Intro To Conceptual:
For the conceptual unit, Juniors begin learning the basics that will guide them through their life in communication arts, through using abstract thinking to answer the question:
“How Can I Use Unconventional Forms to Express Myself?”
This project tests students determination and creativity through poetry, experimental film, and web production. This challenges students to find their aesthetics and express their individuality through their art. Students learned basic skills in professional programs such as: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Adobe After Effects. I enjoyed this unit in that I could use what I learned in one class, to further my progress in all others. My poetry helped add depth and symbolism to my film, and my skills learned in digital media helped me to edit my film more effectively. The poetry I worked on in English was turned into so much more as I took the same concept and developed it with photography and eventually turned into a film.
Poetry:
Photo Haiku-
The photo haiku was our first major project. It entailed writing a poem based on our concept statement, taking a picture that reinforces the poem, then putting the two together using Adobe Premiere. Concept Statement: I am exploring the feeling of envy through the experience of learning to love. First step: Get a picture and edit text onto it
Second step: edit together with a voice over
What I learned: Through this project, I learned skills in poetry (specifically haiku), how to take quality pictures, how to take voice recordings, and how to produce my vision using premiere pro.
Free-verse and Ekphrastic-
In the first poem, we were asked to write a free-verse poem. I based my poem on my concept statement previously listed. We worked on this poem for several weeks, brainstorming and revising until we were content. In this second poem, we were asked to write a poem in response to a piece of artwork we found at the SF MOMA (where we went on our field trip).
Exquisite Corpse Poem:
An exquisite corpse poem is a collaborative poem in which participants each add a line to the poem, but they only know the one prior to theirs. In English class, we did this activity by starting with one line from each of our poems. In the end, we had around 8 different poems, we choose this one to further develop: I have always enjoyed poetry. It was interesting to take my poetry and display it in different ways. From photography to video production, I learned different and unconventional ways to develop and present my writing.