Introduction

We began this unit with the analysis of several pieces of prose fiction and samples of novels. By doing so, we were able to practice creating our own characters and story arc through our writing, narrative digital art, storyboards, and animations. We became skilled in numerous professional equipment and applications, including Wacom Digital Drawing Pads, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Animate, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Avid Pro Tools, HTML/CSS, and Google Apps.

In my English class, the experience of creating my own flash fiction after reading a few inspiring stories was extremely valuable to me. This project helped me improve as a storyteller as I incorporated all of the aspects of a successful plot, centered around a character I made up myself and envisioned a complete background for. The Illustrator Project I completed in Digital Media allowed me to use the skills I had acquired while learning how to use Adobe Illustrator. I was able to create stickers of any design I wanted, something that I have always wanted to try. In Animation, the narrative animation required countless hours of drawing, but it was all worth it in the end. At first, the project seemed impossible, especially since I was still relatively new to Adobe Photoshop. With the completion of such a difficult project, it gave me the confidence I needed.

Story

We were assigned to write a short flash fiction in English, incorporating everything we learned about creating an interesting character and plot. My story, titled “A Path or a Maze”, was inspired by Langston Hughes’ “Thank You, M’am.”

The writing process began with creating a character questionnaire, containing basic information about our character. We made up a name, age, distinct characteristics, childhood background, etc. for our characters. We then went on to make a plot map, complete with an exposition, rising actions, a climax, falling actions, and a resolution.

After finishing our flash fictions in English, we produced audio versions of our stories by using an audio recorder and editing it and adding sound effects in Pro Tools. In Pro Tools, I added background music at the beginning and end of the recording, fading it to make it flow better. I also found sound effects that went well with what was happening in the story. Through the process of creating my own story and then later making it into an audio with an “album cover”, I learned many essential skills to help me become a better storyteller and digital artist.

A Maze or a Path

The familiar sweet-sounding melody coming from the entrance made the baker raise his head from his work and crack a huge welcoming smile. 

“Good morning Floria,” the baker brightly exclaimed. “Would you like your usual breakfast order?”

“As always,” Floria replied. 

The baker got to work, shuffling around his workspace with complete focus to make a wonderful fresh Danish served with steaming coffee for one of his regular customers. In fact, all of his customers were regulars- excluding the occasional tourist who he was always delighted to meet! Charles DeRose, the baker, had recently turned 58, making it just over 30 years since he moved to the quiet and charming town of Menerbes. He was a short, plump man with big rosy cheeks and a bright personality. By now, he knew just about everyone in town, and his little bakery was loved by many.

Once Floria left, Charles began prepping for the orders that would soon be coming in. One customer, Claude, an elderly woman who was good friends with Charles’s mother, made a rather interesting remark as she sat down with her tart, “You’ve been running this bakery for years now all by yourself. Haven’t you ever thought about hiring an assistant? Your mother is worried about you overworking yourself!”

Charles took a moment to think. “I’ve always been happy working alone. What would I need an assistant for?” 

Although he did not have children of his own, his sister brought her family from Paris to visit every summer. He also shared a comfortable space above the bakery with his mother. It would feel unusual having a stranger there all the time. Still, the thought remained in his mind for the rest of the day.

Charles woke up the next morning with a weird feeling in the back of his mind. He tried to shake the feeling away by leaving the house early to buy groceries. Once he arrived at the local market just a few blocks away, he ran into Claude again. 

“Oh Charles! I spoke with your mother yesterday and we agreed that it’s best you start looking for some help in your bakery. Lucky for you, I know someone who would be perfect for the job!” Charles looked at Claude who was beaming with excitement. He wasn’t surprised that Claude and his mother had taken action without consulting him first. They were both very outgoing and often took matters into their own hands.

Before Charles could open his mouth to speak, Claude exclaimed, “They finally have the apricots I’ve been wanting! I have to hurry!” Without looking back, she added, “Oh right, the woman’s name is Amélie Dupont and she will be at the bakery at 3:00 pm to meet you!”

In addition to his usual necessities, Charles bought special ingredients needed to make a marjolaine, a french cake consisting of several layers of nutty meringue, praline buttercream, and chocolate ganache. Charles had been considering adding new cakes to his menu and he believed this would be perfect to test Amélie’s capabilities.

