Narrative 1

Narrative 1

For the Narrative project, I had to answer the question “How well can you visually tell a structured story?”

Beginning with an exploration of prose fiction, I had to practice communicating character and story arc through descriptive storytelling, narrative digital art, storyboards, and films. I was able to deepen my technical communication skills by learning a variety of modern professional equipment and applications such as Wacom Digital Drawing Pads, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Avid Pro Tools.

From the Visual Narrative Project, I learned how to be an effective story teller. I got to write my own stories in English, create stories through audio in Digital Media, and create a short film with my original story in Film. Learning how to tell a compelling story in so many mediums has allowed me to be more creative with my own original ideas. And more importantly, has taught me to be confident in the stories I want to tell.

STORY

In English, we were tasked to write short story that follows a narrative plot. For my story, I created a character named Elliott, who wants to quit his day job and make music for a living. We had a few assignments in class that helped us structure our story like the Character Questionnaire and the Plot Map. For the Character Questionnaire, I had to answer a bunch of questions about my character Elliott in order to establish who he is as a character, and for the plot map, I had to roughly outline the plot of my story in order to see if it followed the correct story structure and to help develop the story.

In Digital Media, we took our short story and produced an audio version of it. I recorded my entire story on my portable recorder then edited the audio and added sound effects using Pro Tools.

A Parting Song

     Elliott walked through his front door, sighing as he placed his backpack on the table in the entryway. After kicking off his shoes and hanging up his jacket, he threw his employee badge, which was once around his neck, across his apartment. It could first be heard hitting a pile of papers, then dropping to the floor. Unphased by the sound, Elliott continued towards the other end of his apartment to his desk. He sat down to face scattered papers, pens, small pieces of tin foil, and countless of half-written songs. The clock on the desk indicated that it was barely the early evening, but to Elliott, it felt as if it was already midnight. He flipped open his worn, yellow notebook to the first blank page available and began writing. He mindlessly let words be written onto the paper for what felt like the thousandth time. This was an exercise Elliott found himself practicing almost every day after work: writing down everything that was on his mind, which mostly pertained to work, and trying to create something from what had just been scribbled down. This exercise never led to any actual creation, only daily failed attempts and a glorified form of journaling.

      Today’s entry started the same as all the others, writing about the same dull, daily routine. He sat there for a moment when suddenly, Elliott’s hand started to move the pen faster, pressing it harder into the notebook. His mind was racing with ideas as he went further in-depth about his day. His grip tightened around his pen as he wrote about everything that frustrated him, from the lack of color in the office to his annoying coworkers. Even though today’s work was no different from any other day, the past weeks worth of journaling about his long hours in the office that seemed to drag would miss most of the details that he was writing about. As he finished writing about the third coworker that had gotten on his nerves, he put his pen down to review his entry. He had written six full pages in just over half an hour, which was double what he would normally write. He then began the next part of his daily practice, attempting to make a song out of what he wrote. 

     Elliott was scribbling down ideas to form his frustration into a half-decent verse. His pen glided across the paper as he circled certain words or phrases and drew arrows all over the place. Every other line was almost completely crossed out while others were colored by a bright pink highlighter. He flipped open a new page and began to reword his scrambled thoughts. He began writing with the same energy as before while potential melodies and chord progressions played through his head, where he managed to get halfway down the page. He rolled over in his chair to grab his black acoustic guitar that was leaning against the wall. He carefully, but quickly, checked to see if it was in tune and began playing. He tested out all the chord progressions that he had played through his head to see which one fit the best. 

     He continued to play and write for hours without any breaks. The fingers on his left hand were growing tired from pressing down on the guitar strings and his right hand could barely hold onto the pen. The page on his desk now had a completed chorus with two half-completed verses to accompany it. Elliott looked over to the clock for the first time since he sat down. This time the clock indicated that it was nearing midnight and time for Elliott to stop working. As he stood up, after hours of sitting to prepare for bed, he couldn’t help but look over his writing one last time with a smile across his face.

