The purpose of this Conceptual Project was to take the concept statement that we picked at random in English and create various projects surrounding it. The projects that we designed were supposed to portray our concept statements in different and creative ways. In each of our classes, we had to use metaphorical thinking to design our projects, trying to stay away from anything to literal that wouldn’t challenge the audience's mind and make them really think about its meaning. In English, the metaphor we created was used in poetry. In Design, that metaphor was used to create a photograph. I used the poems written in English and projects created in Design to make this website in Digital Media. Throughout my website I have featured all of my projects and experiments, including a short summary on the steps I took to create them. For English, I wrote a spoken word poem, free verse poem, and an Ekphrastic poem. For Design, I used my concept statement to create a visual and metaphorical representation that i was able to photograph and edit using photoshop. I learned how to use rhyme, lineation and other methods to write a well-versed poem. Using a software called Dreamweaver which was very new to me I was taught, starting from scratch, how to code this very website. I really enjoyed getting to learn how to use new tools to create unique projects.

An ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art. My overall goal throughout this study of poetry was to gain a better knowlege of how to write various types of poetry. An ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art. Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the “action” of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning.

Screaming at me in all bright colors
Your bare skin sits upon a wall
Your bare skin waiting to be touched
Emotions come spiraling like paint filled balloons thrown against you
Pleading for attention
I look at you full of concern
Who has done this to you who made the burns
You scream for my attention
Your emotions portrayed on the surface for all to see
I am here

Before starting to study poetry this past couple months, I thought poetry was impossible for me to write and never really understood it until now. I now see all the meaning behind it and how much your mind can explore and get lost in it.

For my spoken word poem I decided to focus on the subject of bullying and the lasting effect it has on people. In the course of my childhood i have had to deal with bullying daily and have many friends that have suffered from this abuse. This poem was definitely the one i enjoyed writing the most because I felt that i could really express my emotions and frustration in it.

In your Haiku section of your webpage, introduce your Haiku video by describing the assignment and how you enhanced the English assignment in Digital Media.
Describe the process of producing the Haiku. What did you value/enjoy from the Haiku production?

For our first writing assignment here at Freestyle Academy, we were told we had to write a Haiku based on two topics we picked out of a hat. My concept statement was that i experience the feeling of hopefulness through meditation. After creating our Haiku we took an original photograph, that fit well with our poem. We then put our Haiku on the photograph in a creative way that drew you into the piece. In Digital Media we were able to make a video out of our original piece with titles, moving text and audio. My favorite part about this assignment was probably putting together the original piece and finding the right photo to correspond with my Haiku.

process description

This is a screenshot of my Haiku video production in Premiere Pro.

    I took a picture of my dads old racing bike for this project. In order to get the angle and lighting that I wanted I had to position the bike in a unique way. I took a ladder and and step stool and positioned it so it would be suspended in the air. Then I used the rule of thirds and focused on the bottom right part of the picture, which was the logo and base of the bike. I took the picture in front of my garage door outside, on my driveway. At first I wasn't getting any shots I liked but kept going until I found a position I liked. I ended up laying in the ground and shooting upward to get an angle not normally looked at by most people. I chose this object because it has so many fun and funny memories tied in with it and the colors and unique features caught my eye.

   As for the editing of the photo, it was definitely learning experience. I can’t wait to learn more about photoshop and how to improve my editing skills overtime. To edit my transport photo I tried to really focus in on the logo with the top of the wheel semi in focus. I used the paintbrush to redraw the logos to make them pop more, and a white color that was slightly brighter than the original color to make it really stand out. I also edited the warmth and saturation to make the red a little for, adding different hues and tints to make it really stand out. Using the bandaid tool I was able to get rid of some of the dust, dirt spots and small scratches to make the bike to almost look brand new.

Conceptual Art Photo

“I am exploring the feeling of hopefulness through meditation.” My photo consisted of a ladder, rocks and a spotlight, these objects were used to create a tranquil and metaphorical representation of my concept statement. The rocks are a bumpy background and can therefore represent a person’s bumpy road in life that may have let them to meditation. This is to help them cope with the harder times and give them hope to work their way back to a better time in their life. The ladder represents the journey towards tranquility, closure and the state of having a clear mind. The light is the main focus on the ladder, it is placed at the top to represent a heavenly feel, or a sense of enlightenment. The placement of the ladder is so you couldn’t see the beginning or the end of it, this was supposed to make it appear never ending. The bottom of the ladder is not in focus and it’s much darker than the rest of the image to portray coming out of darkness and into the light. I made the color of the ladder a minty color using hits of green, yellow and blue. I did this so I could get a color that would give a calming feeling that relates to meditation.

While editing this image, I learned quite a lot about photoshop. I started off with simple corrections on the image, for example I color corrected some strange spots on the rocks and ladder. As well as changed other settings such as brightness and contrast to make the ladder pop, but not completely outcast the background. The most challenging aspect of the editing for me was making a very detailed selection of the ladder, it was very frustrating and time consuming. In doing this, it allowed me to add multiple photo filters to create a minty color that replaced the original color of the ladder. In my final step, I added extra light to the main focus at the top of the ladder.

For my Parody Music i chose a song that I really loved and tried to turn the lyrics into something we high schoolers relate too, in a comedic way. It took me a while to try to write them because I am not the greatest at writing song lyrics and I tried my best to make them fit with the original lyrics. In Pro Tools, I duplicated the original track and then I split that track into mono. I then nudged the right mono track and put the EQ plugin for the right mono track and the duplicated track. I then turned up the bass for the duplicated track. Then I recorded my vocals in the studio. After recording I applied the master fader to the track, so the vocals would fade out in the end istead of vutting off reall abruptly.