Finally, it was 3:00 in the afternoon and Amélie arrived at the bakery. After giving Amélie a short tour, Charles informed her of her task. Upon hearing that she was to make a cake by herself, a marjolaine at that, Amélie grew worried. After a bit of consideration, Charles decided she could make anything she wanted. She chose to make a soufflé chocolat, something she felt most confident in. 

A little less than an hour later, Amélie was finished. She presented her creation to Charles, who had been patiently waiting. Full of expectations, Charles picked up the spoon and dug into the soufflé. His face immediately dropped. Quickly, he overcame his shock and offered a weak smile. After giving her some pointers to help her in the future, he quickly but politely ushered her out of his bakery. As soon as she stepped foot outside, Charles’s mother returned.

“Was that Amélie?” she asked, excitedly. Her excitement faded as Charles told her about the disaster that had just happened. 

About a week went by of enduring interviews, but Charles could not find an adequate assistant. It felt like he was walking an endless path- one he never should have taken. One evening, Charles was getting ready to close the bakery when a young boy walked in. Before Charles got the chance to greet him, the boy grabbed two loaves of bread and dashed out. Unfortunately for the boy, Charles’s mother was just returning home and the boy tripped over her in his hurry to escape. 

“Well well well,” Charles made his way over to the boy. “Now what do you think you’re doing?”

The boy cowered, “I’m sorry sir I don’t usually do this. . . but I was terribly hungry and my mother kicked me out of the house.”

Before Charles could think of a proper response, his mother chimed in. “Oh you poor boy. Don’t worry about a thing. Come in here we’ll feed you a nice meal.”

Although the boy was hesitant, he went inside. During the meal, Charles and his mother asked many questions, to no one’s surprise. They found out the boy’s name was Oliver and he was sixteen years old. His family kept to themselves and weren’t much for socializing. Surprisingly, Oliver turned more talkative as the conversation progressed, and it was clear that he had a strong interest in baking. All of a sudden, Charles asked, “Have you ever made a marjolaine?” Oliver’s face lit up as he answered, “I make one every year for my older sister’s birthday! It’s our favorite.”

And at that moment, Charles knew that this new connection he made would turn out to be precious and valuable to him. Charles could now see an end to the seemingly endless path he had taken. An end filled with delicious food and meaningful friendships. The next day, there was a splendid marjolaine on the table, and sitting next to it was the proud creator, Oliver.

Illustrations

For the Illustrator Project, I decided to create designs that would later be printed and made into stickers. I wanted to create cute designs, and with my newfound love for cats, ideas quickly started popping into my head. I finally settled on drawing four unique cats, each with a different hat.

Music

The Parody Projects involved singing part of a song of our choice, and editing both the original song clip and the parody clip in Pro Tools so that the original vocals would be barely noticeable. I worked on this project with one of my friends, so we decided to choose a song from a group that we both love and admire: BTS. We chose to base the lyrics on our similar experiences during quarantine because we felt it would be easy for others to relate to it.

Cause I, I, I’m losing track of time

I’m gonna stay in bed till the sun goes down

I wake up, is it night or day

Coffee first, let’s do some work 

Zoom on, am I late

Breakout rooms do I wait to talk

Schools done, am I free to go

Or do I have to read some more,

Screentime, always going up

Have to watch another TikTok (bam)

This is getting stressful, can I get a break now? I’m tired (Woo-hoo)

Life is pretty boring, yeah, this year should just start over, huh

Midterm studying, procrastinate, gotta graduate

Imma junior, yeah i’m on my way

Hey, so let’s go

Cause I, I, I’m losing track of time

I’m gonna stay in bed till the sun goes down (Hey)

Going through the kitchen to go find some chips and coke

So imma sleep and eat all quarantine, woah-oh-oh

Animation

We worked on creating a puppet and drawing it digitally in Animation. After our designs were finalized, we made a walk cycle for our puppets; one in Photoshop and one in Stop Motion. We then put the two walk cycles together in Adobe After Effects, complete with background music and shadows.

One of the bigger projects we have completed this year is the Visual Narrative Animation. For this group project, I was tasked with drawing two of the four scenes. This meant I had to create nearly 200 frames of animation. It took a significant amount of work and effort, but the practice helped me gain more confidence in my digital drawing skills.