     The next day at work seemed to drag on more than usual. Elliott couldn’t focus on his work as his mind was still set on the song he had written the previous night. The computer at his workstation displayed hundreds of lines of code waiting to be double-checked, but he couldn’t find it in himself to look up. Instead, he was looking down and writing on a piece of paper. His coworkers, which he rarely talked to, leaned over from behind their screens to watch the pen in his hand dance around. The occasional humming that came from the young man’s mouth would cause even more people to glance over at him. When he could feel that too many people were staring at him, Elliott would quietly put his pen down and redirect his focus to the colored text in front of him. The rest of his day and week followed this cycle, where each day, his focus at work would grow smaller as he got closer to finishing his song. 

     One day on the subsequent week, Elliott yawned before taking another sip from the warm paper cup in his hand. Elliott had finally finished the song he had so relentlessly worked on for the past week, but had stayed up far too late doing so. He was almost finished with his second cup after only being in the office for an hour. The bland gray of the walls and floor all began to blend together as he struggled to keep his head up. He was mindlessly allowing his fingers to move around the keyboard when he heard his name called.

     “Hey Elliott, could you please come to my office?” Lucas, his supervisor, asked.

     Shocked, Elliott grabbed his phone and his coffee and slowly made his way to the office where he’d been summoned to. His coworkers all watched as he walked by them, their eyes followed his movements across the room, some even leaned over to whisper to a neighbor. All the stares on him caused him to tense up as if he was taking a walk of shame.

     Elliott closed the door behind him once inside of Lucas’ office. He was gestured to sit in front of his superior, so he shyly sat in the black metal chair. When he sat down, he felt awake – and nervous. He fiddled with the cup of coffee that he no longer needed to help him wake up as he waited for Lucas to speak.

     “I heard from Jeffery and the rest of your team that you haven’t been putting in any effort the past week or so. They say you haven’t been pulling your weight. Is something the matter?”

     “I-” Elliott hesitated. “I’ve just been a little caught up in a personal project. That’s all, I’m sorry.”

     Lucas’ eyes narrowed as Elliott finished speaking and began to slowly nod. He held his gaze on Elliott’s face, making him more nervous. Elliott anxiously sat there and waited for a response that he wouldn’t receive. The two held their eye contact for what seemed like hours before Lucas was ready to say something. But right before any words came out, Elliott spoke out without any hesitation.

     “Here.” He reached over to unlock his phone, “I’ll show you.”

     After a few seconds of swiping around on his phone, Elliott raised his phone up and tapped the triangle in the center of his screen. The room filled with the sound of electric guitars and drums playing out of the phone, and Elliott’s voice soon followed. The tone in his voice and the accompanying instruments were perfectly captured as they brought the negative emotions that inspired the song to life. He sang with a passion that nobody at this company, or anyone at all, had ever heard from him. Hearing the lyrics that detailed his experience coming in to work in the office that he dreaded was a surreal feeling. He looked at Lucas and was grounded back to reality. He could tell that his supervisor was impressed by the music performance, but not so much by the context of it. As the song came to an end, the small smile that grew on Elliott’s face began to disappear. He was no longer in his bright, made-up world of music, but now in the dull presence of his day job. The two settled into a short silence once again until Lucas spoke up.

     “I think it’s fair for me to tell you that you’re f-”

     “Yeah. I quit.” 

     Elliott, who was once filled by nerves, confidently walked out of Lucas’ office and past all of his curious coworkers. He quickly packed up his workstation and walked out of the office for the last time without even taking a final look. He took the day to explore the bustling city that he had worked in for over a year. Throughout the day, he saw bright buildings, people rushing to get somewhere, people rested on benches going nowhere, and plenty of different stores and restaurants to try. The city was like a breath of fresh air. There were so many new opportunities for him to explore and create, it was refreshing. And most of all, he couldn’t wait to write all about it once he got home.

A screenshot of my Pro Tools Session for my Short Story Audio

Short Story Author of Playwright Study

In English Honors, our extra assignment for this unit was to read the work of a modern short story author or playwright and write either an essay analyzing their work or story that emulates their writing style. I chose to read the work of the playwright, Arthur Miller, and to write a play in his style.

