatively take shots and edit things together. Over everything, I value this class because I am learning the skills I need to be successful in the film industry, because working on a show or movie is my dream.

The production process starts with a pitch. As a class, we meet up and discuss each other’s ideas for a film, and how to improve them. Then we write a synopsis, helping us plan out the storyboard, which depicts each individual shot. Then we go through the process of filming dailies, which we also review with the class to see what we need to re-film. Once we have all the footage, we make a rough cut and eventually a final cut, which is submitted for a grade.

My Experimental Film “Shaky”
Premiere Pro Application

On the left is the software I use to edit my Experimental film, “Shaky”. On the upper half of the image you can see the screen with my footage, and on the left and bottom you can see the tools I use to edit.