Conceptual

Introduction

The Conceptual Project encourages juniors to explore creative ways to express themselves by thinking outside the box. Students are pushed to experiment with different forms such as poetry, music, visual art, animation, experimental film, and web design to develop their own unique style. Along with this, they learn important technical skills in communication by using modern professional tools like DSLR cameras, Tascam audio recorders, and programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Animate, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, Avid Pro Tools, WordPress, and Google Apps.

During the first quarter at freestyle academy, I’ve been able to express and create my art in ways I previously could not due to the boost in given themes and expensive technology. The Conceptual Unit has been a great experience, in Digital Media I’ve learned to use a variety of tools and programs that will be really helpful in the future, especially for creative and professional projects. Along with that English has been engaging and enjoyable, offering unique and fun ways to explore storytelling and self-expression. Both classes have taught me valuable skills while encouraging creativity and personal growth.

Art Reflection

The SFMOMA field trip was a trip freestyle students took during the first week of school, taking us to the famous SFMOMA art museum. It contained interesting modern art from a wide variety of artists, spanning from log displays, paintings, and whole rooms. During this trip, we as freestyle students were tasked with finding a piece that spoke to us individually, take a photo of it, and then write a meaningful reflection about it; along with a well edited video. This was difficult for me, since I never usually look at modern art, but I feel as if I grew in an artistic sense, opening my mind more to the possibilities of art. I also felt as if I grew technically, becoming much more familiar with Premiere pro (in the form of editing the art reflection video).

“Put video here”

I valued the SFMOMA art reflection video as an assignment for several reasons. For starters, I enjoyed going to the museum with friends from freestyle, exploring it at my own leisure. However it wasn’t only fun, but educational. I not only expanded my knowledge on modern art, but also expanded my strengths in the form of editing and writing.

Parody Introduction

I made the Parody music video with my partner Kingston. Our process was too first sketch out some re-done lyrics of our selected song, being radiohead’s Creep. We decided upon making a Minecraft parody, with a play on the word “Creeper”. After sketching out our lyrics and recording them in the provided booths, we began to edit the video. Kingston and I cut out the gaps in audio, toned it all down to one volume, and reverbed specific parts of the song.

Me and my partner Kingston created this song because we quite like the band Radiohead, and Minecraft was a large part of our childhood. I remember spending hours a day jumping around in the Minecraft tutorial world with my cousin, exploring and joking around. That’s why this parody was somewhat meaningful to me, because it reminded me of these times.

However it was also a great learning experience, being previously  unfamiliar to premiere pro and the various editing tools we used such as reverb and pitches, this simple parody song served as a good introduction to the software as a whole. I believe that this project will be helpful to me in the future, giving me a good first step into the world of premiere pro and editing in general, and allowing me to further progress.

Parody lyrics

When you’re mining ore
Can’t look you in the eye
You’re just like a diamond
In this blocky sky
You hiss like a phantom
In a pixelated world
I wish I was special
You’re so freakin’ special

[Chorus]
But I’m a creep, I’m a creeper
What the hell am I doin’’ here?
I don’t belong here

[Verse 2]
I don’t care if it hurts
I wanna make a blast
I want to cause some chaos
I want my TNT to last
I want you to notice
When I sneak around
You’re so freakin’ special
I wish I was special

[Chorus]
But I’m a creep, I’m a creeper
What the hell am I doin’ here?
Im all gren and stuff
Oh-oh, oh-oh

[Bridge]
You’re running from my blast
You’re running fast
You run, run, run, run
Run

[Outro]
Whatever makes you blow up
Whatever you want
You’re so freakin’ special
I wish I was special
But I’m a creep, I’m a creeper
What the hell am I doin’ here?
I don’t belong here
I don’t belong here

Animation Introduction

Animation as a freestyle course as of now has been extremely helpful to both my creativity and love for art and animation. The assignments have been interesting, with all the different animation medias such as phenakistoscopes, flipbooks, stop motion, and digital. I believe that ive grown a lot as a digital artist in Animation due to the resources provided to me. Previously I was strictly a traditional artist, not wanting to venture into any digital medium, however animation class forced me into doing so. I value being an animation student because of the technology and teaching being provided to me, allowing me to progress much faster than I wold have been able to before.

Animation projects

The history of Animation; a project we did very early on into the year in order to learn more in depth about the history and properties of the art form.

Zoetrope Wheel

The Zoetrope wheel is a form of Animation in which you draw on a rectangular sheet of paper, divided into 16 different frames. You then place it in a circular device that spins very fast, allowing the animation to be seen when peering through the divided gaps.

Phenakistoscope

A Phenakistoscope is a similar concept to the Zoetrope Wheel, however instead of drawing the frames on a rectangular paper, you draw them on a circular paper (divided into frames). You can view the animation you’ve drawn by spinning the paper around in front of a mirror and looking through the designated gaps.