A Scene from Broken Pieces

    In October 2019, Isaiah, Finn, Benji, and Connor lived together in a house in Santa Barbara, California. They were all 19 years old, except for Finn who recently turned 20, and students at UC Santa Barbara. They met five years ago in their freshman year of high school and have been inseparable since. As luck would have it, the four best friends were all able to attend the same college, which was all the way across the country from where they grew up. They had recently started their sophomore year of college and decided to all be roommates. 

     The house they shared was of a decent size and only a short 10-minute walk away from their school. It had a medium-sized kitchen, an attached dining room, a living room, three bathrooms, and four bedrooms, just enough for each boy to have his own room. There were dark brown wood floors and tan walls that were covered with various movie and music posters throughout the entire house. The house was surprisingly clean for having been occupied by four adolescent boys, but a small mess could always be found in any common area. 

     By choosing to live together, these four took their friendship in a completely new direction. In their minds, the lack of distance from one another would only strengthen their bond, they all believed that since they came to the decision. However, after a short two months, tension between the four boys were at an all-time high. It was a tension that was never communicated to one another and continued to build up. This new environment was a true test of their friendship, a test that they might fail.

    Benji is searching through the kitchen pantry. Behind his back is the sink that housed a larger than normal pile of dirty dishes. Isaiah is on the living room couch looking through his phone. Finn enters from his bedroom.

FINN (in disgust): Who was supposed to wash the dishes this week?

BENJI: I think it’s Connor’s week. (He closes the pantry door in frustration.) We’re out of snacks too.

FINN (walking over to the sink): Connor said he’d stop by the store on his way home from class. (He sighs as he turns on the faucet.)

ISAIAH (leaning over the couch back, snickering): If he actually makes it there!

FINN (putting a plate down): Hey! Be nice!

ISAIAH (getting up to walk to the kitchen): I mean, he hasn’t done the dishes, he leaves the kitchen a mess, and he leaves our bathroom an even bigger mess. I feel like remembering to go to the store might be a challenge for him as well. 

FINN: Isaiah, please. You know it’s not easy for him. (Finn shakes his head to himself.)

ISAIAH: Sorry, I was just putting it out there. He’s not being the most responsible roommate.

BENJI: He’s not wrong, Connor doesn’t clean up much. (He leans against the kitchen counter closest to the living room.) He also forgot to take out the trash the other day.

FINN (clearly annoyed): Guys. Connor is trying his best, you know that.

The front door opens shortly after and Connor enters. He has his backpack on, but doesn’t have any groceries.

     A quick note about Connor. He was a psychology major and very dedicated to his studies. He’s always been soft-spoken and had a compassionate heart, so he figured that psychology was perfect for him. Anyone who’s ever met him would agree that he is one of the most caring people they’ve ever met, so much so that he can only care that deeply for a select amount of people in his life. Finn, Benji, and Isaiah were basically the only friends that he’s ever been fully comfortable with. But occasionally, he would overthink his interactions with them and start to worry about how strong their friendship truly was. Connor always tried to be the best friend he could be, but sometimes that self-imposed fear would keep him locked up in his own mind and cause him to forget about others. This began to happen more often than ever since he moved in with his friends. 

(Connor closes the door behind him and stops to greet his three roommates that turned to face him.)

FINN: Hi Connor, how was class? (He turns back and continues washing a bowl.)

CONNOR (with slight exhaustion): It was fine. (He realizes that Finn is washing the dishes for him and is about to apologize.)

BENJI (staring down at Connor’s empty hands): Did you stop by the store? (He pauses to make eye contact with Connor.) We’re out of snacks.

CONNOR (sighing): No, I forgot. I’m sorry. (He looks around to all of his roommates once again. Benji and Isaiah look at him with disappointment. Finn doesn’t look up.)

BENJI (shaking his head): Of course you forgot. What’s next, you’ll forget you live here?

ISAIAH: I told you he wouldn’t remember. (He rolled his eyes) 

FINN (dropping a cup in the sink): Would you stop it! Benji, if you wanted food so bad, why didn’t you just get some yourself?

BENJI: It’s Connor’s job! We all agreed on day one that we would take turns doing chores.

CONNOR: I said I was sorry! I’ve been so caught up with school work, it’s a lot to handle

ISAIAH (taking a seat at the dining table): You say that every time. There’s no way you have that much course work.

BENJI (nodding his head): Just admit it, you aren’t responsible. (He crosses his arms as if he’s just won the argument)

CONNOR: Benji, we’ve gone through this before. (He sighs.) I have tried so hard to do my chores but it’s hard when there’s so much going on. (He drops his backpack onto the dining table) Besides, I’m not the only one who forgets to do chores. 

FINN: He’s right, Isaiah doesn’t clean up after himself.

ISAIAH (raising his voice): I cleaned the entire living room this morning! (He gestured his long arms at the newly cleaned room)

BENJI (quietly): At least he cleaned up.

ISAIAH: You’re one to talk. Most of the mess was left by you!

BENJI: It was not!

CONNOR (stepping closer towards the argument): It totally was.

FINN: We’ve all left a mess before! Stop blaming each other!

BENJI: If Connor just did his chores in the first place we wouldn’t be here right now!

(They were all waving their hands around while shouting.)

CONNOR: So this is all my fault? 

FINN: No it’s not. (He looks at Connor sympathetically and starts to walk towards him.)

ISAIAH: Technically it is! (Finn gives him a disapproving look)

CONNOR (on the brink of tears, stuttering): So you all hate me. (He backs up into the wall)

ISAIAH (quickly changing his tone and body language): No, that’s not what we meant. (He reaches an arm out to Connor) Not at all. 

BENJI (still oblivious): Just do your chores. (He throws his arms up in annoyance and begins to walk away. Both Isaiah and Finn glare at him.)

CONNOR (sinking to the floor): Then maybe I should just move out.

(A single tear rolls down Connor’s cheek. Finn and Isaiah rush to his side. Benji stops. The room falls silent.)

CURTAIN

ILLUSTRATIONS

In Digital Media, we learned to use Adobe Illustrator in various different projects. Our first project was to design a light cover that would be laser cut onto plastic for us to assemble. For the second project, we were given more freedom to make something using Illustrator. I decided to use my Illustrator skills to design stickers.

Geometric Light Cover

My assembled Geometric Light Cover
Illustrator file of my light cover

Geometric Light Cover Artist Statement

My Geometric Light Cover is called “Easier,” as it is based off of the song with the same name by the band 5 Seconds of Summer. The music video for the song “Easier” created a strong  aesthetic surrounding it, which inspired me to translate to my light cover by using Illustrator. I chose to make the color of my light cover to be black and light blue as those are the colors that are heavily featured in both the music video and album art for “Easier.” In the video, there are four featured symbols that are meant to represent each member of the band. I decided to use two of those symbols as the designs on my light cover, one for each color. 5 Seconds of Summer created the inspiration behind this design with their song “Easier,” and I was able to take the work of my favorite band and honor them through creating this. I learned the necessary skills in Illustrator to be able to recreate the elements seen in “Easier” in the program and reproduce them in the form of a light cover made of plastic. The process of designing this cover helped me to strengthen my Illustrator skills and more importantly, allowed me to find a way to put my own twist on the work that I admire.

Stickers

My printed sticker sheet
Illustrator file of my stickers

Illustrator Project Choice Artist Statement

    To be honest, I started making these stickers without any intended message – I didn’t even know that I’d have to write this statement. With this project, we were given the option of using Illustrator to create shirts, stickers, light covers, patches, and more of whatever we wanted to design. After going through all my options, I decided to make stickers of various objects and characters from the video game franchise, Animal Crossing. In total, I made 13 different designs, all of which are featured in the game. At first, I wanted to stick with more simple designs, which is why I made designs of the five basic fruit in the game: an apple, peach, cherry, pear, and orange. I then moved on to make more designs from the game such as a bag of bells (which are the in-game currency), a letter, a leaf (the logo of the franchise), a present, a fossil, and a paper bag. Finally, I made the most complex designs of the sheet, which are of my favorite characters, Tom Nook and Marty. I guess if I had to convey a message from these stickers, it would be that I really like Animal Crossing.

     Throughout the process of making these stickers, I was able to improve my Illustrator skills. There was only a small amount of structure to this entire project, which allowed me to explore Illustrator on my own and learn through experimentation. With this project, I was also able to get a physical copy of my work. It was really rewarding to be able to hold my stickers and use them after all the time I spent designing them.

FILM

For the narrative unit in Film, our end goal was to produce a narrative short film that didn’t require the use of dialogue. Our film started out as a pitch to the entire class, and over the course of three long months, was developed into a full visual narrative.

Griffith Scene

The first exercise we had for this unit was the Griffith Scene. We studied the works of D. W. Griffith and how he revolutionized film language. He established the Griffith’s pattern that requires different camera positions to establish the setting and characters of a scene, a pattern that is now commonly seen in modern film. We did a quick in class exercise to practice using this pattern.

Suspense Scene

The next exercise we did in this unit was the Suspense Scene. For this scene, we studied the works of Alfred Hitchcock. In many of Hitchcock’s movies such as, Psycho and Rear Window, he uses elements of suspense to build tension in his work. We used elements of his movies such as cross cutting and symbolism with an object in our own short suspense scenes.

Chase Scene

The Chase Scene was our final exercise before we started production on our Junior Narrative. In order to film a successful chase scene, we had to learn the basics of screen direction, continuity and the 180° rule. We took these skills, combined with those from the Suspense and Griffith’s scenes, to make an extremely mediocre chase scene.

Narrative Synopsis

At the beginning of the Narrative project, we had to write a page long synopsis of our film. This was still in the early stages of production so a lot of the ideas in the synopsis didn’t make it into the final film.

Synopsis

     Liam is a lazy teenager. He is seen laying on his bed on his cheap pair of headphones surrounded by a messy room. His mom comes in to tell him to clean up and do his chores, but he ignores her. Instead, he goes out to hang out with his friend Kate. It is clear that Liam really likes Kate, but it’s not clear if she likes him back. They walk by a clothing shop and Kate points out a specific article of clothing through the window that she likes. Liam pays special attention to this and decides that he wants to buy them to impress her. The price tag of the clothing can be seen from the storefront, and Liam realizes that he doesn’t have enough money for them. 

     Liam is at home checking his wallet for any extra money, but doesn’t find any. He draws up a flyer that has a lawn and and lawnmower on it. He goes door to door asking people if they would pay him to mow their lawn. The first few houses he goes up to all decline his offer. After two or three houses, he gets a streak of people saying yes. He now has a bunch of lawns he can mow which will lead him to getting more money. Liam is seen mowing multiple lawns and getting paid by those homeowners. After every few lawns that are mowed, he goes home to his bedroom to count up his money and show that time is passing and this takes place over the course of several days. Every time he is back in his room, the room becomes progressively cleaner and neater. He is always wearing his headphones while he works, and as time passes they can be seen getting more and more worn. The music he listens to slowly fades throughout the film to show this while the sound of the lawnmower gets louder. He is often mowing lawns that are in Kate’s neighborhood so she notices how hard he is working. She also notices that his headphones keep dropping and continue to be in worse condition. They can be seen waving at one another from across the street. After mowing a bunch of lawns, he has enough money to go get the clothes and returns to the store. He successfully buys the clothes but as soon as he exits the store they get ruined because he fell in a puddle. The clothes are clearly ruined and Liam is heartbroken.

     Liam is home again with the ruined clothes. He throws a tantrum in his room over the clothes, and in the process breaks his headphones. After his tantrum ends, he tries his best to fix up the clothes. It’s clear that the clothes have improved from his efforts, but they are still in bad condition. Kate knocks on his window and crawls into his room. Liam presents her with the clothes, and she really appreciates them. She also has a gift for him, which is a brand new pair of headphones. After they give each other the gifts they sneak back out the window and go for a walk. FIN.

Storyboard

After revising the synopsis, we had to storyboard our film. Each individual shot had to be drawn on a note card to help us visualize the film before we even started filming.

Story boards of my short film

Junior Narrative Trailer

Junior Narrative Film

Premiere Project of my short film